READING GUIDE WEEKS 3-4 (Joinville’s Life of Saint Louis)
A. Jean de Joinville, Life of Saint Louis
John de Joinville was a nobleman from the region of Champagne (in fact
Joinville’s family held the hereditary office of Seneschal of this county)
who joined Louis on the crusade of 1248-1250; during this adventure the
two became close, and on their return, Joinville became a royal counselor.
St Louis died in 1272 and was canonized (made a saint) at the end of the
thirteenth century. Joinville wrote up his memoirs of his time with
the king at the very end of his life (c. 1315). You ought to read
the dedication, Part I, and Chapters 18-20 of Part II with particular care;
the long middle section describing the crusade to Egypt is significant,
but we aren’t interested in most of the facts. You ought to be able to
skim parts of it. Make sure you know the broad sweep of what happened on
Louis’ crusade; look also for information about Louis’ style of kingship:
how important to Louis were military skills, honor, chivalry, piety, etc.
during the crusade? Glossary: Saracen is a word for muslim; livre
is the French word for ‘pound’ (of silver).
1. In his introduction, Joinville compares St Louis to Christ.
How? Why is this significant?
2. What do the four occasions in which Louis risked his life for his
men tell us about him as a man? As a king?
3. St Louis’ words to his son at Fontainebleau (167) are typical of
his kingship. What sort of kingship is this? How does it compare to the
English kings?
4. What do the personal anecdotes about the king tell us? Why does
Joinville bother to tell them to us?
5. What does the incident between Joinville and Maitre Robert de Sorbon
[after whom the Sorbonne in Paris is named] tell us about the nobility
of France? What do Louis’ actions tell us about his personality? His kingship?
6. How pious was Saint Louis? Give some examples.
7. The chapter “Turbulence of Barons” pertains to the troubled period
of Louis’ minority (when his mother, Blanche of Castile, acted as regent).
What does the barons’ rebellion against royal authority suggest about the
power of the French monarchy? How did these troubles end?
8. Why did Louis choose to go on crusade? What does ‘taking the cross’
mean?
9. Joinville’s personal anecdotes about his preparations for crusading
are illustrative: what did lords have to do before they left? What worries
might they have about being on crusade?
10. Why is the oath mentioned on the bottom of p. 192 significant?
Are you surprised by Joinville’s part in it?
11. Why does Joinville relate the story of the clerk (clergyman) who
killed three of the king’s sergeants (p. 193)? What is the moral of this
story?
12. How did Joinville come to enter the king’s service?
13. The chapter on preparations reveals the ladder-like process by
which an army was raised. The king called out his barons, who each brought
a number of knights, knights-banneret or sergeants based on the size of
their lands (and their income). This process is called lordship, and we
will study it later in the course.
14. Where did the crusaders land? Why did they choose this place? How
successful were they initially?
15. Often the interests of new crusaders (like Louis’ army) clashed
with the ideas and customs of those Europeans who had settled in the Middle
East during the first wave of crusades (1099-1189). These ‘eastern’
crusaders were often far less bellicose than the new arrivals, and were
often far more interested in negotiating a settlement with their Muslim
neighbors. One such (minor) argument appears on p. 206-7 after Louis had
captured Damietta.
16. Another problem on the crusade was the conflict between cultural
attitudes that emphasized chivalry, honor, and noble behavior and the dictates
of military discipline. The death of Gautier d’Autreche (p. 208) and Louis’
reaction to it are connected to this clash of values.
17. After Damietta, where did the army go? Why?
18. What was greek fire?
19. The Templars were a military monastic order founded originally
in 1119 to guard pilgrims coming to and travelling in the Holy Land. Its
members were knights, from aristocratic backgrounds, but they followed
a quasi-monastic rule that limited luxury, wealth, sexuality, and personal
property. They (and a similar group called the Hospitallers) were the closest
thing to a professional army that existed in the Christian lands of the
Holy Land.
20. What happened at the battle of Mansourah? How did Louis end up
in captivity?
21. What was captivity like for the Franks? How did they gain their
freedom?
22. What notions of kingship can we derive from Louis’ sojourn in the
Holy Land (ie., in Acre, Caesarea and Jaffa)?
23. What was Louis’ attitude towards justice? Does he take a hands-on
approach?
24. Where and how did Louis settle law cases? How does this contrast
to English procedure?
25. Louis’ advisors disagreed with his decision to make peace with
King Henry III of England [at the Treaty of Paris, 1259] (p. 334).
Why? How did the king respond? What were his motives?
26. What adjectives might we use to describe Louis?
27. How did Louis interact with the church? What was his response to
the request to have his officers force excommunicates to amend their ways?
28. What was Louis’ attitude towards war? What about towards private
war?
29. What does Louis’ long ordinance (of 1254) tell us about royal administration?
About morality? About piety?
30. How did Louis regulate and reform the governance of the city of
Paris?
31. Explain Louis’ charitable actions.
32. How did Louis’ second crusade (in 1270) fare? Why?
33. Try to sum up Louis’ strengths and weaknesses. What kind of adminsitrator
was he? What kind of bureaucrat? What kind of warrior? What kind of lord?
What kind of Christian? What kind of father/husband?
34. Why do you think Joinville thought Louis was great?