Louis of France (21 or 24 February 1244 – 11 January 1260) was the eldest son of King

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

and his wife Margaret of Provence. As

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the throne, he served as

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

for a brief period.

Regency

In 1248, King Louis and Queen Margaret traveled to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

to participate in the

Seventh Crusade The Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) was the first of the two Crusades led by Louis IX of France. Also known as the Crusade of Louis IX to the Holy Land, it aimed to reclaim the Holy Land by attacking Egypt, the main seat of Muslim power in the Nea ...

. During their absence, his grandmother, Blanche of Castile, acted as

. However, when she died in 1252, his parents were still crusading and the eight-year-old Louis was appointed regent. He did not actually rule the country; real power was in the hands of a royal council, led by his uncles Alphonse and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

. Nevertheless, royal deeds were sealed in his name, and correspondence to the government was addressed to him personally. The basis of the arrangement was the unwritten (at the time) principle of

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

in French law: in the absence of written instructions to the contrary, the king's eldest son automatically became regent during the king's absence. This regency ended when Louis IX returned to Paris in 1254.

Education and engagement

In subsequent years, Louis was educated for his future role as king. The legal scholar Pierre de Fontaines dedicated his textbook to Prince Louis. On 20 August 1255, he was betrothed to

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ...

's daughter Berengaria. At the time, she was

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

of Castile. However, shortly after the betrothal, Ferdinand de la Cerda was born, displacing his sister. Louis and his younger brother

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

witnessed the sealing and oaths confirming the 1259 Treaty of Paris, which was intended to end the territorial conflict between England and France that had been raging since 1180. This treaty required that King

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

pay homage to King

, which he did the following year.

Death and aftermath

Louis fell ill after Christmas 1259 and died shortly after New Year, at age 15 years, 10 months. The theologian Vincent of Beauvais wrote a for Louis IX, which is considered the traditional Christian consolation and a masterpiece in its genre. Louis' younger brother succeeded their father in 1270 as Philip III. Louis was buried in Royaumont Abbey. He was not buried in the royal crypt in Saint-Denis, because a decree of Louis IX reserves this crypt for crowned heads. Nevertheless, Louis' body was transferred there in 1817.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis of France 1244 births 1260 deaths 13th-century French people 13th-century regents Regents of France French princes House of Capet French heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of kings Children of Louis IX of France Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis French royalty who died as children