Editing Louis IX of France (section)

=== 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" />