Louis XIV used his purse more often than his sword, even buying the crown of thorns out of hock from the Venetians
By David Linzee
Photograph by Ashley Heifner
August 25 is the feast day of St. Louis, and the Archdiocese holds Cathedralfête (August 19 this year) to mark the occasion, encouraging the curious to read the king’s life in the ceiling mosaics in the Saint Louis Basilica (New Cathedral).
For the rest of the year, most St. Louisans don’t give any thought to the man the city is named for, Louis IX, king of France from 1226 to 1270. All we’re sure of is that he was the “Crusader king.” There he is on Art Hill: a man in armor, astride a horse, holding up his sword like a cross.
This statue seems politically incorrect these days; perhaps we’re a bit embarrassed about Louis. It may come as a relief to learn that in France our namesake’s fame does not rest on fighting Muslims. Louis was a devout Christian, the only king of France to become a saint (or even come close). But he only went on crusade twice. The first time, his army was defeated and he was taken prisoner. To ransom himself, he had to take out a loan from the Templars (of Da Vinci Code fame). The second time, he got only as far as Tunis, where he died of fever.
The fact is, Louis bought more than he fought. He was a great acquirer of relics, most notably the crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus’ head by mocking Roman soldiers. Learning that the emperor of Constantinople, who owned the crown, was in financial trouble, Louis offered to buy it. Unfortunately, the emperor had already hocked it to the Venetians. Negotiations took two years, and Louis ended up paying 135,000 livres for it, about half the gross national product of France for the year 1239.
To us, this sounds like taking piety to the point of insanity. But in that era of pilgrimage, when people walked hundreds of miles to pray at shrines all over Europe, rulers competed keenly for relics. Louis’ contemporary Henry III of England bought a branch of the burning bush from which Yahweh spoke to Moses—and the rock on which Jesus left his last footprint on earth before ascending to heaven. A medieval king’s subjects did not think he had lost his mind when he spent a fortune on a sacred object. On the contrary, acquiring a major relic was the equivalent of bringing a professional sports team to town today. Relics could pull in lots of tourist livres and lift a city to the next level in international prestige.
Paris was ready to move to the next level. The 13th century was a time of national political consolidation and growing power and prosperity for France. The French look back on the reign of Louis IX as a golden age. He founded the University of Paris (the Sorbonne), as well as hospitals and religious and charitable institutions.
Obviously he didn’t have anything to do with founding St. Louis, Mo. Louisville, Ky., was named in honor of Louis XVI because he made a deal with Ben Franklin to send French aid to the American colonists. Our town, founded by the French, was named for Louis IX because he was a French hero—and still is. Today’s visitor will find his name and image all over Paris. A painting in the Pantheon shows him deciding court cases. Another, in the Church of St. Paul and St. Louis, depicts him presenting relics to God. His best-known monument is the Sainte-Chapelle, the beautiful church he built to house the crown of thorns. (The crown is now kept in Notre Dame Cathedral.) But a more modest church may be of special interest to St. Louisans. On the Ile Saint-Louis (named for the king in the 17th century) stands a small church also named for him. On the left-hand wall is a plaque placed by our city in 1926. “In grateful memory of Saint Louis,” it reads, “in whose honor the city of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA, is named.”
