Louis XI 455SUCCESSION PROBLEMSIn 819 Louis the Pious married Judith of Bavaria
(800–843), and with her the Welf family came into the
court. In 823 the future CHARLES THEBALDwas born;
from then on his mother and father tried to make a place
for him in the succession. Under these new circum-
stances, which were not welcomed by his older sons,
Louis’s former counselors and the enemies of the Welf
family decided to support Lothair as the next emperor. In
829, at the request of Louis and with the empire in total
disarray, the Frankish bishops met and tried to inform the
squabbling Carolingian family that the imperial power
was a gift of God and must fall under the control of the
church or clergy. This clarified little and, in fact, pro-
moted discord as all sides tried to enlist the support of
the church with concessions or bribes.
The last decade of the reign was characterized by a
battle essentially between Louis and Lothair as the other
two brothers changed sides frequently. In 833 seeing
political opportunities, the papacy opposed and several
Frankish bishops tried to depose Louis. The next year,
the restored Louis ended his reign trying to work out an
almost impossible acceptable partition of the empire.
Though still energetic and capable, he failed and died
on June 20, 840. He was buried at Saint-Arnoul in Metz
having failed to preserve a centralized imperial state.
See alsoCAROLINGIANRENAISSANCE;DHUODA;HINC-
MAR OFRHEIMS;LUPUSSERVATUS OFFERRIÈRES;NITHARD;
VERDUN,TREATY OF;WALAFRIDSTRABO.
Further reading: Allen Cabaniss, trans. Son of
Charlemagne: A Contemporary Life of Louis the Pious
(Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1961); Peter
Godman and Roger Collins, eds., Charlemagne’s Heir:
New Perspectives on the Reign of Louis the Pious (814–840)
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990).
Louis IX, Saint(1214–1270) king of France known for
his saintliness and crusading
Louis, king of FRANCEfrom 1226 to 1270, was the son of
Louis VIII (r. 1223–26) and BLANCHE of CASTILE
(1188–1252), who exercised a regency during his minor-
ity and during his first crusading effort. Louis IX had
wage war because of problems with BRITTANY, the LUSIG-
NANSin Poitou, Raymond VII of TOULOUSE(d. 1249),
and the interventions of HENRYIII, the king of ENGLAND.
His victories at Taillebourg and Saintes in 1242 led to a
truce with the English, and the death of Raymond VII
promised the annexation of Toulouse, as his heir had
married Louis’s brother.
Louis IX’s piety was already clear during this early
period of his reign, he had purchased the crown of thorns
of Christ, which he housed in the SAINTE-CHAPELLEat
Paris. His crusader’s vow of 1244 further revealed the
depth of his religiosity. Louis prepared carefully for the
expedition. He sought to leave the realm pacified and
under a just regime. He appointed commissioners in 1247
to correct abuses by royal agents. With his personal repu-
tation at its peak and the kingdom at peace at last, he
embarked in 1248 from his new port of Aigues-Mortes. He
landed in EGYPT. His victory at Damietta was soon nulli-
fied by a major defeat at el-Mansura in 1250, where the
king was taken prisoner. After his liberation for a huge
ransom, he spent four years in the kingdom of JERUSALEM
and at ACREimproving its administration and defense.
The king returned to France in 1254, much affected
by his sense of failure. He then promulgated a program of
political and moral reform for his realm in order to effect
God’s JUSTICEand plan on this Earth. He forbade trial by
battle and judicial duel in the royal domain. Louis also
made possible general legal appeals to a royal court to
obtain justice. Appeals for justice soon came from
throughout the whole kingdom. He softened his attitude
toward JEWS and cut back his support for the
INQUISITION’s activities in southern France. He solidified
his reputation for fairness and morality by arbitrating dis-
putes in FLANDERSand England. With the English king
Henry III, he tried to establish a definitive peace in 1259
by generously ceding some territories in return for
English recognition of the French conquests of NOR-
MANDYand GASCONYin the early 13th century. He was
famously devoted but never sacrificed any rights of the
French Crown to papal ambitions. When the MAMLUK
sultan BAYBARSI captured Christian territory in PALESTINE
and the Levant, between 1263 and 1268, including ANTI-
OCH, Louis again took up the cross. En route to Egypt, he
detoured to TUNIS, where he died of plague on August 25,- He was canonized soon after, in 1297.
See alsoCHARLESI OFANJOU;JOINVILLE,JEAN DE;
PARLEMENT OFPARIS.
Further reading:Robert Branner, St. Louis and the
Court Style in Gothic Architecture(1965; reprint, London:
A. Zwemmer, 1985); William C. Jordan, Louis IX and the
Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership(Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979); Jean Richard,
Saint Louis: Crusader King of France,trans. Jean Birrell
(1983; reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University of
France, 1992); Margaret Wade Labarge, Saint Louis: Louis
IX, Most Christian King of France(Boston: Little, Brown,
1968); Daniel H. Weiss, Art and Crusade in the Age of
Saint Louis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998).
Louis XI(the Spider King)(1423–1483) Valois king of
France
Louis was born at Bourges in 1423, the son of King
CHARLESVII. He gained the nickname The Spider King
for all the webs of intrigue he wove. He revolted against
his father in 1440, was pardoned and given the govern-
ment of the Dauphiné, but revolted again in 1455, then
had to flee to the court of the duke of BURGUNDY,PHILIP