Son of Louis VIII, Louis IX the Saint He acceded to the throne when his father died in 1226, when he was only 11 years old, so France was ruled by his mother, Blanca de Castilla, until he came of age.
Blanca de Castilla, who was in turn the daughter of Eleanor of England and Alfonso VIII of Castile, was certainly not highly appreciated by the French nobles, although her integrity, her willpower, and her own courage, were stronger than the intrigues , achieving a pacified kingdom that, to a certain extent, was sometimes difficult to think of.
Louis IX was prudent, wise, but also authoritarian. He organized the kingdom of France, consolidating the power of the crown itself thanks to the fact that he managed to impose himself on the feudal lords and on the king of England.
But one of the issues that can be highlighted most of his management, as we will see in this post, was his ideal of the Christian king of his time, just as well as pious, launching himself into war and undertaking various crusades that marked his life and to the people of France.
As regards the first crusade, it was undertaken primarily against the Albigensians, which made possible the further expansion of the domains of the French Crown itself to the Mediterranean.
He achieved not only military victory. He was able to sign peace agreements based on reciprocal concessions and inspired by his sense of justice with those rival powers that still held their fief in French territory.
Outstanding is, for example, the Treaty of Corbeil with Aragon (signed in the year 1258), or the Treaty of Paris with England (in the year 1259).
But his importance not only had to do with his foreign policy, but also with what he maintained internally in his kingdom: he created inspectors to control the abuses of officials among the Crown, he fought prostitution, gambling and private wars, or he established the first controls on the accounts of the Royal Treasury, among many other issues.
He was even the founder of the Sorbonne University, popularly known today.
Louis IX the Saint and his religious desire
Many historians agree in pointing to Louis IX the Saint as a religious king, with such a fanaticism that led him, on two occasions, to leave France with the aim of participating in wars against Islam.
In this aspect he was not very successful, since for example although he led the Seventh Crusade, and although he conquered the city of Damietta, he was captured by the Muslims in the year 1250, during the battle of Mansurah.
He paid a high ransom so that he was able to get out safe and sound, and he stayed for 4 years in Palestine with the aim of reinforcing some important places.
However, after undertaking the second crusade, and while trying to convert the sultan of Tunis in a new foray into North Africa, he died of the plague.
Fonts | Crusades, the True Story (Thomas Madden) / The Expansion of Faith. The Catholic Monarchs (Luis Suárez Fernández).
Images | Oronoz.com / Manuel de Villena
teaching reading resourcesbaby could read pre school phonics reading quotes childrenteaching strategies for reading comprehension