Biography. Saint Louis IX - biography, facts from life, photographs, background information Saint Louis 9th short biography

Louis IX Saint

Louis IX Saint (25.IV.1214 - 25.VIII.1270) - king since 1226, from the Capetian dynasty. Until 1236, the regent was the mother of Louis IX, Blanche of Castile. Louis IX carried out a number of reforms that contributed to the centralization of the state. Legal duels and private wars were prohibited on the territory of the domain; in the rest of the country the latter were limited. The significance of seigneurial courts was narrowed. A special judicial chamber was separated from the royal council (later called parliament), which turned into the highest court of appeal, and only in this royal court did cases of major, including criminal, crimes begin to be heard. Important administrative functions were also transferred to this chamber. Full-fledged gold and silver royal coins began to be minted, which began to displace numerous types of coins that were minted by individual feudal lords and cities; The release of the royal coin, which became widespread, had a beneficial effect on the development of trade. The foreign policy of Louis IX was unsuccessful. In an effort to expand French influence in the Mediterranean, Louis IX led the 7th Crusade (to Egypt) in 1248, during which he was captured (1250) by the Egyptian Sultan (released for a huge ransom). According to the Peace of Paris in 1259, Guienne ceded to the British. Louis IX died of the plague during his 8th Crusade (to Tunisia). He was canonized in 1297. J. Joinville gave a vivid portrait of Louis IX in his memoirs.

M. A. Zaborov. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 8, KOSSALA – MALTA. 1965.

Literature: Petit-Dutailly S., Feod. monarchy in France and England in the X-XII centuries, trans. from French, M., 1938; Faure (J. A. Félix), Histoire de Saint Louis, t. 1-2, P., 1866; Wallon H. A., Saint Louis et son temps, t. 1-2, P., 1875.

Louis IX
King of France
Louis IX Saint
Saint Louis IX
Years of life: April 25, 1214 (or 1215) - August 25, 1270
Reign: November 8, 1226 - August 25, 1270
Father: Louis VIII
Mother: Blanca of Castile
Wife: Margarita Provenskaya
Sons: Louis, Philip, John Tristan, Pierre, Robert
Daughters: Isabella, Blanca, Margarita, Agnessa

Louis ascended the throne as a child. As often happened in such cases, unrest began in the state, but fortunately the mother of King Blanca turned out to be a strong-willed and energetic woman. She not only suppressed all internal rebellions, but also ended two wars - with the British and the Albigenses. Therefore, by the time he came of age, Louis found the state completely calm.

According to contemporaries, Louis was very handsome, both in face and body, was very charming, cheerful and witty, did not like court etiquette, preferring casual conversations with his loved ones. Contrary to religious literature, which portrayed him as an ascetic, he loved to dress beautifully, spent a lot of money on horses, dogs and hunting falcons, and organized luxurious court festivities. At the same time, he possessed such religious ardor and sincere faith in God, which was already difficult to meet in those days.

In the first half of the 13th century, the king's supreme power was already quite strong. Of the vast possessions of the English, only Gascony and Aquitaine remained, and the English did not so much rebel themselves as they confused the minds of the French lords. In 1241, a rebellion began in Poitou. The rebels expected help from the English king Henry III, but he was late, and Louis dealt with the enemies separately. Having concluded peace, Henry recognized Poitou as the possession of the Capetians. Soon, thanks to a successful marriage, the king's brother Charles of Anjou acquired Provence, and another brother, Alphonse Poitou, took over Toulouse after the death of Count Raymond in 1247. Thus, civil strife in France was over, and Louis could begin to fulfill his cherished desire - a campaign to the Holy Land.

By that time, European chivalry had cooled considerably to the Crusades, but Louis, thanks to his ardor, was able to gather a sizable army. In 1248, the Crusaders sailed from the south of France, beginning the Seventh Crusade. After wintering in Cyprus, Louis decided that the path to the Holy Land should lie through Egypt. In the spring of 1249, an armada of pilgrims consisting of 120 large and one and a half thousand small ships landed in the Nile Delta. The Sultan, aware of the approach of the crusaders, was preparing to fight back, but the knights dispersed the ranks of the enemies with a powerful onslaught. The Egyptians retreated in disarray, and Louis occupied Damietta (modern Dumyat) without interference. The Nile flood stopped the Crusaders' advance. Only in late autumn did they move towards Cairo. On December 21, the pilgrims approached Mansura, a large and well-fortified city, where a large Saracen force was waiting for them. The path to the city was blocked by a wide canal, and Louis ordered the construction of a dam across it. The construction site was constantly bombarded with stones from throwing machines and daring raids by Muslims, and the matter practically did not move. Two months later, a certain Bedouin showed Louis a place where he could ford the canal. A large detachment of knights, led by the king's brother Robert Artois, crossed to another shore and, without waiting for the others to approach, taking advantage of the effect of surprise, broke into Mansura. However, the Saracens soon came to their senses and locked the city gates. The squad was trapped. In a fierce battle, Robert and several hundred knights were killed. Meanwhile, the Mamelukes attacked another detachment of crusaders led by Louis, who managed to cross the canal, and pushed the knights back to the water. Hastily crossing to the other side, several hundred crusaders drowned in the canal. Louis himself was in great danger, but the people remaining in the camp built a floating bridge and came to the aid of the king. The next day, the Egyptians attacked the crusaders' camp, but in a stubborn battle they pushed the Saracens back to their shore. Then the Muslims attacked the ships bringing food to the crusaders and destroyed them. As land caravans were exposed to even greater danger, the supply of the crusader army deteriorated sharply. Famine was added to the famine in the camp, and Louis ordered a retreat to Damietta. The Egyptians pursued the exhausted retreating army. Louis was constantly in the rearguard, not wanting to abandon those lagging behind. Finally the disease overcame him too. Completely exhausted, he lay on the ground, expecting death or imminent capture. So he was captured along with his brothers and several thousand warriors. The Egyptians killed simple knights, from whom there was nothing to take, but treated the king, his brothers and several noble nobles with care, hoping to receive a rich ransom. An agreement was reached with the Sultan, according to which the crusaders were to leave Damietta in exchange for the freedom of Louis, and he could ransom his loved ones for 8 million francs. However, unexpectedly, turmoil began in Egypt. The Mamelukes killed the Sultan and seized power. The lives of the prisoners at this time were in great danger. Only when the unrest subsided did the parties begin to implement the agreement. On May 6, 1250, Louis received his freedom. With great difficulty, he collected 4 million francs and ransomed his brother Alphonse. After this, most of the crusaders went home. Louis, despite his mother’s persuasion, announced that he would not leave the Holy Land until he ransomed the rest of his comrades. He went to Acre, where he joined the Syrian Muslims who were preparing a campaign against the Mamelukes. The Egyptians immediately became more accommodating. They released the remaining crusaders and waived the other half of the debt. Louis, however, remained in Palestine. Dressed in a hair shirt, he made a pilgrimage to Nazareth, after which he began sending requests for help to Christian sovereigns, intending to gather a new army. In 1252 he moved to Jaffa and began strengthening the fortress walls. To atone for sins, he personally carried heavy stones for construction. In 1253, the Syrians made peace with the Egyptians and, returning to Damascus, ravaged Sidon. Not having enough strength, Louis was unable to come to the rescue. He only had to bury the dead and restore the destroyed walls. Finally, in April 1254, without receiving help, he left Acre with deep sorrow and returned home with great difficulties.

Louis devoted the following years to solving internal problems. In 1258, a treaty was concluded with Jaime of Aragon, according to which Louis renounced Barcelona, ​​traditionally a Frankish county since the time of Charlemagne, and gave Jaime Roussillon. Thus, the border between France and Spain ran along a natural border - the Pyrenees. In 1259, a final peace was concluded with Henry III, according to which he received back part of Guienne and Gascony, but renounced claims to Normandy, Anjou, Poitou and Maine.

In 1266, Louis turned to Pope Clement IV for permission to organize another crusade. Despite the cool attitude of chivalry towards this idea, Louis managed to persuade many French feudal lords to take part in the campaign. However, the pilgrims were able to set off only in July 1270 (Eighth Crusade). They quickly reached Sardinia, from where they decided to move not to Egypt, but to Tunisia. Having landed on the African coast, Louis defeated the advance detachments of the Muslims, but instead of quickly building on his success, he set up camp and began to await the approach of Charles of Anjou. Due to the overcrowding of people in the camp, an outbreak of plague began. In August, Louis' son John Tristan died, and soon the king himself fell ill. Remaining conscious until the last minute, he wrote a letter to his son Philip and died on August 25, 1270.

Louis' ashes were transferred to the Basilica of Saint-Denis, but one part of the remains was buried at the site of the king's death in Tunis, where his tomb still remains, and the other part was buried in the Basilica of Monreale in Palermo. In 1297 Louis was canonized as a saint.

Material used from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Statue of Louis IX in the church of Mainvilliers near Chartres.
Reproduction from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Louis IX the Saint (1215-1270) - king of France from the Capetian family, who reigned from 1226-1270. Son Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile.

Wife: since 1234 Margaret, daughter of Raymond Berengary V, Count of Provence (b. 1221 + 1285).

After the death of his father, Louis remained a small child, and therefore the beginning of his reign was marked by the usual unrest in such cases. Fortunately for the king, his mother Blanca of Castile, a woman of strong character and great political ability, took control of the state into her own hands. Having seized the regency, she began to carry out affairs skillfully and firmly, so that she quickly pacified all the rebels. In addition, the queen got her hands on two unfinished wars - with the British in the west and with the Count of Toulouse in the south. Both of them were successfully completed.

Having reached adulthood and assumed control in 1236, Louis found the state already calmed down. According to the testimony of all his contemporaries, the young king was a surprisingly pleasant and extremely charming person. Tall, well-built, strong, with a handsome and open face, lively eyes, blond hair, he possessed at the same time an “angelic” and “knightly” appearance. By nature, he was a cheerful and witty person, he loved casual conversations with his loved ones. Official importance and etiquette were unknown at his court. For most of his life, this affectionate and good-natured sovereign did not at all resemble the strict pilgrim that some monks portrayed him as. The account books of his court show that he loved hunting, spent a lot of money on horses, dogs and falcons, dressed in gold brocade, silk and purple, and at court festivities he displayed that luxury and extravagance that was at that time considered a virtue among high society . But it is also true that from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary religious ardor and such an unshakable faith, which in his age was the exception rather than the rule.

