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LOUIS IX, King of France, and Margaret of Provence

HUSBAND:
LOUIS IX, King of France. [CHART A1].
Born 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, France; son of LOUIS VIII, King of France, and Blanche of Castile.

King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237.

He worked with the Parlement of Paris in order to improve the professionalism of his administration in regards to legal actions.

He is the only canonized king of France; consequently, there are many places named after him, most notably St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. Saint Louis was also a tertiary of the Order of the Holy Trinity and Captives (known as the Trinitarians), some claim he was a Franciscan tertiary instead. On 11 June 1256, the General Chapter of the Trinitarian Order formally affiliated Louis IX at the famous monastery of Cerfroid, which had been constructed by Felix of Valois north of Paris.

Much of what is known of Louis's life comes from Jean de Joinville's famous biography of Louis, 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 canonization in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII.

A coin of Saint Louis, Latin inscription, reads LVDOVICVS (i.e. "Louis") DEI GRACIA (i.e. "by the Grace of God", where Latin gratia was spelt gracia) FRANCOR REX (i.e. "King of the Franks", where Francor is the abbreviation of Francorum).

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-Pathus' biography, 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.

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.

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. She continued as an important counselor to the king until her death in 1252.

On 27 May 1234, Louis married Marguerite of Provence (1221 – 21 December 1295), whose sister Eleanor was the wife of Henry III of England.

When he was 15, Louis' mother brought an end to the Albigensian Crusade in 1229 after signing an agreement with Count Raymond VII of Toulouse that cleared his father of wrong-doing. Raymond VI of Toulouse had been suspected of murdering a preacher on a mission to convert the Cathars.

Louis's piety and kindness towards the poor was much celebrated. He went on two crusades, in his mid-30s in 1248 (Seventh Crusade) and then again in his mid-50s in 1270 (Eighth Crusade).

He had begun with the rapid capture of the port of Damietta in June 1249,[1] an attack which did cause some disruption in the Muslim Ayyubid empire, especially as the current sultan was on his deathbed. But the march from Damietta towards Cairo through the Nile River Delta went slowly. During this time, the Ayyubid sultan died, and a sudden power shift took place, as the sultan's slave wife Shajar al-Durr set events in motion which were to make her Queen, and eventually place the Egyptians' slave army of the Mamluks in power. On 6 April 1250 Louis lost his army at the Battle of Fariskur[2] and was captured by the Egyptians. His release was eventually negotiated, in return for a ransom of 400,000 livres tournois (at the time France's annual revenue was only about 250,000 livres tournois, so it was necessary to obtain a loan from the Templars), and the surrender of the city of Damietta.

Following his release from Egyptian captivity, Louis spent four years in the crusader Kingdoms of Acre, Caesarea, and Jaffe. Louis used his wealth to assist the crusaders in rebuilding their defenses and conducting diplomacy with the Islamic powers of Syria and Egypt. Upon his departure from the Middle East, Louis left a significant garrison in the city of Acre for its defense against Islamic attacks. The historic presence of this French garrison in the Middle East was later used as a justification for the French Mandate.

Louis exchanged multiple letters and emissaries with Mongol rulers of the period. During his first crusade in 1248, Louis was approached by envoys from Eljigidei, the Mongol ruler of Armenia and Persia.[4] Eljigidei suggested that King Louis should land in Egypt, while Eljigidei attacked Baghdad, in order to prevent the Saracens of Egypt and those of Syria from joining forces. Louis sent André de Longjumeau, a Dominican priest, as an emissary to the Great Khan Güyük Khan in Mongolia. However, Güyük died before the emissary arrived at his court, and nothing concrete occurred. Louis dispatched another envoy to the Mongol court, the Franciscan William of Rubruck, who went to visit the Great Khan Möngke Khan in Mongolia.

