De sa devocion fervent

The King's Liturgical Life

Saint Louis maintained a rigorous and disciplined schedule of canonical hours and daily Masses, even while traveling.

Overflowing grace of devotion, filling the heart with the fervor of a good will, could not be held back in the heart of the blessed Saint Louis; rather, he showed it by several clear signs.¹ The blessed king was deeply devout toward God, His saints, and the Holy Church. This is evident from his life and proven by the sworn testimony of many upright, trustworthy men who lived with him for a long time and stated under oath that he was full of great devotion. To show this even more clearly, some specific examples are recorded here.² And first, of the devotion of the blessed king in hearing and attending devoutly to the service of Our Lord.³ The blessed king said his canonical hours with great devotion with one of his chaplains, and at the proper hours, without saying them before the hour except as little as he could. And along with all this, nonetheless, he had all the canonical hours solemnly chanted at the proper hours by his chaplains and clerks without advancing the hour, except as little as he could, and he heard them with great devotion; and even when he was riding, he had the canonical hours said in a loud voice and with chant by his chaplains on horseback, just as if they were in church, so that the proper hour would not pass by.⁴ And the custom the blessed king kept toward the service of God was this: the blessed king rose at midnight and had clerks and chaplains called, and then every night they entered the chapel in the king's presence; and then they chanted Matins of the day and then of Our Lady in a loud voice and with chant, and even so the blessed king did not fail to say both sets of Matins in that same chapel in a low voice with one of his chaplains; and once Matins were said, the chaplains went back to their beds if they wished.⁵ And when a little while had passed for them—so little that sometimes they could not have slept after they had returned—he had them called to say Prime, and then they chanted Prime in the chapel in a loud voice and with chant every day, of the day and of Our Lady, the blessed king present, saying both with one of his chaplains.⁶ In winter, Prime was said nearly every day without fail before daybreak; but after Easter, they said Matins at an hour that allowed them to finish before dawn or shortly after the sun had risen.⁷ The blessed king did this even on the days and nights he had spent with his wife.⁸ Once Prime was sung, as mentioned above, the blessed king heard Mass every day. First, he heard a Mass for the dead, which was usually said without chant; however, on anniversaries or when members of his household had died, he allowed it to be sung with chant.⁹¹⁰ Every Monday, the blessed king had the Mass of the Angels sung aloud with chant, and likewise the Mass of the blessed Virgin Mary every Tuesday; every Thursday, the Mass of the Holy Spirit; every Friday, the Mass of the Cross; and every Saturday, the Mass of Our Lady.¹¹ In addition to these, he had the Mass of the day sung aloud every day, with chant appropriate to the weekday or the feast.¹² During Lent, he always heard three Masses a day, one of which was said at or around midday. When he was traveling in summer and the heat was intense, he would ride in the morning and have those Masses said once he reached his lodging.¹³ The blessed king was present for all the things already mentioned. Afterward, when it was time to dine, he would go into his chapel before eating. There, his chaplains would chant Terce and Sext of the day and of Our Lady, while he recited those same hours in a low voice with one of his chaplains.¹⁴ If he happened to be riding during the hour of Terce, Sext, or None—though for None this only applies outside of the fasting season—he would have his chaplains chant those hours aloud with music while they rode, and he would recite them in a low voice with a chaplain.¹⁵ Every day he listened to Vespers being chanted and recited them in a low voice with a chaplain. After supper, the chaplains would go into his chapel to sing Compline of the day and of Our Lady aloud with the chant.¹⁶ When the blessed king was in his oratory, he would often kneel while Compline was being sung, spending the entire time in prayer. And every day, when the Compline of the Mother of God had been said, the chaplains also sang there one of Our Lady's antiphons very solemnly and to plainchant—that is, sometimes Salve Regina, sometimes another, together with the prayer one is supposed to say after it, as is the custom. And right afterward the blessed king would return to his chamber and go in, and then one of his priests would come and bring holy water after him, and then the priest would sprinkle it through the chamber and say this verse: Asperges me, and the prayer one is supposed to say after it.^✦ When it was time for the blessed king to¹⁷ go to bed, he would recite both Complines with the aforementioned chaplain.¹⁸ On major feast days when a double office was celebrated, the service of the Mother of God was not sung in plainchant in the chapel, but was instead recited in a low voice—with the exception of Christmas, Easter, and other similarly solemn feasts,¹⁹ on which the chaplains did not say the service of Our Lady in the chapel.²⁰ And when the blessed king was in some place where he had no other chapel, he would then use his chamber in place of a chapel, but²¹ in all other locations.²² where the royal household had a chapel.²³

Solemnity and Order in Worship

The King ensured that liturgical services were performed with great solemnity, order, and devotion, regardless of his own health or circumstances.