Louis became sovereign at a time when the supreme power in France was already firmly established and the most difficult steps to unify the country had already been taken by his predecessors. The only danger to the Capetians was the remnants of the English king's possessions in Gascony and Aquitaine and the influence they had on the French lords. In 1241, the barons of Poitou rebelled. Louis hastened to the aid of his brother Alphonse, who ruled there, and soon occupied all the fortified places one after another. The rebels were waiting for help from the English king, but Henry III appeared in 1242, after that. How Louis captured Frontnay, the main fortress of the insurgents. The king hastened to meet the English and in July defeated them headlong under the walls of Saintes. Henry fled, abandoning his army. Soon he concluded a peace with Louis, according to which Poitou was recognized as the possession of the Capetians. At the same time, thanks to a successful marriage, Louis' brother Charles of Anjou acquired the County of Provence, and after the death of Count Raymond of Toulouse in 1247, Toulouse passed into the hands of another royal brother, Alphonse of Poitou.

Having put an end to feudal strife and having made peace with the British, Louis could begin to fulfill his cherished desire - preparing a crusade. In general, by this time, European chivalry had cooled down considerably to travel to the Holy Land, and a person like Louis was needed to reawaken its enthusiasm. The campaign began in the spring of 1248. In August, the pilgrims boarded ships in the southern ports of France and safely reached Cyprus in mid-September. It was decided to spend the winter here. It seems that at the same time Louis finally came to the conclusion that the fate of the Holy Land should be determined by the defeat of Egypt. It was decided to direct the first blow against him. At the end of May 1249, an armada of 120 large and one and a half thousand small ships left Cyprus and a few days later was already in sight of Damietta. The Sultan knew in advance about the danger that threatened him and tried to prevent the landing of the crusaders at the mouth of the Nile. However, the knights scattered the ranks of enemies with their first blow. Louis himself, burning with impatience, jumped from the ship into the water up to his shoulders and took the battle along with his brave men. Unable to withstand the onslaught of the Christians, the Egyptians retreated in disarray to Damietta and fled the city in horror that same day. The next day, Louis entered this formidable fortress without any obstacles. Thus, the beginning of the crusade was marked by extraordinary happiness. But the onset of the Nile flood prevented Louis from developing his success. Only on November 20 were the crusaders able to advance to Cairo. They moved extremely slowly and only reached Mansura on December 21. A large force of Muslims was waiting for them here, taking a strong position in front of the fortress. The wide canal of Ashmum Tana blocked the French road. Louis ordered a dam to be built across it, but it was a troublesome and difficult task. The Muslims constantly fired at the work site from throwing machines and made daring attacks on the Christian camp. So two months passed. At the beginning of February 1250, a Bedouin pointed out to Christians a place where they could ford the canal. A large detachment of knights led by Louis's brother Robert Artois crossed to the other side. Their appearance came as a complete surprise to Muslims. But instead of waiting for the rest of the army to cross, the Count of Artois burst into Mansura with a loud cry. The Egyptians soon came to their senses - they closed the gates and involved the cut-off troops in a terrible battle, in which Robert himself, three hundred French and many other knights were killed. At the same time, the Mamelukes attacked those crusaders who managed to cross to their shore. The brave men were led by the king himself. After an extremely fierce battle, the knights were driven back to the water. Louis was in the greatest danger and could be captured at any moment. Weakened people rushed into the canal and drowned in their hundreds. Finally, with great difficulty, the camp garrison managed to build a bridge and come to the aid of the king. The Muslims celebrated their victory and three days later they themselves attacked the Christian camp. This battle was as fierce as the first. The Christians repulsed all attacks and drove the enemy to its shore. This somewhat cooled the ardor of the Egyptians. However, at the end of the month they managed to destroy in a surprise attack the ships that were bringing supplies to Christians from Damietta. The supply of the troops deteriorated sharply, since the Muslims could intercept land caravans without any difficulty. Hunger and a terrible pestilence that opened in the crusader camp made it impossible to continue offensive operations. Louis ordered a retreat back to Damietta. The retreat began in early April, but it could no longer save the doomed army. With ever-increasing persistence, the Egyptians attacked the Christians, while they could hardly move from weakness and illness. Everyone who was not killed was captured. Louis himself probably could have been saved if he had left with the advanced detachments. But he did not want to abandon the stragglers and, on the contrary, was always in the rearguard. In the end, illness took him down. Deeply exhausted, he lay on the ground; his head rested on the lap of a simple woman who happened to be nearby, his death was expected from hour to hour, while the Muslims were getting closer. So he was captured along with his brothers and all those who had not yet been killed. Thousands of Christians, from whom there was nothing to take, were soon killed, but the enemies treated the king, his brothers and nobles with care, intending to take great advantage of their unfortunate situation. And indeed, soon in negotiations with the Sultan the following agreement was reached: in exchange for his release, the king had to cleanse Damietta, and pay eight million francs for the release of his comrades. But as soon as this agreement was concluded, unrest broke out in Egypt. The Mamelukes, led by their emir Bibars, rebelled against the Sultan of Turanshi in early May and horribly killed him. During the coup, the lives of Christian captives were in great danger. Finally, the unrest subsided, and the parties could begin to fulfill the terms of the agreement. After the Christians left Damietta, Louis received his freedom on May 6. With great difficulty, he managed to collect four million francs and thereby buy the freedom of his brother Alphonse. Most of the crusaders then went home. Queen Blanca also in her letters persuaded her son to return to France as soon as possible. But Louis announced that he would not leave the Holy Land until he had redeemed all his comrades from captivity. From Egypt he sailed to Akkon. Circumstances turned out well for him. The Syrian Muslims, offended by the murder of Sultan Turanshi, were preparing a campaign against the Egyptians and invited Louis to unite with them. The Mamelukes, in view of this threat, became more accommodating. They released many knights from captivity and refused the second half of the ransom that the king still owed them. However, even after this, Louis did not leave Palestine, awaiting the arrival of new crusaders. In August, with great humility, wearing a hair shirt, dressed on his naked body, he made a pilgrimage to Nazareth, then began to restore the fortifications around the Caesars. The entire year of 1251 was spent on this matter. Louis did not stop sending out appeals to the Christian world asking for help, but all his efforts remained fruitless. In 1252, the king moved to Joppe and began to fortify this city with walls and towers. To earn forgiveness of his sins, he himself carried stones for construction. In 1253, peace was concluded between the Egyptians and Syrians. Returning to Damascus, the Syrians took Sidon and killed many Christians there. Louis at this time had so little strength that he could not help the unfortunate people. Immediately after the Muslims left, he hurried to this city and began burying the dead and restoring the destroyed walls. At the same time, he himself helped transport corpses that had already undergone decay to the graves. Finally, in April 1254, without receiving help, he left Accon with deep sorrow and went to France with his wife and children. On the way, he endured many dangers from fog and bad weather, but still managed to safely reach his native shores.

The following years the king was busy with state affairs, although the thought of a new crusade never completely left him. But before leaving France, he had to take care of the security of its borders. In 1258, an agreement was concluded with the Aragonese king; Louis renounced all claims to Barcelona, ​​which since the time of Charlemagne had been considered a French county, and Jaime retreated from the territories lying north of Roussillon. Thus, the Pyrenees became the border between the two states. In 1259, a final peace was concluded with the English king Henry III. Louis returned to him parts of Guienne and Gascony taken from the English, and Henry renounced his claims to Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Maine and Poitou. These were important decisions. Louis hoped that they would bring the long-awaited peace to his country. After this, he began to encourage his compatriots to a new crusade. In 1266, the king turned to Pope Clement IV for permission to make a second pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Permission was given, and in March 1267 Louis laid the cross. His brother Alphonse of Poitiers immediately joined him. Louis' sons Philip, John Tristan and Peter also followed their father's example. King Thibault of Navarre, the counts of Artois, Brittany and Flanders, as well as many other French rulers were ready to take part in the campaign to the East. However, Most of the knights, as the first time, reacted very coolly to the king's call. It took long efforts on the part of Louis and the pope to move the French to the holy cause and force the clergy to pay the necessary cross tax. Little by little, religious inspiration swept over the Christian world. Louis's brothers accepted the cross. the king of Sicily, Charles of Anjou, as well as the English princes Edward and Edmund, tens of thousands of Christians in different parts of Europe vowed to make a pilgrimage. Seeing that the matter had moved forward, Louis announced the beginning of the campaign in the spring of 1270. Before leaving his country, he If possible, he took care to eliminate any hostility in her, satisfied those who might have any claims against him, and with a generous hand put in order the property of his children.

Due to various delays, the crusader army did not set sail until early July. A few days later the pilgrims reached Sardinia. Here the leaders of the campaign held a council, and it was announced that the army would not move along the Direct Road to Syria or Egypt, but would first sail to Tunisia. Louis agreed to such an unusual change in route under pressure from his brother Charles, who was at enmity with the Tunisian emir over his Sicilian affairs. On July 17, the Christian fleet approached the shores of Afrish. The next day, the entire army landed on a narrow strip of shore that stretches between the sea and Lake Tunis. Having repelled the attacks of the Muslims, the crusaders reached Ancient Carthage and set up their camp here. At this time, they had every chance of achieving victory, since the emir had few troops and was in dire need of food. But Louis did not begin the siege and hesitated, waiting for Charles to arrive. Meanwhile, due to the great overcrowding in the camp, a pestilence began to rage. In August, Louis' son John Tristan died, and a few days later the king himself fell ill. The illness became serious from the very beginning, and soon there was no doubt that Louis’s days were numbered. Until the very last minute, he maintained courageous firmness, with a trembling hand he wrote a wise and warm instruction to his son Philip, and on August 25 he died quietly and peacefully.

All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999.

