St. Louis of France

St. Louis of France is known in history as Louis IX, King of France. He was the son of Louis VIII and was born at Poissy on April 25, 1214. Upon the death of his father in 1226, he became king of France. In 1234, he married Marguerite of Provence, and the royal couple had eleven children—five sons and six daughters. Louis was known for his promotion of justice and peace, at home and abroad, and the nation came to realize that the king’s piety and goodness were the source of his strength. During a serious illness in December 1244, Louis vowed to go on a crusade to the Holy Land. The previous October, the Christians of Palestine had been sorely defeated by the Muslims at Gaza. He left for Cyprus in 1248, and he captured (June 1249) the city of Damietta, Egypt. But because of floods and heat, his men were unable to advance, and as a result they were eventually routed at Mansourah (now Al-Mansura, Egypt) on April 5, 1250. Louis himself was taken prisoner. For his freedom and that of his men, Louis surrendered Damietta and paid a heavy ransom. On his release on May 6, Louis went on to Syria, and then he spent the next four years rebuilding the strongholds still in the hands of the Christians. He was back in France in 1254, but on the occasion of another crusade, he left France on July 1, 1270, and sailed to Tunis, and while there he fell ill with dysentery and died on August 25, 1270. Louis embodied the highest and finest ideals of medieval kingship and was a model to his successors. He was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297.