Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          25 Apr 1215 Chateau de Poissy, Poissy, Ile de France, France
Christening:    21 Sep 1215 
Death:          25 Aug 1270 near Tunis, Tunisia
Cause of Death: in battle
Burial:         St. Denis, Ile de France, France

Notes
famous Crusader
canonized 11 Aug 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII
died on the Eighth Crusade
m by permission of Pope Gregory IX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis, was King 
of France from 1226 until his death. Louis was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, 
following the death of his father Louis VIII the Lion, although his mother, Blanche of 
Castile, ruled the kingdom until he reached maturity. During Louis's childhood, 
Blanche dealt with the opposition of rebellious vassals and put an end to the 
Albigensian crusade which had started 20 years earlier.

As an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of the most powerful nobles, 
such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England 
tried to restore his continental possessions, but was defeated at the battle of 
Taillebourg. His reign saw the annexation of several provinces, notably Normandy, 
Maine and Provence.

Louis IX was a reformer and developed French royal justice, in which the king is the 
supreme judge to whom anyone is able to appeal to seek the amendment of a 
judgment. He banned trials by ordeal, tried to prevent the private wars that were 
plaguing the country and introduced the presumption of innocence in criminal 
procedure. To enforce the correct application of this new legal system, Louis IX 
created provosts and bailiffs.

According to his vow made after a serious illness, and confirmed after a miraculous 
cure, Louis IX took an active part in the Seventh and Eighth Crusade in which he died 
from dysentery. He was succeeded by his son Philip III.

Louis's actions were inspired by Christian values and Catholic devotion. He decided to 
punish blasphemy, gambling, interest-bearing loans and prostitution, and bought 
presumed relics of Christ for which he built the Sainte-Chapelle. He also expanded the 
scope of the Inquisition and ordered the burning of Talmuds. He is the only canonized 
king of France, and there are consequently many places named after him.
Sources[edit]

Much of what is known of Louis's life comes from Jean de Joinville's famous Life of 
Saint Louis. Joinville was a close friend, confidant, and counsellor to the king, and 
also participated as a witness in the papal inquest into Louis' life that ended with his 
canonisation in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII.

Two other important biographies were written by the king's confessor, Geoffrey of 
Beaulieu, and his chaplain, William of Chartres. The fourth important source of 
information is William of Saint-Parthus' biography,[1] which he wrote using the papal 
inquest mentioned above. While several individuals wrote biographies in the decades 
following the king's death, only Jean of Joinville, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and William of 
Chartres wrote from personal knowledge of the king.

Early life[edit]

Louis was born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of Prince Louis the Lion 
and Princess Blanche, and baptised in La Collégiale Notre-Dame church. His 
grandfather on his father's side was Philip II, king of France; while his grandfather on 
his mother's side was Alfonso VIII, king of Castile. Tutors of Blanche's choosing 
taught him most of what a king must know—Latin, public speaking, writing, military arts, 
and government.[2] He was 9 years old when his grandfather Philip II died and his 
father ascended as Louis VIII.[3] A member of the House of Capet, Louis was twelve 
years old when his father died on 8 November 1226. He was crowned king within the 
month at Reims cathedral. Because of Louis's youth, his mother ruled France as 
regent during his minority.[4]

Louis' mother trained him to be a great leader and a good Christian. She used to say:
[5]

I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather 
see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin.

His younger brother Charles I of Sicily (1227–85) was created count of Anjou, thus 
founding the second Angevin dynasty.

No date is given for the beginning of Louis's personal rule. His contemporaries viewed 
his reign as co-rule between the king and his mother, though historians generally view 
the year 1234 as the year in which Louis began ruling personally, with his mother 
assuming a more advisory role.[6] She continued to have a strong influence on the 
king until her death in 1252.[4][7]

Marriage[edit]

On 27 May 1234, Louis married Margaret of Provence (1221 – 21 December 1295), 
whose sister Eleanor later became the wife of Henry III of England. The new queen's 
religious devotion made her a well suited partner for the king. He enjoyed her 
company, and was pleased to show her the many public works he was making in Paris, 
both for its defense and for its health. They enjoyed riding together, reading, and 
listening to music. This attention raised a certain amount of jealousy in his mother, 
who tried to keep them apart as much as she could.[8]
Children[edit]
1.Blanche (12 July/4 December[25] 1240 – 29 April 1243), died in infancy.
2.Isabella (2 March 1241 – 28 January 1271), married Theobald II of Navarre.
3.Louis (23 September 1243/24 February 1244[25] – 11 January/2 February 1260). 
Betrothed to Berengaria of Castile in Paris on 20 August 1255.[25]
4.Philip III (1 May 1245 – 5 October 1285), married firstly to Isabella of Aragon in 1262 
and secondly to Maria of Brabant in 1274.
5.John (1246/1247[25] – 10 March 1248), died in infancy.
6.John Tristan (8 April 1250 – 3 August 1270), Count of Valois, married Yolande of 
Burgundy.
7.Peter (1251 – 6/7 April 1284), Count of Perche and Alençon, married Joanne of 
Châtillon.
8.Blanche (early 1253[25] – 17 June 1320), married Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of 
Castile.
9.Margaret (early 1255[25] – July 1271), married John I, Duke of Brabant.
10.Robert (1256 – 7 February 1317), Count of Clermont, married Beatrice of Burgundy. 
The French crown devolved upon his male-line descendant, Henry IV, when the 
legitimate male line of Robert's older brother Philip III died out in 1589.
11.Agnes (1260 – 19/20 December 1327[25]), married Robert II, Duke of Burgundy.

