Despite the compelling narrative that Louis IX of France decided spontaneously to take the cross after rebounding from a grave illness in December 1244, an understanding of the arc of his reign strongly indicates that he had already, for the five years preceding his near-death experience, intended to lead a crusade to the Levant to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims. Rather than wait months for a papal legate, Louis summoned William of Auvergne, the Bishop of Paris, to his chambers so he could take the cross.
The French king had the blood of crusading ancestors coursing through his veins. His great-grandfather Louis VII had been one of the leaders of the Second Crusade, his grandfather Philip II had been one of the leaders of the Third Crusade, and his father Louis VIII had crusaded against the Cathar heretics in south-western France. Louis knew that leading a crusade would enhance his power and reputation at home, as well as on the larger stage of Europe.
The very year that Louis had fallen ill, the fortunes of the Christians in the Holy Land had spiralled sharply downward. The Franks had lost Jerusalem to the Ayyubid Sultan Salah al-Din in 1187, but through the diplomatic efforts of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, the Frankish Kingdom of Jerusalem had regained a measure of control over the Holy City in 1229. But the Khwarazmian Muslims, who had been displaced by the Mongols, captured Jerusalem on 15 July 1244.
A departure wrapped in ritual
Devout, pious, and unshakable in his deep