LOUIS IX or Saint Louis (Louis IX or Saint Louis) (1214–1270), king of France, son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, was born in Poissy on April 25, 1214. After Louis VIII died in 1226, his widow, experienced in matters of government, became regent during the king's minority. From 1236, Louis ruled independently, but continued to consult with his mother until her death. However, in 1244 he - against the wishes of his mother and ministers - took a vow to go on a crusade. In 1248, Louis sailed from France with a 35,000-strong army and first arrived in Cyprus, from where, after hesitation, he headed to Egypt in order to defeat the Muslims and force them to ease pressure on the Christian areas in Palestine. At first, the crusaders managed to capture Damietta (modern Dumyat) in the Nile Delta, but attempts to advance into the interior of the country ended in 1250 with a crushing defeat at El Mansur, as a result of which the king and his army were captured. After long negotiations, the king and his entourage managed to ransom, and then Louis went to Palestine, where he spent another four years, strengthening the cities and trying to secure the position of Christians through diplomacy. Only in 1254 did Louis return to Paris; the return was partly accelerated by the death in 1252 of his mother, who remained regent during the king's absence. At the beginning of Louis's reign, his mother suppressed the rebellion of the nobility and extended royal power to the possessions of large feudal lords. The large county of Toulouse came under the direct authority of the crown. Under Louis, the internal governance system improved. Although not many new institutions were established, the existing ones were developed and their powers expanded. In particular, royal proceedings and taxation developed rapidly, and the organization of military affairs was improved. The king's feudal court, or Curia Regis (assembly of vassals at the lord's court), was divided into groups, each of which performed its own functions. Local self-government developed, and royal officials were sent to local areas to inspect and consider complaints. Although Louis did a lot to strengthen royal power, he still failed to take advantage of the weakness of the English king Henry III to complete the reconquest of the so-called. Angevinskaya power (English possessions in France). Instead, he agreed to conclude the Peace of Paris (1259), under the terms of which Aquitaine and Gascony were recognized as fiefs of the English king in exchange for his renunciation of claims to Normandy, Anjou, Poitou and other possessions in northern France. Thanks to his pan-European fame, in the event of certain disagreements, Louis was often asked to act as an arbiter. However, his decision in favor of Henry III, when a conflict broke out between the English king and the barons in 1262, did not bring peace. In 1270, Louis, already ill, insisted on leading another crusade against the Muslims, this time to Tunisia. But soon after arriving in Africa, on August 25, 1270, Louis died from a plague epidemic that broke out in the Crusader camp. Louis was known for his piety, mercy, and strict morals. The 44 years of Louis's reign turned out to be quite peaceful for France. In 1297 he was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII.

Materials from the encyclopedia "The World Around Us" were used.

Read further:

Robert de Sorbon (1201-1274), friend of Saint Louis and teacher of theology.

Historical figures of France (rulers).

France in the 13th century (chronological table)

Literature:

Khachaturyan N.A. Estate monarchy in France, XIII–XV centuries. M., 1989.

Petit-Dutailly C., Feod. monarchy in France and England in the X-XII centuries, trans. from French, M., 1938;

Faure (J. A. Félix), Histoire de Saint Louis, t. 1-2, P., 1866;

Wallon H. A., Saint Louis et son temps, t. 1-2, P., 1875.

SAINT LOUIS IX (1226-1270)

Louis IX ascended the throne as a child of twelve. Blanca of Castile, his mother, showed herself to be a very intelligent and dexterous ruler. She managed to maintain the prestige that the monarchy had acquired since the time of Philip Augustus; she not only strengthened the power of her son, but also taught him how to behave in order to gain the respect of his subjects and make his kingdom prosperous. She became the first Capetian woman to officially rule France, and can rightfully be placed on a par with the most prominent kings of this dynasty.
The rivalry between the barons became the main trump card of Blanca of Castile - it was impossible to give them time to come to an agreement. On the advice of the cardinal legate and the executors of Louis VIII, she decided to hasten the coronation of her son. Having received the crown, he could act in his own name and demand obedience as a legitimate sovereign; the queen, his mother, would be content to direct his steps.
The queen, without hesitation, brought her son to Reims. They passed through Soissons, where the king was knighted in the presence of King John of Jerusalem, the counts of Boulogne and Dreux, the Countess of Flanders and Champagne and the rest of the nobility.

Louis was a Christian sovereign, a devout believer in God and tried, to the best of his ability, to bring the Kingdom of God closer on earth. He was a follower of St. Francis; he created shelters for the poor, fed the poor at his table and, dressed in coarse burlap, with a staff in his hands, made pilgrimages to famous monasteries. In his free time from prayers and government affairs, Louis sat under an oak tree in the Bois de Vincennes and listened to everyone who came to him with complaints and requests. To restore justice, he created royal courts and decreed that anyone who was dissatisfied with the lord's court could come to the royal judge. The king banned the barbaric custom, when the matter was decided by duel and the strongest won - in the new courts everything was decided by the law, Roman law, which was taught by university professors.
Private strife did not cease, but everywhere - in the areas of administrative, tax, police, legislative - a “state system” was established, the center and crown of which was the king. Everyone's eyes turned to him, and everyone expected the decisive word from him on countless occasions.

First of all, large vassals were involved in this arrangement of the state: the Dukes of Normandy, Guyenne, Burgundy, the Counts of Champagne, Toulouse and Flanders. These six secular “peers of France” with an equal number of ecclesiastical dignitaries: the Archbishop of Reims and the bishops of Beauvais, Chalons, Noyon, Lan and Langres - constituted the supreme royal council, which constantly had a significant, but not inhibiting, influence on the course of affairs.

In 1234, the king, at the head of his troops, pacified the barons who rebelled against the Count of Champagne. The king established peace between Thibault and his cousin, the queen of Cyprus, who disputed her inheritance with the count; to pay off her claims, the king paid her 40 thousand livres, and in return forced Thibault to cede to him the counties of Blois, Chartres, Sancerre and the Viscountcy of Chateaudun. Thus the kingdom expanded peacefully.
In the same year, Saint Louis, having married Margaret of Provence, laid the foundation for the annexation of new territories to France. Provence was, in principle, still dependent on the Holy Roman Empire; but due to its geographical location it was drawn into the orbit of France.

The regent transferred her power to the king on the day of his coming of age, which came on April 25, 1235. But the end of the regency of Blanca of Castile did not at all mean the decline of her influence in the state. Louis still asked her for advice.
The king's first difficulties arose from his once faithful ally, Thibault, Count of Champagne. Thibault, without asking Louis's consent, gave his daughter in marriage to the young Count of Breton. Thus, the alliance of large vassals directed against the king was revived. Saint Louis immediately demanded three castles, which Thibault promised to give him if he married his daughter without asking his permission. Instead of yielding, Thibault entered into an agreement with the Count of Marche, who promised him and the Count of Breton to assist him against any person in the kingdom.
Without leaving time for the new rebels to gain strength, Louis summoned his knights to Vincennes. Thibault gave the king the castles of Bray and Montero. However, Louis did not consider this gift sufficient, and the Count of Champagne had to personally beg him for leniency. Blanca of Castile advised him to make this demarche. Louis forgave the disobedient man, but Thibault had to finally renounce the rights that he still had to the seigneuries of Chartres, Blois and Sancerre, sold to the king in 1234; in addition, he undertook to live seven years in exile - either in Navarre or in the East, where, as promised, he went on a crusade.

The crusade, for which the Pope called and many lords were preparing, seemed all the more necessary because the Frankish empire of Constantinople was in an extremely dangerous situation: it was threatened by the Bulgarians, the Greek princes - the original owners of Tsar-grad, and especially the Tatars brought by Genghis Khan from the depths of Asia .

In 1238, Saint Louis received an embassy of Muslims, said to have arrived from the Old Man of the Mountain, who offered the king his help against the Tatars. The Tatar Khan sent word to Emperor Frederick that he advised him, for his own good, to become his vassal. The horror of the steppe hordes was so great that this year the fishermen of Gotland and Friesland did not dare, as usual, to catch herring off the English coast, for fear of leaving their families to be torn to pieces by the Tatars. It was then, according to Matthew of Paris, that Saint Louis declared: “We will either win or become martyrs.”

On May 20, 1242, King Henry III of England landed in Rouen with three hundred knights and thirty barrels of gold, with which he was going to hire Poitevin and Gascon warriors. The purpose of the landing was to support the Count of March and his comrades, who rebelled against their overlord.
Saint Louis assembled a fleet of 80 ships at La Rochelle and convened his army at Chinon: in April, four thousand knights and twenty thousand squires, sergeants and mounted crossbowmen gathered there. Then the king invaded the lands of the Count of March in Poitou, besieged and took the fortress of Vuvan.
The vassals of the Count of March retreated, destroying everything behind them, in order to leave a desert in front of the royal army. But the advance of the royal army continued. Louis besieged Fontenay, which was defended by a strong garrison led by the son of Hugh de Lusignan, but the fortress fell. The son of the Earl of March and forty captured knights were brought to the king. They wanted to hang them as a warning to the rebels, but Louis opposed this. The capture of Fontenay caused panic among the supporters of the Count of March all the way to Gascony, and many fortresses surrendered to the king without resistance. Saint Louis ordered the weakest castles to be destroyed, others to be strengthened and garrisoned to be placed in them.
The King of England nevertheless arrived from Royan to Pont, where he was received by the lords of Saintonge. He then went to Saintes and Tonne on the Charente River, where he knighted young people and, as a legitimate sovereign, distributed honors and lands. The English had sixteen hundred knights, six hundred crossbowmen, and twenty thousand infantry. The French army was larger: under the banner of Saint Louis, his brothers, the counts of Artois and Poitiers, his cousin Alphonse of Portugal (who became Count of Boulogne after the death of Philip the Shaggy), Pierre Moclerc and a great many other barons arrived. Henry III of England was accompanied by his brother Richard, son-in-law Simon de Montfort, Earl of March, and the earls of Salisbury, Norfolk, and Gloucester.
Convinced of the superiority of the French army, the British retreated. Louis began to pursue them. The royal foragers reached the very walls of Sainte. The Count of March wanted to punish them for their insolence and avenge their defeat; he left the city with his three sons and English and Gascon warriors and attacked the French. The noise of the battle that had begun reached the city, and the English king wanted to take part in it. The Count of Boulogne was informed of the attack on the French vanguard, and Saint Louis hastily rode to the battlefield. Both troops entered the battle earlier than the British would have liked. Despite all their courage, they were completely defeated. The French pursued them with such fervor that some of the soldiers rushed into Saintes after the British and were immediately captured. Saint Louis had to hold back his troops.
Henry III, learning that Saint Louis was about to begin the siege of Saintes, and foreseeing that the Count of Marche would ultimately betray him, fled at full speed, ordering the city to be set on fire, stopping only at Blaye. Saint Louis entered Saintes and continued to pursue his enemies. But the king of England managed to take refuge in Bordeaux. After the defeat of the British, their allies thought only of guilt.
Saint Louis ordered the pursuit of the English to continue. But an epidemic began in his army, and he himself fell ill with dysentery, complicated by fever, the scourge of that time. The French were very afraid that the king would die in this year, 1242, because he was in poor health. The army did not have enough food and water, since the enemy, retreating, destroyed everything behind them, filled up or poisoned springs and wells. The intense summer heat and fatigue are said to have killed twenty thousand people.
However, the position of Henry III was also threatening. He received no help from England, and his Mediterranean allies abandoned him. On March 12, 1243, the French and English concluded a five-year truce. Louis returned to Chinon, Henry III remained in Gascony, without money, completely in debt. The Counts of Toulouse and Foix submitted to Louis.