Louis had his two children that died in infancy to be buried at the Cistercian abbey of 
Royaumont; in 1820 they were transferred to Saint-Denis Basilica.[26]

Death and legacy[edit]
During his second crusade, Louis died at Tunis on 25 August 1270, in an epidemic of 
dysentery that swept through his army.[22][27][28] As Tunis was Muslim territory, his 
body was subject to the process known as mos Teutonicus (a postmortem funerary 
custom used in medieval Europe whereby the flesh was boiled from the body, so that 
the bones of the deceased could be transported hygienically from distant lands back 
home) for its transportation back to France.[29] He was succeeded by his son, Philip 
III.

His heart and intestines, however, were conveyed by his younger brother, Charles of 
Anjou, for burial in the cathedral of Monreale near Palermo.[30] His bones were 
carried in a lengthy processional across Sicily, Italy, the Alps, and France, until they 
were interred in the royal necropolis at Saint-Denis in May 1271.[31] Charles and 
Philip later disbursed a number of relics to promote his veneration.[32]

Veneration as a saint[edit]

Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the canonization of Louis in 1297;[33] he is the only 
French king to be declared a saint.[34] Louis IX is often considered the model of the 
ideal Christian monarch.[33] The impact of his canonization was so great that many of 
his successors were named Louis.

Named in his honour, the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis is a Roman Catholic religious 
order founded in Vannes, France, in 1803.[35] A similar order, the Sisters of St Louis, 
was founded in Juilly in 1842.[36][37]

He is honoured as co-patron of the Third Order of St. Francis, which claims him as a 
member of the Order. Even in childhood, his compassion for the poor and suffering 
people had been obvious to all who knew him and when he became king, over a 
hundred poor people ate in his house on ordinary days. Often the king served these 
guests himself. Such acts of charity, coupled with Louis' devout religious practices, 
gave rise to the legend that he joined the Third Order of St. Francis. Though it is 
unlikely that Louis did join the order, his life and actions proclaimed him one of them in 
spirit.[2]
Places named after Saint Louis[edit]

The cities of San Luis Potosí in Mexico; St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis Park, 
Minnesota; St. Louis, Michigan; San Luis, Arizona; San Luis, Colorado; Saint-Louis du 
Sénégal; Saint-Louis in Alsace; as well as Lake Saint-Louis in Quebec, the Mission 
San Luis Rey de Francia in California and São Luís, Maranhão in Brazil are among the 
many places named after the French king and saint.

The Cathedral Saint-Louis in Versailles; the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France and 
the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, both in St. Louis, Missouri; and the St. Louis 
Cathedral, New Orleans were also named for the king. The French royal Order of Saint 
Louis (1693–1790 and 1814–1830), the Île Saint-Louis as well as a hospital in the 10th 
arrondissement of Paris also bear his name. The national church of France in Rome 
also carries his name: San Luigi dei Francesi in Italian or Saint Louis of France in 
English. Also the Cathedral of St Louis in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the Church of St Louis in 
Moscow, Russia, and rue Saint Louis of Pondicherry

Port-Louis, the capital city of Mauritius, as well as its cathedral are also named after 
St. Louis, who is the patron saint of the island.

Notable portraits[edit]

A bas-relief of St. Louis is one of the carved portraits of historic lawmakers that 
adorns the chamber of the United States House of Representatives.

Saint Louis is also portrayed on a frieze depicting a timeline of important lawgivers 
throughout world history in the Courtroom at the Supreme Court of the United States.

A statue of St. Louis by the sculptor John Donoghue stands on the roofline of the New 
York State Appellate Division Court at 27 Madison Avenue in New York City.

The Apotheosis of St. Louis is an equestrian statue of the saint, by Charles Henry 
Niehaus, that stands in front of the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park.

A heroic portrait by Baron Charles de Steuben hangs in the Basilica of the National 
Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. An 1821 gift of King 
Louis XVIII of France, it depicts St. Louis burying his plague-stricken troops before the 
siege of Tunis at the beginning of the Eighth Crusade in 1270.

In fiction[edit]
Davis, William Stearns, "Falaise of the Blessed Voice" aka "The White Queen". New 
York, NY: Macmillan, 1904
Peter Berling, The Children of the Grail
Jules Verne, "To the Sun?/Off on a Comet!" A comet takes several bits of the Earth 
away when it grazes the Earth. Some people, taken up at the same time, find the 
Tomb of Saint Louis is one of the bits, as they explore the comet.


Parents
____ Louis VIII "the Lion" (3 Sep 1187 - 8 Nov 1226)
DE CASTILE Blanche (Blanca) Alphonsa (BEF 4 Mar 1188 - 27 Nov 1252)

Siblings
____ Louis IX "Saint Louis" (25 Apr 1215 - 25 Aug 1270)
____ Robert I (25 Sep 1216 - 9 Feb 1250)
____ Charles I (21 Mar 1227 - 7 Jan 1285)

Marriage To DE PROVENCE Margaret (Marguerite) (1221 - 21 Dec 1295)
    m. 27 May 1234 Sens, France

Notes

Parents
BERENGER Raimund V (IV) (ABT 1195 - 19 Aug 1245)
DE SAVOY Beatrice (ABT 1198 - Dec 1266)

Children by DE PROVENCE Margaret (Marguerite) 1221 - 21 Dec 1295
____ Philippe III "le Hardi" ("the Bold") (1 May 1245 - 5 Oct 1285)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017