It was one of St. Louis's chief characteristics to carry on abreast his administration as national sovereign and the performance of his duties towards Christendom; and taking advantage of the respite which the Peace of Bordeaux afforded, he turned his thoughts towards a crusade. Stricken down with a fierce malady in 1244, he resolved to take the cross when news came that Turcomans had defeated the Christians and the Moslems and invaded Jerusalem. (On the two crusades of St. Louis [1248-1249 and 1270] see CRUSADES.) Between the two crusades he opened negotiations with Henry III, which he thought would prevent new conflicts between France and England. The Treaty of Paris (28 May, 1258) which St. Louis concluded with the King of England after five years' parley, has been very much discussed. By this treaty St. Louis gave Henry III all the fiefs and domains belonging to the King of France in the Dioceses of Limoges, Cahors, and Périgueux; and in the event of Alphonsus of Poitiers dying without issue, Saintonge and Agenais would escheat to Henry III. On the other hand Henry III renounced his claims to Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, Poitou, and promised to do homage for the Duchy of Guyenne. It was generally considered and Joinville voiced the opinion of the people, that St. Louis made too many territorial concessions to Henry III; and many historians held that if, on the contrary, St. Louis had carried the war against Henry III further, the Hundred Years War would have been averted. But St. Louis considered that by making the Duchy of Guyenne a fief of the Crown of France he was gaining a moral advantage; and it is an undoubted fact that the Treaty of Paris, was as displeasing to the English as it was to the French. In 1263, St. Louis was chosen as arbitrator in a difference which separated Henry III and the English barons: by the Dit d'Amiens (24 January, 1264) he declared himself for Henry III against the barons, and annulled the Provisions of Oxford, by which the barons had attempted to restrict the authority of the king. It was also in the period between the two crusades that St. Louis, by the Treaty of Corbeil, imposed upon the King of Aragon the abandonment of his claims to all the fiefs in Languedoc excepting Montpellier, and the surrender of his rights to Provence (11 May, 1258). Treaties and arbitrations prove St. Louis to have been above all a lover of peace, a king who desired not only to put an end to conflicts, but also to remove the causes for fresh wars, and this spirit of peace rested upon the Christian conception.

St. Louis's relations with the Church of France and the papal Court have excited widely divergent interpretations and opinions. However, all historians agree that St. Louis and the successive popes united to protect the clergy of France from the encroachments or molestations of the barons and royal officers. It is equally recognized that during the absence of St. Louis at the crusade, Blanche of Castile protected the clergy in 1251 from the plunder and ill-treatment of a mysterious old maurauder called the "Hungarian Master" who was followed by a mob of armed men - called the "Pastoureaux." The "Hungarian Master" who was said to be in league with the Moslems died in an engagement near Villaneuve and the entire band pursued in every direction was dispersed and annihilated.

But did St. Louis take measures also to defend the independence of the clergy against the papacy? A number of historians once claimed he did. They attributed to St. Louis a certain "pragmatic sanction" of March 1269, prohibiting irregular collations of ecclesiastical benefices, prohibiting simony, and interdicting the tributes which the papal Court received from the French clergy. The Gallicans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often made use of this measure against the Holy See; the truth is that it was a forgery fabricated in the fourteenth century by juris-consults desirous of giving to the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VII a precedent worthy of respect. This so-called pragmatic of Louis IX is presented as a royal decree for the reformation of the Church; never would St. Louis thus have taken upon himself the right to proceed authoritatively with this reformation. When in 1246, a great number of barons from the north and the west leagued against the clergy whom they accused of amassing too great wealth and of encroaching upon their rights, Innocent IV called upon Louis to dissolve this league; how the king acted in the matter is not definitely known. On 2 May, 1247, when the Bishops of Soissons and of Troyes, the archdeacon of Tours, and the provost of the cathedral of Rouen, despatched to the pope a remonstrance against his taxations, his preferment of Italians in the distribution of benefices, against the conflicts between papal jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the ordinaries, Marshal Ferri Pasté seconded their complaints in the name of St. Louis. Shortly after, these complaints were reiterated and detailed in a lengthy memorandum, the text of which has been preserved by Mathieu Paris, the historian. It is not known whether St. Louis affixed his signature to it, but in any case, this document was simply a request asking for the suppression of the abuses, with no pretensions to laying down principles of public right, as was claimed by the Pragmatic Sanction.