And even though the blessed king was ill, he still always had his chaplains sing the Hours solemnly in his chapel, and two other clerics or religious said the Hours of the day and of Our Lady beside his bed where he lay, so that if he was not too weak, he said the verse on one side and the others on the other; and when he was so weak that he could not speak, he had another cleric beside him who said the psalms for him.²⁴ And on every ferial day, or on a day when nine lessons were not said, there were two candles on the altar, which were renewed every Monday and every Wednesday; but on every Saturday and on every simple feast of nine lessons, four candles were set on the altar.²⁵ On every double or half-double feast, the candles were replaced, and six or eight were set on the altar. On the most solemn feasts, however, twelve candles were used, as was the case on the anniversaries of his father, his mother, and all the kings for whom he observed memorial services. Whenever the candles were replaced and new ones were set on the altar, as mentioned above, the chaplains and clerks of the chapel kept whatever remained of the old candles for their own use. On all the Sundays of Advent, the feasts of the Apostles, Saint Nicholas, Saint Martin, Saint Mary Magdalene, and other major feast days, he had the Mass sung solemnly with a deacon and a subdeacon. And on solemn feasts he always wanted to have one bishop, or several, who would sing the Mass solemnly; and so he had those of his clerks whom he could get vested as deacons and subdeacons, and once vested he had them serve the bishop who was singing the Mass; and sometimes, on the very greatest feasts, he had the prelates present at Matins, which he himself heard in his chapel. On the solemn feasts of God, Our Lady, and other high holy days, he had the services conducted with such solemnity and deliberation that the length of the office almost wearied everyone else.²⁶ Furthermore, the blessed king wanted Our Lord's services performed so orderly and solemnly that it wasn't enough for his chaplains or clerks to decide who would sing the Mass, read the Gospel, or perform other duties. Instead, he often directed these things himself, sending word through one of his chaplains to those he considered best suited for these roles, instructing them to perform them. To ensure Our Lord was honored in all things, he kept vestments in his chapel for priests and the other orders, along with others belonging to bishops, made of samite and precious embroidered silks, as well as others in various colors, as the season and the feasts required.²⁷ Moreover, the blessed king recited the Office of the Dead every day with one of his chaplains, following the usage of the church of Paris. Even in the bitter cold of winter, when the blessed king was in church or the chapel, he remained on his feet—standing upright, kneeling on the ground or the pavement, or leaning sideways against the bench in front of him—and he sat on the floor without a cushion, having only a carpet spread beneath him. And while Mass was being said, he would not readily let anyone speak to him, except that sometimes, a little after the Gospel and before the Secret, he would listen briefly to his almoner, and to no one else except for the shortest moment.²⁸ It often happened that he rose so quietly from his bed, dressing and putting on his shoes to reach the church so quickly, that the others sleeping in his chamber couldn't get their own shoes on and had to run after him barefoot.²⁹ After Matins had been said, he stayed a long time in prayer, either in the chapel, in his private chamber, or beside his bed.³⁰ When he rose from his prayers before daybreak, he sometimes took off his cape and got into bed, and at other times kept the cape on and slept.³¹ And sometimes he would give those of his chamber a certain measure of candle and order them not to let him sleep any longer than while that candle kept burning, so that at times they would wake him as he had commanded, and he would get up and tell them he still wasn't warm yet. And when they had woken him, he rose right away as quickly as he could and went to the church or the chapel.³² And because, through his immoderate vigils and the many other labors he had endured for a long time, he had grown very weak, religious persons advised him not to keep vigil so much and not to get up so early; for that reason he no longer rose so early after that, but all the same he still got up at such an hour that Matins were always said before daybreak, at least in wintertime.³³ The blessed king loved hearing the word of God and listened to it with great care. Every Sunday and feast day—and often on other days when he could find someone qualified to preach—he would have them speak in his presence. He listened with deep devotion, often sitting on the straw-covered floor while they preached.³⁴ Whenever he was traveling, he would gladly detour to any abbey or religious house to have a sermon preached for his own edification and for theirs.³⁵ It was his custom, when attending sermons in religious chapters, to sit on the straw in the middle of the room—even in bitter cold—while the monks sat in their higher, designated seats.³⁶ To encourage his men-at-arms to attend the sermons, he ordered the sergeants—who usually took their wages to eat elsewhere—to eat in the hall instead. The blessed king continued to pay them their full wages, even though they were now eating at court.³⁷³⁸ Sometimes he would walk a quarter-league twice in one day just to hear a sermon, and he listened to the preaching with great care.³⁹ And if people sometimes made a disturbance around the preacher, he would have it quieted.⁴⁰ He sometimes attended lessons at the schools of the Friars Preachers in Compiègne, and when they finished, he would order a sermon for the laypeople who had accompanied him.

Devotion to the Eucharist and the Cross

Saint Louis demonstrated profound humility and reverence in his reception of the Eucharist and his adoration of the True Cross.

Of his devotion to the Body⁴¹ of Our Lord, in receiving him.⁴² The blessed Saint Louis overflowed with fervent devotion for the Sacrament of the true Body of Our Lord,⁴³ Jesus Christ; he received Communion at least six times every year—at Easter, Pentecost, the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, Christmas, and the Purification of Our Lady.⁴⁴ And he went to receive his Savior with very great devotion, for beforehand he washed his hands and his mouth and took off his hood and his coif. And then, once he had entered the choir of that church, he didn't go to the altar on his feet; instead he went there on his knees.⁴⁵ And when he was before the altar, he first said his Confiteor by himself with hands joined, with many sighs and groans; and then, in that way, he received the true Body of Jesus Christ from the hand of the bishop or the priest.⁴⁶ Regarding his devotion in adoring the True Cross.⁴⁷ Every Good Friday, the blessed King Louis visited the churches near wherever he happened to be, walking barefoot. He wore shoes that had uppers but no soles so that people wouldn't see his skin, yet the soles of his feet remained completely bare against the ground, and he made generous offerings at the altars of every church he visited.⁴⁸⁴⁹ And afterward he stayed for the whole service of Our Lord, barefoot like that until he had adored the holy cross; and he went to adore it in such a way that he had taken off his cope and remained in his body garment or his tunic, and so barefoot, as has been said above, and ungirded, with his coif removed and his head completely bare, he knelt down and so adored the holy cross devoutly.⁵⁰ After that, he moved a distance on his knees and prayed. He then moved on his knees a third time toward the cross to adore it; he kissed it with great devotion and reverence, laying himself face down on the ground in the form of a cross while he kissed it. It is believed that he wept tears as he did this.⁵¹ When the blessed King Louis prepared to set out for his first journey overseas, he came to the church of Notre-Dame in Paris to hear Mass. From there, he walked all the way to Saint-Antoine entirely barefoot, wearing a pilgrim's scrip around his neck and carrying a staff in his hands, with great devotion.⁵² He was escorted by a large crowd, then took leave of the people following him, mounted his horse, and went on his way. Later, in the year he first returned from overseas, this blessed king arrived very early on Christmas Eve at the Cistercian abbey of Royaumont in the diocese of Beauvais. He said he wanted to be present for the proclamation of the Nativity of Our Lord, which is customarily celebrated throughout the order at the hour of chapter, when the monks gather.⁵³ The abbey's custom is that at that hour, the abbot and all available monks assemble in the chapter house, and a monk standing in the center says, among other things: "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Judea."⁵⁴ Once he says this, the abbot and the monks prostrate themselves on the ground and remain in prayer until the abbot rises.⁵⁵ So the blessed Saint Louis came into chapter at that hour and sat beside the said abbot for the proclamation; and when it was finished, he laid himself on the ground, stretched out just like the abbot and the other monks, humbly and devoutly; and when he was stretched out there in prayer, he stayed lying there until the abbot signed him to rise, and then he rose.