Pope Innocent IV with Louis IX at ClunyLouis' patronage of the arts drove much innovation in Gothic art and architecture, and the style of his court radiated throughout Europe by both the purchase of art objects from Parisian masters for export and by the marriage of the king's daughters and female relatives to foreign husbands and their subsequent introduction of Parisian models elsewhere. Louis' personal chapel, the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, was copied more than once by his descendants elsewhere. Louis most likely ordered the production of the Morgan Bible, a masterpiece of medieval painting.

Saint Louis ruled during the so-called "golden century of Saint Louis", when the kingdom of France was at its height in Europe, both politically and economically. The king of France was regarded as a primus inter pares among the kings and rulers of the continent. He commanded the largest army, and ruled the largest and most wealthy kingdom of Europe, a kingdom which was the European center of arts and intellectual thought (La Sorbonne) at the time. The prestige and respect felt in Europe for King Louis IX was due more to the attraction that his benevolent personality created rather than to military domination. For his contemporaries, he was the quintessential example of the Christian prince, and embodied the whole of Christendom in his person. His reputation of saintliness and fairness was already well established while he was alive, and on many occasions he was chosen as an arbiter in the quarrels opposing the rulers of Europe.

Shortly before 1256 Enguerrand IV of Coucy arrested and without trial hanged three young squires of Laon whom he accused of poaching in his forest. In 1256 Louis had him arrested and brought to the Louvre by his sergents. Enguerrand demanded judgment by his peers and trial by battle which was refused by the king because Louis thought it obsolete. Enguerrand was tried, sentenced and ordered to pay 12,000 livres. Part of the money was to pay for masses in perpetuity for the men he had hanged.

The Holy Crown of Jesus Christ was bought by Louis IX from Baldwin II of Constantinople. It is preserved today in a 19th century reliquary, in Notre Dame de Paris.The perception of Louis IX as the exemplary Christian prince was reinforced by his religious zeal. Louis was a devout Catholic, and he built the Sainte-Chapelle ("Holy Chapel"), located within the royal palace complex (now the Paris Hall of Justice), on the Île de la Cité in the centre of Paris. The Sainte Chapelle, a perfect example of the Rayonnant style of Gothic architecture, was erected as a shrine for the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross, precious relics of the Passion of Jesus. Louis purchased these in 1239–41 from Emperor Baldwin II of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, for the exorbitant sum of 135,000 livres (the chapel, on the other hand, cost only 60,000 livres to build).

Louis IX took very seriously his mission as "lieutenant of God on Earth", with which he had been invested when he was crowned in Rheims. Thus, in order to fulfill his duty, he conducted two crusades, and even though they were unsuccessful, they contributed to his prestige. Contemporaries would not have understood if the king of France did not lead a crusade to the Holy Land. In order to finance his first crusade Louis ordered the expulsion of all Jews engaged in usury and the confiscation of their property, for use in his crusade. However, he did not cancel the debts owed by Christians. One-third of the debts was forgiven, but the other two-thirds was to be remitted to the royal treasury. Louis also ordered, at the urging of Pope Gregory IX, the burning in Paris in 1243 of some 12,000 manuscript copies of the Talmud and other Jewish books. Such legislation against the Talmud, not uncommon in the history of Christendom, was due to medieval courts' concerns that its production and circulation might weaken the faith of Christian individuals and threaten the Christian basis of society, the protection of which was the duty of any Christian monarch.

Tunique and cilice of Louis IX. Treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris.In addition to Louis's legislation against Jews and usury, he expanded the scope of the Inquisition in France. The area most affected by this expansion was southern France where the Cathar heresy had been strongest. The rate of these confiscations reached its highest levels in the years prior to his first crusade, and slowed upon his return to France in 1254.

