Saint Louis

Saint Louis is a 1996 biography of Louis IX of France by historian Jacques Le Goff. The book received positive reviews for its historical detail, and was awarded the 1996 Grand prix Gobert by the French Academy. It was also a best-seller. Summary The lengthy book contains three parts. The first section is a traditional narrative of Louis from his birth to his canonization, while the second section is about the views of his contemporaries on him. The third section "locates Louis in both the spiritual and secular world of the day-to-day". Le Goff discusses "contemporary views about the obligations and duty of the king, the nature of government and political power in thirteenth-century France, and contemporary religious practice." Reception William Chester Jordan dubbed Saint Louis a "wise and ruminative study [...] his longest and most impressive book". He called the book's final question "a sincere warning against the naïveté that underlies so much of the lingering positivism of the historical profession." Gary Macy wrote that the three parts of Saint Louis "could easily stand alone as separate books [...] together they comprise perhaps the most complete historiographic study of one historical person every [sic] attempted." He wrote that the historian "sometimes delightfully if not historically, tells us what he feels about Louis, even if he doesn’t have evidence for that feeling. There are many repetitions, again something might expect in a study of such depth. Le Goff also seems to trust Joinville too much." However, Macy lauded the "detail and care of Le Goff’s careful study."