The King's Reliquaries and Foundations

The King invested heavily in the construction of chapels, the acquisition of holy relics, and the endowment of religious houses.

Regarding his devotion to the holy relics.⁵⁶ The blessed Saint Louis had the crown of thorns of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and a great part of the holy Cross on which God was put, and the lance with which Our Lord's side was pierced, and many other glorious relics that he acquired; and for those relics he had the Chapel built in Paris, on which it is said he spent a good forty thousand livres tournois and more.⁵⁷ The blessed king⁵⁸ adorned with gold and silver and precious stones and other jewels the mounts and the reliquaries where the holy relics rest, and people believe that the adornments of those relics are worth fully a hundred thousand livres tournois and more.⁵⁹ Along with this, he established canons and other clergy in the chapel to celebrate the service of Our Lord before these holy relics forever. He assigned and ordained perpetual annual rents for them—payable in coin, grain, and other goods—so that each of the ten or twelve canons receives a hundred livres tournois every year.⁶⁰ They also have sufficient housing, three of which the blessed King Louis had built next to the chapel.⁶¹ To honor those relics most highly, the blessed king established three solemnities in the chapel each year. For the first solemnity, he had the convent of the Friars Preachers of Paris present; for the second, the convent of the Friars Minor; and for the third, he brought in a great many brothers from both of those religious orders, as well as from other orders in Paris—brothers who stayed in a house beside the king's palace and next to the chapel—so that they could attend matins at the blessed king's request.⁶²⁶³ At each of these three solemnities, once the mass had been sung most solemnly, the brothers who attended ate in the blessed king's hall with the king himself, while reading continued throughout the meal just as is customary in the brothers' refectories.⁶⁴ And moreover, at those feasts the blessed king would have summoned some of the bishops he could get, and he had a procession of those bishops and the friars made through the royal palace as they returned to the Chapel.⁶⁵ And at that procession the blessed king carried the aforementioned relics on his own shoulders with the bishops, and the clergy of Paris and the people gathered for that procession. When he was in Paris, it was the blessed king's custom to go into the Chapel each evening after the chaplains had finished Compline, and he would stay there for a long time in prayer.⁶⁶ He once arrived at the abbey of Royaumont on the vigil of Saint Michael and spent the night there. When the abbot rose for Matins, the blessed king's clerks had already nearly finished saying the king's Matins by the light of many candles, and they were singing them most solemnly.⁶⁷ After the church bells rang for Matins and the Venite exultemus had been said, the blessed king entered the church by the light of many candles, went into the abbot's stall in the choir, and sat down beside him. The blessed king remained there throughout the monks' Matins, which included eighteen psalms, twelve lessons, twelve responsories, the Te Deum laudamus, and the Gospel.⁶⁸ And when they were singing the responsories, the blessed king would come down from his stall, take the lantern and the light, go to the book, and look into it.⁶⁹ After that.⁷⁰ Once Matins were finished and just as Lauds were beginning, the blessed king told the abbot he wanted to rest a little because he had to go to Paris that morning; he then returned to his chamber. But before Lauds were finished, he came back to that same church and heard a sung Mass there, and then rode on to Paris; for on the day after the feast of Saint Michael he was accustomed to hold the celebration and feast of the Holy Relics in Paris.⁷¹ And on the feast of Saint Denis as well, as every year, the blessed king, when he was in those parts, would come to Saint-Denis; and because it is the custom in the abbey of Saint-Denis that on the night of that feast the canons of Saint-Paul of Saint-Denis immediately chant Matins solemnly at the beginning of the night, and when those are finished the convent of the abbey of Saint-Denis then enters the choir and chants Matins solemnly in that same church, the blessed Saint Louis used to say that on that night one ought rightly and continually to praise God and offer prayerful song and render prayerful praises to God, and he had his Matins chanted solemnly and early in his chapel by his chaplains and by his clerks.⁷² And when Matins had been chanted by the monks, the blessed king would come in procession—with him his chaplains and his clerks vested in silk copes and surplices, the cross going before—from the chapel of Saint Clement which is in the abbey, where he had begun his Matins, as far as the church of Saint-Denis mentioned above, beside the bodies of Saint Denis and his companions; and there he had the rest of his Matins chanted solemnly, and in such a way that when they were finished it was day.⁷³ In this way, praises were kept up without interruption throughout the entire night of that feast in that church. These things were done very often as a matter of custom during the time of the blessed Saint Louis.⁷⁴ Every year, when the blessed king was at Saint-Denis for the feast—or if he was ever too busy to attend and had to go later—he would go to the altar of Saint Denis and call his⁷⁵ eldest son to join him. In his son's presence, he would kneel before the altar of Saint Denis with great devotion, his head bare in prayer. He would first place four gold bezants on his own head, hold them in his hand, and then offer those four bezants with great reverence on the altar and kiss it.⁷⁶ Because seven years had passed without him making that offering while he was away on his first crusade, after he returned to France, he went one day and made the offering for all seven of those years at once, just as described above.⁷⁷ When the blessed Saint Louis decided to build a house at Senlis, next to his palace, in honor of Saint Maurice and his companions, he worked to arrange for the transfer of about twenty-four bodies of the companions of Saint Maurice from that legion. He obtained them from the abbot and convent of the abbey in Burgundy where they rested, and the abbot, along with some of his brothers and the king's messengers, brought them to Senlis.⁷⁸ And when they came quite near Senlis, before they were brought into the city, the blessed king had them placed in a house belonging to the bishop, called Mons, which is half a league or so from Senlis.⁷⁹ He then gathered several bishops and abbots, and in the presence of many barons and a large crowd, he organized a procession of all the clergy from the city of Senlis; the holy bodies were placed in several shrines, solemnly covered with silk cloths.⁸⁰ They were then carried in a great procession into the city to the church. The blessed king himself carried the final shrine on his own shoulders, alongside a nobleman, Theobald, king of Navarre, from the bishop's house all the way to the church; he had the other shrines carried in the same way before him by other barons and knights.⁸¹ And the blessed king's intention was this, as people believe: that it was a good and fitting thing for those saints who had been knights of Jesus Christ to be carried by knights. And when the holy bodies were in that church, the blessed king had Mass sung there solemnly and had a sermon preached to the people gathered there.⁸² In this way he very gladly honored the saints, kept their feast days, and showed such great reverence for every kind of relic that he would not kiss them on a day when he had been with his wife, and he said that a good and upright man had taught him this.⁸³ Beyond the things already told, the blessed king, at his own expense, founded and endowed the abbey of Royaumont of the Cistercian order; and in that abbey there is so much building work that people do not believe anyone else in those parts could have had it done except the king.⁸⁴ It is believed that the costs and outlays for the buildings alone exceeded a hundred thousand livres parisis.⁸⁵ He also founded the Beguine house in Paris near the Barbel Gate, the church of the Friars Minor in Paris, and the church and house of the Friars Minor in the city of Jaffa overseas.⁸⁶ Again he had ten chalices of gilded silver made, and other church ornaments for the ten altars that are there; and with that he established and had books made for saying the service of God and for the brothers' study; and he equipped the said house with beds and other furnishings that were needed there.⁸⁷ And again he founded the church and the house of the Friars Preachers of Compiègne; for that place and for the buildings alone, not counting the furnishings, the blessed king spent a good fourteen thousand and nine livres of Paris; and yet after all that, many works were still done there by the blessed king's command that cost a great deal.⁸⁸ The blessed king also paid for the consecration of that church himself. In Senlis, next to his palace, he founded and built a church in honor of Saint Maurice and his companions, along with the necessary outbuildings for about twelve brothers of the order and habit of Saint Maurice in Burgundy, establishing that God would be served there by these brothers forever.⁸⁹ Afterward, he endowed the church with rents and property to provide a perpetual annual income of about five Paris livres.⁹⁰ He also founded and built the house for the Dominican sisters in Rouen, the house for the Dominican friars in Caen, the house of Valvert near Paris for the Carthusian order, and the greater part of the Carmelite friary in Paris.⁹¹

