Saint Louis

911 Pages·2009·4.939 MB·English

by  Jacques Le Goff

SAINT LOUIS Translated by GARETH EVAN GOLLRAD
SAINT LOUIS
(Continuedfromfrontflap)
discoverthetrueSaintLouis.Questioning
JACQUES Jacques Le Goff
whetherSaintLouiswasmerelytheinven- LE GOFF
tionofhiseulogists,LeGoffpenetrates Jacques Le Goff TranslatedbyGarethEvanGollrad
˜
beyondtheliteraryandhagiographicalevi-
dencetothehumanbehindthelegend.He
Translated by Gareth Evan Gollrad
brilliantlyanalyzesLouis’progresstoward
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hisuniqueself-creationanditssubsequent E anonizedin1297asSaintLouis,King
mythologizing.Inthethirdpart,LeGoff “Lifeofaking,lifeofasaint,lifeofaman.Inthiswork,JacquesLeGoff, LouisIXofFrance(1214–1270)wasthecen-
highlightsthecontradictionswithinLouis oneofthetrulygreatmedievalhistoriansofourtimes,magisteriallyplumbs tralfigureofChristendominthethirteenth
andhishistoricalimagethatprevious thedepthsofthefundamentalcontradictionofSaintLouis:isitpossibleto century.HeruledwhenFrancewasatthe
chroniclershaveelidedoroverlooked.In bebothakingandasaint?SaintLouisliesattheintersectionofreasonsof ˜ heightofpower;hecommandedthelargest
theend,heleavesuswiththesaint,rather armyinEuropeandcontrolledthewealthiest
stateanddivinereason;heisanindividualaroundwhomLeGoffturns
thantheking,withalltheparadoxes kingdom.Renownedforhispatronageofthe
likeadetectivesearchingforanever-elusivetruth,thatofalifeandaleg-
embeddedinthatrole. arts,Louiswasequallyfamousforhisdecision
endinextricablyintertwined.Afine,eminentlyreadabletranslation.”
S toimitatethesufferingChristasahumbly
__________ —Robert J. Morrissey,UniversityofChicago attired,beardedpenitent.
A Armedwiththeconsiderableresources
Jacques Le Goff(1924–)istheformer Critical praise for the French edition: ofthenouvelhistorien,JacquesLeGoffmines
directorofstudiesatL’ÉcoledesHautes existingmaterialsaboutSaintLouistoforge
ÉtudesenSciencesSociales,Paris.Heisthe anewhistoricalbiographyoftheking.Part
“Whatisthe‘truth’aboutSaintLouis?Canwerecoveranimageofthe‘real I
authorandcoauthorofanumberofbooks, ofhisambitiousprojectistoreconstructthe
man’?...Aretheexcavatedmultipleandtangledimagesofthekingthe
includingHistoryandMemory,Medieval N mentaluniverseofthethirteenthcentury:
onlyreality?‘SaintLouis,’wondersJacquesLeGoff,‘a-t-ilexisté?’Inthe
Civilization400–1500,andTime,Work,and LeGoffdescribesthescholasticandintel-
pagesofthiswiseandruminativestudy,thedistinguishedFrenchmedieval-
CultureintheMiddleAges. lectualbackgroundofLouis’reignand,most
ist,inhislongestandmostimpressivebook,triestoprovideananswerto importantly,hediscussesmethodologyand
T
Gareth Evan GollradreceivedhisPh.D. thislastquestion....[LeGoff’s]question...isnotsomuchapleasantirony theinterpretationofwrittensources—their
inFrenchLiteraturefromtheUniversity oranallusiontothemethodologicalpowerofdeconstructionasaprofound composition,provenance,andreliability.
ofChicago.Hehastranslated anumberof meditationonthedifficultyofdoinghistory...[and]anearnestexhorta- LeGoffdivideshisunconventionalbiog-
literary,critical,andphilosophicalworks raphyintothreeparts.Inthefirst,hegives
tiontonewandprofounderengagementwiththesourcesofthepast.Itis L
fromFrenchintoEnglish. usthecontoursofLouis’lifefrombirthto
thekindofquestionwehavecometoexpectfromJacquesLeGoff.”
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—William Chester Jordan,Speculum O
icsandgenealogy,courtlyandregionalpoli-
tics,andshiftsineconomic,social,and
“AChrist-likehumility...andacultofself-imposedsufferingprovide,for
culturallife.Insiftingthroughthehistorical
LeGoff,thekeytoLouis’sbehavior.To thisextent,thesainteclipsesthe U accountsoftheking’slife,LeGoffdeter-
kinginthislengthyandprovocativebut,inmanyways,tantalizingstudy.... minesthatitisLouisIX’sprofoundsenseof
LeGoff’sSaintLouisis...asmuchanextendedcommentaryonthehisto- moralandreligiouspurpose—hisdesireto
rian’scraft,andontheintegrityofhistoryasanintellectualdiscipline,asa becometheidealChristianruler—thatcol-
LOUIS
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‘Life’ofanindividual.Assuch,itismorethanwelcome.”—MalcolmVale,
also,forLeGoff,whatrenderscontemporary
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TimesLiterarySupplement
accountsproblematicandwhatnecessitates
furtherscrutiny.
Thatdissectionofsourcesoccupiesthe
Jacketart:SaintLouisreadshishoursonhorseback.Thisminiature,
datingfromthebeginningofthefourteenthcentury,illustratesapas- secondpart.LeGoff’sintentionistopare
sagefromthehagiographicalbiographybyGuillaumedeSaint-Pathus
University of Notre Dame Press awaythelayersofhomilyandanecdote
andshowsSaintLouis’itinerantpracticeofworship.Paris,Biblio-
thèquenationale,Fr.5716,fol.48v.Photo©Bibliothèquenationale. producedbytheking’searlybiographersto
NotreDame,IN46556
Jacketdesign:BruceGore/GoreStudio,Inc. undpress.nd.edu (Continuedonbackflap)
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S A I N T L O U I S
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S A I N T
