John of Joinville

When Louis IX was crowned king of France in 1226, France was the leading power in Europe. Upon his death in 1270, France was even stronger thanks largely to Louis's administrative skills and devotion to his nation. Louis became known as the "ideal feudal monarch," both in his lifetime and by modern historians. A deeply religious man who fought in two Crusades, his virtuous and blameless life prompted Pope Boniface VIII to have him canonized Saint Louis the Confessor in 1297. The most popular and accurate biography of the king was written by one of Louis's knights and intimates, John of Joinville. The following is an excerpt from Joinville's The Life of St. Louis.

From the beginning of his reign to the end of his life no layman of our time spent his whole life in so saintly a manner. I...