Humility and Royal Instruction

Saint Louis practiced works of humility alongside his religious foundations and left behind written instructions for his children on how to honor the Church.

Once again he founded the church and the house of the brothers of the Order of the Trinity at Fontainebleau.⁹² Whenever the blessed king visited Royaumont—which belongs to that same order—and happened to be there on a Saturday, he would join the abbot and the community in the cloister for the Mandatum, watching their actions with great devotion as he sat beside the abbot.⁹³⁹⁴ It often happened that once the Mandatum was finished and the customary reading from the Lives of the Fathers or Saint Gregory’s Moralia had been completed, the abbot and the community would head into the church for Compline, where the blessed king would join them just like one of the monks.⁹⁵ When Compline ended, the order’s custom was for the abbot to lead the way and offer holy water to each monk as they passed the dormitory door, after which they would bow and head up to bed. The blessed king would often stand by the abbot, watching the proceedings with great devotion; he would receive the holy water just like any other monk, then bow his head and leave the cloister to return to his own quarters.⁹⁶ The king performed these actions in the presence of many members of his household.⁹⁷ To obtain the indulgence granted by the Roman legate overseas, he would sometimes carry stones or perform other humble tasks. It is believed he did this not only for the indulgence but also to set a good example, which inspired the bishops, barons, knights, and many others to do the same.⁹⁸⁹⁹ In this way the holy king himself trained others to do the things said above.¹⁰⁰ Among the teachings he wrote by hand and sent to his daughter, the noble queen of Navarre, he included this instruction: “Dear daughter, gladly attend the services of Holy Church; and while you are there, take care not to chatter or speak empty words.¹⁰¹ Say your prayers in peace, either aloud or in your mind, especially when the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ is present at Mass.¹⁰² For some time beforehand, be even more at peace, more focused, and more diligent in your prayers to God.¹⁰³ Gladly listen to talk of Our Lord, both in sermons and in private conversation.”¹⁰⁴ Furthermore, in the letter he wrote by hand to his son, King Philip of blessed memory, there is a passage that complements what was just said: “Be very diligent in carefully protecting all kinds of good people¹⁰⁵ in your land, and especially the persons of Holy Church; and carefully forbid that injury or violence be done to them, either to their persons or to their property.¹⁰⁶ And fairly soon after, this other clause follows: “Do not be quick to believe anyone against the persons of Holy Church; rather do them honor, and protect them so that they can perform the service of Our Lord in peace.”¹⁰⁷ I also teach you that you should especially love those in religious life and gladly help them in their needs; and as for those through whom you believe God will be more honored and better served, love them more than the others.¹⁰⁸ »¹⁰⁹

