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Louis IX

The coin: AR gros tournois, 25mm, 4.03gr. Obv: +LUDOVICVS REX, inner circle. SIT NOMEN etc. outer circle, central cross. Rev: +TVRONVS CIVIS, central chattel tournois. Mint is Tours. Dy 190; C 181. Contemporary English coin: Henry III
The king: The only canonized king of France (a payoff for support of the papacy) was generally pious, but also continued the militarist tendencies of his predecessors. He came to the throne as a minor, and his mother, Blanche of Castile, was the regent. He married Margaret of Provence, who accompanied him on his first crusade (1248). He was captured, ransomed, and finally returned to France in 1254, where he turned his attention to governing. His lasting legacy in Paris is St. Chapelle, with its stunning stained glass. Horne (43), citing Maurice Droun, characterizes him as "one of the great neurotics in history. Had he not inclined to saintliness he might have been a monster. Neros are made of the same fiber."
The time: Christendom was involved not only with inner conflicts between kings and vassals, and kings versus kings, but also against the Islamic domination of the holy lands. On the dark side, he "installed the Inquisition in France, with all the misery that was to bring, and turned his back on the liberalism of the 12th century." (Horne 43) On the brighter side, he continued the nation building efforts begun by his predecessors. Taxes were modest and France was generally prosperous by the end of his reign.  Louis led the seventh crusade and against the advice of his counselors mounted another crusade in 1270 against Tunis. Louis died on this crusade.