The first months of Louis IX.’s reign showed how unstable was any edifice built upon the support of the treacherous lords of Poitou.  Within six weeks of Louis VIII.’s death, Hugh of Lusignan, the viscount of Thouars, Savary de Mauleon, and many other Poitevin barons, concluded treaties with Richard of Cornwall, by which in return for lavish concessions they went back to the English obedience.  In the spring of 1227, however, the appearance of a French army south of the Loire caused these same lords to make fresh treaties with Blanche.  Peter of Brittany also became friendly with the French regent, and gave up his daughter’s English marriage.  With allies so shifty, further dealings seemed hopeless.  Before Easter, Richard patched up a truce and went home in disgust.  The Capetians lost Poitou, but Henry failed to take advantage of his rival’s weakness, and the real masters of the situation were the local barons.  Fifteen more years were to elapse before the definitive French conquest of Poitou.

During the next three years the good understanding between the Bretons, the Poitevins, and the regent Blanche came to an end, and the progress of the feudal reaction against the rule of the young King of France once more excited hopes of improving Henry’s position in south-western France.  Henry III. was eager to win back his inheritance, though Hubert de Burgh had little faith in Poitevin promises, and, conscious of his king’s weakness, managed to prolong the truce, until July 22, 1229.  Three months before that, Blanche succeeded in forcing the unfortunate Raymond VII. to accept the humiliating treaty of Meaux, which assured the succession to his dominions to her second son Alfonse, who was to marry his daughter and heiress, Joan.  The barons of the north and west were not yet defeated, and once more appealed to Henry to come to their aid.  Accordingly, the English king summoned his vassals to Portsmouth on October 15 for a French campaign.  When Henry went down to Portsmouth he found that there were not enough ships to convey his troops over sea.  Thereupon he passionately denounced the justiciar as an “old traitor,” and accused him of being bribed by the French queen.  Nothing but the intervention of Randolph of Chester, Hubert’s persistent enemy, put an end to the undignified scene.

Count Peter of Brittany, who arrived at Portsmouth on the 9th, did homage to Henry as King of France, and received the earldom of Richmond and the title of Duke of Brittany which he had long coveted, but which the French government refused to recognise.  He persuaded Henry to postpone the expedition until the following spring.  When that time came Henry appointed Ralph Neville, the chancellor, and Stephen Segrave, a rising judge, as wardens of England, and on May 1, 1230, set sail from Portsmouth.  It was the first time since 1213 that an English king had crossed the seas at the head of an army, and every effort was made to equip a sufficient force.  Hubert the justiciar, Randolph of Chester, William the marshal, and most of the great barons personally shared in the expedition, and the ports of the Channel, the North Sea, and the Bay of Biscay were ransacked to provide adequate shipping.  Many Norman vessels served as transports, apparently of their owners’ free-will.