The story of Louis IX and the Christian converts he brought to his kingdom.
Moreover, during this time many Saracens came to him to adopt Christianity, whom he welcomed happily and baptized and carefully instructed in the faith of Christ. He supported them at his own expense, brought them back to France with him, and assigned provisions to them and to their wives and children for as long as they lived.
This passage is from Geoffrey of Beaulieu’s Life and Saintly Compartment of Louis, Former King of the Franks, of Pious Memory. It is a biography of Louis IX of France, written by his personal confessor, and offers a glowing account of the French ruler’s piety and goodness. Historians tend to be wary of such hagiographical accounts as they tend to exaggerate the deeds of their subject, and until recently few people believed that Louis actually did this. However, careful research has uncovered a story of how hundreds of people from the Middle East converted to Christianity and settled in northern France.
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Louis IX became the King of France when he was just twelve years old in 1226 and would rule his kingdom until 1270. He was a very devout Christian, and his reign is marked by zealous efforts to promote this religion, whether it be by establishing new charities and building more churches, or by persecuting the local Jewish communities. He also heavily supported the Crusades in hopes that Jerusalem and the Holy Land would fall into Christian hands – so much so that he led two military campaigns to achieve this,
The first of these is known as the Seventh Crusade. Taking place between 1248 and 1254, its purpose was to invade and conquer Egypt, and after that march on Jerusalem. Louis made extensive preparations and gathered an army of close to 25,000 troops, spending 1.5 million livres tournois (six times his annual revenue) in the process. However, after some initial successes, Louis’ crusaders were soon defeated by the Egyptians. In April of 1250, Louis himself was captured and held prisoner for several weeks before a ransom could be arranged.
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Louis would spend the next four years in Acre, the capital city of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Much of that time was spent trying to get his fellow Frenchmen to be released from Egyptian captivity, carrying out small-scale military efforts, and shoring up the defences of the crusader kingdom. It was also during this period that he convinced a number of Muslims in the region to convert to Christianity.
This story is covered in William Chester Jordan’s 2019 book, The Apple of His Eye: Converts from Islam in the Reign of Louis IX. Jordan, a Professor of History at Princeton University and a leading medieval scholar, has been able to piece together the story of these conversions and what happened to these people. Until his work was published, historians generally believed that if any Muslims did convert to Christianity, it was a very small number or were just orphaned children. Jordan’s work changed all that.
Who were these converts to Christianity? Jordan believes that most were likely Arab peoples that had been captured in the small-scale fighting that took place while Louis was based in Acre. Louis was very interested in converting the Islamic world (as well as Jews and any other non-Christians) to Christianity, so it would not be surprising for him to offer conversion to his captives. It seems that many of them decided to convert, feeling it was a better option than imprisonment. With them came their wives and children, and soon there were hundreds of new converts.
When Louis needed to return back to France in 1254, these converts came as well. It was thought that having these people remain in the Near East was not a good option, as there would be too much temptation for them to return back to their original faith. So they were all taken by ship back to France, where plans were already underway for them to be resettled.
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Louis IX on a ship departing from Aigues-Mortes for the Seventh Crusade. Guillaume de Saint-Pathus, Life and Miracles of Saint Louis, 14th century (1330–1340). Français 5716, f. 39v
Through careful examination of French royal records, Jordan was able to discover that these former Muslims would go on to be distributed in small groups to over twenty towns in northern France. Places such as Paris, Rouen, Amiens, Orleans and Saint-Omer would each see a few families relocated there and given places to live. Moreover, all of these people were given monetary support – which would go on for the rest of their lives. One can think of it as a social service designed to assist these new converts in adapting to their new homes and lives.
One question asked is how many of these Arab converts were there? While not all records relating to them survive, Jordan is able to make a good estimate based on the existing evidence and suggests that number was around 1,500 men, women and children. This would have been a significant story of immigration and a testament to Louis’ government that they could be organized and supported over the next few decades.
