Louis IX of France

Life events

1. Born — 1214

   Louis was born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of Prince Louis (later Louis VIII) and Blanche of Castile, and was baptized in the Collégiale Notre-Dame church at Poissy.

2. Consecrated — 1226

   Following his father's death on 8 November 1226, Louis was crowned King of France on 29 November 1226 at Reims Cathedral, officiated by the bishop of Soissons, at the age of twelve. His mother Blanche of Castile governed as regent during his minority.

3. Other — 1248

   Louis built the Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité in Paris to house the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross, relics he had acquired in 1239–41 from Emperor Baldwin II of the Latin Empire for 135,000 livres. The chapel was consecrated on 26 April 1248.

4. Pilgrimage — 1249

   Louis led the Seventh Crusade, landing in Egypt on 4–5 June 1249 and capturing the port of Damietta. On 8 February 1250 his army was defeated at the Battle of Fariskur and he was taken prisoner by the Egyptians, secured his release with a ransom of 400,000 bezants and the surrender of Damietta.

5. Pilgrimage — 1250

   After his release from captivity in Egypt, Louis spent four years (1250–1254) fortifying the Kingdom of Jerusalem, concentrating his efforts at Acre, Caesarea, and Jaffa, and conducting diplomacy with the Ayyubid dynasty before returning to France in July 1254.

6. Other — 1254

   In December 1254 Louis promulgated the Great Reform Ordinance, a comprehensive set of ethical rules governing royal officers including baillis and enquêteurs, aimed at eliminating corruption and standardizing legal proceedings. He had earlier abolished trials by ordeal and combat, and introduced the presumption of innocence in criminal proceedings.

7. Died — 1270

   Louis died of dysentery on 25 August 1270 at Tunis during the Eighth Crusade, which he had launched after taking the cross at Paris on 24 March 1267. His bones were carried in a processional across Sicily, Italy, the Alps, and France before interment at the royal necropolis at Saint-Denis in May 1271.

8. Other — 1297

   Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed Louis's canonization in 1297, following a papal inquest in which Jean de Joinville, Louis's close friend and counselor, testified. Louis IX is the only French king to have been declared a saint.

Relationships

Documented claims

• To acquire the Crown of Thorns from Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople, Louis paid 135,000 livres — more than twice what the Sainte-Chapelle itself cost to construct — settling a debt Baldwin had pledged the relic against to a Venetian merchant. (certain)
• In 1242, following the Disputation of Paris (1240), Louis ordered the burning of approximately 12,000 copies of the Talmud and other Jewish books, an action that drew on but ultimately exceeded the directive of Pope Gregory IX. (certain)
• According to contemporary accounts and local legends, Louis frequently sat under an oak tree in the forest of Vincennes near Paris to personally hear cases and render judgements for his subjects. (plausible)
• Jean de Joinville, who served as Louis's close friend, counselor, and eyewitness companion on the Seventh Crusade, wrote the Life of Saint Louis from personal experience and later testified at the papal inquest that led to Louis's canonization in 1297. (certain)
• In a spiritual testament written c. 1267, Louis addressed his son Philip III: 'My dearest son, you should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin.' (likely)