Editing Louis IX of France (section)

== Louis as king ==

=== Arts ===
[[File:Louis-innocentiv.jpg|thumb|[[Pope Innocent IV]] with Louis IX at [[Cluny]]]]

Louis's patronage of the arts inspired much innovation in [[Gothic art]] and [[Gothic architecture|architecture]]. The style of his court was influential throughout Europe, both because of artwork purchased from Parisian masters for export, and by the marriage of the king's daughters and other female relatives to foreigners. They became emissaries of Parisian models and styles elsewhere. Louis's personal chapel, the ''[[Sainte-Chapelle]]'' in Paris, which was known for its intricate stained-glass windows, was copied more than once by his descendants elsewhere. Louis is believed to have ordered the production of the [[Morgan Bible]] and the [[Arsenal Bible]], both deluxe [[illuminated manuscript]]s.

During the so-called "golden century of Saint Louis", the kingdom of France was at its height in Europe, both politically and economically. Saint Louis was regarded as ''"[[primus inter pares]]",'' first among equals, among the kings and rulers of the continent. He commanded the largest army and ruled the largest and wealthiest kingdom, the European centre of arts and intellectual thought at the time. The foundations for the notable college of theology, later known as the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], were laid in Paris about the year 1257.<ref name="crawley">{{cite web|title=St. Louis IX of France {{!}} EWTN|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/louis-ix-of-france-672|website=[[EWTN|EWTN Global Catholic Television Network]]|access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref>

=== Arbitration ===
[[File:Premier sceau de majesté de Louis IX détouré.png|thumb|Seal of Louis IX, legend: {{Smallcaps|lvdovicvs di gra(tia) francorvm rex}}<br/>{{small|("''Louis, by the grace of God, king of the [[Franks]]''")}}]]

The prestige and respect felt by Europeans for King Louis IX were due more to the appeal of his personality 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 for fairness and even saintliness was already well established while he was alive, and on many occasions he was chosen as an arbiter in quarrels among the rulers of Europe.<ref name="goyau" />

Shortly before 1256, [[Enguerrand IV, Lord of Coucy]], arrested and without trial hanged three young squires of Laon, whom he accused of poaching in his forest. In 1256 Louis had the lord arrested and brought to the [[Palais du Louvre|Louvre]] by his sergeants. Enguerrand demanded judgment by his peers and trial by battle, which the king refused because he thought it obsolete. Enguerrand was tried, sentenced, and ordered to pay 12,000 livres. Part of the money was to pay for [[Mass (liturgy)|masses]] to be said in perpetuity for the souls of the men he had hanged.

In 1258, Louis and [[James I of Aragon]] signed the [[Treaty of Corbeil (1258)|Treaty of Corbeil]] to end areas of contention between them. By this treaty, Louis renounced his feudal overlordship over the [[County of Barcelona]] and [[Roussillon]], which was held by the King of Aragon. James in turn renounced his feudal overlordship over several counties in southern France, including [[Provence]] and [[Languedoc]]. In 1259 Louis signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1259)|Treaty of Paris]], by which [[Henry III of England]] was confirmed in his possession of territories in southwestern France, and Louis received the provinces of [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], Normandy (Normandie), [[Poitou]], Maine, and [[Touraine]].<ref name="Encarta-Louis" />

=== Religion ===
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The perception of Louis IX by his contemporaries as the exemplary Christian prince was reinforced by his religious zeal. Louis was an extremely devout Catholic, and he built the ''[[Sainte-Chapelle]]'' ("Holy Chapel"),<ref name="goyau" /> 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 prime 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 [[relic]]s of the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]] of Christ. He acquired these in 1239–41 from Emperor [[Baldwin II, Latin Emperor|Baldwin II]] of the [[Latin Empire]] of [[Constantinople]] by agreeing to pay off Baldwin's debt to the Venetian merchant Niccolo Quirino, for which Baldwin had pledged the Crown of Thorns as collateral.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Guerry|first1=Emily|date=18 April 2019|title=Dr|url=http://theconversation.com/notre-dame-how-christs-crown-of-thorns-has-survived-crusades-political-upheaval-and-a-fire-but-only-just-115731|access-date=1 July 2019|website=The Conversation}}</ref> Louis IX paid the exorbitant sum of 135,000 [[French livre|livres]] to clear the debt.