Jordan points out that these immigrants would have significant day-to-day challenges in adapting to their new lives in France. Learning a new language, dealing with colder weather, even having to wear much different clothing – these were all things they had to adjust to. Consider food, for instance, as Jordan explains:
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By the time the immigrants reached the north, they would have been routinely ingesting the new diet with its butter and lard, as opposed to olive oil, together with hitherto less familiar northern varieties of grains, such as “millet, oats and rye” that only farmers of uplands, as in northwestern Iberia, cultivated in the south. Lamb the two cultures shared, but ox-beef was far more common in the north. Pork was ubiquitous—and the cultural “shock” of consuming it may have been significant. All of this suggests that there would have been some psychological stress in adopting new foodways and that there were inevitably cases of diarrhea while the immigrants were traveling north. For people who were already weak or sick, severe diarrhea and accompanying dehydration could have been quite debilitating, with “high fever, vomiting, or bloody stools,” even death. Modestly healthy people make regional dietary adjustments quickly, however, and despite a brief initial period of discomfort, “this illness in travelers is usually not severe.”
Detail of Saint Louis. Contemporary depiction from about 1230. From the Moralized Bible, created in Paris, France, between 1227 and 1234. – Wikimedia Commons.
The stories of most of these people would be forgotten to history, but scattered records help offer insights into some of them. When these people converted, they gained new Christian names, but some perhaps also gained the last name of Saracen as a way of identifying them. If so, then that could be why we have a certain Jean Saracen who could be found in the records of Paris for 1309, where he worked as a policeman. Then there was Gobert Sarraceni, who could be found working in the royal government and rose to the rank of Castellan in the 1280s and 1290s.
A much later account is about Raymond Amfossi, who turns up in a southern French town in 1350. He was a convicted felon that received a letter of pardon. In his plea for remission, Raymond noted that he was a descendant from “the stock of the baptized brought a long time ago from Outremer by our Lord Louis of sacred memory, late king of the French.” Apparently, even a century after they first came to France, these converts could still be remembered.
Then there was Dreux of Paris. Jordan believes that he might have been an emir or military commander back in the Near East, and as a high-ranking person he got extra support. In fact, he found himself living in an upscale neighbourhood in Paris, and when he got married in July of 1256, the King gave him 10 livres – a small fortune – to have a wedding party. Jordan adds:
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The convert’s splendid July wedding had its sequel in September in another fine royal gift to him, a roncin worth 8 l Roncin is ordinarily translated “packhorse,” so it was not a saddle horse (pallefridus), which went for 10 l. to 28 l. at the time or even substantially more, or a carriage horse (equus), which then went for 9 l. to 14 l. I would speculate that Dreux of Paris already owned these even costlier animals, the result of royal benefactions. However, the packhorse had a singular purpose; it was not merely a gift. It arrived just as Dreux became something akin to a roving emissary by serving the king as a liaison to other converts in northern parts, including Coutances, Paris, Rouen, and their hinterlands. He made sure that they received the emoluments due them (for which having a good packhorse was a great asset), and those converts he encountered could in Dreux himself lay eyes on evidence that they could thrive in this society. Dreux of Paris was the model convert, and the king showed him off. Here, if anywhere, was early evidence of the king’s success, as far as he and his circle of advisers might have interpreted it.
While Dreux of Paris likely made a good life in his new country, there were undoubtedly those who found it more difficult. A petition from mayors to Parlement in 1260 deals with those converts who “go astray” – perhaps a reference to those who committed crimes or got in trouble. Jordan also speculates that some who disappeared from the records may have done so because they tried to leave France and return to the Near East. Perhaps they could not adjust to their new lives, missed their friends and relatives, or wanted to return to Islam (which would certainly not be permitted in France). It would have been a difficult, but not impossible task, for them to find maritime transportation and return back across the Mediterranean.
Overall, Jordan believes that Louis and his government would have found this project to convert and resettle hundreds of people from the Near East to northern France a logistical challenge, but one that would have pleased the pious king. It was certainly a unique and fascinating case of mass immigration and integration from the Middle Ages.
