LOUIS IX.: King of France and Roman Catholic saint; b. at Poissy (12 m. n.w. of Paris) Apr. 25, 1215; d. before Tunis Aug. 25, 1270. His father, Louis VIII., died when he was only eleven years old, and he ascended the throne under the regency of his mother, Blanche of Castile (Nov. 16, 1226). His mother, a pious and very capable woman, had him educated by brothers of the Fran ciscan and Dominican Orden. During the fir9t of of his reign his nobles and later the bishops gave him much trouble, but he at last restored order in his kingdom. In fulfilment of a vow made on a bed of sickness he undertook a crusade (1248). In August he reed for Cyprus, the rendezvous of the crusaders, with an army of 40,000. The next spring he set sail for Egypt, and landed at Damietta June 4, 1249. He took the town without a blow, then defeated a Mohammedan army and advanced up the Nile to Mansurah, whence he had to retreat, after fighting a battle with the Saracens. The king and his whole army were taken captive, but after tedious negotiations were set free for a large ransom. With the remnant of his army, scarcely 6,000 men, Louis sailed to Acre and stayed in the Holy Land four years, only returning to France when recalled by the death of his mother whom he had left as regent (Nov., 1252). He undertook a pilgrimage to Nazareth in thankfulness for his release from captivity. In 1270 he led another crusade to Tunis, landing in July at the site of Carthage, where a pestilence broke out in his army to which the king himself succumbed. His son Philip III. made peace with the emir and returned to France, carrying the ashes of his father.

Louis was canonized by Boniface VIII., Aug. 11, 1297; his day is Aug. 25. From his earliest childhood he was of a pious disposition and delighted in prayers and penances. Although naturally gentle, Louis was intolerant toward heretics and infidels, and was accustomed to say that the only way to deal with a Jew was to strike him with your sword. He was also superstitious; he brought back from the Holy Land the crown of thorns and a portion of the true cress, for which he built the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. The authenticity of the famous Pragmatic Sanction of 1269 (q.v.) has been questioned. In this document he asserts the independence of the Gallican Church against the claims of the pope.

Bibliography: The lives of Louis are very numerous; the moat noted is by Le Nain de Tillemont, ed. J. de Gaulle, 8 vols., Paris, 1848-51. Others are by A. Mignon, ib. 1853; J. A. Faure, 2 vols., ib. 1885; F. P. G. Guiaot, Great Christians of France. St. Louie and Calvin, London. 1889; Hermitte, ib. 1876; V. Verlaque, ib. 1885; C. V. Langlois, ib. 1888; H. Wallon, 2 vols., ib. 1887; M. f3epet, ib. 1898; M. H. F. Delaborde, ib. 1899. Consult further, P. Viollet,~ ~Lee~ -0~tabliaaementa de S. Louis, 4 vols., ib. 1881-

J. bilfEelet, W ippe-I upuste et S. Louie, ib. n.d.; A. Lecoy de la Marche, S. Louis, son pouverneneeat et as politique, ib. 1887; E. Berger, S. Louis et Innocently., ib. 1893; 8. de Froiesart, S. Louie et les croiaades, ib.189B; M. Fromman, Land" Ludwig 111. der Fromme, Jena, 1907; and the literature under Cnoeenas.