Louis IX allowing himself to be whipped as penance.In all these deeds, Louis IX tried to fulfill the duty of France, which was seen as "the eldest daughter of the Church" (la fille aînée de l'Église), a tradition of protector of the Church going back to the Franks and Charlemagne, who had been crowned by the Pope in Rome in 800. Indeed, the official Latin title of the kings of France was Rex Francorum, i.e. "king of the Franks", and the kings of France were also known by the title "most Christian king" (Rex Christianissimus). The relationship between France and the papacy was at its peak in the 12th and 13th centuries, and most of the crusades were actually called by the popes from French soil. Eventually, in 1309, Pope Clement V even left Rome and relocated to the French city of Avignon, beginning the era known as the Avignon Papacy (or, more disparagingly, the "Babylonian captivity").

Louis IX of France was revered as a saint and painted in portraiture well after his death (such portraits may not accurately reflect his appearance). This portrait was painted by El Greco ca 1592–95. King of France, Confessor Born 25 April 1214(1214-04-25), Poissy, France Died 25 August 1270 (aged 56), Tunis in what is now Tunisia

Attributes Depicted as King of France, generally with a crown, holding a sceptre with a fleur-de-lys on the end, possibly with blue clothing with a spread of white fleur-de-lys (coat of arms of the French monarchy) Patronage Third Order of St. Francis, France, French monarchy; hairdressers; passementiers (lacemakers)

Reliquary of Saint Louis (end 13th c.) Basilica of Saint Dominic, Bologna, ItalyDuring his second crusade, Louis died at Tunis, 25 August 1270, and was succeeded by his son, Philip III. Louis was traditionally believed to have died from bubonic plague but the cause is thought by modern scholars to have been dysentery. The Bubonic Plague did not strike Europe until 1348, so the likelihood of him contracting and ultimately dying from the Bubonic Plague was very slim.

Christian tradition states that some of his entrails were buried directly on the spot in Tunisia, where a Tomb of Saint-Louis can still be visited today, whereas other parts of his entrails were sealed in an urn and placed in the Basilica of Monreale, Palermo, where they still remain. His corpse was taken, after a short stay at the Basilica of Saint Dominic in Bologna, to the French royal necropolis at Saint-Denis, resting in Lyon on the way. His tomb at Saint-Denis was a magnificent gilt brass monument designed in the late 14th century. It was melted down during the French Wars of Religion, at which time the body of the king disappeared. Only one finger was rescued and is kept at Saint-Denis.

Louis IX is often considered the model of the ideal Christian monarch. Because of the aura of holiness attached to his memory, many kings of France were called Louis, especially in the Bourbon dynasty, which directly descended from one of his younger sons. [edit] Famous portraits 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. [edit] References ^ Tyerman, p. 787 ^ Trevor N Dupuy (1993). The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History. HarperCollins. p. 417. ^ Tyerman, pp. 789-798 ^ Peter Jackson (July 1980). "The Crisis in the Holy Land in 1260". The English Historical Review 95 (376): 481–513. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266(198007)95%3A376%3C481%3ATCITHL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F. ^ Gigot, Francis E. (1910), "Judaism", The Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, New York: Robert Appleton Company, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08399a.htm, retrieved 2007-08-13 6.^ Barbara W. Tuchman(1978). A Distant Mirror.Random House. p. 13. [edit] Bibliography Joinville, Jean de, La vie de saint Louis, ed. Noel L. Corbett. (Sherbrooke: Naaman, 1977). [edit] External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Louis IX of France Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Louis IX of France Saints portal Goyau, Georges (1910), "St. Louis IX", The Catholic Encyclopedia, IX, New York: Robert Appleton Company, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09368a.htm, retrieved 2007-08-13 John de Joinville. Memoirs of Louis IX, King of France. Chronicle, 1309. Site about The Saintonge War between Louis IX of France and Henry III of England. Account of the first Crusade of Saint Louis from the perspective of the Arabs.. A letter from Guy, a knight, concerning the capture of Damietta on the sixth Crusade with a speech delivered by Saint Louis to his men. Etext full version of the Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville, a biography of Saint Louis written by one of his knights Biography of Saint Louis on the Patron Saints Index Representation of Saint Louis considered to be true to life - Early 14th century statue from the church of Mainneville, Eure, France Reign 8 November 1226 – 25 August 1270 Coronation 29 November 1226 Predecessor Louis VIII Successor Philip III Spouse Marguerite of Provence Issue Isabelle, Queen of Navarre Philip III Jean Tristan, Count of Valois Peter, Count of Perche and Alençon Blanche of France Marguerite, Duchess of Brabant Robert, Count of Clermont Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy He died on 25 August 1270 (aged 56), at Tunis, North Africa; and was buried in the Basilica at Saint Denis.