Read the original Latin

Grâce de devocion esboulissant, le cuer rasasianf en " ferveur de bonne volenté, ne pot estre retenue en cuer du benoiel saint Loys, ainçois la mostra'" par pluseurs certains signes. Li hencoiz rois fii a Dieu et a ses sainz et a sainte Eglise très dévot, si comme il aperl par le cours de sa vie clerenient, et si comme il est " prouvé apertement par le dit affermé par serement 'de moût de bons preudes hommes et dignes de foi qui avec lui conversèrent longuement, qui disoient par leur seremeni qitc il avoit esté plein de grant devocion, (V toutevoies a mostrer le plus certainement, ci aucunes choses especiax sont / escriptes. Et s premièrement de la' devocion du beneoil ' roi' cm sen'ice Nostre Sei</iei(r oïr et entendre de(ote/ne/it . — Le benoiez rov disoit ses heures canoniaus'" a grant devocion avecques un de ses chapelains et a droites heures, sanz ce que il les deist devant heure fors le moins que il pooit. Et avecques tout ce, nonporquant" il fesoit chanter sollempnelment toutes les heures canoniaus a droites heures sanz avancier heure, fors le moins qu'il pooit, par ses chapelains et par ses clers, et il les ooit a grant devocion, et neis quant il chevauchoit, /7 fesoit dire les heures canoniaus a haute voiz et a note par ses chapelains a cheval, ausi comme se il fussent en l'église, que la" droite heure ne p passast. Et la costume que li benoiez rois gardoit envers le service Dieu estoit tele : li benoiez'/ rois se levoit a mie nuit' et fesoit apeler clers et chapelains, et lors il entroient en la chapeîe en la présence du rois chascune nuit; et lors chanloient a haute voiz et a note matines du jour et puis de Xostre Dame, et pour ce ne lessoit pas li benoiez' rois que il ne deist les unes et les autres matines en celé meesme chapele a basse voiz avec un de ses chapelains, et matines dites, les chapelains icxenoieiit a leui' Hz se il vouloicnl. Rt un pou de csi)ncc(\Q leiis passé, si pctil <uc aiicmic loiz il ne pooient pas avoir dormi puis qu'il estoieiit revenuz , il les (esoit apeler a dire )rinie, el lors chantoient prime en la cliapele a haute vois et a note cliascun jour du jor et de Nostre Jame, h; biuioiet roi présent, disant Tune et l'autre avec un de ses chapcdains.

Mes en vver chascun jour, pou s'en falloil, prime estoit dite ainz jour; mes après Pasques, il disoient matines a tele heure que eles estoient dites devant le jour ou pou puis que le jour estoit levé. Et ce fesoil le benoiet rois, iieis es jours et es nuiz que il avoit esté avecques' sa femme. Et quant prime estoit chantée, si com il est dit desus, li benoiez ' rois ooit chascun jour messe premièrement pour les morz', qui estoit le plus souvent dite sanz note ', mes a la foiz, si com es anniversaires ou pour aucuns de sa mesniee quant il estoit trespassez, et il lesoit chanter la messe, ele estoit adonques chantée a note. Et chascun lundi li benoiez/ rois fesoit chanter a haute voiz et a note, des Anges, et ensement & chascun mardi de la beneo/te virge jNIarie; et chascun juesdi messe du Saint Esperit; et chascun vendredi ensement' messe de la Croiz; et chascun jour de samedi, encore • messe de Nostre Dame. Et encore avec ces messes, il fesoit chascun jour chanter messe du jour a haute voiz et a note couvenable a la fere ou de la feste. Et el tons de quaresme, il ooit touzjours iij messes le jour, et de celés estoit une dite a midi ou entour midi'; et quand il chevauchoit en esté et la chaleur estoit grant, il chevauchoit a matin et, quant il estoit a l'ostel, il fesoit dire les dites messes.

Et a toutes les choses devant dites estoit li benoiez rois"'. En ijprès, quant 11 estoit heure de clisner, ainçois que il niengast, il entroit en sa chapele et les chapelains disoient devant lui a note tierce et midi du jor et de Nostre Dame, mes" il disoit iceles meemes heures a basse voiz avecques un de ses chapelains. Et quant il avenoit einsi que il chcvauchoit a heure de tierce et de midi ou de none, — mes que ce soit entendu de none en tens déjeune, — il fesoit chanter en chevauchant a haute voiz a note ces meesmes heures a ses chapelains, et il les disoit avec un chapelain " a basse voiz. Et chascun jour il ooit vespres a note et les disoit avecques un chapelain' a basse voiz. Et en/ après souper, les chapelains entroient en sa chapele et chantoient complie a haute VOIZ et a note du jour et de Nostre Dame. Et li benoiez rois, quant il estoit en son oratoire, s'agenoilloit moût souvent endementieres que l'en chantoit complie, et tout cel tens entendoit a fere oroisons.

Et chascun jour, quant complie de la Mère Dieu estoit dite, les chapelains chantoient ilecques meemes une des antienes de Nostre Dame moût soUempnelment et a note, c'est a savoir aucune loiz « Salve regina, » aucune foiz une autre avecques l'oroison que l'en doit dire après, si comme il est acoustumé a dire. Et après tantost li benoiez rois s'en revenoit a sa chambre et i aloit, et lors venoit un de ses prestres et aportoit l'en l'iaue benoiete après lui et donques» en gitoit li prestres par la chambre, et disoit cest vers : « Asperges me » et l'oroison que l'en doit dire après. Et quant l'eure estoit venue «/«e U beneoiz rois de\\o'\\. entrer el lit, il disoit l'une et l'autre complie avecques le chapelain devant dit. Et es jours qui estoient moût sollempnez es quex l'en fesoit double service, li services de la More Dieu n'cstoit pas adoncques dit en la chaptde a note, mes a basse voiz tant seulement, exceptées encore la leste de Noël et de Pasques elles autres ("estes de tcle manière très sollempnez. esqueles les chapelains ik; disoienl pas le service de Noire Dame en la chapele. hU comme li bcnoiez" rois estoit en aucun lieu ou il n'avoil point de chapele autre, il lenoit adonques sa chambio en lieu de chapele, me. s ausi comme par louz les /ie.

r dti roiaiiinc avoit chapele. Et combien que li benoiez rois fust malades, il fcsoit touzjors chauler ses chapelains on sa chapele sollempneument les heu i es, et deux autres clers ou religieus disoient les heures du jour et de Nostre Dame delez son lit ou il gisoit, si que se il ne fust trop /ô/jbles, il disoit le vers" d'une part et les autres d'autre; et quaut il estoit si //Jbles que il ne pooit parler, il avoit un autre clerc delez lui qui pour lui disoit les siaumes . Et en chascun jour ferial ou eu jour que l'en ne dit pas ix leçons, estoient ij cierges sus l'autel qui estoient lenouvelez chascun jour de lundi et chascun mecredi, mes en chascun samedi et en toute simple Teste de ix leçons estoient mis iiij cierges a l'autel.