Documents prove that St. Louis did not lend an ear to the grievances of his clergy against the emissaries of Urban IV and Clement IV; he even allowed Clement IV to generalize a custom in 1265 according to which the benefices the titularies of which died while sojourning in Rome, should be disposed of by the pope. Docile to the decrees of the Lateran [St. John Lateran, the pope’s cathedral in Rome] Council (1215), according to which kings were not to tax the churches of their realm without authority from the pope, St. Louis claimed and obtained from successive popes, in view of the crusade, the right to levy quite heavy taxes from the clergy. It is again this fundamental idea of the crusade, ever present in St. Louis's thoughts that prompted his attitude generally in the struggle between the empire and the pope. While the Emperor Frederick II and the successive popes sought and contended for France's support, St. Louis's attitude was at once decided and reserved. On the one hand he did not accept for his brother Robert of Artois, the imperial crown offered him by Gregory IX in 1240. In his correspondence with Frederick he continued to treat him as a sovereign, even after Frederick had been excommunicated and declared dispossessed of his realms by Innocent IV at the Council of Lyons, 17 July, 1245. But on the other hand, in 1251, the king compelled Frederick to release the French archbishops taken prisoners by the Pisans, the emperor's auxiliaries, when on their way in a Genoese fleet to attend a general council at Rome. In 1245, he conferred at length, at Cluny, with Innocent IV who had taken refuge in Lyons in December, 1244, to escape the threats of the emperor, and it was at this meeting that the papal dispensation for the marriage of Charles Anjou, brother of Louis IX, to Beatrix, heiress of Provençe was granted and it was then that Louis IX and Blanche of Castile promised Innocent IV their support. Finally, when in 1247 Frederick II took steps to capture Innocent IV at Lyons, the measures Louis took to defend the pope were one of the reasons which caused the emperor to withdraw. St. Louis looked upon every act of hostility from either power as an obstacle to accomplishing the crusade. In the quarrel over investitures, the king kept on friendly terms with both, not allowing the emperor to harass the pope and never exciting the pope against the emperor. In 1262 when Urban offered St. Louis, the Kingdom of Sicily, a fief of the Apostolic See, for one of his sons, St. Louis refused it, through consideration for the Swabian dynasty then reigning; but when Charles of Anjou accepted Urban IV's offer and went to conquer the Kingdom of Sicily, St. Louis allowed the bravest knights of France to join the expedition which destroyed the power of the Hohenstaufens in Sicily. The king hoped, doubtless, that the possession of Sicily by Charles of Anjou would be advantageous to the crusade.

St. Louis led an exemplary life, bearing constantly in mind his mother's words: "I would rather see you dead at my feet than guilty of a mortal sin." His biographers have told us of the long hours he spent in prayer, fasting, and penance, without the knowlege of his subjects. The French king was a great lover of justice. French fancy still pictures him delivering judgements under the oak of Vincennes. It was during his reign that the "court of the king" (curia regis) was organized into a regular court of justice, having competent experts, and judicial commissions acting at regular periods. These commissions were called parlements and the history of the "Dit d'Amiens" proves that entire Christendom willingly looked upon him as an international judiciary. It is an error, however, to represent him as a great legislator; the document known as "Etablissements de St. Louis" was not a code drawn up by order of the king, but merely a collection of customs, written out before 1273 by a jurist who set forth in this book the customs of Orléans, Anjou, and Maine, to which he added a few ordinances of St. Louis.

