King Saint Louis FRANCE, IX

   Other names for Saint were FRANCE King and Louis Saint.

   Ancestral File Number: 8XJD-KF.

   General Notes:

King of FRANCE Reigned 1226-1270, SAINT Louis Canonized 1297.

BOOKS
Kings and Queens of Europe, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute 1989: "Louis IX, Son Louis VIII, King of France 1226-1270, Mar Marguerite Daughter of Raimond V Provence, Died 1270."

A History of the Plantagenets, Vol III, The Three Edwards, Thomas B Costain, 1958, Doubleday & Co
p88: "One of themeasures adopted by St. Louis to make sure that his people did not suffer from injustice under feudal law was the appointment of a corps of inspectors, known as inquisitor-reformers. These men were everywhere throughout the kingdom, attending the trials and listening to evidence, and reporting cases where any degree of unfairness could be charged. The greathearted king had, it is said, thousands of these inspectors at work to keep an eye on the dukes and counts and their bailiffs. Ina world where police rule has so often been supreme, this practice in a faraway day is like a glimpse of Utopia..."

A History of The Plantagenets, Vol II, The Magnificent Century, Thomas B Costain, 1951, Doubleday & Co, p137:
"Count Raimund was so poor, in fact, that he never possessed enough money to make up a suitable dowry for any of his beautiful daughters. He had an asset of much greater value than gold, however, an officer named Romeo of Villeneuve, who possessed such ashrewd head on his threadbare shoulders that he could devise ways and means of snaring kings for the lovely brood without paying out as much as a single coin. This Romeo had already managed to marry Marguerite to King Louis of France. It wouldhave been a most successful match if the mother of Louis, Blanche of Castile, had not become so accustomed to running the kingdom and keeping the royal household under her thumb that she could not share her son with another woman. Blanche madeso much trouble for the young couple that they were only happy in their castle at Pontoise, where the King's chambers were directly above those of the young Queen and there and there was a discrete winding stair connecting them. The two married lovers used to meet on the stair in great secrecy, after setting watchers to give them warning if the formidable tread of the Queen Mother were heard on either floor."
p223: The nuptials of Edward and Eleanora brought together in one sense the three great kings of the thirteenth century. The first was Edward himself, who would become in time the most illustrious of them all, a framer of just laws, a farseeing constitutional reformer, a doer and not a dreamer. The second was Alfonso, his brother-in-law, who was perhaps the most brilliant of all rulers but who, unfortunately for himself and the people of Spain, lacked the capacity to transmute ideas into actualities...
p225: "The third of the trio of great kingswas St. Louis of France, whose participation in the nuptials came after the return from Spain.
"Louis was quite different from the other two, a monarch who achieved luster not by what he accomplished byt by greatness of character. This tall (Joinville says he stood a full head over his average subject) and truly saintly mand conceived of kingship as a trust from God, and of life as no more than a preparation for eternity. He rose before dawn to hear matins in his chapel, contented himself with frugal meals, refused rich sauces, never allowed himself sweet dishes, and drowned his wine in water. He prayed for two hours each evening after compline and never went to bed until his couch had been sprinkled with holy water.None of the lighter sides of life appealed to him. There were no minstrels or jesters at his court, but if visitors brought their own entertainment he would listen to the singing of `Robin m'aime, Robin m'a' and witness the conjuring tricks with attention but no trace of enjoyment. The money which ordinarily would nove been expended in tournaments and festivities went into charity instead. He gave seven thousand pounds each year to the mendicant orders and distributed sixty thousandherrings annually to the poor of Paris. To the members of his court he gave, with a straight face, hair shirts as gifts. He built no castles during the whole of his reign, but splendid hospitals were raised by the royal bounty.
"Although Louis was not a reformer in the usual sense of the word and contributed no new laws or economic ideas, the memory of his justice and of his saintly life persisted down the ages."

The Political History of England 1216-1377, Vol III, T F Tout, 1905, AMS Press, p62: "...[1241] The position of the French monarchy was far stronger than it had been when Henry first intervened in continental politics. Blanche of Castile had broken the back of the feudal coalition...Louis IX attained his majoirity in 1235, and his first care was to strengthen his power in his newly won dominions..."

