Jean de Joinville Completes Histoire de Saint Louis (1309): A Crusader’s Chronicle

In 1309, the French chronicler and nobleman Jean de Joinville completed his Histoire de Saint Louis, a richly detailed and personal account of the life and reign of King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis). The work, particularly its main section, provides a vivid narrative of the Seventh Crusade (1248–1254), in which Joinville himself had participated.

Joinville’s Firsthand Perspective

• Jean de Joinville was a close companion of Louis IX, serving as a knight and counselor during the Seventh Crusade.
• Unlike more formal royal biographies, Histoire de Saint Louis offers a personal, engaging, and often entertaining account of the king’s leadership, emphasizing both his piety and his human flaws.
• Joinville describes in lively detail the hardships of crusading life, including battles, diplomacy, and Louis IX’s captivity in Egypt.

The Chronicle’s Significance

• Joinville’s work is one of the most valuable firsthand accounts of medieval crusading expeditions, providing insights into military tactics, courtly life, and medieval religious devotion.
• His portrayal of Louis IX helped shape the king’s posthumous reputation, reinforcing his image as a model Christian ruler.
• The work was commissioned much later, around 1305, by Joan of Navarre, Queen of France, and completed in 1309, decades after Louis IX’s death in 1270.

Legacy

• Histoire de Saint Louis remains a key source for historians studying the Seventh Crusade and the reign of Louis IX.
• Joinville’s storytelling style, full of anecdotes and personal reflections, makes it one of the most engaging medieval chronicles.
• The text was widely circulated, influencing later French historical writing and royal propaganda.

Jean de Joinville’s Histoire de Saint Louis, completed in 1309, stands as a masterpiece of medieval biography and crusader literature, offering a vivid, personal, and historically significant account of one of France’s most revered monarchs.