Saint Louis

Jacques Le Goff has given us a very personal account of St. Louis and has entered intimately into his life. Although he never completely abandons his role as a critical historian, he embraces Louis not merely as a great king but also as a person and, from that perspective, as a saint. For, while he begins and ends his massive volume with the question "Did Saint Louis exist?", his book is his response to that question, and it is positive. Moreover, he leaves no real doubt that he regards Louis as the greatest of French kings and one who has much to offer to contemporary French citizens. His St. Louis is a multifaceted personality with a profound sense of his role as king and a deep commitment to peace and justice. Early on, Le Goff makes it clear that he does not put Louis's leadership of the crusade as the central feature of his book, leaving that chiefly to others, particularly to Jean Richard and William Chester Jordan, the works of both of whom he admires.

Le Goff divides his volume into three parts. The first is devoted to the place of Louis in the royal family of his age and his emergence as king under the tutelage of his mother, Blanche of Castile. It emphasizes the strength of this youthful figure. Part 2 presents the sources that have given us St. Louis, beginning with a discussion of administrative sources and moving on to hagiography, the making of the legends surrounding his identity, and discussing Joinville's biography. He leaves no doubt about his own reliance on Joinville's account. The final section is, in many ways, a lengthy conclusion, probing the questions of Louis's use of language and gestures, his rulership, and his religion. This is balanced by chapters on conflict and criticisms, and his sainthood.

One issue that recurs in this volume is Louis's strong sense of the role of kingship and his willingness to oppose the hierarchy and the papacy when he believed that ecclesiastical policies encroached on his rights. In this, he was very much in the mold of his grandfather, Philip Augustus, and a model for his successors, especially Philip the Fair. Le Goff discusses his relationship with Pope Innocent IV in a number of places, but the result is not entirely satisfactory. In fact, he seems rather ambivalent, as he tries to balance Louis's undoubted loyalty to the Church and the papacy with his disagreements with the pope on specific issues. This question is especially evident in the manner in which he deals with Emperor Frederick II. While Le Goff recognizes Louis's efforts to resolve the conflicts between the emperor and the pope, he misses an opportunity to broaden his picture of Louis himself. There is no question that Louis tried to mediate, but the matter goes deeper. Louis had a much better understanding of the problems faced by a king in the early-thirteenth century than did the pope, for he shared many of the same goals and issues. His commitment to peace and justice mirrors the fundamental theme of Frederick's Constitutions of Melfi. Unfortunately, Le Goff seems to become too enmeshed in the picture of Frederick presented by Ernst Kantorowicz's biography and the essay of Antonio Marongiú on the Kingdom of Sicily as the first modern state. The valuable biography by David Abulafia is not mentioned; also missing is an appreciation of the degree to which the problems confronting Frederick both in Germany and Italy were similar to those that faced the Capetians. If Louis was a feudal king to a greater degree than Frederick, it was because differences have received more emphasis than similarities. But behind those differences, there was a shared concept of rulership that motivated Frederick as well. Moreover, both men may well have been influenced by similar forms of piety to a greater degree than has been understood until recently. Frederick certainly had problems with the Dominicans over the Moslems of Lucera, but he seems to have been closer to the Franciscans. Moreover, he was buried in a Cistercian habit.

The Louis that exists in these pages is real in two senses. The first is Louis the king and saint, presented here in a fully believable manner. There is no question but that the vita of Joinville has served Le Goff well in this respect. Louis lives and walks through these pages. What Le Goff has given us is more than a biography; it is a work of literature. The second Louis also lives. This is the king who embodies much that is part of the French nation. With St. Jeanne d'Arc, he lives as a symbol. LeGoff has given us glimpses of this Louis, who loves the French language and gives insights into the meaning of being French. The two are not exclusive. In fact, they embrace one another. Little did Philip the Fair realize in his efforts to secure canonization or Pope Boniface VIII in pronouncing him a saint how much they were defining the France of the future.

Given the length of this book, many will be intimidated and will not take up its challenge. That is a pity, for Le Goff has much to offer here. There is no chapter that does not contain information and ideas that deserve to be discussed further.