Louis IX of France

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Louis IX

(born April 25, 1214, Poissy, France — died Aug. 25, 1279, near Tunis, Tun.; canonized Aug. 11, 1297; feast day August 25) King of France (1226 – 70). He inherited the throne at age 12. His mother served as regent until 1234, helping to subdue rebellious barons and Albigensian heretics (see Cathari). Louis led a Crusade (1248 – 50) in hopes of regaining Jerusalem and Damascus, but his troops were badly defeated by the Egyptians. On his return he reorganized the royal administrative system and standardized coinage. He built the extraordinary Sainte-Chapelle to house a religious relic believed to be Jesus' crown of thorns. Louis made peace with the English in the Treaty of Paris (1259), allowing Henry III to keep Aquitaine and neighboring lands but obliging him to declare himself Louis's vassal. He died of plague during a Crusade. The most popular of the Capetian kings, his reputation for justness and piety led the French to venerate him as a saint even before his canonization in 1297.

For more information on Louis IX, visit Britannica.com.

Search unanswered questions...

Browse: Unanswered questions | Most-recent questions | Reference library

5min Related Video: Louis IX of France

Top

Saints: Louis IX

Top

Louis IX (Lewis IX) (1214–70), king of France. Born at Poissy, the son of Louis VIII and the half-English Blanche of Castile, Louis reigned from his father's death in 1226, but his mother was regent during his minority. In 1234 he married Margaret of Provence and thus became brother-in-law to King Henry III of England. In many respects Louis was a model Christian king, but his lively biographer the Sieur de Joinville (a soldier, not a cleric) portrays him as a human being with faults as well as virtues. His long reign was not an unqualified success: his crusading expeditions were both disastrous, while his arbitrations between Henry III and his barons were not always efficacious. But he ruled France at a time of great cultural achievement, revealed by the building of Gothic cathedrals and the development of universities. Thomas Aquinas and other friars were guests at his table; the founder of the Sorbonne was a personal friend. Louis was also prominent in almsgiving, in founding a hospital for the poor and blind, called Quinze-Vingts (for 300 inmates), while his justice was famous for its impartiality. He also forbade private wars of feudal lords and was well known for keeping his word in treaties and other undertakings. The most famous church he founded was the Sainte-Chapelle at Paris, built to house what was believed to be the relic of Christ's Crown of Thorns, a present from Baldwin, the crusading Latin emperor at Constantinople. His monastic foundations included Royaumont, Vauvert, and Maubuisson.

In 1244 after a serious illness he decided to take the Crusader's cross, but the expedition could not start until 1248 after ecclesiastical benefices had been taxed at the rate of five per cent for three years. Louis sailed to Cyprus with his army (joined there by 200 English knights); in 1249 they took Damietta, but Louis was unable to control the violence and injustice which followed. Disease struck the crusading army which has heavily defeated at Marsuna (1250), when Louis was taken prisoner. He obtained his own release and that of other prisoners, in return for the surrender of Damietta and a large sum of money. He then sailed to Palestine (without the sick and wounded crusaders, who had been massacred), visited those few of the Holy Places which were accessible, fortified the Christians in Syria, and returned to France in 1254. The next fifteen years were notable both for internal reforms and for various political activities concerning England.

From 1267 another crusade was planned. It got under way in 1270 and a landing was made near Tunis. But this expedition also ended in almost total disaster. Louis and his son Philip caught typhoid fever soon after landing; Louis died on 24 August, after strongly urging the Greek ambassadors to seek reunion with the Church of Rome. He was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297. It is difficult to detect any ancient cult of St. Louis in England, partly no doubt because his political activities were sometimes hostile to English interests, but his feast is in the Roman calendar. In France he is traditionally regarded as the patron and example of the monarchy, although it seems regrettable that some French royalists looked for inspiration to the reign of Louis XIV rather than to his. Feast: 25 August.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