Et en toute feste double ou demie double il estoient renouvelez et estoient mis a l'autel vj cierges ou viijj mes es Testes qui estoient moult sollempnex, xij cierges estoient mis a l'autel, et ausi en l'anniversaire de son père et de sa mère et de touz les rois pour les quex il fesoit faire anniversaires/. Et toutes les loiz que les cierges estoient renouvelez et que nouviax cierges estoient mis a l'autel, si com il est dit desusa, les chapelains et les clers de la dite chapele avoient tout ce qui estoit de remanant des viez cierges et le metoit en leur proufit. Et en ' touz les dyemenches de l'Avent et en toutes les lestes des Apostres, de saint Nicholas, de saint Martin, de sainte Maiie Magdaleine et es granz Testes semblables, il Tesoit chanter la messe a dyacre et a souz-diacre sollempnclmcnt. Et es Testes sollempnex il voloit tozjors avoir un evesque ou pluseurs qui chantassent sollempnelment la messe, et Tesoit donc revestir diacres et soudiacres ceus que il pooit avoir de ses clers, et ainsi revestuz il les Te; oit servir a l'evesqiie qui chantoil la messe, et aucune loiz, es très gi'iinz lestes, il fesolt estre les prelaz as matines lesqiieles il meemes ooit en sa chapele. Et es Testes sollempnex de Dieu et de Nostre Dame et es autres hautes festes", il fesoit fere le service Dieu si sollempnelment et si par loisir que il ennuioit ausi comme a touz les autres pour la lono-ueur de l'ofice. Et avecques ce li henoiez rois voloit que li services Nostre Seigneur fust si ordeneement fez et si sollempnelment que il ne li soufisoit pas que ses chapelains ou ses clers ordenassent qui chanteroit la messe ou qui liroit l'Evangile ou qui feroit les autres choses, ainçois oïdenoit souvente foiz il meemes de ces choses et mandoit par aucun de ses chapelains a cens des quex il li estoit avis qui estoient les meilleurs a fere ces offices que il les feissent.

Et por ce\ que en toutes choses Nostre Sires'" l'ust ennourez, il avoit en sa chapele vestemenz pour prestres et pour autres ordres et avecques ce autres vesteures apartenanz a evesques de samit et d'autres dras de soie precieus broudez et autres de diverses couleurs, selon ce que le tens et les Testes le requeroient. Derechief li benoiez rois disoit chascun jour le service des morz/ avecques un de ses chapelains selon l'usage de l'église de Paris. Et combien que il fust yver et feist grant froit, nonpourquant li benoiez rois, quant il estoit en l'église ou en la chapele, il estoit touzjours en estant, drecié seur ses piez ou agenoillié a terre ou el" pavement ', ou lui apuié sus l'un' des costez au banc qui estoit devant et seoit a terre sanz avoir souz lui nul coissin, ainçois avoit tant seulement un tapi estendu a terre souz lui. Et endementieres que l'en disoit la messe, il ne soufroit pas de legier que nul parlast a lui fors que aucune foiz, un pou après l'Evangile et devan le secré, un pou il ooit son aumônier et nul autre fors trop petit. Et sovent avenoit que il se levoit si souef de son lit et se vestoit et chauçoit por entrer si '" tost en l'église, que les autres qui gisoient en s;i ('lianil)ie ne se pooient pas chaucier, aincois couvenoit que il corusseni doschauciez après lui. l{t quant matines estoient dites, il estoit lonouoinent en croisons ou en la chapele ou en sa garderobe ou delez son lit. Et quant il se levoit d'ouroisons et il n'esloit pas jour, il despoilloit aucune foiz sa chape et entroit en son lit et aucune; (biz a tout la chape, et dormoit.

Et aucune foiz il donnoit a cens de sa chambre certaine mesuj'e de chandcle et leur comniandoit cjue il ne le lossassent dormir fors tant comme celé chandele durroit ardant, si que aucune foiz il l'esveilloient selon son commandement, et il se levoit et leur disoit que encore n'estoit il eschaufé, Etcjuant il l'avoient esveillié, il se levoit maintenant le plus tost que il pooit et aloxt a l'église ou a la chapele. Et comme pour ses veilles desatemprees et pour ses autres pluseurs labeurs que il avoit soufers par lonc tens, il fut moût afeîjloiez, il li fu conseillié de persones religieuses que il ne veillast pas tant et que il ne se levast pas si tost, pour laquele chose il ne se levoit pas si tost après ce, mes toutovoies il se levoit a tele heure que matines estoient tozjors dites devant ce que il fust jour, a tout le moins el tens d'hvver. Li benoiez rois ooit très volentiers et très sovent la parole Dieu et l'escoutoit très diligaument, et por ce chascun dyemenche et a toutes festes, et moût de fois es autres jours c|uant il pqoit avoir religieus on autres qui seussent proposer la parole Dieu, il les faisoit preechier en sa présence et les escoutoit très dévotement, et se seoit a terre seur le (uerre quant l'en preechoit devant lui. Et quant il chevauchoit, quant il se pooit destourner"' proufitablement a aucune abeic ou a aucun lieu de l'eliû'ifus hommes ou femmes, mont volentiers le fesoitet fesoit ilecques preechier a l'edefiement de lui et d'eus. Et estoit sa coustume tele cjue cjuant il ooit aucune foiz les sermons que l'en fesoit es chapitres des religieus, il se seoit mont souvent el milieu du chapitre sus le fu'erre, neis en tens que il fesoit très grant froit, près de la terre, et les moines se seoient en leur siegos acoiistiinicz en haut. Et pour ce que les sergnnz d'iinues fussent plus volentiers as sermons, il ordena que il menjassent en sale, les quex serganz n'i souloient pas mengier, ainz avoient gages pour leur despens pour mengier hors, et li henoiez" rois leur donnoit encore gages to>; pleins comme devant et nonpourquant il menjoient a court.