St. Louis was a patron of architecture. The Sainte Chappelle, an architectural gem, was constructed in his reign, and it was under his patronage that Robert of Sorbonne founded the "Collège de la Sorbonne," which became the seat of the theological faculty of Paris.

He was renowned for his charity. The peace and blessings of the realm come to us through the poor he would say. Beggars were fed from his table, he ate their leavings, washed their feet, ministered to the wants of the lepers, and daily fed over one hundred poor. He founded many hospitals and houses: the House of the Felles-Dieu for reformed prostitutes; the Quinze-Vingt for 300 blind men (1254), hospitals at Pontoise, Vernon, Compiégne.

The Enseignements (written instructions) which he left to his son Philip and to his daughter Isabel, the discourses preserved by the witnesses at judicial investigations preparatory to his canonization and Joinville's anecdotes show St. Louis to have been a man of sound common sense, possessing indefatigable energy, graciously kind and of playful humour, and constantly guarding against the temptation to be imperious. The caricature made of him by the envoy of the Count of Gueldre: "worthless devotee, hypocritical king" was very far from the truth. On the contrary, St. Louis, through his personal qualities as well as his saintliness, increased for many centuries the prestige of the French monarchy (see ). St. Louis's canonization was proclaimed at Orvieto in 1297, by Boniface VIII. Of the inquiries in view of canonization, carried on from 1273 till 1297, we have only fragmentary reports published by Delaborde ("Mémoires de la société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ilea de France," XXIII, 1896) and a series of extracts compiled by Guillaume de St. Pathus, Queen Marguerite's confessor [in old usage, a saint who was not martyred, or who suffered for the faith without being killed], under the title of "Vie Monseigneur Saint Loys" (Paris, 1899).

