Famous Men of the Middle Ages · Ch. XXII · Unit 7: The Crusades
30. Louis the Ninth (Saint Louis)
Goal: Your child can tell about Louis IX's Crusades, the Children's Crusade, and why he was remembered as a just king and a saint.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- A map or globe showing Europe, the Middle East and Asia (a free online map works)
- Paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline strip (see the tips at the top)
What's in the book
Chapter XXII (1226-1270): Louis IX becomes king of France as a boy, beats Henry III of England, and after a dangerous illness vows to go on Crusade. The book tells of the Children's Crusade. In 1248 forty thousand Crusaders sail for Egypt; Louis wades ashore at Damietta, is defeated and captured, and is ransomed. Home again, he helps found the Sorbonne and hears complaints from rich and poor under an oak tree. He dies at Tunis on a last Crusade and is later made a saint.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Paris, then follow the sea route from the south of France to Egypt: Damietta at the mouth of the Nile, and Cairo. Then find Tunis in North Africa.
Read the chapter
Read Chapter XXII aloud. It begins:
After the time of Barbarossa and Richard Coeur de Lion lived another great Crusading king.
Tell it back
Prompts:
- Why did Louis vow to go on a Crusade?
- What was the Children's Crusade, and what did the Pope tell the children?
- What happened to Louis's army in Egypt?
- What did Louis do under the oak tree?
Talk it over
Read the book's verdict:
He never wronged any man himself, or knowingly allowed any man to be wronged by others.
Ask: Louis lost his battles in Egypt, yet the book calls him one of the best kings France ever had. What makes a king good, if not winning wars?
Then and now
SayThe Church made Louis a saint after his death, so he is called Saint Louis. The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is named after him. The Sorbonne is still a famous university in Paris.
Remember it
Add to the timeline: "1248 Louis IX sails on Crusade" and "1270 Louis dies at Tunis."
Extra (optional)
Draw the king under the oak tree, listening to the poor and rich alike.
Afterwards
Ask your child to name three kings in this book who went on Crusades (Frederick Barbarossa, Richard, Louis IX).
Tip
The Children's Crusade is sad. The book keeps it short; you can stop at the Pope telling the children to go home and wait until they were grown up.
Answers to the book's problems
He was so ill he was thought to be dying; he clasped the cross, recovered, and vowed in thankfulness to go to the Holy Land. Thousands of children from France and Germany set out believing God would open a path through the sea; many died crossing the Alps, and the Pope told those who reached Rome to go home until they were grown. The army was defeated by the sultan's forces, Louis was captured and had to be ransomed, and only about six thousand of forty thousand were left. He listened to everyone's complaints, rich and poor, and tried to put wrongs right.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.