Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile. Louis was 12 years old when his father died in November 1226, just three years after he had ascended to the throne. He was crowned king within the month and his mother ruled France as regent during his minority, training him to be a great leader and a good Christian. Blanche dealt with the opposition of rebellious vassals and secured a Capetian success in the 20-year Albigensian Crusade in 1229. The first major crisis faced by Louis was the Saintonge War of 1242–1243, pitting Capetian forces supportive of Louis' brother Alphonse of Poitiers against Henry III of England and his continental allies. John II of Soissons supported Louis and would later join his Crusade. Henry hoped to regain Angevin land lost during the reign of his father. The French decisively defeated the English at the Battle of Taillebourg in July 1242, marking the last major conflict between the two until the Anglo-French War. In the Holy Land, the Sixth Crusade and the Barons' Crusade had returned the kingdom to its largest size since its loss at Hattin in 1187. That changed after the Siege of Jerusalem of 1244 left the Holy City in such a state of ruin that it became unusable for both Christians and Muslims. The sack of the Jerusalem and the massacre which accompanied it would encourage Louis IX to organize the first of his Crusades. Nevertheless, the fall of Jerusalem was no longer a crucial event to many European Christians, who had seen the city pass between Christian and Muslim control numerous times in the past two centuries. This time, despite later calls from the pope, there was no popular enthusiasm for a new crusade. There were too many conflicts within Europe that kept its leaders from embarking on a foreign endeavor. At the end of 1244, Louis was stricken with a severe malarial infection. Near death, he vowed that if he recovered he would set out for a Crusade. His life was spared, and as soon as his health permitted him, he took the cross and immediately began preparations. The Crusade that Louis would lead has been described as "perhaps the only expedition since the days of Godfrey of Bouillon that deserved the name of a Holy War." He had already been much distressed by the plight of John of Brienne during the siege of Constantinople of