As soon as the Tatars retreated to the east, the Christians finally lost Jerusalem. The Arab princes of Syria entered into an alliance with them in order to fight together against the Sultan of Egypt. In response, the Sultan invited the Khorezmians to take possession of Palestine, and a horde of 20 thousand horsemen with their wives and children captured Tiberias and Jerusalem in 1244, killing the old people, cripples and women who took refuge in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Egyptians went on the offensive and, in turn, captured Ascalon, then Damascus. After this, the Sultan broke with his allies the Khorezmians and in 1247 ordered their extermination or expulsion from Palestine.

In 1245, Saint Louis convened a large council in Paris; many bishops, counts and barons took the cross on it, and among others - the king's three brothers with their wives. Despite his desire to set out as quickly as possible, Saint Louis was able to go to the East only in 1248. To pay all expenses, Saint Louis received money from the main cities of the kingdom: ten thousand Parisian livres were given by Paris, three thousand by Lan, three thousand four hundred by Lan. Beauvais. But he levied a particularly large tax on the clergy: the Pope granted him the right to collect tithes for three years and made sure that these amounts were collected for the king by representatives of the Holy See.
The king was to be joined by a large number of English nobles, and among them the Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort, William Longsword, bastard of Henry III, accompanied by two hundred knights. King Henry III handed over command of the English crusaders to his brother Hugh de Lusignan and demanded that they set out on the campaign only after Saint Louis. 38 ships were waiting for Saint Louis and his warriors, who were so numerous that the king had to leave his Italian archers on land. Two admirals of the fleet were Genoese. They waited for a fair wind for two days, and it blew towards the Holy Land on Tuesday, August 25, 1248.

The island of Cyprus was conquered by the Byzantines Richard the Lionheart, who handed it over to Guy de Lusignan. It was the only place in the neighborhood of the Holy Land that was inaccessible to Muslim attack; that is why Saint Louis chose Cyprus as the place where food supplies were transported. The king’s very intention to attack Egypt in order to liberate Jerusalem - although this plan was too bold - was not surprising, since it was the Egyptian Sultan who captured Palestine.
Saint Louis landed on the island of Cyprus in the port of Limassol on the night of September 17-18, 1248. One of his ships, hitting a sandbank, completely fell apart; all the passengers drowned, with the exception of one young woman and a child, whom she was able to carry ashore. Saint Louis wanted to attack Egypt immediately, which made sense from a military point of view. But most of the lords have not yet arrived. The princes and French barons, like the barons of Cyprus, begged the king to wait for the stragglers, but to do this they had to winter on the island. The mere news of the arrival of the French army made a great impression on the entire East. Unfortunately, an epidemic spread among the crusaders, killing more than 240 knights before Easter. In an effort to stop the epidemic, Saint Louis ordered his troops to be dispersed throughout the island.

Saint Louis wrote to the Sultan of Egypt that he would attack him if he did not satisfy his demands. Several patrol ships moored in the Nile Delta to carry out several raids. They say that the Sultan, who was then very ill, began to cry out of frustration. He gave the order to strengthen Damietta and place a large garrison there. He also ordered that Alexandria be prepared for defense.
The departure took place on Thursday evening, May 13, the day of the Exaltation. Guillaume de Villehardouin, Count of Morey, and the Duke of Burgundy joined the king. Such a large fleet had never been seen in the East - it numbered 120 large ships, not counting the galleys and small boats built in Cyprus in order to land on the Egyptian coast (of which there were at least 1600), on board which were troops of 2800 knights and their associates.
The army thought that the course was set for Alexandria. But on Tuesday, at sea, the king ordered to turn towards Damietta. However, a headwind blew for many days, and the ships did not move forward. On Sunday, Whitsunday, when the sea, as far as the eye could see, was covered with ships, a storm arose, which for the most part scattered them. Some ships were driven to Acre. Saint Louis returned to the port of Limassol, where he heard mass; he found only 700 knights near him and spent the holiday in sadness. We had to wait a week for favorable winds. Finally, on May 30, the Crusader ships were able to set sail again and on Tuesday, June 4, they were within sight of Damietta. 55 ships, scattered by the storm, have not yet rejoined the main squadron.

The king gathered his barons. Some believed that before starting the battle, we should wait for the stragglers. But Saint Louis did not want to delay the landing any longer, for there was not a single port nearby where they could take shelter in case of bad weather, and on Whitsunday they had already experienced enough of the storm.
Soon four Egyptian galleys appeared on the horizon to confirm that it was the king's fleet. They were surrounded and three of them were immediately sunk; the fourth escaped and informed the garrison of Damietta of the arrival of the French sovereign. Bells rang in the city. By noon, the French fleet dropped anchor in a roadstead in front of the shore filled with the Sultan's troops.
At night they protected themselves from any surprise by lighting a great many fires; The crossbowmen were on alert, ready to drive off the Saracens if they tried to attack. In the morning, the Christian fleet raised anchors and headed for the island. The king went down into the boat with the legate, who carried the cross before him; an oriflamme was placed in the next boat, which was guarded by the king’s brothers, barons and knights. Crossbowmen were stationed in both boats to drive away the enemy with arrows.
As soon as the oriflamme was brought ashore, Saint Louis jumped from the boat into the sea, pushing away the legate who was trying to hold him back. The water reached my chest. When the king, having mounted his horses with his barons, rode to the Saracen camp, a rather hot battle ensued, in which the enemy leaders were killed; the survivors hastily crossed the bridge of boats leading to Damietta, leaving the western bank of the Nile to the French. This happened as night fell. During this battle, large French ships attacked the Saracen galleys and forced them up the river.
On the first day there were very few casualties on the part of the French - some were drowned or wounded, of whom the most important was Hugh, Count of Marche, the same lord who had once rebelled against Saint Louis. To atone for the past and seeing that he was being ridiculed by the other barons, he immediately rushed into the thick of the battle. He was seriously wounded and died some time later in Damietta.
At night, tents were set up on the seashore. The next day, Sunday, June 6, the crusaders decided to complete the landing and prepare their guns for the siege of Damietta. The city was protected by two walls on the Nile side, three on the land side, with a huge number of towers, and it was considered the most fortified place in Egypt. However, a rumor spread among the garrison of Damietta about the death of the Sultan. The Arabs left the city at night, killing slaves and prisoners and starting several fires; However, in their haste, they forgot to destroy the boat bridge leading to the city.
So the crusaders entered the city without a fight. The king arrived there at the head of a procession at three o'clock in the afternoon. He went straight to the mosque, which in 1219 the Christians converted into the Church of the Blessed Virgin, and ordered the legate and all the prelates of the army to sing “Te Deum”. The king spent the summer in Damietta until the end of the Nile flood. He was waiting for his brother Alphonse de Poitiers, who was supposed to bring him reinforcements from France. During this time, the Crusaders rebuilt the city walls; the queen remained with the ladies and the wounded in the fortified city. The camp of the crusading troops themselves was outside the walls.

After this first unprecedented success, everyone began to console themselves with the hope that the conquest of Egypt, and then Palestine, would occur without difficulties. The army was well supplied and increased daily with new recruits - Christians of Morea, knights from Europe. And in Cairo, the Arabs already considered themselves defeated. However, the Sultan did not die. Enraged by the flight of his troops, he ordered 50 of those who commanded them to be hanged. Although he was sick, he still ordered to be taken to Mansur to block the path of the crusaders. On June 25, the Nile flood began, dooming the French army to inaction. The knights and their men squandered their spoils at the festivals; A shameful picture appeared before the king’s eyes: vanity, hatred, and envy reigned everywhere. Most of the lords were their own masters, for they participated in the campaign at their own expense, and the king exercised authority over them and their escort only on individual occasions.
The Count of Artois himself did not respect his brother; he quarreled with Guillaume Longsword and his English, who because of this went to Acre, although Saint Louis told them that he did not approve of the behavior of his people and was afraid that their pride would bring upon them the wrath of God. However, Long Sword returned to Damietta in November. The Sultan offered the crusaders a favorable peace, but it was rejected due to the vanity of the Count of Artois.
The Bedouins set up patrols and killed all Christians who moved even a little away from the camp one by one. At night they slipped past the guards of the crusaders, crawled into the tents, killed those sleeping separately and cut off their heads to carry them away, for the Sultan promised a reward of bezant in gold for the head of a crusader brought to him. The king ordered that the mounted patrols, past which the Saracens could easily slip, should be replaced by foot patrols; finally, he ordered the camp to be surrounded by a wide ditch to prevent raids by enemy cavalry. Every evening, crossbowmen and sergeants stood guard near the ditches and entrances to the camp.