Contemporary Life by J. de Joinville, ed. N. de Wailly (1874) with his other works; Eng. tr. by Joan Evans (1938), and by M. R. B. Shaw (1963) in Chronicles of the Crusades; other Lives in AA.SS. Aug. V (1741), 275–758; Louis' instructions to his son and daughter ed. by D. O'Connell (1972 and 1979); G. de Saint-Pathus, Les miracles de Saint Louis (ed. P. B. Fay, 1932), modern Lives by M. W. Labarge (1968), and J. Richard (1983, Eng. tr. 1992). See also W. C. Jordan, Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade (1979)

Biography: Louis IX

Top

Louis IX (1214-1270), or St. Louis, was king of France from 1226 to 1270. One of the greatest French kings, he consolidated the Crown's control over the great lords, proved his passion for justice, and went on two crusades.

Born on April 25, 1214, the oldest of the 12 children of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, the half-Spanish Louis IX grew up to be a tall, handsome, blond, and jovial prince. By temperament nervous and energetic, Louis disciplined himself with fasting. His deeply religious mother raised him to be a truly Christian king and, as such, he applied Christian principles to his public acts as well as his private life. Louis was only 12 when he became king; his Spanish mother, in France since she was 12, became regent until Louis could accept active rule at 21.

Louis IX accepted his responsibilities as king with dedication and detachment. He worked to make peace and justice prevail. His detachment came from his conviction that kingship was not an opportunity to conquer others, or to exploit them for personal enrichment, or to use power to satisfy one's vanity. He believed that his obligations were to serve the Church and to lead his people to eternal salvation.

In 1247 Louis sent investigators throughout his realm to hear complaints against royal officials. He then issued ordinances, which became a moral code to guide his officials. Louis banned prostitution, gambling, blasphemy, and judicial duels. In an age when coinage varied widely in value, he issued gold and silver coins which quickly became accepted and helped to establish a uniform coinage throughout the realm.

His efforts to assure justice and to be accessible to all made Louis not only widely loved but frequently asked by foreign princes to arbitrate their disputes. Thus Louis was called to arbitrate a quarrel between Henry III of England and his barons in 1264. He was firm with pope and emperor in defense of his royal rights. By identifying his passion for justice with the Crown, his subjects outside the royal domain appealed to him. This helped to extend royal authority throughout the realm and to make him the most powerful king in western Europe. His charity was as widely known as his sense of justice, for he founded abbeys, convents, hospitals, and almshouses for the poor. His interest in art can be seen in his building of the beautiful Gothic Ste-Chapelle in Paris for the Crown of Thorns.

Louis's foreign policy of peace with his neighbors enabled him to go on two crusades. After a serious illness in 1244 he decided to lead a crusade to recover Jerusalem. Divided by internal or foreign problems, other rulers did not participate. Louis's crusade was largely French, the best organized and financed of all crusades. His plan was to damage Egypt so much that it would surrender Jerusalem to him. His army captured Damietta on June 5, 1249, the day after landing in Egypt. The courageous king was one of the first off his ship to establish a beachhead. But he was persuaded by his brother Robert of Artois to head for Cairo rather than Alexandria, and his army of about 15, 000 was trapped on the way at EI Mansûra. Supplies coming up the Nile were cut off, and his army was weakened by death and sickness. Louis therefore had to fall back on Damietta. On the way Louis and his army were captured and held for ransom. Once freed, Louis spent 4 years in Palestine, where he built fortifications and tried to salvage the kingdom of Jerusalem. He returned to France in 1254.

The failure of the crusade prompted Louis to make another effort. The original plan of going to Syria or Egypt was diverted to an attack on Tunisia by Louis's brother Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily, who had interests in Tunisia. About 10, 000 crusaders landed in July 1270. When Louis took sick and died there in August, Charles of Anjou made a profitable peace and returned bearing the remains of the beloved king, who was universally mourned in Europe. He was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297.