By Peter Konieczny
The story of Louis IX and the Christian converts he brought to his kingdom.
Moreover, during this time many Saracens came to him to adopt Christianity, whom he welcomed happily and baptized and carefully instructed in the faith of Christ. He supported them at his own expense, brought them back to France with him, and assigned provisions to them and to their wives and children for as long as they lived.
This passage is from Geoffrey of Beaulieu’s Life and Saintly Compartment of Louis, Former King of the Franks, of Pious Memory. It is a biography of Louis IX of France, written by his personal confessor, and offers a glowing account of the French ruler’s piety and goodness. Historians tend to be wary of such hagiographical accounts as they tend to exaggerate the deeds of their subject, and until recently few people believed that Louis actually did this. However, careful research has uncovered a story of how hundreds of people from the Middle East converted to Christianity and settled in northern France.
Louis IX became the King of France when he was just twelve years old in 1226 and would rule his kingdom until 1270. He was a very devout Christian, and his reign is marked by zealous efforts to promote this religion, whether it be by establishing new charities and building more churches, or by persecuting the local Jewish communities. He also heavily supported the Crusades in hopes that Jerusalem and the Holy Land would fall into Christian hands – so much so that he led two military campaigns to achieve this,
The first of these is known as the Seventh Crusade. Taking place between 1248 and 1254, its purpose was to invade and conquer Egypt, and after that march on Jerusalem. Louis made extensive preparations and gathered an army of close to 25,000 troops, spending 1.5 million livres tournois (six times his annual revenue) in the process. However, after some initial successes, Louis’ crusaders were soon defeated by the Egyptians. In April of 1250, Louis himself was captured and held prisoner for several weeks before a ransom could be arranged.
Louis would spend the next four years in Acre, the capital city of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Much of that time was spent trying to get his fellow Frenchmen to be released from Egyptian captivity, carrying out small-scale military efforts, and shoring up the defences of the crusader kingdom. It was also during this period that he convinced a number of Muslims in the region to convert to Christianity.
This story is covered in William Chester Jordan’s 2019 book, The Apple of His Eye: Converts from Islam in the Reign of Louis IX. Jordan, a Professor of History at Princeton University and a leading medieval scholar, has been able to piece together the story of these conversions and what happened to these people. Until his work was published, historians generally believed that if any Muslims did convert to Christianity, it was a very small number or were just orphaned children. Jordan’s work changed all that.
Who were these converts to Christianity? Jordan believes that most were likely Arab peoples that had been captured in the small-scale fighting that took place while Louis was based in Acre. Louis was very interested in converting the Islamic world (as well as Jews and any other non-Christians) to Christianity, so it would not be surprising for him to offer conversion to his captives. It seems that many of them decided to convert, feeling it was a better option than imprisonment. With them came their wives and children, and soon there were hundreds of new converts.
When Louis needed to return back to France in 1254, these converts came as well. It was thought that having these people remain in the Near East was not a good option, as there would be too much temptation for them to return back to their original faith. So they were all taken by ship back to France, where plans were already underway for them to be resettled.
Miracles of Saint Louis, 14th century (1330–1340). Français 5716, f. 39v
Through careful examination of French royal records, Jordan was able to discover that these former Muslims would go on to be distributed in small groups to over twenty towns in northern France. Places such as Paris, Rouen, Amiens, Orleans and Saint-Omer would each see a few families relocated there and given places to live. Moreover, all of these people were given monetary support – which would go on for the rest of their lives. One can think of it as a social service designed to assist these new converts in adapting to their new homes and lives.
One question asked is how many of these Arab converts were there? While not all records relating to them survive, Jordan is able to make a good estimate based on the existing evidence and suggests that number was around 1,500 men, women and children. This would have been a significant story of immigration and a testament to Louis’ government that they could be organized and supported over the next few decades.