[[File:San Domenico47.jpg|thumb|left|[[Reliquary]] of Saint Louis (end of the 13th century) [[Basilica of Saint Dominic]], [[Bologna]], Italy]]

In 1230, the king forbade all forms of [[usury]], defined at the time as any taking of interest and therefore covering most banking activities. Louis used these anti-usury laws to extract funds from Jewish and Lombard moneylenders, with the hopes that it would help pay for a future crusade.<ref name="crawley" /> Louis also oversaw the [[Disputation of Paris]] in 1240, in which Paris's Jewish leaders were imprisoned and forced to admit to anti-Christian passages in the Talmud, the major source of Jewish commentaries on the Bible and religious law. As a result of the disputation, Pope [[Gregory IX]] declared that all copies of the Talmud should be seized and destroyed. In 1242, Louis ordered the burning of 12,000 copies of the Talmud, along with other important Jewish books and scripture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Burning of the Talmud|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/burning-of-the-talmud|access-date=29 June 2022|website=jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> The edict against the Talmud was eventually overturned by Gregory IX's successor, [[Innocent IV]].<ref name="The Pope Who Saved the Talmud" />

Louis also expanded the scope of the [[Inquisition]] in France. He set the punishment for [[blasphemy]] to [[mutilation]] of the tongue and lips.<ref name="Bobineau" /> The area most affected by this expansion was southern France, where the [[Cathar]] sect had been strongest. The rate of confiscation of property from the Cathars and others reached its highest levels in the years before his first crusade and slowed upon his return to France in 1254.

In 1250, Louis headed a crusade to Egypt and was taken prisoner. During his captivity, he recited the [[Canonical hours|Divine Office]] every day. After his release against ransom, he visited the Holy Land before returning to France.<ref name="SHMI" /> In these deeds, Louis IX tried to fulfill what he considered the duty of France 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 [[Pope Leo III]] in Rome in 800. The kings of France were known in the Church by the title "most Christian king" (''Rex Christianissimus'').

Louis founded many hospitals and houses: the House of the [[Filles-Dieu]] for reformed prostitutes; the [[Quinze-Vingts National Eye Hospital|Quinze-Vingt]] for 300 blind men (1254), and hospitals at Pontoise, Vernon, and Compiègne.<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle= St. Louis IX |volume= 9 |last= Goyau |first= Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges |short=1}}</ref>

St. Louis installed a house of the [[Trinitarian Order]] at [[Palace of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]], his chateau and estate near Paris. He chose Trinitarians as his chaplains and was accompanied by them on his crusades. In his spiritual testament he wrote, "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."<ref name="SHMI" />
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Louis authored and sent the ''Enseignements'', or teachings, to his son [[Philip III of France|Philip III]]. The letter outlined how Philip should follow the example of Jesus Christ in order to be a moral leader.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Greer Fein|first1=Susanna|title=Art. 94, Enseignements de saint Lewis a Philip soun fitz: Introduction {{!}} Robbins Library Digital Projects|url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/fein-harley2253-volume-3-article-94-introduction|access-date=21 December 2020|website=d.lib.rochester.edu}}</ref> The letter is estimated to have been written in 1267, three years before Louis's death.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Connell|first1=David|url=https://archive.org/details/teachingsofsaint00ocon|title=The teachings of Saint Louis; a critical text|publisher=Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press|year=1972|pages=46–49}}</ref>

=== Legal reforms ===
[[File:Wexford_Friary_Window_Saint_Louis_IX_King_of_France_Detail_2010_09_29.jpg|thumb|Detail of stained glass window, depicting St. Louis, created by Leopold Lobin]]

Louis IX's most enduring domestic achievements came through his comprehensive reform of the French legal system. He created mechanisms that allowed subjects to appeal judicial decisions directly to the monarch, establishing a precedent for royal courts as the ultimate arbiters of justice in the kingdom. One of his most significant legal innovations was the abolition of trials by ordeal and combat, practices that had determined guilt or innocence through physical tests rather than evidence. Louis was the second European monarch after [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]] to outlaw trial by ordeal, and in its place, Louis introduced the groundbreaking concept of presumption of innocence in criminal proceedings, fundamentally altering how justice was administered throughout the kingdom. These reforms collectively established a more rational and equitable legal framework that would influence French jurisprudence for centuries.