Baring-Gould’s sources: Roman and Gallican Martyrologies. Canonized by Boniface VIII. in 1296. Authorities: — A life by Geoffroi de Beaulieu, the King's Confessor who died 1274, only four years after the king. Another life by an anonymous writer, the Confessor of Queen Margaret; the memoirs of the Sieur de Joinville, the King's friend and companion. A history of S. Louis by Guillaume de Nangis (d. i3or). Robert de Sainceriaux, "Sermon en vers sur la mort du roy S. Louys.” The bull of canonization published by Boniface VIII. in 1296; an " Epistola super obitu Ludovici IX.” ap. Duchesne, Script. Hist. Franc., v. p. 440. “ Epistola Thunensis episc. ad Theobaldum regem Navarrse de felice obitu S. Ludovici,” ap. Martene, Collect. Ampl., vi. p. r2r8; " Gesta S. Ludovici autore monacho S. Dionysii anonymo,” ap. Duchesne; “ De vita et actibus Ludovici IX.,” by William of Chartres, royal chaplain, ap. Duchesne, v. p. 466. Much valuable matter relating to the life and times of S. Louis has been collected by modem historians. Le Nain de Tillemont (d. 1698) compiled a voluminous collection of extracts relating to the reign of S. Louis, arranged in methodical and chronological order, and comprising almost every fact o* importance then known to bear on the subject. "Vie de S. Louis," par Le Nain de Tillemont, Paris, 1847-51. For a list of 147 works bearing on S. Louis, see Catalogue de la bibliothfeque imp^riale, Paris, 1855; also Struve, Bibl. historica, ed. Mensel, vii. 2, pp. 74 — 80. In addition to those mentioned in these two works, see Bastie La vie de S. Louis, in M£m. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, xv. pp. 692 — 736; Lebeuf, Remarques critiques sur les actes de S. Louis, nouvellement publics par les Bollandistes, in M£m. de l’Acad. des Inscript., xvi. p. 186; De Wailly, Examen critique de la vie de S. Louis par Geoffroy de Beaulieu, 1. c. xv. p. 403. Bibliothfeque de l’^cole des chartes, v. p. 205. Chabannes, Vie du bienheureux Th. Helye, aumbnier de S. Louis, Tournai, 1863; Documenti inediti riguardanti li due crociate di san Ludovico, illustr. da Belgrano; Genova, 1859. Lettres des £v£ques de la province de Reims de 1274 pour la canonisation de Louis IX. ap. Marlot, Hist, de Reims, p. 3, &c.] “ There are perhaps,1' says M. Guizot, “only two princes who, on every occasion, formed the first rule of their conduct from their moral creeds — Marcus Aurelius, a Stoic; tf( f i Xa/n be orra^e, -mxC icvc-x- certs "\Jt7vji ij vjJ\ic fut, ©w«t ee ^acrc -moni^Sin£'u*r tirccf £ot/*. baivf Ceftuje -Diwe be exm 5. Tpar-frcs rc'ue-rena ycre ctv Oxen 3tie[ftrC ^accrues o& bstfoeper a^xclq-nc beJTnflon^/ Ce ■premier dtmam’jje bca rodent-* en t>rcfeftee ’bu SIom b<uujlcterrc, et bes Tjriace.s frcrcs bu voyrTre^xc^onfe -jnovvCl fut^raaio toyci Saint Louis, a Christian.”1 Even the freethinker Gibbon could not fail to admire the beauty of the character of S. Louis: “ He united the virtues of a king, a hero, and a man and Voltaire sums up his character in the emphatic word, “ Never has it been accorded to man to push virtue further.”3 The life of S. Louis is eminently instructive, for, as has been judiciously remarked, “ This prince showed that it is not impossible to ally the majesty of the throne with the holiness of the Gospel, that without quitting the most exalted rank, one may practise the humiliations of penitence, that a really Christian king renders his greatness independent of events, and fears not to lose through adversity what prosperity could not have accorded him.”1 Louis VIII. was returning (a.d. 1226) from an expedition against Languedoc, which Amaury de Montfort had ceded to the crown of France, when he was attacked by a fatal sickness at Montpensier. The King therefore summoned his barons about him, and made them swear allegiance to his eldest son, Louis, then only twelve years old. He expired on All Saints’ Day, and was buried at S. Denys, by the side of his father, Philip Augustus. The young prince who was now summoned to take possession of the splendid inheritance of the kingdom of France was bom in 1215, on the feast of S. Mark, and was baptized at Poissi on the left bank of the Seine.5 His early 1 Hist, de la Civil. Frangaise, sect. xiv. a Decline and Fall, c. 6. 3 Essai sur les Mceurs des Nations, c. 58. 5 In the parish church is shown a font, in which it is said the Royal Saint was baptized, but the font is certainly — in its present condition — of later date. In one of the windows of the chapel that contains it, is stained glass of the 16th century, on which are inscribed the following lines: — '* Saint Louis fut enfant nd de Poissi Et baptist en la prdsente dglise, Les fonts en sont gardds encore ici, Et conserves comme relique exquise.”

…guide was his mother, Blanche of Castile, daughter of Alfonso IX, and Eleanor of England, daughter of King John. ‘ 1 If lusty love should go in quest of beauty, Where should he find it fairer than in Blanche ? If zealous love should go in search of virtue, Where should he find it fairer than in Blanche ? If love ambitious sought a match of birth, Whose veins bound richer blood than royal Blanche P”1 At the age of thirty-eight the matronly comeliness of the Queen was as attractive as her maiden grace had been when a child-bride of twelve summers.

She had carefully, tenderly, religiously nurtured her son. Her example was as white and comely as her name and face. Her treatment of Louis showed no indulgence for laxity of thought and conduct. Once in his early youth he had looked with kindling eye on some fair damsel. “I had rather he were dead,” said the mother, “than that he should commit sin.”

S. Louis was crowned at Reims on the First Sunday in Advent, a.d. 1226, by the Bishop of Soissons, for the archbishopric of Reims was at that time ' vacant. During the young King’s minority Blanche of Castile assumed the regency.