Et aucune foiz aloit il a son pié deux foiz en un jour par le quart d'une lieue pour oir le sermon que il fesoit Tere au pueple et escoutoit très diligaument le sermon. Et se il avenistque l'en feist aucune loiz noise entour le preecheeur, il la fesoit apesier. Et aucune foiz il ooit la leçon es escoles des Frères Preecheeurs a Compiegne, et quant ele estoit finee, il commandoit que l'en feist ilecques un sermon pour les lais qui ilecques estoient venuz avecques lui. Do sa de\>ocion an cor. s Nostre Seigneur rccei'oir. -— Li benoiez sainz Loys esboulissoit de fervant devocion que il avoit au sacrement du vrai cors No. sO-e Seigneur Jhcsu Crisl, car trestouz les anz il estoit acomenié a tout le moins vj foiz, c'est a savoir a Pasques, a Penthecouste, a 1 Assoncion de la benoiete virge Marie, a la Touzsainz, a Noël et a la Purificacion Nostre Dame. Et aloit recevoir son Sauveur par très grant devocion, car avant il lavoit ses mains et sa bouche et ostoit son chaperon et sa coife.

Et lors, puis que il estoit entré eu cuer de celé église"', il n'aloit pas seur ses piez jusques a l'autel, aincois i aloit a genouz.

Et quant il estoit devant l'antel, il disoit premièrement son Confiteor par soi meemes a jointes mains a moût de sospirs et de gemissemcnz; et donques il recevoit en ceste manière le vrai cors Jhesu Crlst de la main do l'evesque ou du prestre. De sa-f des'ocion a la <>>raie croiz aorcr. — Chascun jour cl saint Vendredi ' li benoiez' rois Loys aloit par les églises prochaines du lieu ou \\ estoit adonques et nuz piez en quel lieu que il fiist a ccl jour, et avoit unes chauccs qui avoient avant-piez sanz semeles que l'en ne veist sa char, mes il inetoit les plantes de ses piez toutes nues a terre, et ofFroit lar<enient sus les autiex des églises que il visitoit. Et en " après il estoit a tout le service Noire Seigneur (-///Jsi nuz piez jusques a tant (pie il avoit aouree la sainte croiz, et Taloit aourer en tele manière que il avoit sa chape despoillee et dcmouroil en son gardeeors ou en sa cote, et einsi nus piez, com il est dit devant, et desceint et sa coife ostee, son chief tout nu, se metoit a genouz et aouroit einsi dévotement la sainte croiz. En après il aloit une espace de terre a genoz et oroit. Et Yeticorcs il aloit la tierce foiz a genouz jusques a la croiz et l'aouroit, et doncjues il la besoit par grant devocion et par grant révérence et se metoit enclin a terre a manière de croiz endémentieres cjue il la besoit, et croit l'en que il ploroit a lermes en ce faisant. Et quant li benoiez rois Eoys volt emprendre la voie a la première foiz pour aler outremer, il vint a l'église Nostre Dame de Paris et oi ilecques la messe, et ala de l'église Nostre Dame de Paris jusques a Saint Antoine, tout nuz piez, l'esclierpe au col et le bourdon en ses mains par grant devocion.

Et fu ilecques convoie de grant pueple, et puis prist ilec congié du pueple qui le sivoit et monta et s'en ala '. Et après ce, en cel an que il revint d'outreiiier a la piemiere foiz, icil benoiez rois vint, la vegile de Noël ■' bien matin, a l'abeie de Roiaumont de l'ordre de Cisliax, de la dyocese de Biauvez, et dist que il vouloit estre a la prononciacion de la Nativité Nostre Seigneur qui a esté acoustumée a estre fête par toute l'ordre a heure de chapitre, et s'assemblent les moines a cele heure eu " chapitre. Et l'ordenance de Tabeie est tele que, en cele heure, Fabé et touz les moines qui i pueent venir s'assemblent ' el chapitre, et un moines estant el milieu du chapitre dit ces paroles entre les autres : « Jhesu (Christ, li filz Dieu, est nez en c( 13ethleem de Judée. » Et quant il a ce dit, li abes et les moines se getent a terre et frisent einsi en oroisons jusques a tant que li abes se lieve. De quoi li benoiez saint Loys vint en chapitre en cele heure et s'assist delez le dit abé a la prononciation, et quant ele fu fête, il se mist a terre, estendu aussi comme li abbes et comme li autre moine humblement et dévotement, et quant il fu ilecques estendu en oroisons, il i gut jusques a tant que li abes li fist signe de soi lever, et lors il se leva. De sa dcçocion ans saintes reliques f . — Li benoiez saint Loys avoit la coroune d'espines Nostre Seigneur Jhesu Crist et grant partie de la sainte Croiz ou Dieu fu mis, et la lance de la quele li costez Nostre Seigneur fu perciez et mont d'autres reliques glorieuses que il aquist'; pour les queles reliques il fist fere la Cdiapele a Paris -, en la quele l'en dit ({ue il despendi bien xl mile livres de tournois et plus.

Et li benoiez rois.' aourna ' d'or et d'argent et de pierres précieuses et d'autres joiaus les liens et les chasses ou les saintes reliques reposent, et croit l'en que les aournemenz des dites reliques valent bien cent mile livres de tournois et plus. Et ordena avecques ce en la dite chapele chanoines et autres clers pour fere a touzjors mes en la dite chapele le service' Nostre Seigneur devant les saintes reliques dcsus dites, et leur assigna et ordena tant de rentes pcrpetuex a prendre chascun an en deniers, en blez et en autres choses, que ehaseun de ces chanoines, qui sont X ou xij, reçoit d'an on an c livres de tournois. Et si ont mesons soufisanz, des (jiiclcs trois li benoiez rois Lovs flst fere delez la dite chapele. Et pour soverainement ennorer les dites reliques, li benoiez rois establi en la dite chapele trois sollempnitez chascun an. En la première sollennité il fesoit estre le couvent des Frères preecheeurs de Paris, en la seconde le couvent des Frères meneurs, et on la tierce, il fesoit estre des uns et des autres ordres des devant diz religieus " et des autres ordres ausi qui sont a Paris, grant plenté des frères qui gisoient en une moson delez le paies le Roi et après celé meemes chapele delez le , pour ce que il fussent lors a matines a la roqueste du benoiet roi. Et a chascune dos trois dites sollempnitez, quant la messe estoit chantée très soUempnelment, li frère qui avoient esté a celé messe mengoient en la sale du benoiet roy, et li rois avec els , et lisoit l'on continuelmont au mendier ausi com il est aeoustumé es refroitoioi-s dos diz frères.