Prior to his departure on crusade in 1248, Louis had sent ''enquêteurs'' across the kingdom to receive complaints about royal injustice, investigate those claims, and provide restitutions to deserving petitioners. Based on the evidence of administrative corruption and malfeasance compiled in the enquêteurs' reports, as well as the disastrous failure of the crusade itself, in the last sixteen years of his reign Louis initiated a sweeping series of reforms.<ref name="arks1"/> This reform program was highlighted by the promulgation in December 1254 of what is known as the Great Reform Ordinance, a wide-ranging set of ethical principles and practical rules concerning the conduct and moral integrity of royal officers including ''baillis'' and ''enquêteurs''. To ensure that the ordinance's precepts were upheld and enforced, the crown simultaneously relied upon a broad array of preventive strategies, intensive supervision, and accountability procedures, chief among them the reintroduction of the "enquêtes".<ref>[[William Chester Jordan]], ''Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979), pp. 35–64, 135–181; and Jean Richard, ''Saint Louis, roi d'une France féodale, soutien de la Terre sainte'' (Paris: Fayard, 1983), ed. and abridged by Simon Lloyd, trans. Jean Birrell as ''Saint Louis: Crusader King of France'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 156–183.</ref> A 1261 inquest into the conduct of Mathieu de Beaune, bailli of [[Vermandois]], illustrates Louis's commitment to accountability: testimonies from 247 witnesses were collected to investigate corruption allegations, showcasing the crown's rigorous oversight mechanisms and its mission to create a more transparent judiciary.<ref name="arks1"/> Such measures reduced localized abuses of power and standardized legal proceedings across the realm.

Perhaps most emblematic of Louis's commitment to justice was his personal involvement in judicial proceedings. According to many local legends and contemporary accounts, the king frequently sat under a great oak tree in the forest of Vincennes near Paris, where he would personally hear cases and render judgements.<ref name="life1">[[Jean de Joinville]], ''Life of Saint Louis''</ref>

=== Scholarship and learning ===
[[File:Tommaso_-_Summa_theologica,_1596_-_4593718.tif|thumb|A copy of Thomas Aquinas's "Summa theologica", widely regarded as the epitome of medieval, scholastic and Christian theology]]

The reign of Louis IX coincided with a remarkable intellectual flourishing in France, particularly in Paris, which emerged as Europe's pre-eminent center of learning during Louis's reign.
Scholars like [[William of Auvergne]] played a crucial role in shaping the intellectual landscape of Europe during his reign. William of Auvergne's monumental ''Magisterium divinale'' (1223–1240) attempted to reconcile [[Aristotelian philosophy]] with Christian doctrine, particularly challenges posed by Arabic commentaries on Aristotle. He was greatly favored by the crown and also served as a member of the regency council that ruled France in absence of the king during the seventh crusade.<ref>[[William of Auvergne]]</ref>

Perhaps greatest of all the intellectual minds active in France during Louis's reign was the theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]]. Aquinas's association with Paris represents one of the most fruitful collaborations between scholasticism and intellectual endeavor. Though Italian by birth, Aquinas conducted his most important work at the [[University of Paris]], where he held the Dominican chair in theology twice (1256–1259 and 1269–1272). His [[Summa Theologica]], widely considered to be the epitome of medieval scholastic theology, synthesized Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology in an unprecedented systematic framework at a time when Aristotle was just getting popular in Europe again.<ref>Gilson, Etienne (1991). The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy (Gifford Lectures 1933–35). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. p. 490. ISBN 978-0-268-01740-8.</ref> 

Another major scholastic figure,the German Dominican [[Albertus Magnus]], was also active at the University of Paris from 1245 to 1248. His experimental approach to natural sciences, exemplified by botanical studies and mineralogical investigations, prefigured later scientific methods while maintaining a theological framework.<ref>Harran, Marilyn J. "Albertus Magnus, Saint." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. Feb. 27, 2013.</ref>Louis IX's support for Dominican institutions facilitated Albertus's work, which helped transform Paris into the primary center for Aristotelian studies.