p69: "[1248-1258] The relations between England and France remained anomalous. Formal peace was impossible, since France would yield nothing, and theEnglish king still claimed Normandy and Aquitaine. Yet neither Henry nor Louis had any wish for war. They had married sisters; they were personally friendly, and were both lovers of peace..."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk V, The Climax of Christianity, Ch XXV, The Recovery of Europe, Sec XI France, p690: "[Philip II's] son Louis VIII (1223-1226) ruled too briefly to accomplish much; history remembers him chiefly for having married the admirable Blanche of Castile and begetting by her the one man in history who, like Ashoka in ancient India, succeeded in being at once and in fact a saint and a king...of untarnished virtue as wife and widow [Louis IX was twelve, his mother thirty- eight, when Louis VIII died], and her devotion as the mother of eleven children..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol II, p72, Blanche of Castile: "Born 1188 Palencia Spain, Died 12 Nov 1252 Paris, the wife of Louis VIII, mother ofLouis IX (Saint Louis), and twice regent of France, contributed much to the unification of French territories. After her marriage to Louis VIII in 1200 her loyalty attached to France. She gave birth to Louis, the future French king in 1214. After an unsucessful attempt to seize the English throne (1216), she became involved in a war against the heretical Cathari. On the death of her husband (1226) she became a regent. She gradually subdued a rebellion of barons that was supported bythe English king Henry III, established a truce with England, and pacified southern France. When Louis came of age (1236), Blanche remained a loyal supporter and again served as regent (1248-1252) during his absence on the Seventh Crusade."

The World Book Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol XVII, p44, Saint Louis: "Alias St Louis the Crusader. Two French fur traders, Pierre Laclede Liguest (Abt 1724-1778) and Rene Auguste Chouteau, established a trading post on the site of Saint Louis in 1764.Laclede named the settlement after Louis IX, a French king who had been made a saint."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Ch XXIII, The Crusades, p607-608. "The saintly Louis IX of France organized the Seventh Crusade. In 1248, Louis set out with his French knights, including Jean Sieur de Joinville, who would narrate the exploits of his King in a famous chronicle. When the army resumed its march it was depleted by hunger, disease, and desertion, and weakened with indiscipline. At Mansura, despite brave fighting, it was defeated, and fled in wild rout; 10,000 Christians were captured, including Louis himself, fainting with dysentery (1250). An Arab physician cured him; after a month oftribulation he was released, but only in return for the surrender of Damietta, and a ransom of 500,000 livres. In 1254 he returned to France. Roused to new fervor in his old age, Louis Ix took the cross a second time (1267). His three sons followed his example; but the French nobility rejected his plans a quixotic, and refused to join; even Joinville, who loved him, would have none of this Eighth Crusade. The King, wise in government and foolish in war, had hardly touched African soil [in Tunisia] when he `fell sick of a flux in the stomach' and died with the word `Jerusalem' on his lips (1270)."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol II, p532, Capetian dynasty: "Among the most notable of the Capetians were...Louis IX (reigned 1226-1270), whose devotion to justice and saintly life greatly enhanced the prestige of the monarchy throughout its history..."

Vol VI, p344, Louis IX of France: "also called Saint Louis, King of France, Born 25 Apr 1214 Poissy France, Died 25 Aug 1270 near Tunis, most popular of the Capetian monarchs, from 1226, and one of the most celebrated figures of medieval history.
"Louis IX became king at the age of 12 under the regency of his mother, Blanche of Castile. By attacking rebellious barons, he strengthened the royal authority and, with each truce, made progress toward a peace that would end the first hundred-year war between France and England. A pious king, he founded (1228) the Abbey of Royaumont. In 1248 he led the Sixth crusade to the Holy Land. He improved relations with England by recognizing Henry III as Duke of Aquitaine, for which Henry did homage to him...He embarked on another Crusade (1270) to Tunisia, where he died. Louis was canonized (1297) by Pope Boniface VIII."

Europe in the Middle Ages, Robert S Hoyt, 1957, Harcourt Brace & Co, p468: "On his death Louis VIII left a will to be executed by his oldest son, (Saint) Louis IX, directing that when his sons came of age his second son should be given Artois, his third son, Alphonse, who married the heiress of Toulouse, should have Poitou, and his youngest son, Charles, whom we shall meet later as King of the Two Sicilies and founder of the Angevin royalhouse of Naples, was to have Anjou..."

The Wall Chart of World History, Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, France 1226: "Louis IX, Son of Louis VIII, King of France 1226-1270, 7th Crusade 1248, 8th Crusade 1270, and died at Tunis..."

ANCESTAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.10 8XJD-KF.

INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX
IGI Birth T990834-18-1396383 Louis IX Kingof FRANCE Father Louis VIII King of FRANCE.

IGI Marriage T990835-25-1396383 Marguerite De PROVENCE Spouse Louis IX King of FRANCE 27 May 1234 Sens Yonne France.

   Marriage Information:

Saint married Countess Marguerite De PROVENCE, daughter of Count Raimond Berenger PROVENCE, VI and Countess Beatrice De SAVOY, on 27 May 1234 in Sens, Yvonne, France. (Countess Marguerite De PROVENCE was born in 1221 in St Maime, Forcalquier, Alpes-DE-Haute, Provence, France, died on 21 Dec 1295 in Paris, Seine, France and was buried in Saint Denis, Seine, France.)