Jordan points out that these immigrants would have significant day-to-day challenges in adapting to their new lives in France. Learning a new language, dealing with colder weather, even having to wear much different clothing – these were all things they had to adjust to. Consider food, for instance, as Jordan explains:
By the time the immigrants reached the north, they would have been routinely ingesting the new diet with its butter and lard, as opposed to olive oil, together with hitherto less familiar northern varieties of grains, such as “millet, oats and rye” that only farmers of uplands, as in northwestern Iberia, cultivated in the south. Lamb the two cultures shared, but ox-beef was far more common in the north. Pork was ubiquitous—and the cultural “shock” of consuming it may have been significant. All of this suggests that there would have been some psychological stress in adopting new foodways and that there were inevitably cases of diarrhea while the immigrants were traveling north. For people who were already weak or sick, severe diarrhea and accompanying dehydration could have been quite debilitating, with “high fever, vomiting, or bloody stools,” even death. Modestly healthy people make regional dietary adjustments quickly, however, and despite a brief initial period of discomfort, “this illness in travelers is usually not severe.”
The stories of most of these people would be forgotten to history, but scattered records help offer insights into some of them. When these people converted, they gained new Christian names, but some perhaps also gained the last name of Saracen as a way of identifying them. If so, then that could be why we have a certain Jean Saracen who could be found in the records of Paris for 1309, where he worked as a policeman. Then there was Gobert Sarraceni, who could be found working in the royal government and rose to the rank of Castellan in the 1280s and 1290s.
A much later account is about Raymond Amfossi, who turns up in a southern French town in 1350. He was a convicted felon that received a letter of pardon. In his plea for remission, Raymond noted that he was a descendant from “the stock of the baptized brought a long time ago from Outremer by our Lord Louis of sacred memory, late king of the French.” Apparently, even a century after they first came to France, these converts could still be remembered.
Then there was Dreux of Paris. Jordan believes that he might have been an emir or military commander back in the Near East, and as a high-ranking person he got extra support. In fact, he found himself living in an upscale neighbourhood in Paris, and when he got married in July of 1256, the King gave him 10 livres – a small fortune – to have a wedding party. Jordan adds:
The convert’s splendid July wedding had its sequel in September in another fine royal gift to him, a roncin worth 8 l Roncin is ordinarily translated “packhorse,” so it was not a saddle horse (pallefridus), which went for 10 l. to 28 l. at the time or even substantially more, or a carriage horse (equus), which then went for 9 l. to 14 l. I would speculate that Dreux of Paris already owned these even costlier animals, the result of royal benefactions. However, the packhorse had a singular purpose; it was not merely a gift. It arrived just as Dreux became something akin to a roving emissary by serving the king as a liaison to other converts in northern parts, including Coutances, Paris, Rouen, and their hinterlands. He made sure that they received the emoluments due them (for which having a good packhorse was a great asset), and those converts he encountered could in Dreux himself lay eyes on evidence that they could thrive in this society. Dreux of Paris was the model convert, and the king showed him off. Here, if anywhere, was early evidence of the king’s success, as far as he and his circle of advisers might have interpreted it.
While Dreux of Paris likely made a good life in his new country, there were undoubtedly those who found it more difficult. A petition from mayors to Parlement in 1260 deals with those converts who “go astray” – perhaps a reference to those who committed crimes or got in trouble. Jordan also speculates that some who disappeared from the records may have done so because they tried to leave France and return to the Near East. Perhaps they could not adjust to their new lives, missed their friends and relatives, or wanted to return to Islam (which would certainly not be permitted in France). It would have been a difficult, but not impossible task, for them to find maritime transportation and return back across the Mediterranean.
Overall, Jordan believes that Louis and his government would have found this project to convert and resettle hundreds of people from the Near East to northern France a logistical challenge, but one that would have pleased the pious king. It was certainly a unique and fascinating case of mass immigration and integration from the Middle Ages.
To learn more, please do check out The Apple of His Eye: Converts from Islam in the Reign of Louis IX, by William Chester Jordan and published by Princeton University Press.
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