. A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools. battle, and oftensubstituting his own more right-eous royal jurisdiction for thefeeble and frequently pervertedlaw-courts maintained by the no-bility. He kept practically all thelands acquired by Philip and addedto them; but above all, he estab-lished conditions akin to genuinelaw, order, and justice throughouttheir length. During a long reignmen were taught to love their king as the true model of allknightly and princely, as well as churchly, qualities. The sameruler who piously and tenderly distributed bread each morn-ing to t
. A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools. battle, and oftensubstituting his own more right-eous royal jurisdiction for thefeeble and frequently pervertedlaw-courts maintained by the no-bility. He kept practically all thelands acquired by Philip and addedto them; but above all, he estab-lished conditions akin to genuinelaw, order, and justice throughouttheir length. During a long reignmen were taught to love their king as the true model of allknightly and princely, as well as churchly, qualities. The sameruler who piously and tenderly distributed bread each morn-ing to the poor before his palace gate, was stern justice incar-nate when it came to insisting on his kingly rights as againstmalcontent barons and prince-bishops. His position as a manof surpassing piety was such that Popes listened humblyto his lecturings upon their shortcomings. The moral valueof such a reign, of a great king ruling in righteousness,was incalculable. Sons of St. Louis his successors proudlycalled themselves. And in addition to the religious prestige. LOUIS IX OF FRANCE(Painted on glass in ihe Cathedralof Chartres, France) THE RISE OF THE FRENCH KINGDOM 91 thus acquired, there came remarkable advantage to themonarchy from the fact that St. Louis was a really con-structive statesman. In his day was fairly organized the Parliament of Paris — the highest court of France, whilethe scientific law codes of the old Roman Empire in part dis-placed the old customs of feudalism, with their premium onconfusion and misrule. In short St. Louis rendered his king-dom a service which most happily completed the consolidat-ing process begun by Philip, his grandfather. In 1180, the Capetian monarchy had seemed on the verge ofdestruction. In 1270, it controlled a great dominion, withlarge revenues, a great corps of royal officers, and a compli-cated system of government and administration. Its kingshad won the loyalty of their people by their public and privatevirtues, and by the bles
Size: 1320px × 1894px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherbostonnewyorketcho
