>Persecutes Jews with almost unmatched brutality
>Empties the coffers of France on two useless crusades that utterly fail
>Ends up shitting himself to death in Tunisia
Why is Saint Louis so popular, or even considered a saint for that matter? Hell, he wasn't even the greatest French monarch in living memory considering Louis the Lion was his father and the impeccable Philippe Auguste his grandfather. Is "he was really, really Catholic" his only claim to fame?
His claim to fame is that I'm named after him.
He's identical to Richard the Lionheart.
Absolutely shit king, but he went on crusade and did things for religion, that's all that mattered to medieval people so they idolised the fuck out of him. They were basically like idiots today idolising celebrities for doing fucking nothing.
Context. Being a good Catholic was the most important virtue and the main life objective of every man.
>He's identical to Richard the Lionheart.
He was utterly destroyed and got captured by the Saracens
Was getting caught part of his plan?
Yeah, at least Lionheart kicked some ass with what little he had. Good soldier, good leader, mediocre king at best.
To be fair, the circumstances were entirely different. Richard went to the Holy Land at the height of the crusades and with the full support of the Crusader States behind him. Saint Louis went there after most enthusiasm for the crusades had died out and went straight to Egypt, the center of Islamic power with zero outside support being able to reach them. He did manage to broker a peace that kept the Crusader States safe for a little longer though, in spite of everything.
That doesn't justify why he's literally a saint though.
>Muh Crusades
What about Guy de Lusignang? Godfrey de Bouillon? Raymond de Toulouse? Bohemond? The other veterans of the First Crusade?
He went to Egypt because that was the only way to Secure the Holy Land
As long as Islamic Egypt exists someone as Powerful as Saladin could arise and Fuck Europes shit up
The Egypto-Syrian Nation that Saladin Created after uniting these two nations was the most powerful great power alongside China for three centuries until the Portuguese fucked their economy up
*uniting these two regions
He was actually good at reigning (the part of a King's job that doesn't involve wars) and his reigning strengthened France..
He was also widely admired for being just and virtuous and this caused him to be the arbiter of international disputes.
A Crusade was not considered a negative point for a medieval monarch and he had a lot of bad circumstances and a lack of luck (I believe disease had a huge effect on the failure of the Crusades).
He created the modern french state. He invented new courts (Including the Prud'Hommes, that still exists today), fought against personnal justice of local lords (Because of this criminal case where a lord of Flanders hung 3 children walking in his forest), and was fair and good in his rule.
It is harsh to say he emptied the coffers of France for his crusades, because it's the contrary ; The two crusades he waged were perfectly paid, solded and prepared with a sane budget far before he landed in the Holy Lands.
He didn't persecute the jews with unmatched brutality. He never hung them or burned them alive. He just hated jews and usury, and wanted to force them to convert. He was always ready to be there as a godfather for any jew who would follow the rites of Christ.
Shit, I don't even know how you can hate Saint-Louis. Yes, he failed militarily in the Crusades ; But it's the only dark mark on his reign. Otherwise he was a fair and beloved leader. Even the saracens that captured him were impressed by his good-will, and his sense of justice !
Anti-religious feelings, I guess.
Because he was a super good King. He angered the Jewish usurers so that's why his country had financial issues.
One day a week for every week, he would sit in the forest at the bottom of a tree and would hear the case of anyone who came before him, regardless of rank. From sunrise to sunset he would sit out in the forest judging the cases of any person, if you thought your lord had wronged you you could go make your case directly to the King.
The "justice under a oak"-thing is mostly exagerrated. But it is true that Saint-Louis renovated the Parliament of Paris and created new courts that allowed anyone to appeal to the Crown's judges if you had trouble with your local justice.
And Saint-Louis never had any financial issues. In fact, he was one of the rare french kings to know a time of complete financial stability ; Even the two crusades he waged were carefully crafted and prepared, with Saint-Louis gathering the money, the food and the ships years before the begining of his campaigns.
>Prud'Hommes
What are those exactly?
Building lots of shit.
The "prud'hommes" is a french word who more-or-less means "men of virtue". Back in the days of Saint-Louis, the prud'hommes were those tasked with sorting out any conflict between members of a guild or artisans. Saint-Louis encouraged the creation of such courts, because they were made of workers and as such knew the problems of their jobs.
Philip IV the Fair will later create 24 prud'hommes courts to aid the "provosts of the merchants", and judge any conflicts between workers.
Today, the council of the Prud'Hommes is basically France's labor court. It isn't ruled by judges, but by representants of both worker and bosses unions.
>He created the modern french state.
How? That's a bit of an overstatement isn't it?
>Crusader kings actually reigning
That's where I closed this shit thread, your feels aren't history expertise retarded catholicfags
I don't see your Crusade buddy
>Guy de Lusignang? Godfrey de Bouillon? Raymond de Toulouse? Bohemond?
These guys do not receive the credit they deserve. Bohemond is based
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