On April the 25th, a.d. 1228, S. Louis entered on his fourteenth year, and was forthwith given a tutor to instruct him in letters and manners. The King used himself to relate in after days how hardly the tutor had treated him, and how he forced Latin into his head by blows of a stick. The young King was fair complexioned, and had inherited from his grandmother, Isabelle of Hainault, the handsome features of that family. His expression was so sweet and winning, that, we are told, no one could look him in the face without loving him. These characteristics are borne out by 1 King John, act ii. sc. 2.

From a Picture by M. Meison. S. Louis. 1 the only authentic portrait of the good King now extant, which though representing him at a comparatively advanced age, shows a remarkable union of beauty and feature and gentleness of expression.1 The first years of the reign of Louis IX. were not undisturbed. The powerful barons revolted, and were brought to obedience. Into the political history of the time it is not my purpose to enter, further than is necessary to illustrate the character of S. Louis. It is accessible to every reader in the history of France. On the throne S. Louis attracted unbounded admiration both by his virtues and by his amiability. His was a frank playfulness, or amenity, at least, of manner, which Henry IV. never surpassed, and a blamelessness hardly ever before, till very recent times never after, seen on the throne of France.

He had kingly qualities of the noblest order, gentleness, affability, humanity, a passionate love of justice and truth and honour which saved him from committing those errors, those wrongs against the eternal principles of right, which a superstitious character might have readily fallen into, connived at, or openly advocated, as they too often were, by the clergy of that period. No act of religious persecution sullies the lilies of the crown of Louis IX. When Innocent IV. excommunicated the Emperor Frederick II., deposed him from his throne, and offered the imperial crown as a flattering bait to Louis for his brother, the saintly King coldly refused it. Though solicited by the Pope most urgently to take up arms against the German Emperor, of whose power Gregory IX. and Innocent IV. were jealous, and whom they were bent on humbling, Louis refused to permit the levy of subsidies in the realm of France, to aid a war which his conscience told him was unjust. 1 The reliquary of the Sainte Chapelle, a bust of gold richly jewelled, this was melted up in the first revolution; but an accurate engraving of it had been made by Ducange for his edition of Joinville’s Memoirs. At all the great religious seasons of fasting, the young King observed the strictest abstinence. Only once in the year would he allow himself to taste fruit; he wore the roughest sackcloth next his skin. His spiritual director persuaded him to less severe observance, to deny himself only unripe fruit, and to wear sackcloth of less fretting texture. Every Friday, and in Lent [the forty days of fasting before Easter] on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, he shut himself up in his chamber, searching every corner, lest any one should be present, with his confessor [in old usage, a saint who was not martyred, or who suffered for the faith without being killed], the Dominican, Geoffroy de Beaulieu, who administered to him with heavy, unsparing hand, a discipline of wire. One day he made a pilgrimage with bare feet from Nogent l’Erembert to the church of Our Lady at Chartres, a distance of four leagues; his bleeding feet became so inflamed that he could only complete this journey by leaning on the arms of his attendants. He constantly washed the feet of beggars, invited the poor to his table, and visited the sick in their cottages or in hospitals. A leper on the farther side of a swamp begged of him. Louis waded through the morass to relieve the poor wretch. He heard daily two, sometimes three or four, masses; as he rode, his chaplain recited the offices. A Dominican preacher urged him to moderate his enthusiasm, one mass a day was ample; the royal dignity moreover was injured by association with beggars. “ If I spent twice as much time in dice and hawking, should I be so rebuked ?” answered the gentle King.

He bore even reproach with meekness. A woman named Sarrete, pleading in the king’s court, said, “ Fie ! you are not King of France; you are only a king of friars, priests, and clerks. It is a pity you are King; you should be turned out of your sovereignty.” The blessed King would not allow his attendants to chastise the woman. “ You say true,” he answered. “ It has pleased the Lord to make me king; but I well know that it would have been well had he appointed