Saint Louis
By: by Jacques Le Goff ; translated by Gareth Evan Gollrad.
Contributors: Gollrad, Gareth Evan.
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Notre Dame, Ind
Language: eng
Number of pages: 947
ISBN-13: 9780268033811
Subjects: Louis -- IX, -- King of France, -- 1214-1270; Christian saints -- France -- Biography; France -- Kings and rulers -- Biography
Genres: Biography.
Work titles: Saint Louis.
Description: "Armed with the considerable resources of the nouvel historien, Jacques Le Goff mines existing materials about Saint Louis to forge a new historical biography of the king. Part of his ambitious project is to reconstruct the mental universe of the thirteenth century: Le Goff describes the scholastic and intellectual background of Louis' reign and, most importantly, he discusses methodology and the interpretation of written sources - their composition, provenance, and reliability." "Questioning whether Saint Louis was merely the invention of his eulogists, Le Goff penetrates beyond the literary and hagiographical evidence to the human behind the legend. He brilliantly analyzes Louis' progress toward his unique self-creation and its subsequent mythologizing. In the third part, Le Goff highlights the contradictions within Louis and his historical image that previous chroniclers have elided or overlooked. In the end, he leaves us with the saint, rather than the king, with all the paradoxes embedded in that role."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.