Editing Louis IX of France (section)

=== 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>