A new council of all barons was held to decide whether to attack Alexandria or Cairo. This time Pierre Moclerc and most of the barons decided that Alexandria had to besieged. Count Artois, on the contrary, wanted to go straight to Cairo, the capital of the Sultan, because, he said, in order to kill a snake, you need to crush its head. The king followed his brother's advice; In addition, the envoys of one of the Saracen military leaders, whose brother the Sultan executed after the loss of Damietta, secretly promised that they would surrender Cairo to the king without resistance in order to avenge this execution.
On November 20, 1249, with the onset of the Nativity Fast, the king and his army finally began to move, heading towards “Egyptian Babylon”, as the Count of Artois advised. The news immediately reached Mansur, where the Sultan was dying. He again turned to Saint Louis with peace proposals: to return the lands that once belonged to the kings of Jerusalem, as well as Christian captives, in exchange for Damietta. Saint Louis refused, believing that if he left the Sultan in possession of Egypt, he would not hesitate to reconquer Palestine at the first opportunity; however, the Sultan died and the emir who took his place interrupted the negotiations. The king left with the queen a strong garrison in Damietta. When he set out on the campaign, he was already sick.

The army left the Nile Delta in battle formation, rising along the right bank of the tributary to Damietta. As they passed, the detachments robbed everyone in their path. Louis forbade the killing of women and children, ordering that they be brought for baptism; he also demanded that, if possible, Muslims should be captured rather than killed.
Emir Fakhr-ed-Din, who took the reins of power, kept the Sultan's death secret for some time, trying to avoid unrest, and hastily prepared for war.
The Ashmun Canal flowed from the Nile Delta, east of Damietta. The enemy army settled down at Mansur, on the opposite bank of the canal, where it flowed out of the river, and camped on a plain that extended to the river bank.
In Farescourt, quite close to Damietta, the path of Louis's army was blocked by an irrigation canal. It was necessary to cover it with earth. The legate promised absolution to those who took up this work, so Louis wished to personally set an example by taking part in draining the canal.
On the way, a detachment of five hundred Arabs arrived at the French, declaring that they were dissatisfied with the Sultan and wanted to join the crusaders. Louis accepted these people, but ordered them to be monitored. On December 6, while on the march, they attacked a detachment marching in front of them, intending to destroy it; but the Templars who were nearby quickly attacked and killed them.
Arriving at Mansur and seeing the Arabs on the opposite bank of the river, Louis ordered to set up a camp with ditches and fortifications and install throwing weapons. Food convoys coming from Damietta could only be reached by water, and the Arabs intercepted them. Hunger began. On Christmas Day we had to repel an enemy attack. Everyone who left the camp died. Hugh de la Tour, Bishop of Clermont, died on December 29, 1249. The Ashmun branch was deep, sandwiched between steep banks, inconvenient for crossing. In February 1250, they decided to resume the maneuver that had been successful in Farescourt - to build a dam that would hold the water upstream and block the canal. The Crusaders built two covered galleries with one tower for crossbowmen to protect the men building the dam from the Arabs holding the opposite bank - these structures were called "cat castles". But there was a lot of water here to seal it up. And the Arabs destroyed the dam as it was being built - they undermined the bank on their side, and the water broke through, destroying the work that cost the Christians three weeks of effort.
With the help of their throwing machines, the Arabs could not only respond to shots from Christian guns, but also use “Greek fire” against the crusaders.

After the crusaders spent a lot of time trying to cross the river, one Bedouin offered to show them the ford for 500 bezants. They gave him money. The council decided that the Duke of Burgundy and the barons of the Holy Land would remain to guard the camp, while the king and his brothers would cross to the other side. The crossing took place on the day of Zagovenya, February 8, 1250. The horses of the crusaders had to swim through the canal until they felt the bottom; On the opposite bank, not only a steep climb awaited the Christians, but also the Arabs, ready for battle. Several knights drowned during the crossing. The formation of the army was such that the Templars, as the tougher fighters, formed the vanguard, and the Count of Artois walked directly behind them. Having barely passed the ford, the young prince put to flight the Arabs crowding on the bank of the canal, and, completely forgetting about all discipline, rushed to pursue the retreating ones.
They flew into the Arab camp like a hurricane. Guillaume Longsword and Raoul de Coucy raced after the Count of Artois. Emir Fakhr-ed-Din, sitting in his bathroom and busy dyeing his beard, jumped on his horse, without even having time to arm himself to join his troops. They caught up with him and killed him almost immediately. The Saracens were driven to Mansur and further along the road to Cairo. The fugitives flocked to the Egyptian capital, reporting that the war was lost.
The Master of the Templar Order wanted to dissuade the Count of Artois from entering Mansur, which, with its narrow and crooked streets, could easily become a trap. Proud, a mocker and a daring man, the count did not want to hear anything. He found himself locked in the city. While his warriors were thinking only of plunder, the inhabitants attacked them, throwing stones and beams from the roofs of houses, and the hidden Muslim warriors suddenly attacked from all sides. The Mamluks, led by Baybars, again gathered the fleeing people and went on the offensive. The Count of Artois did not have crossbowmen to repel the attack. He had to leave the palace he occupied. The retreat through streets too narrow for the knights to use their weapons turned into a massacre. Outside the city walls, most of the Egyptian army reformed and attacked the Christians who were crossing the ford at that time. The Count of Artois and his men fought valiantly, but by the end of the day they were all dead. 300 knights were killed, among them Guillaume Longsword, and most of the English. Many Templars died, and their master lost an eye.
Joinville crossed the ford ahead of the main body of the army and crossed the Egyptian camp. He encountered a strong force of enemies, one of his comrades was mortally wounded, and he himself was in great danger, from which he was saved by the appearance of the Count of Anjou and the king. The knights from the king's retinue, along with the rest, rushed into the thick of the battle.
One knight, Jean de Valery, advised the king to move to the right to the river in order to be closer to the Duke of Burgundy and the troops guarding the camp, and to give the combatants a drink. The king ordered his advisers to be called from the very thick of the battle; when they approved this plan, he ordered it to be put into action. The movement of the troops had scarcely begun when the Count of Poitiers, Count of Flanders, and other lords who were fighting at a distance, sent to beg the king not to move, for they could not follow him. The king stopped. Just as he was about to set off again, Constable de Beaujeu arrived with the message that the king's brother, the Count of Artois, was defending himself in a house in Mansur. Saint Louis asked the constable to go there. However, Joinville failed to get through to Mansur.
Returning, Joinville and the constable saw that the king had retreated to the river, and the Saracens were crowding out the royal troops there. They rushed into the water on horseback to swim across; but the tired animals had difficulty coping with the flow, which was spinning shields, spears, and drowned people. Finally the Arabs were driven back and their camp was captured.
It seems that the death of his brother touched the king more than all subsequent misfortunes. They said that Robert Artois wanted to die for Jesus Christ; he was considered a martyr. The Egyptians cut off the heads of the dead and placed them on pikes at the gates of Cairo. And from that day on they took heart.
Saint Louis ordered first of all to build a wooden bridge across the river in order to establish communication with his first camp. Two days later, on Friday February 11, the Arabs wanted to throw all their forces into storming the Christian camp. But the spies warned Saint Louis about this, who ordered his men to be ready for battle from midnight. The attack did not begin until noon the next day. The Count of Anjou was in the front ranks; The Mamluks managed to sow confusion in his detachment. This was reported to the king, who rushed there with a sword in his hands and penetrated so far into the ranks of the enemy that Greek fire hit the croup of his horse. But the attack was repulsed.

The army suffered heavy losses, and the situation worsened every hour. The bodies of the drowned were stuck near the bridge, the canal was completely covered with corpses within a stone's throw. It took eight days to get them out: the bodies of Muslims were thrown into the river, downstream, while the bodies of Christians were buried in large pits. Because of fasting, one could not eat anything except fish from the Nile, which fed on corpses. This is how the epidemic began. The Arabs blocked the river and intercepted all carts of food coming from Damietta. The crusaders had to overcome their disgust and eat horse meat. The famine only contributed to general disillusionment. Saint Louis visited the sick to comfort them, although he was warned that he might become infected. And he really got sick - he again had an attack of dysentery.
The new Sultan of Egypt, Turan Khan, arrived from Damascus. He immediately came to Mansur, bringing with him new troops to strengthen the city’s defenses. At the same time, he sent a fleet to isolate Damietta from the sea. After the last convoy was captured by the enemies, Louis asked the Sultan for a truce. He offered to return Damietta if Jerusalem was returned to him; in order to guarantee the fulfillment of the agreement, he promised to give his brothers hostages. But the Sultan demanded that the king himself become a hostage; Saint Louis agreed, but the French opposed this, preferring to have them all killed rather than agree to such a humiliating condition.
Finally, on the advice of his entourage, Saint Louis decided to lift the siege of Mansur and retreat to the other side of the river to return to Damietta. The road was blocked by the Sultan's army. The king first ordered that a thousand sick and wounded be transported on ships with food for his retinue, ordering that this food be thrown into the water in order to make room. Louis himself was still ill and suffered from "intermittent fever and very severe dysentery." Despite the requests of the legate and the barons, he refused to join this flotilla, because he did not want to leave his comrades in danger.
The retreat, both by land and by water, took place on Tuesday, after Fomin Sunday, April 5, 1250. A detachment of Arabs broke into the camp and killed all the wounded who were waiting to be carried to the ship. The frightened sailors cut the mooring lines to quickly set sail. But Louis rushed in and ordered them to return to finish loading the sick.
In their haste, they forgot the order given by the king - they did not destroy the boat bridge built between the two banks, and the Arabs used it for their own purposes. Louis not only refused to leave with everyone else, but jumped on his little horse and wished to remain in the rearguard with Gaucher de Chatillon. The next morning the rearguard was cut off from the main units. Philippe de Montfort, who was already negotiating with the Arabs, came to the king and offered to conclude a truce. The king agreed.
At the moment when Philippe de Montfort concluded a truce with the emir, because of a Parisian sergeant named Marcel - either a traitor or burning with misplaced zeal - this last chance was lost. He began to shout: “Senior knights, surrender, the king orders! Don't let the king die! The knights laid down their arms, and the emir replied to Philippe de Montfort that it was too late to conclude a truce, since the Christian troops themselves had already surrendered.
The king was placed under the protection of the eunuch Dzhemal-ed-Din; his two brothers and the chief barons accompanying them were captured. The troops that could come to the rescue from Damietta were defeated the next day. None of the crusaders retreating overland escaped the enemy. Oriflamme also fell into the hands of the Saracens. Saint Louis and his companions were brought to Mansur. They say that the king was chained and kept with his brothers in the house of judge Faqar-Ed-din-Ibrahim. He was so thin that his bones showed through his skin, and he was so weak that they thought he was about to die.

