During the midieval ages, the role of a Christian king was one of great honor and responsiblity. Perhaps no man bore this title more deservingly or more perfectly than Saint Louis IX, King of France. However, immediately following this statement, several questions come to mind: How should a Christian king rule his kingdom well, promoting justice and good government, as he had done? Also, how should a Christian king reguard the church and protect the Christian faith? I believe King Louis achieved all of this primarily by a close cooperation of both himself and the church, in efforts to promote notions of good will and holy inspiration to all members of his kingdom. Also, to make laws that do not concern themselves soley to the advantage of the upperclass, (nobility and high-ranking clergy men) but for the benefit of the entire kingdom (merchants, peasants, and even beggars). These include laws that pay particular attention to ending

9) 9) "…hardly would it be possible to number his alms" -Joinville, Life of ST. Louis, in P. Geary, Readings in Medieval History II: The Later Middle Ages (Broadview, 1998) pp 352, paragraph 9

6) "ruled his land very loyally and godly" -Joinville, Life of ST. Louis, in P. Geary, Readings in Medieval History II: The Later Middle Ages (Broadview, 1998) pp 341, paragraph 4

King Louis also had a deep respect for God and the church. This can be proved by another of Jean’s recollections, where the king asked him "which you would the better like, either to be a leper, or to have comitted a mortal sin?". Jean chose mortal sin, and the king said to him, "when a man dies, he is healed of… leprosy…but when a man who has comitted a mortal sin dies, he cannot know… that God has forgiven him". King Louis also said "we ought to believe so firmly the articles of faith that neither fear of death, nor for any mischief that might happen to the body, should we be willing to go against them in word or deed." This shows just how strong King Louis’ faith was in God, that he would easily choose to die before committing a mortal sin. I believe his faith was a great factor in the ruling of his kingdom, if not for any other reason than for politics. The church was very powerful in King Louis’ time, and undoubtedly his faith helped gain their support to rule over his kingdom. Without faith, King Louis could never be a true Christian king.

With much reference to Joinville, Life of ST. Louis ( a portion of contents from the book Readings in Medieval History) by Patrick J. Geary, I intend to answer such questions by giving several instances of King Louis’ rule. These instances I have mentioned are told by his close companion and advisor, Jean, Sire de Joinville. Furthermore, I intend to incorporate information about the royal administration and the relations between church and state in medieval France.

I will begin by discussing what may seem to be the least important of the qualities of King Louis, his style of clothing. From what Jean tells us that his lord once said, "men ought to clothe and arm their bodies in such wise that men of worth and age would never say, this man has done too much, nor young men say, this man has done too little." Jean verifys this by telling us that he had hardly seen King Louis wearing fancy embroidery; That his suits were mostly made of satin ornamented with his arms, and that he gave the money he would have used to purchase such fancy clothing to God (which

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