Louis IX, King of France

Brief Biography

On August 25, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Louis de France. Louis was born in 1214 and was crowned king in 1226.  His mother, Blanche of Castille was regent during his youth. From youth, then Louis was destined to lead the people of France. During his reign he brought peace back to the internal affairs of the country and ended feudal wars. He displayed such a sense of justice, that the foreign monarchs would ask him to arbitrate their disputes.

Louis cared for the sick, the poor and the blind and founded a hospital for their care. As a protector of the church, he obtained from Rome the distinct honor for France to be known as  “Protector of the Faith”.  This was largely due to his leadership in two crusades. His dedication to retrieve the Sacred Treasures of the Church from Jerusalem was foremost in his efforts during the Holy Wars. During this time he succeeded in obtaining the Crown of Christ which he brought back to France and placed in a special chapel he had constructed to house this sacred treasure in his castle.  He would sometimes place his own crown next to the thorns and meditate on the meaning of his kingship. Louis IX was the last of the Crusaders and the only one who did not have selfish reasons for fighting and winning back the Holy Land for the Church.

Louis had a great devotion for the Church, the Eucharist, the Cross, the Crown of thorns, the truth and grace.  He told his son that he would rather see him die than to have him commit even one sin. His crusades were not very successful. He died of typhoid fever during his second crusade. His last words were a prayer for his people that they be not constrained to deny the Holy Name.  Then he had himself laid on ashes arranged on the floor in the form of a cross where he died in the middle of the afternoon on August 25, 1270.  It is said that he gave orders that crosses be placed as memorials along the path through which his body traveled from the royal chapel to the place of burial.  King Louis had dominated the religious imagination of his contemporaries.  Almost immediately his cause for holiness was opened.   Pope Martin IV finally canonized him in 1287.

A contemporary memorial verse sums up his life:

I SAY JUSTICE IS DEAD AND LOYALTY EXTINCT.  SINCE THE GOOD KING, THE HOLY CREATURE, DIED, WHO DID JUSTICE TO EACH UPON HIS COMPLAINT. TO WHOM CAN THE POOR PEOPLE NOW CRY SINCE THE GOOD KING IS DEAD.

King Louis leaves a legacy for those who live under his patronage: youthful faith, committed service to the Church and to the pope, love of the truth, care for the needy who struggle for life,, dedication to his country and a recognition of God’s royal authority over us all. He leaves the Cross and Crown as a sign of his faith and the fleur-de-lis as a symbol of his love for France.