The Sanctity of Louis IX

Early Lives of Saint Louis by Geoffrey of Beaulieu and William of Chartres

M. Cecilia Gaposchkin, Sean L. Field, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin, Sean L. Field, Larry F. Field

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780801478185
• eBook ISBN: 9780801469138
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: History

Louis IX of France reigned as king from 1226 to 1270 and was widely considered an exemplary Christian ruler, renowned for his piety, justice, and charity toward the poor. After his death on crusade, he was proclaimed a saint in 1297, and today Saint Louis is regarded as one of the central figures of early French history and the High Middle Ages. In The Sanctity of Louis IX, Larry F. Field offers the first English-language translations of two of the earliest and most important accounts of the king's life: one composed by Geoffrey of Beaulieu, the king's long-time Dominican confessor, and the other by William of Chartres, a secular clerk in Louis's household who eventually joined the Dominican Order himself. Written shortly after Louis's death, these accounts are rich with details and firsthand observations absent from other works, most notably Jean of Joinville's well-known narrativeThe introduction by M. Cecilia Gaposchkin and Sean L. Field provides background information on Louis IX and his two biographers, analysis of the historical context of the 1270s, and a thematic introduction to the texts. An appendix traces their manuscript and early printing histories. The Sanctity of Louis IX also features translations of Boniface VIII's bull canonizing Louis and of three shorter letters associated with the earliest push for his canonization. It also contains the most detailed analysis of these texts, their authors, and their manuscript traditions currently available.

TRANSLATED TEXTS

CHAPTER ONE

THREE EARLY LETTERS ON
THE SANCTITY OF LOUIS IX

1. Philip III’s Letter to French Prelates Announcing the Death of Louis IX (12 September 1270)

Philip, by the grace of God king of France, sends love and greetings to all his beloved and faithful archbishops, bishops and abbots, priors, deacons, priests, and other church leaders, and to all the regular and secular convents, colleges, and chapters established in the kingdom of France to whom the present letter may come.1

We are compelled to announce to you all, with much bitterness of heart, some cruel news—far too sad and sorrowful—for which all faithful Christians must weep and which must in particular be endured by each and every person within the boundaries of the kingdom of France, and especially lamented by us, with continual, repeated sighs. Not long ago, as was pleasing to God (who always directs the steps, the deeds, and the ends of his chosen people toward salvation in the fulfillment of His will), Louis—of famed and pious memory, most famous king of France, beloved of God and honored by men, and our late most dear lord and father, whose life is known to have been beneficial for the entire Church, whose memory is a blessing, and whose praise is preached in church—rendered his happy spirit to the most high Creator. After many praiseworthy acts of faith and charity; after many burdensome struggles which he faithfully and fervently undertook with a tireless spirit for the Christian faith and the propagation of the Church; after recently landing courageously in the port of Tunis without loss to his men, holding this well-known harbor, this gateway to the lands of Africa, which he proposed (should God so grant) to dedicate to the Christian faith once he had eradicated and banished the wicked filthiness of the barbaric Saracen people; after his victorious capture of Carthage, just as he was setting off, intent on a swift and powerful assault on Tunis by land and by sea to entirely eradicate the power and might of the infidel ruler and his army; in the midst of all this, God arranged to happily consummate and conclude his toil and struggle. Brought down by bodily weakness, he took to his bed, and after much suffering from this illness, at last he requested in most Christian fashion, and received with great devotion, all the sacraments of the Church. And in confession of the true faith, in fervent love and devotion to God, on the Monday following the feast of the blessed apostle Bartholomew,2 at the very hour in which the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, breathed his last while dying on the cross for the life of the world,3 he came to his final hour, lying on sackcloth and ashes.

With such a dire, gaping new wound, we are compelled to wail for such a sharply stinging bereavement and to mourn the deplorable loss and death of a pious father, in which we find and feel not only our own incurable injury and irreparable damage but an inestimable loss and lamentable harm to all of Christendom. Everyone grieves equally for the pious king, the peaceful king, the father of the poor, the refuge of the miserable, the consolation of the oppressed, the particular champion of all religion and innocence, the zealous supporter of justice, the defender of the faith and the Church. O, who might grant it to us, we who now occupy his place on earth, to follow in the footsteps of so praiseworthy a progenitor? To imitate his example, to fulfill his ideals, to live up to his sacred merits and evidence of salvation? We would rather justly glorify the virtuous merits and deeds of his life than mourn his death, if only the force of sorrow would allow us reason! Surely it is a great glory to have had such a parent, yet it is sadness without respite to have lost a father’s consolation so great and so sweet, conversation so pleasant, such sound advice and aid. This, indeed, would be thought a grief beyond solace were it not that those who had knowledge of his most saintly deeds have for him the certain hope that he is now carried off from the cares of this temporal kingdom into the eternal realm and glory without end.

So that we may turn away somewhat from our lamentation, let us change our groans and sorrows into the weapons of salvation, into the voice of prayer and the support of love. Let us devote to him now in death the gratitude that we had toward him when alive, so that we may receive the fruit of a blessing from the One who rewards all good things. Truly then, in accordance with the last will and judgment of our aforesaid most holy father, who humbly asked that after his death all religious people and institutions throughout the realm be requested to freely raise their voices to God in prayer and love for him, know that to this end we are now dispatching to the various parts of the realm our beloved men, the religious brothers Geoffrey of Beaulieu and William of Chartres, both of the Order of Preachers, and Brother Jean of Mons4 of the Order of Brothers Minor, having once been dear members of our remembered lord father’s household, as bearers of these directions, together with others of our own household and administration. Wherefore we ask and request of you one and all, with heartfelt emotion, that—mindful of that man’s sincere love and devotion which he, our holy father and lord, always had and effectively displayed for the Church and its people, and mindful of that holy concern which he lavished to keep our realm blessed and flourishing, to keep it in quiet peace as the apple of his eye5—you may wish to offer to the highest King the gift of your prayers and masses and...

Table of contents

• List of Figures and Maps
• Introduction
• Translated Texts
• Appendix: The Manuscript and Printing Histories of the Texts
• Select Bibliography