Louis IX
King of France (more...)

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
Father	Louis VIII
Mother	Blanche of Castile
Born	25 April 1214(1214-04-25) Poissy, France
Died	25 August 1270 (aged 56) Tunis, North Africa
Burial	Saint Denis Basilica

French Monarchy
Direct Capetians

Louis IX
Philip III
Robert, Count of Clermont
Isabella, Queen of Navarre
Blanche, Crown Princess of Castile
Marguerite, Duchess of Brabant
Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy

Sources

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.

Coin of Saint Louis, Cabinet des Médailles. – The 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.

Early life

Louis was born in 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of King Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. A member of the House of Capet, 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.

Crusading

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.^[3]

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 following the end of the First World War.

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.

Patron of arts and arbiter of Europe

Pope Innocent IV with Louis IX at Cluny

Louis' 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.

Religious Nature

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.^[5]

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").

Ancestry

Ancestors of Louis IX of France

16. Louis VI of France

8. Louis VII of France

17. Adelaide of Maurienne

4. Philip II of France

18. Theobald II, Count of Champagne

9. Adèle of Champagne

19. Matilda of Carinthia

2. Louis VIII of France

20. Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut

10. Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut

21. Alice of Namur

5. Isabelle of Hainaut

22. Thierry, Count of Flanders

11. Margaret I, Countess of Flanders

23. Sibylla of Anjou

1. Louis IX of France

24. Alfonso VII of León

12. Sancho III of Castile

25. Berenguela of Barcelona

6. Alfonso VIII of Castile

26. García VI of Navarre

13. Blanca of Navarre

27. Marguerite de l'Aigle

3. Blanche of Castile

28. Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou

14. Henry II of England

29. Matilda of England

7. Leonora of England

30. William X, Duke of Aquitaine

15. Eleanor of Aquitaine

31. Aenor de Châtellerault

Issue

The remains of Louis, the first-born son who died at the age of 15.

Blanche (1240 – 29 April 1243), died young
Isabelle (2 March 1241 – 28 January 1271), married Theobald V of Champagne
Louis (25 February 1244 – January 1260)
Philippe III (1 May 1245 – 5 October 1285)
John (1248 - 1248), died young
Jean Tristan (1250 – 3 August 1270), married Yolande of Burgundy
Pierre (1251–84), Count of Perche and Alençon; Count of Blois and Chartres in right of his wife, Joanne of Châtillon
Blanche, married Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castille
Marguerite (1254–71), married John I, Duke of Brabant
Robert, Count of Clermont (1256 – 7 February 1317). He was the ancestor of King Henry IV of France.
Agnes of France (ca 1260 – 19 December 1327), married Robert II, Duke of Burgundy

Death and legacy

Saint Louis
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
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	1297 by Pope Boniface VIII
Feast	25 August
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, Italy

During 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.

Veneration as a saint

Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the canonization of Louis in 1297; he is the only French monarch to be declared a saint.

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.

The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Louis is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1842 and named in his honour.

Places named after Saint Louis

The cities of San Luis Potosí in Mexico; St. Louis, Missouri; Saint-Louis du Sénégal in Senegal; Saint-Louis in Alsace; as well as Lake Saint-Louis in Quebec, and the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in California are among the many places named after the king and saint.

The Cathedral Saint-Louis in Versailles; the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, both in St. Louis, Missouri; and the Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans were also named for the king. The French royal Order of Saint Louis (1693–1790 and 1814–1830) as well as a hospital in the 10th arrondissement of Paris also bear his name.

Many places in Brazil called São Luís in Portuguese are named after the French Saint Louis.

Famous portraits

A portrait of St. Louis hangs in 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.

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.

Bibliography

Joinville, Jean de, La vie de saint Louis, ed. Noel L. Corbett. (Sherbrooke: Naaman, 1977).