The flotilla approaching Damietta encountered a chain of enemy ships that pelted it with Greek fire; the horse escort that accompanied the Christian ships along the coast also came under fire and fled to Damietta. Large ships for the most part managed to break through, but the rest burned along with the sick, whom the Saracens finished off or threw into the water. Queen Margaret was about to give birth; Three days later, her son Jean was born, nicknamed Tristan of Damietta. On the same day, the queen was informed that the Pisans and Genoese with their ships and the common people were about to leave the city, which would destroy any hope of negotiating the release of Louis and his associates. The queen called the Italians to her chambers, begging them to take pity on her and the king. They complained about the lack of food, and then Margarita ordered to supply them with food free of charge, at the expense of the king. This distribution lasted a month and cost the treasury 360 thousand livres, that is, almost as much as the Sultan asked for the ransom of the king and the rest of the captives. But Damietta remained in the hands of the French and could become the subject of bargaining for the king.

Blanca of Castile and the lords remaining in France ordered the first messengers from the East who reported the capture of the king to be hanged as troublemakers, so incredible was this news after the capture of Damietta. When they became convinced that the catastrophe had actually occurred, everyone was overcome with sadness and boundless despondency.

Several very rich lords wished to ransom themselves from captivity. Louis forbade them to do this, fearing that they would be freed, and the poor crusaders would remain captive forever; the king announced that he would pay a ransom for everyone.
The Saracens demanded to give up not only Damietta, but also the fortresses of Palestine. Saint Louis replied that he could not do this, since they did not belong to him, but to the German emperor or the Knights Templar or Hospitallers. The Saracens demanded a million bezants in gold. The king, without bargaining, promised this amount as a ransom for his people, and for Damietta personally for himself, “for he is not the person who should be ransomed for money.” The Sultan admired such generosity and made a discount on the ransom of 100 thousand livres.
The king and the sultan concluded a truce for 10 years, which extended to the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem. Everyone was surprised at such a quick release and such a low price. Christians even considered what happened to be a miracle. Both parties began to fulfill the terms of the agreement. The king and noble people were put on four ships, heading for Damietta. On August 28, 1250, they were brought to the Sultan’s camp near Fareskur. The king was placed in a tent next to the camp. He was supposed to be released a day later.

The young Sultan Turan Khan had many enemies. First of all, these were the relatives of the military leaders whom his father had ordered beheaded or deprived of mercy; as well as those who did not like the arrogance and self-confidence of the Sultan. Another reason for discontent was the ransom that the French had to pay. The emirs realized that the Sultan was in a hurry to come to an agreement with the French king in order to then deal with them, and they decided to get ahead of him. The agreement was finally concluded on May 1. And on May 2, the conspirators killed the Sultan. First they wounded him in the tent, he fled and took refuge in a wooden tower, which his pursuers set on fire. The Sultan got out of it, fell at the feet of Aktay, the leader of the Mamluks, begging for mercy, but he was pushed away. He rushed to the river, calling for help and shouting that he refused to be a sultan, while they shot at him with arrows. One Mamluk hit Turan Khan with a spear that was lodged in his side. The Sultan ran to the river, trying to throw himself into it, but he was finished off with saber blows. Then Aktay tore out his heart.
The Christians, still in custody in the galleys, were present at this murder. However, the murder of the Sultan did not affect the fate of the French king. It was agreed that as soon as Damietta was handed over to the Mamluks, the king and lords would gain freedom. The common people whose lives were spared were taken to Cairo. The king undertook to pay 200 thousand livres before leaving Damietta and 200 thousand upon arrival in Acre. In turn, the Muslims promised not to touch the sick, food and weapons in Damietta until the king could take them.
The next day, May 6, 1250, the day of the Ascension, Geoffroy de Sergin went to Damietta at sunrise and ordered it to be returned to the emirs. The queen, still recovering from childbirth, was put on a ship bound for Acre. The Christians held Damietta for 11 months. According to the treaty, the Arabs agreed to guard the sick crusaders, food and weapons until the king could take them. But as soon as they became masters of the city, they killed the sick, destroyed guns and food warehouses, mixed up corned beef, wooden wall cladding, guns and corpses, and burned everything. They then razed the city to the ground so that the Crusaders could no longer take it.

According to the chronicler Matthew of Paris, upon his return to France, Saint Louis was despondent and sad for some time, and nothing could console him. He did not want to give up his crusader vow. He reduced as much as he could the expenses of his family, not only out of humility, but also in order to save money for the war, for he preferred to take money from his own means rather than from his people. But one should not assume that Louis forgot about his duties as king. Since his return he has worked with extraordinary zeal.
In 1258, Louis banned private wars that lords could wage among themselves under feudal law; he established the "40 days of the king" - a mandatory truce for 40 days, during which the offended lord had to wait before taking up arms; the king forbade the practice of arson, attacking peasants and fighting where he has the right of supreme jurisdiction. In 1265 he banned private individuals from carrying weapons.

After the death of Frederick II, power in Italy was seized by his son Manfred. The pope, seeing that the ring of enemies around him was closing again, gave the crown of Naples to the king of France for one of his sons. At first, Louis refused, but then succumbed to the persuasion of Urban IV (French by birth) and allowed his brother Charles of Anjou to accept the kingdom in Naples, which only remained to be conquered. He gave him an army, allowed him to collect tithes for the crusade against Manfred, and agreed to have the crusade preached in France.
In 1263, Charles of Anjou with a thousand knights boarded ships in Marseilles, arrived in Rome, where Pope Clement IV declared him king of Naples, and began to conquer his kingdom. Manfred was killed at the Battle of Beneventa in 1266. Two years later, Charles of Anjou defeated the young Conrad and ordered his execution. Ruling through fear, not heeding the advice and example of his brother, Charles, unknowingly, prepared the Sicilian Vespers.

This was the last of the crusades, and one had to be a saint to undertake it. Since 1259, the Templars and Hospitallers, eternal rivals, seemed determined to destroy each other in Palestine. The following year, the Tatars captured Syria and destroyed the Sultanate of Aleppo. Christians cried out in vain to the rulers of Europe. The Tatars left, but the Egyptians with their new Sultan Baybars captured Palestine in 1263, demolished the Nazarene Church, the monastery in Bethlehem and many cities, among which was Caesarea, once fortified by Louis. Acre was the last Christian fortress; Baybars was preparing for its siege. His troops defeated the last Christian rulers of the East who could provide assistance to the Holy Land: Bohemond, Count of Tripoli and Prince of Antioch and the Armenian king. In 1268, Baybars personally led the assault on Antioch, which was sacked; 17 thousand soldiers died in it and one hundred thousand of its inhabitants were taken captive.

The Holy See resumed preaching the crusade in 1260, during another Tatar raid. Louis wanted to personally lead the crusaders; but first of all he wanted to know the Pope's opinion. Clement did not dare to advise him this; outside France the whole Christian world was in turmoil; on the other hand, Louis had poor health, he could not ride for a long time or wear armor; it was to be feared that the king would not endure the hardships of the campaign and that with his departure everything in Europe would worsen. At the end of September 1226, Clement IV wrote a letter to Louis, where he gently dissuaded him from participating in the crusade. But not a single Christian sovereign, except Louis, was able to defend the Holy Land. And when the Pope in October received another letter from the French king, in which he again asked his permission to go on a campaign, he yielded to this persistent request and in 1267 sent a legate to France, who presented the cross to Saint Louis. On March 14, 1270, following the custom of kings setting out on a crusade, Saint Louis made a pilgrimage to Saint-Denis, accompanied by his children and a large number of barons.
On the Tuesday after St. Peter's Day, July 1, 1270, the king heard mass at dawn and boarded his ship with his sons Philip and Pierre; Count Nevers and Count Artois set sail at the same time. Saint Louis demanded that his comrades, and especially his son Philip, despise worldly vanity and devote themselves entirely to the cause of defending the faith. All day they waited on the royal ship for a favorable wind; The sail was set only the next day, after sunrise, and they set course for Cagliari, a city in Sardinia, where the entire fleet was to gather.
The Christian fleet raised anchor on July 15, and a day later, by three o'clock in the afternoon, it was already visible from the port of Tunis. The Muslims, who were taken by surprise by the appearance of the crusaders, fled. They managed to capture two abandoned ships in the harbor. However, the crusaders were only able to land the next day; the operation took place without losses or battles, but in great disorder. The army settled down for the night in the same place where it went ashore. There were several skirmishes with enemies; soldiers who went in search of drinking water died. From the next day, the camp was moved further to Carthage, to the plain, where drinking water was abundant. Carthage was only a small fortress, which the crusaders captured without difficulty, but did not find anything valuable in it. Louis ordered it to be restored and strengthened in the French manner, so that the ladies who were still on the ships, wounded and sick, could live there.
The capture of the Tunisian port opened the entrance to the country. This success, complete, quick and easy, was fraught with enormous danger. The Arabs were not defeated and were not going to shy away from battle. They went on the offensive, so suddenly that the crusaders had to leave their lunch and rush to arms.
The Arabs constantly harassed the crusaders and killed those they could reach. Louis awaited the arrival of his brother, the Sicilian king, so that they could march together on Tunisia; Charles at this time was said to be negotiating with the Sultan and asking that no decision be made before his arrival. Louis sent ships and ambassadors to him.
The summer was in full swing; The knights had no shelter other than tents, and they lacked food and drinking water. Dysentery began in the army. Food was very expensive, and the supplies that the king’s people brought were running out. At the beginning of August, the king sent to Sicily and Sardinia to purchase fresh meat for the sick. The whirlwinds of sand greatly disturbed the crusaders; when the wind was favorable, the Saracens began to move and threw sand and dust into the air, which flew towards the Christians.
So many people died every day from fever, dysentery, and plague in skirmishes that there was no time to bury them. Bodies were thrown into ditches surrounding the camp, and a foul smell poisoned the air. Prince Philip fell ill with dysentery at the same time as his father - on August 3, the day of the death of the Count of Nevers; but eight days later he was almost recovered. Saint Louis, on the contrary, remained lying in the camp; he continued to give orders and received ambassadors from Emperor Michael Palaiologos. In bed he said prayers. When he felt worse, he ordered a cross to be placed in front of him and dictated his last will, ordering that his tomb be decorated very simply. He asked that his body be transported to Saint-Denis if he died in a non-Christian country.
On August 25, between 9 o'clock and noon, the king seemed to fall asleep for half an hour, then opened his eyes, looked around at everyone present, then turned to heaven and quoted the beginning of the psalm: “I will enter your house, I will worship in your holy temple and I confess in your name." Finally they laid him down on the ashes; he crossed his hands with a cross and by three o'clock in the afternoon he gave his soul to God. He was fifty-six years old, of which he ruled France for 44 years.
Philip III was proclaimed king on the spot and, having hastily concluded a 10-year truce with the Mauritanians, hastened to return to France.

