The Saints: St. Louis of France

1214 - 1270/ Feast - Aug. 25

Crowned King Louis IX of France in 1226, he married Marguerite of Provence in 1234 and they had 11 children. He was an ideal medieval king, promoting justice and peace at home and abroad. His subjects greatly admired his piety and goodness. Following a serious illness, he went on a Crusade to the Holy Land. Louis was taken prisoner in Egypt in 1250, and to free himself and his soldiers had to give back a city he had captured and pay a large ransom. He embarked on another Crusade in 1270, but died of dysentery in Tunisia. He was canonized in 1297.