Description
Book SynopsisThe first English translations of two of the earliest accounts of Louis IX’s life, along with helpful biographical, historical, documentary, and critical materials.
Trade Review..this is a very interesting and valuable addition to the number of medieval sources now available in English, introducing a selection of underused texts to a new audience of both students and scholars, as well as shedding new light on the memory and afterlife of one of the most famous medieval rulers and best-known saints.
-- Melanie Brunner * Speculum *
The Sanctity of Louis IX aims to reach both scholarly and undergraduate audiences. For students, it offers highly readable and idiomatic translations of texts that have to date only been accessible in nineteenth-century Latin editions.... [T]his excellent set of translations is likely to transform teaching and research on one of the quintessential figues of the European Middle Ages.
-- Michael Lower * The Catholic Historical Review *
Few medieval persons inspire the fascination that the charismatic French king Louis IX (b. 1214) continues to exercise. Inheritor of the crown at age twelve, Louis IX reigned for nearly forty-five years, until his death near Tunis on 25 August 1270. The Sanctity of Louis IX: Early Lives of Saint Louis by Geoffrey of Beaulieu and William of Chartres highlights a dossier of translated texts spanning the almost twenty-seven years between Louis's death and the Bull that canonized him on 11 August 1297.... [T]he book is very likely to prove useful for scholars as well as students. In contrast to the Introduction’s very accessible tone, its footnotes direct scholars to a detailed bibliography of specialized works in English, French, and German. Last but not least, an appendix contains a detailed manuscript and publication history of the translated vitae.
-- Irit Ruth Kleiman * H-France Review *
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Maps
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Note on Sources and Translation Policies
Introduction
1. Three Early Letters on the Sanctity of Louis IX
2. Geoffrey of Beaulieu's Life and Saintly Comportment of Louis, Former King of the Franks, of Pious Memory
3. William of Chartres’ On the Life and Deeds of Louis, King of the Franks of Famous Memory, and on the Miracles That Declare His Sanctity
4. Pope Boniface VIII’s Bull Gloria Laus
Appendix: The Manuscript and Printing Histories of the Texts
Select Bibliography
Index
