Seventh Crusade
Preparations
We know quite a bit about Louis' preparations for his crusade; he was a very famous monarch, even in his own day, and so we have many sources, and one in particular—that of the king's seneschal, Joinville—tells us much about this Crusade. Louis took three years before he was ready to go. He had to raise money, arrange matters internally and with foreign powers, find transportation, and then raise the army itself.
Although the French church complained mightily about not being exempted from the Crusade tax, Louis managed to make all these arrangements without making too many enemies. With one exception: the Venetians were already unhappy about Louis' plan to invade Egypt, for that was the objective Louis had selected. When the king also chose to use for transport ships from Marseilles and Genoa, he effectively made Venice his enemy. It would have to be Venice or Genoa as enemy;there was almost no way to favor one without angering the other.
A few Scots and Englishmen went along, but the great bulk of the Crusaders were French. They set out from the ports in August of 1248. Louis brought with him many family members, including his queen, two of his brothers, and numerous cousins.