King Louis IX Of France: Canonized By The Holy Church

King Louis IX of France King Louis IX, later canonized by the Holy Church as Saint Louis, was the model of the ideal Christian king, one who governed his life and ruled his kingdom according to the will of God. Through his actions and policies, Louis kept his faith, promoted good will, justice and peace in his kingdom, and protected the Church. King Louis IX was born on April 25, 1214 to King Louis VIII and Queen Blanche of Castille (Le Goff 3). As the eldest living heir to the throne, Louis became king at the young age of twelve when his father died. However, due to his age his Queen mother was nominated regent of the kingdom until Louis came of age to rule (Le Goff 579). Growing up in the Middle Ages, Louis like most of the noble children,
Louis in the tradition of Charlemagne, saw France as the eldest daughter and protector of the Church. The royalty is the defender of the faith and the secular arm of the Church (Le Goff 643). Louis instructed his son to “Be very diligent about protecting all types of people in your domains, especially the people of the Holy Church; prevent anyone from doing any wrong or harm to their persons or their property...You must honor them and protect them so that they can carry out the service of Our Lord in peace” (Le Goff 641). Additionally, at the time of the crusades the Church preached that war against Muslims were not just allowed, but rather recommended. War against Muslims was not a war of conquest but to retake possession of a land that belonged to Christendom (Le Goff 646). As Le Goff puts it, “The Holy Land was the cradle of Christianity, the site of Christ’s worldly existence, and the place where his human body lay from his death on the cross in the afternoon on Holy Friday to his resurrection on Easter morning (646). However, for Louis the more important reason for going to the crusades was to win the souls of the Muslims and convert them to Christianity. Louis after being taken captive in the Seventh Crusade, told his captor the Sultan of Babylon, “I take the Almighty as my witness...I have no concern about ever returning to my Kingdom of France as long as I can win your soul and the souls of other infidels for God, so that they can be glorified” (Le Goff 647). Le Goff cites two other accounts of Louis’ conversion of Muslims. One text Le Goff cites is from biographer Guillaume de Saint-Pathus. In this account, Louis command and order his people not to kill Muslim women and children, but to take them alive and baptize them (Le Goff 649). The other account is from biographer Geoffroy