L OU I S
JACQUES LE GOFF
S
Translated by Gareth Evan Gollrad
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
S
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English Language Edition Copyright © 2009 by
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame,Indiana 46556
All Rights Reserved
www.undpress.nd.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
Translated by Gareth Evan Gollrad from Saint Louis,by Jacques Le Goff,
published by Éditions Gallimard,Paris,France. © Éditions Gallimard,1996.
Representation of Saint Louis.Early fourteenth-century statue from the church of
Mainneville,Eure,France.Artist unknown.
The publication of this book was generously supported by the
LauraShannon Fund for FrenchMedieval Studies.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Le Goff,Jacques,1924-
[Saint Louis.English]
Saint Louis / byJacques Le Goff ;translated by Gareth Evan Gollrad.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-268-03381-1 (cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-268-03381-1 (cloth :alk.paper)
1.Louis IX,King of France,1214–1270. 2.Christian saints—France—Biography.
3.France—Kings and rulers—Biography. I.Gollrad,Gareth Evan. II.Title.
DC91.L39513 2008
944'.023092—dc22
[B]
2008027215
This book is printed on recycled paper.
LeGoff0-000.FM 9/29/08 11:29 AM Page v
Sa piété,qui était celle d’un anachorète,ne lui ôta aucune
vertu de roi.Une sage économie ne déroba rien à sa libéralité.
Il sut accorder une politique profonde avec une justice exacte
et peut-être est-il le seul souverain qui mérite cette louange:
prudent et ferme dans le conseil,intrépide dans les combats
sans être emporté,compatissant comme s’il n’avait jamais
été que malheureux.Il n’est pas donné à l’homme de porter
plus loin la vertu.
Voltaire
Essai sur les moeurs,Chapter 58
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Contents
Translator’s Note xvi
Acknowledgments xviii
Introduction xx
PART I The Life of Saint Louis
1. From Birth to Marriage 3
(1214–1234)
The Child Heir,6.— The World around the Child King,10.
The Oriental Horizon:Byzantium,Islam,the Mongol Empire,11.
Christendom,19.— The Results of Expansion,20.— Religious
Anxieties,23.— Political Organization:The Emergence of the
Monarchical State,30.— France,33.— The Grandfather’s Heritage,35.
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viii S Contents
The Brief Reign of the Father,38.— The Death of the Father,43.
APlague on the Land Whose Ruler Is a Child,49.— The Coronation
of the Child King,54.— A Difficult Minority,57.— The Affair of
the University of Paris,69.— Louis and Emperor Frederick II,73.
Conflicts with the Bishops:The Beauvais Affair,75.— The Devout
King:The Foundation of Royaumont,77.— The Devout King and
the Loss of the Holy Nail,80.
2. From Marriage to the Crusade 83
(1234–1248)
The Marriage of Louis IX (1234),84.— The “Chivalry”of Brothers.
Joinville’s Appearance,91.— The King as Father,93.— The King of
Relics:The Crown of Thorns,94.— The Sainte-Chapelle,99.— An
Eschatological King:The Mongol Apocalypse,101.— The Conquering
King:The War against the English,102.— The King’s Illness and His Vow
to Crusade,109.— The King,the Pope,and the Emperor,114.— Saint
Louis and the Mediterranean,118.—The Preparations for the Crusade,123.
3. The Crusade and the Stay in the Holy Land 128
(1248–1254)
The Crusade:Did It Embodythe Thought of Louis’Reign? 128.
Saint Louis and the Orient,129.— From Paris to Aigues-Mortes,131.
The Voyage and the Campaign in Egypt,134.— The King Imprisoned,137.
The Distant King,138.— The Affair of the Shepherds,139.— Louis IX
in the Holy Land,143.— The Crusade,Louis IX,and the West,144.
The Death of His Mother,150.
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Contents S ix
4. From One Crusade to the Next and Death 151
(1254–1270)
Fortunes at Sea,151.— The Meeting with Hugh of Digne,152.
The Return of a Grief-Stricken Crusader,155.— The Kingdom’s
Reformer,157.The King’s New Men,161.— Justice in the Cities,163.
The King as Investigator,164.— The King and the Investigations in
Languedoc,165.— The King and the Towns,167.— Louis and Paris,171.
The Uncompromising Dispenser of Justice:Two Spectacular Cases,176.
New Measures for Purification:Against Ordeals and Usury,against
Jews and Lombards,180.— The “Good”Money,182.
The Peacemaker,187.—The Flemish Inheritance,188.— Peace with
Aragon:The Treaty of Corbeil (1258),190.— The Franco-English
Peace:The Treaty of Paris (1259),192.— The “Mise”[Judgment] of
Amiens,199.— Louis IX and the Future of the CapetianDynasty
and the Royal Family,201.— Births and Deaths,202.— His Sister
and Brothers,204.— Saint Louis and the Royal Bodies,207.
Louis IX Crusading for the Second Time,221.— Final Purifications
beforethe Crusade,222.
5. Toward Sainthood:From Death to Canonization 227
(1270–1297)
The Tribulations of the Royal Body,227.— The Return to France,229.
Toward Canonization,230.— The History of the Relics,234.