WIFE:
Margaret of Provence


(Forcalquier, Spring 1221[1] – 21 December 1295, Paris) was the eldest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy. Family Her paternal grandparents were Alfonso II, Count of Provence and Gersende II de Sabran, Countess of Forcalquier. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas I of Savoy and Marguerite of Geneva, daughter of William I of Geneva and Beatrice de Faucigny. Her younger sisters were: Eleanor of Provence became the Queen consort of Henry III of England. Sanchia of Provence who became the Queen consort of Richard, Earl of Cornwall and rival King of the Germans. Beatrice of Provence who was the Queen consort of Charles I of Sicily [edit] Marriage On 27 May 1234 at the age of thirteen, Margaret became the Queen consort of France and wife of Louis IX of France, by whom she had eleven children. She was crowned on the following day.

Margaret, like her sisters, was noted for her beauty, she was said to be "pretty with dark hair and fine eyes",[2] and in the early years of their marriage she and Louis enjoyed a warm relationship. Her Franciscan confessor, William de St. Pathus, related that on cold nights Margaret would place a robe around Louis' shoulders, when her deeply religious husband rose to pray. Another anecdote recorded by St. Pathus related that Margaret felt that Louis' plain clothing was unbecoming to his royal dignity, to which Louis replied that he would dress as she wished, if she dressed as he wished. However, the chronicler Joinville noted with disapproval that Louis rarely asked after his wife and children, and in later years Louis became vexed with Margaret's ambition.

She accompanied Louis on his first crusade and was responsible for negotiations and ransom when he was captured. She was thus for a brief time the only woman ever to lead a crusade. During this period, while in Damietta, she gave birth to Jean Tristran.

After the death of Louis on his second crusade, during which she remained in France, she returned to Provence.

She was devoted to her sister Queen Eleanor of England, and they stayed in contact until Eleanor's death in 1291. Margaret herself died four and a half years after her sister, on 21 December 1295. She was seventy-four years old.

CHILDREN of
  1. Blanche. Born in 1240. She died on 29 April 1243.
  2. Isabella. Queen of Navarre. Born on 2 March 1241. she married Theobald V of Champagne. She died on 28 January 1271.
  3. Louis. Born on 25 February 1244. He died in January 1260.
  4. Philip III, King of France. (Philippe). Born on 1 May 1245. He married (1) Isabella of Aragon, by whom he had issue, including Philip IV of France and Charles, Count of Valois. He married (2) Marie of Brabant, by whom he had issue, including Marguerite of France. He died on 5 October 1285.
  5. John. Born and died in 1248.
  6. John Tristan. (Jean). Born in 1250. He married Yolande of Burgundy. He died on 3 August 1270.
  7. Peter. (Pierre). Born in 1251. Count of Perche and Alençon; Count of Blois and Chartres in right of his wife, Joanne of Châtillon He died in 1284.
  8. Blanche of France. Born in 1253. She married Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile. She died in 1323.
  9. Marguerite, Duchess of Brabant. (Margaret). Born in 1254. She married John I, Duke of Brabant. She died in 1271.
  10. Robert, Count of Clermont. Born in 1256. He married Beatrice of Burgundy, by whom he had issue. He was the ancestor of King Henry IV of France. He died on 7 February 1317.
  11. Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy. Born about 1260. –19 December 1327), She married Robert II, Duke of Burgundy. She died on 19 December 1327.


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