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

Regnal titles
Louis IX of France House of Capet Born: 25 April 1214 Died: 25 August 1270
Preceded by Louis VIII of France	King of the Franks 8 November 1226 – 14 June 1237	Succeeded by Style became King of France
Preceded by New style	King of France 14 June 1237 – 25 August 1270	Succeeded by Philip III
French royalty
Preceded by Louis, Count of Artois	Heir to the Throne as Heir apparent 14 July 1223 — 8 November 1226	Succeeded by Robert I, Count of Artois
French nobility
Preceded by Louis VIII of France	Count of Artois 8 November 1226 – 1237	Succeeded by Robert I

v • d • e List of French monarchs

Carolingians (843–888, 898–922, 936–987)	Pepin (751–768) • Carloman I (768–771) • Charlemagne (768–814) • Louis I (814–840) • Charles I (843–877) • Louis II (877–879) • Louis III (879–882) • Carloman II (879–884) • Charles II (885–888) • Charles III (898–922) • Louis IV (936–954) • Lothair (954–986) • Louis V (986–987)

Robertians (888–898, 922–923)	Odo of Paris (888–898) • Robert I (922–923)

Bosonids (923–936)	Rudolph (923–936)

House of Capet (987–1328)	Hugh (987–996) • Robert II (996–1031) • Henry I (1031–1060) • Philip I (1060–1108) • Louis VI (1108–1137) • Louis VII (1137–1180) • Philip II (1180–1223) • Louis VIII (1223–1226) • Louis IX (1226–1270) • Philip III (1270–1285) • Philip IV (1285–1314) • Louis X (1314–1316) • John I (1316) • Philip V (1316–1322) • Charles IV (1322–1328)

House of Valois (1328–1498)	Philip VI (1328–1350) • John II (1350–1364) • Charles V (1364–1380) • Charles VI (1380–1422) • Charles VII (1422–1461) • Louis XI (1461–1483) • Charles VIII (1483–1498)

House of Lancaster (1422–1453)	Henry VI of England (1422–1453) (disputed)

House of Valois-Orléans (1498–1515)	Louis XII (1498–1515)

House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589)	Francis I (1515–1547) • Henry II (1547–1559) • Francis II (1559–1560) • Charles IX (1560–1574) • Henry III (1574–1589)

House of Bourbon (1589–1792)	Henry IV (1589–1610) • Louis XIII (1610–1643) • Louis XIV (1643–1715) • Louis XV (1715–1774) • Louis XVI (1774–1792) • Louis XVII (claimant, 1792–1795)

House of Bonaparte First Empire (1804–1814, 1815)	Napoleon I (1804–1814, 1815) • Napoleon II (1815)

House of Bourbon Bourbon Restoration (1814, 1815–1830)	Louis XVIII (1814–1815, 1815–1824) • Charles X (1824–1830) • Louis XIX (1830) (disputed) • Henry V (1830) (disputed)

House of Orléans July Monarchy (1830–1848)	Louis Philippe I (1830–1848)

House of Bonaparte Second Empire (1852–1870)	Napoleon III (1852–1870)

Persondata
NAME	Louis IX
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Saint Louis
SHORT DESCRIPTION	King of France
DATE OF BIRTH	25 April 1214(1214-04-25)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Poissy, France
DATE OF DEATH	25 August 1270
PLACE OF DEATH	Tunis, North Africa

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Donate to Wikimedia

Learn More

	mise of Amiens
	Al Mansurah (city, Egypt)
	treaty of Paris

	When did Louis IX come to power.? Read answer...
	What was one of the main accomplishments of Louis IX? Read answer...
	When was king louis IX made archbisop? Read answer...

Help us answer these

	How did St Louis IX of France serve god?
	How did Louis IX become a saint?
	How did Louis IX increase his royal power?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Saints. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Copyright © David Hugh Farmer 1978, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2004. All rights reserved. Read more
		Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Louis IX of France". Read more