Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership

Louis IX has long been known both as a saintly crusader and as the founder of effective royal administration in France. But, in spite of a vast amount of research, the details of what happened under his rule and why it happened have been little understood. Synthesizing this research from a thematic perspective, William Chester Jordan integrates the various facets of the king’s reign from 1226 to 1270 to show how the monarch’s reforms were inextricably connected with his crusades.

Originally published in 1979.

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