Treaty of Lambeth in the context of "Louis VIII"

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights sealed by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War.

After John's death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more radical content, in an unsuccessful bid to build political support for their cause. At the end of the war in 1217, it formed part of the peace treaty agreed at Lambeth, where the document acquired the name "Magna Carta", to distinguish it from the smaller Charter of the Forest, which was issued at the same time. Short of funds, Henry reissued the charter again in 1225 in exchange for a grant of new taxes. His son, Edward I, repeated the exercise in 1297, this time confirming it as part of England's statute law. However, Magna Carta was not unique; other legal documents of its time, both in England and beyond, made broadly similar statements of rights and limitations on the powers of the Crown. The charter became part of English political life and was typically renewed by each monarch in turn. As time went by and the fledgling Parliament of England passed new laws, it lost some of its practical significance.

Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (French: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As a prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216, Louis was proclaimed "King of England" by rebellious barons in London, though never crowned. With the assistance of allies in England and Scotland he gained control of approximately one third of the English kingdom and part of Southern Wales. He was eventually defeated by English loyalists and those barons who swapped sides following the death of King John. After the Treaty of Lambeth, he was paid 10,000 marks, pledged never to invade England again, and was absolved of his excommunication.

As prince and fulfilling the crusading vow of his father, Philip II, Louis led forces during the Albigensian Crusade in support of Simon de Montfort the Elder, from 1219 to 1223, and as king, from January 1226 to September 1226. Crowned king in 1223, Louis's ordinance against Jewish usury, a reversal of his father's policies, led to the establishment of Lombard moneylenders in Paris.

51°16′30″N 1°25′12″E / 51.275°N 1.420°E / 51.275; 1.420The Battle of Sandwich, also called the Battle of Dover took place on 24 August 1217 as part of the First Barons' War. A Plantagenet English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh attacked a Capetian French fleet led by Eustace the Monk and Robert of Courtenay off Sandwich, Kent. The English captured the French flagship and most of the supply vessels, forcing the rest of the French fleet to return to Calais.

The French fleet was attempting to bring supplies and reinforcements to Prince Louis, later King Louis VIII of France, whose French forces held London at that time. The English vessels attacked from windward, seizing Eustace's ship, making Robert and the knights prisoner and killing the rest of the crew. Eustace, a notorious pirate, was executed after being taken prisoner. The battle convinced Prince Louis to abandon his effort to conquer England and the Treaty of Lambeth was signed a few weeks later.

The Treaty of Lambeth was signed on 4 May 1212 by King John of England and several French counts, including Renaud I of Dammartin and Boulogne and Ferdinand of Flanders. The Treaty of Lambeth of 1212 should not be confused from the Treaty of Lambeth of 1217, also known as the Treaty of Kingston.

By 1212 John had lost his Angevin possessions in France. Renaud lands had also been seized by King Philip II of France. Renaud brought other continental nobles, including Ferdinand, into a coalition against Philip. In return he was given several fiefs in England and an annuity. In the treaty agreed on 4 May 1212, each prince promised not to make a separate peace with France.