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Merovingian Dynasty

The Merovingians are the first dynasty of Frankish kings in the history of France. The kings of this dynasty ruled from the end of the 5th to the middle of the 8th century in the territory of future France and Belgium. They came from the Salic Franks, who settled in Cambrai (Chlodion Longhair) and Tournai (Childeric I) in the 5th century.

Carolingians

Pepin the Short, dying, divided his state between his sons: Karl and Carloman. They completed the conquest of Aquitaine, begun by Pepin, where the main branch of the Merovingian house still held out. Carloman soon died (771), and then Charles (768-814) restored autocracy.

Hugo Capet

The heir of Lothair (954-986), the penultimate king of the Carolingian dynasty, was a nineteen-year-old young man, without influence of authority. When Hugh Capet and the royal nobility placed him on the throne, it became obvious that the king was either too young or unfit to rule.

King of France from the Capetian family, who reigned from 1226 to 1270. Son

Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. J.: from 1234 Margarita, daughter of Raymond

Berengaria V, Count of Provence (b. 1221. Died 1285). Genus. 1215 Died

After the death of his father, Louis remained a small child, and therefore the beginning

his reign was marked by the usual turmoil in such cases. Fortunately

for the king, his mother Blinka of Castile, a woman of strong character and

great political abilities, took control of the state into her own

hands. Having seized the regency, she began to carry out affairs skillfully and firmly, so that

quickly pacified all the rebels. In addition, the queen received two

unfinished wars - with the British in the west and with the Count of Toulouse in the south.

Both of them were successfully completed.

Having reached adulthood and assumed control in 1236,

Louis found the state already calmed down. According to everyone

contemporaries, the young king was surprisingly pleasant and extremely

a charming person. Tall, well built, strong, with a handsome and

an open face, a lively gaze, blond hair, he possessed at the same time

time with an “angelic” and “knightly” appearance. By nature he was a man

cheerful and witty, he loved casual conversations with his loved ones.

Official importance and etiquette were unknown at his court. During

For most of his life, this affectionate and good-natured sovereign was not at all

looked like the strict pilgrim that some monks portrayed him as.

The account books of his court show that he loved hunting and spent large

money for horses, dogs and falcons, dressed in gold brocade, silk and

purple, and at court festivities he revealed that luxury and

extravagance, which at that time was considered a virtue among the highest

society. But it is also true that from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary

religious ardor and such unshakable faith as was in his age

more the exception than the rule.

Louis became sovereign at a time when the supreme power in

France is already firmly established and the most difficult steps to unify the country

had already been done by his predecessors. Danger to the Capetians

represented only the remains of the possessions of the English king in Gascony and

Aquitaine and the influence they had on the French lords. IN

1241 The barons of Poitou rebelled. Louis hurried to the aid of the ruler

there to brother Alphonse and soon occupied all the fortified places one after another.

The rebels were waiting for help from the English king, but Henry III appeared in 1242

g., after Louis captured Frontney, the main fortress

insurgents. The king hastened to meet the British and in July defeated them

head under the walls of Saint. Henry fled, abandoning his army. Soon he

concluded a peace with Louis, according to which Poitou was recognized as the possession

Capetians. At the same time, thanks to a successful marriage, Louis's brother Charles of Anjou

acquired the County of Provence, and after the death of the Count of Toulouse in 1247

Raymonda of Toulouse passed into the hands of another royal brother, Alphonse of Poitou.

Having ended feudal strife and made peace with the English, Louis could

start fulfilling your cherished desire - preparing the crusade

hike. In general, by this time European chivalry had cooled considerably towards

journeys to the Holy Land, and a man like Louis was needed to

reawaken his enthusiasm. The campaign began in the spring of 1248. In August

pilgrims boarded ships in the southern ports of France and in the middle

September safely reached Cyprus. It was decided to spend the winter here.

It seems that at the same time Louis was finally inclined to think that the fate of the Holy

The land must be determined by the defeat of Egypt. It was decided against him

deliver the first blow. At the end of May 1249, an armada of 120 large and one and a half

thousands of small ships left Cyprus and a few days later was already in sight

Damietta. The Sultan knew in advance about the danger that threatened him and tried

prevent the landing of the crusaders at the mouth of the Nile. However, the knights made the first blow

scattered the ranks of the enemies. Louis himself, burning with impatience, jumped from the ship

shoulders into the water and took the fight along with his brave men. Unable to withstand the pressure

Christians, the Egyptians retreated in disorder to Damietta and on the same day in horror

fled from the city. The next day, Louis entered into

this formidable fortress. Thus, the beginning of the crusade was marked

extraordinary happiness. But the onset of the Nile flood prevented Louis from developing

Muslim forces were waiting for them here, taking a strong position in front of the fortress.

The wide canal of Ashmum Tana blocked the French road. Louis ordered to build

there was a dam across it, but it was a troublesome and difficult task. Muslims

constantly fired at the work site from throwing machines and made daring

attacks on a Christian camp. So two months passed. Early February

1250 one Bedouin showed Christians the place where they could cross the canal

ford A large detachment of knights led by Louis's brother Robert of Artois

crossed to the other side. Their appearance came as a complete surprise to

Muslims But instead of waiting for the rest of the army to cross, Count

Artois burst into Mansura with a loud cry. The Egyptians soon came to their senses -

closed the gates and involved the cut-off troops in a terrible battle, in which they

Robert himself, three hundred French and many other knights were killed. At the same

time the Mamelukes attacked those crusaders who managed to go over to their

shore. The brave men were led by the king himself. After extremely

After a fierce battle, the knights were driven back to the water. Louis was in

the greatest danger and could be captured at any moment. Weakened people

They rushed into the canal and drowned in their hundreds. Finally, the camp garrison

With great difficulty, they managed to build a bridge and come to the aid of the king.

The Muslims celebrated their victory and three days later they themselves attacked the Christian

camp. This battle was as fierce as the first. Christians

repulsed all attacks and drove the enemy to its shore. This cooled the ardor somewhat

Egyptians However, at the end of the month they managed to destroy

ships bringing supplies to Christians from Damietta. Troop supplies are sharp

worsened, since Muslim land caravans could be intercepted without

any labor. Famine and a terrible pestilence that opened in the camp

the crusaders made it impossible to continue offensive operations.

Louis ordered to retreat back to Da-Miette. The retreat began at the beginning

April, but it could no longer save the doomed army. With ever increasing

the Egyptians stubbornly attacked Christians, while they could hardly

move from weakness and illness. Everyone who was not killed was captured. Myself

Louis, probably, could have been saved if he had left with the advanced detachments. But he

did not want to abandon the stragglers and, on the contrary, was always in the rearguard. IN

In the end, the disease took him down. Deeply exhausted, he lay on the ground;

his head rested on the lap of a simple woman who happened to be nearby,

his death was expected from hour to hour, while the Muslims were advancing

closer. So he was captured along with his brothers and all those who had not yet

was killed. Thousands of Christians, from whom there was nothing to take, were soon killed, but

the enemies treated the king, his brothers and nobles with care,

intending to profit greatly from their unfortunate situation. AND

indeed, the following was soon reached in negotiations with the Sultan

agreement: in exchange for his release, the king had to cleanse

Damietta, and pay eight million for the release of his comrades

francs; But as soon as this agreement was concluded, unrest broke out in Egypt.

The Mamelukes, led by their emir Bi-bars, rebelled against

Sultan Turanshi and was horribly killed with it. Life during the revolution

Christian captives were in great danger. Finally, the excitement

settled down, and the parties could begin to fulfill the terms of the contract. After

with great difficulty he managed to collect four million francs and thereby buy

freedom for his brother Alphonse. Most of the crusaders after this

went home. Queen Blanca also persuaded in her letters

son to return to France as soon as possible. But Louis announced that he would not leave

Holy Land until he redeems all his comrades from captivity. From

Egypt he sailed to Akkon. Circumstances turned out well for him.

Syrian Muslims, offended by the murder of Sultan Turanshi, prepared a campaign

against the Egyptians and invited Louis to unite with them. Mamelukes in mind

this threat has become more accommodating. They released many from captivity

knights and refused the second half of the ransom, which the king still had

must. However, even after this, Louis did not leave Palestine, awaiting the arrival of

new crusaders. In August, with great humility, in a hair shirt, dressed

on a naked body, made a pilgrimage to Nazareth, then took up

restoration of fortifications around Caesarea. The whole of 1251 was spent on this task.

Louis never ceased sending out appeals to the Christian world asking for

help, but all his efforts remained fruitless. In 1252 the king moved to

Joppe and began to fortify this city with walls and towers. To deserve

forgiveness of his sins, he himself carried stones for construction. In 1253 between

Peace was concluded between the Egyptians and Syrians. Returning to Damascus, the Syrians took

Sidon and killed many Christians there. Louis had it like this at that time

He had so little strength that he could do nothing to help the unfortunate people. Immediately after the departure of the Muslims

he hurried to this city and began burying the dead and restoring

destroyed walls. At the same time, he himself helped carry corpses to the graves, already

exposed to decay. Finally, in April 1254, without receiving help,

he left Akkon with deep sorrow and, together with his wife and children, went to

France. On the way he endured many dangers from fog and bad weather, but everything

but managed to safely reach his native shores.

The following years the king was busy with state affairs, although the thought of

the new crusade never left him completely. But before

leave France, he had to take care of the security of its borders. IN

1258 a treaty was concluded with the Aragonese king; Louis refused

any claims to Barcelona, ​​which since the time of Charlemagne was considered

French county, and Jaime retreated from the territories lying to the north

from Rousillon. Thus, the Pyrenees became the border between two

states - In 1259, a final peace was concluded with the English king

Henry III. Louis returned to him the parts taken from the English by Gieni and

Gascony, and Henry renounced claims to Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Maine and

Poitou These were important decisions. Louis hoped that they would bring his country

long-awaited peace. After this, he began to encourage his compatriots to

new crusade. In 1266, the king turned to Pope Clement IV for

permission to make a second pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The permission was

given, and in March 1267 Louis laid the cross. His brother Alphonse Poixie

immediately joined him. Louis's sons Philip, John Tristan and Peter

also followed their father's example. King Thibault of Navarre, Counts of Artois,

Brittany and Flanders, as well as many other French rulers, were

ready to take part in the campaign to the East. However, most knights, like

for the first time, they reacted very coolly to the king’s call. Needed

sustained efforts on the part of Louis and the Pope to move the French

for the holy cause and force the clergy to pay the necessary cross tax.

Little by little religious enthusiasm swept through the Christian world. They accepted the cross

Louis' brother King Charles of Anjou of Sicily, as well as English princes

Edward and Edmund. Tens of thousands of Christians in different parts of Europe took a vow

make a pilgrimage. Seeing that the matter had moved forward,

Louis announced the beginning of the campaign in the spring of 1270. Before leaving his

country, he took care, if possible, to eliminate all hostility in it,

satisfied those who might have any claims to him, and shed-roy

with his hand he put in order the property of his children.

Due to various delays, the crusader army sailed only at the beginning

July. A few days later the pilgrims reached Sardinia. Here are the leaders of the campaign

held a council, and it was announced that the army would not move straight to

Syria and not to Egypt, but will first sail to Tunisia. For something so unusual

change of route Louis agreed under pressure from his brother Charles,

The Christian fleet approached the shores of Africa. The next day the whole army

landed on a narrow strip of coast that stretches between the sea and Tunisian

lake. Having repulsed the attacks of the Muslims, the crusaders reached Ancient Carthage and

They set up their camp here. At this time they had every chance of achieving victory,

since the emir had few troops and was in great need of food. But

Louis did not begin the siege and hesitated, waiting for Charles to arrive. Meanwhile from

Due to the great overcrowding in the camp, a pestilence began to rage. In August

Louis' son John Tristan died, and a few days later the king himself fell ill.

The disease became severe from the very beginning, and soon there was no

there is no doubt that Louis' days are numbered. Until the very last minute he kept

courageous firmness, with a trembling hand he wrote a wise and warm commission

20.02.2018

There is probably nothing worse for a state than having an overly religious ruler on the throne. Take Louis IX, for example! On the one hand, he tried to strengthen the prestige of France, contributed to the development of the judicial system and compliance with the law, on the other, he spent a lot of money from the treasury on the Crusades. This is not to mention the human sacrifices - in those years, human life was not considered inviolable, and humanism was unheard of then. Why was Louis called the Saint? What did he do? Maybe he helped the church spread Christian values ​​among its (and not only its) people?

Religiosity

Louis grew up in an environment that shaped and “fused” together such seemingly incompatible character traits as a convinced, almost fanatical faith in God and a love of rich feasts.

The mother of Louis IX enjoyed the joys of life while she was in power (until Louis’s 12th birthday), but at the same time skillfully portrayed humility and a penchant for asceticism when necessary. So Louis became like her, only with him, it seemed, everything was sincere - he either organized festivities, or organized Crusades, in which he himself participated.

The king prayed a lot and often attended church. They say he even wore a hair shirt. At the same time, he did not refuse the joys given in marriage - he and his wife (by the way, he lived with her all his life and did not have mistresses, like other great-power personalities) had 11 children! It is interesting that the wife accompanied her husband on his first campaign against the Gentiles.

Crusades

It seemed to the king not enough to simply pray himself - he wanted to spread Christian teaching wherever possible. The result of this desire was the continuation of the Crusades against the Gentiles. Louis IX led the 7th and 8th Crusades, which, however, did not bring him success.

During the Seventh Crusade, the king was captured in Cairo. His associates were also captured. To help out the monarch, considerable sums had to be paid. The Eighth Crusade became completely disastrous. A pestilence spread throughout the army, which, of course, they did not know how to treat. Hundreds of people died. The king himself also died.

Canonization

It is difficult to name any benefit from both campaigns of the crusader king. They brought nothing but sacrifices and ruin to anyone. However, in 1297 Louis IX was canonized. But if the monarch had not shown such ardent religious zeal, perhaps he would have been able to ensure the prosperity of France and significantly improve the living conditions of his subjects.

Louis IX was known among the people as a good king. Every day at a certain hour he listened to the complaints of people coming to him. And it doesn’t matter what class they belonged to. He really helped a lot of people.

Louis IX considered it necessary to know the life of his own people, to take into account their needs and interests. But he turned out to be very devout...

LOUIS IX Saint (Louis IX le Saint) (25 April 1214, Poissy, near Paris - 25 August 1270, Tunisia), king of France from 8 November 1226. Together with his grandfather, Philip II Augustus, and grandson, Philip IV the Fair, Louis is one of the "three great Capetians." In addition to his fame as a Holy Crusader King, an exemplary Christian knight, he went down in history as a ruler who raised the prestige of royal power and developed and transformed the administrative structure of the state.

In the Shadow of the Queen Mother

The eldest of the children of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, under the guidance of his mother he received a comprehensive education, especially in the field of theology. After the early death of his father, power passed into the hands of the Queen Mother, who not only ruled the kingdom wisely and decisively during the eight years of her regency, but also subsequently exercised influence over her son, who respected and loved her, and only from her, alone among the members family, took advice. Despite the fact that Blanca managed to crown his son almost immediately in November 1226, soon a coalition of feudal lords with the participation of the English king, headed by the powerful Count Raymond VII of Toulouse, came out against the king. In April 1229, the Treaty of Paris was imposed on the Count of Toulouse, which put an end to the Albigensian wars and introduced a new organization for governing the south of the country, Languedoc; Among the articles of this agreement was the count's consent to the marriage of his only heir with one of Louis' brothers, Alphonse Poitiers.

Fight against the Cathars

And although by 1235 not only the aggression of the English king was repulsed, but also peace was established with both the English and the barons of the kingdom, nevertheless, foreign political calm was very quickly disrupted by the Cathar uprising that began in 1240 in Languedoc, which provoked a new conflict with Henry III and the count Toulouse. Already in 1243, the last agreement was signed at Lorris, which, confirming the terms of the treaty of 1229, marked the end of the last serious feudal disturbance under Saint Louis. The resistance of the south was finally broken with the fall in 1244 of the last two strongholds of the Cathars - Montsegur and Kerib.

Crusade 1244

The decision to organize a crusade, officially made by Louis in December 1244, had been long thought out. Already in the mid-1230s. the king helped the Byzantine emperor in the fight against the Muslims by purchasing relics of the Passion of Christ for a very significant price (the Holy Chapel, Sainte-Chapelle, was built in the royal palace to store these shrines). In the spring of 1248, he entrusted the regency to his mother and set out on the seventh Crusade.

By the middle of the 13th century, the peak of the crusading movement and the enthusiasm associated with it was far behind, and to a large extent some of the enthusiasm with which this expedition set off and the glorious, despite the defeats, memory of it should be attributed to the personal “charisma” of St. Louis , the influence of the image of the ideal Christian knight that he embodied. Military failures, illness, famine, the capture of the king by Muslims along with thousands of his knights, the death of many of them, a ransom of 4 million francs paid for the release of the royal brother Alphonse - all this did not prevent the French people from welcoming the king who returned in 1254 as a triumphant . For Louis himself, these trials, the idea that due to lack of strength and means he returned without ransoming all the Christian captives, turned into a decisive psychological turning point: before the Crusade, the king, although distinguished by sincere piety and high moral principles, was still not alien to worldly joys, but from the mid-1250s. became a real ascetic.

Domestic policy

In his domestic policy, Saint Louis continued the administrative reforms of his grandfather and father. According to the dying will of Louis VIII, a significant part of the possessions of the royal domain went to the younger brothers of Saint Louis: Alphonse received Poitou, and Charles received Anjou, the two largest provinces. Royal incomes fell accordingly, so Louis IX was required to especially carefully organize and control abuses in management structures. Management training was carried out by Philip Augustus and was supported by Louis VIII's Ordinance. In 1254 the prevote system was improved: the country was now divided into twenty clearly defined districts headed by royal officials. These functionaries, passing on their positions by inheritance, now formed real dynasties. Strict and centralized control over their activities was established.

In 1263, the monetary system was streamlined: from now on, royal coins, unlike monetary units of local significance, were in circulation throughout France. The innovations of the reign of Saint Louis consisted in the fact that royal power was not just at the top of the pyramid of the feudal hierarchy, but above it, fundamentally outside it. In his domestic policy, the king sought to maintain balance and protect the interests of different segments of the population.

At the end of the 1250s. a number of controversial issues of foreign policy were clarified: firstly, by the treaty of 1258 with the Aragonese king Jaime, the border between the two states ran along the Pyrenees line, and secondly, in 1259 a final peace was concluded with Henry III. The latter renounced his claims to Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Maine and Poitou, and Louis IX returned to him part of his possessions in Guienne and Gascony, the legal right to own which he was not sure of.

Last trip

In 1267, Saint Louis again took up the cross and in the summer of 1270, overcoming the internal resistance of the knighthood and clergy, he began a new Crusade, which was extremely unsuccessful in its consequences and ended in August of the same year in Tunisia with a plague epidemic, from which the king himself died on August 25.

Less than thirty years after his death on August 11, 1297, Louis IX was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII, which met the strategic plans of his grandson, Philip IV the Fair. Saint Louis became a kind of symbol of the spiritual traditions of the French monarchy, the embodiment of the image of the “most Christian king”, the title of which his descendants bore for many centuries in a row.