Et encore fesoit apelor li benoiez rois as dites festes aucuns evesques que il pooit avoir et fesoit fere procession de ces evesques et des frères par le paies roial en revenant a la Chapele. Et a celé procession li benoiez rois portoit a ses propres espaules, avec les evesques, les reliques devant dites, et a celé procession s'assembloit li clergié de Paris et li pueplos. Et li benoiez rois entroit acoustumeement, quant il estoit a Pans, en la dite Chapele après ce que compile estoit dite chascun soir/ dos chapelains, et estoit ilec longuement on oroisons. Et vint une foiz a l'aboie de Roiaumont la vegile saint Mioliiel, la ou il jut celé nuit", et comme li abes se fust levez celé nuit a matines, les clers du benoiet loi avoient ja presque dites les matines du dit roy ou il avoit giant luminaire et les chantoient mont sollempnclment. Et comme len ot sonné a matines en Teglise et l'en ot dit Vonile cxultemiis, li benoiez rois entra en leglise a grant luminaire, et entra eu sieo-e Tabbé dedenz le cuer et s'assist delez l'abbé, et fu touzjors ilecques li benoiez rois as matines des moines la ou l'en dit xviij siaumes et xij leçons et xij respons et T( Deuni Jaiidanius et Evangile . Et quant len chantoit les respons, li benoiez rois descendoit de Testai et prenoit l'esconse et la lumière et aloit au livre et regardoit dedenz.

El après ce. quant matines furent finees, einsi comme l'en commence les laudes, li benoiez rois dist a l'abé que il se vouloit un petit reposer, car il devoit aler en cel matin a Paris, et lors s'en râla li benoiez rois en sa chambre. Mes aincois que les laudes fussent dites, il revint a celé meesmes église et oy ilecques la messe a note et lors chevaucha jusques a Paris ; car l'endemain de la saint Michiel, il avoit acoustumé a fere la celebracion et la feste des saintes Reliques a Paris. Et en la feste saint Denis ausi comme chascun an ', li benoiez rois, quant il estoit en ces parties, il venoit a Saint Denis, et pour ce que coustume est en Tabeie de Saint Denis que en la nuit de celé feste les chanoines de Saint Pol de Saint Denis chantent tantost sollempnelment matines eu commencement de la nuit, et quant eles sont dites li couvenz de l'abeie de Saint Denis entre adonques eu cuer et chante matines en celé uieesme église sollempneument ■", li benoiez saint Lovs disoit que l'en devoit ' de raison en celé nuit et continuelment Dieu loer et l'ère' ornz chanz et rendre a Dieu oranz loeno-es, et fesoit chanter ses matines sollempnelment et tost en sa chapole pai' ses chapelains cl par ses clers. Et quant matines estoient chantées par les moines, li benoiez rois venoit a procession ", avecques lui ses chapelains et ses clers revestuz de chapes de soie et de seurpeliz, la croiz devant, de la chapele Saint Clément' qui est en l'abeie, la ou il avoit ses matines commenciees jusques a l'église de Saint Denis desus dite, delez les cors de saint Denis et de ses compaignons et fesoit ilecques sollempnemcnt le remanant de ses matines chanter, et en ceste manière que, quant eles estoient chantées, il cstoit jour. Et einsi toute la nuit de celé feste estoient loenges continuées en celé église. Et furent ces choses fêtes très souvent et acoustumeement el tens du benoiet saint Loys.

Et encore chascun an, quant li benoiez rois estoit a Saint Denis a la dite feste, ou se aucune foiz avenoit que il eust tant a besoignier que il n'i poisf' pas estre, au plus tost que il pooit après, il aloit a l'autel saint Denis et apeloit so;? fiuz ainzné avecques lui et, en sa présence, se metoit devant l'autel saint Denis par très grant devocion a genouz et son chies ' nu en oroisons, et lors metoit iiij besanz d'or premièrement seur son chief et les tenoit a sa main et offroit ces iiij besanz par grant révérence sus l'autel desus dit et le besoit. Et pour ce que, a la première foiz que li sainz rois passa outremer, il avoit esté vij ans que d n'avoit rendu celé offrende audit autel/, quant il fu revenu en France, il fist après ce » un jour icele offrende sus l'autel tout ensemble, si com il est dit desus, pour les vij ans devant dizi. Et comme li benoiez sainz Loys eust conceu que il feroit fere a Senliz, delez son palez, une meson en l'enneur de saint Morise et de ses compaignons, il fist et procura tant que il ot xxiiij cors ou environ des compaignons saint Morice de celé légion, de l'abé et du couvent de celé abeie qui est en Bourgoigne, ou les" cors reposoient, et li abbes avec aucuns de ses frères et avec les messages (|ui la estoient alez de par le benoiet roy les aporterent a Senliz. Et quant il vindrent assez près de Senliz, ainçois que il fussent aportez en la cité, 11 benoiez rois les fist mètre en une meson qui est a 1 evesque qui a non Monz qui est loing de Senliz par demie lieue ou enlun/-. Et lors il fist assembler pluseurs evesques et abbez, et en la présence de moût de barons et de grant multitude de pueple, il fist fere procession ordenee par tout le clergié de la cité ' de Senliz, et furent les diz cors sainz mis en pluseurs cbasses, couverz sollenipneument de dras de soie. Et adonques les fist porter a grant procession en la cite a la même église ', en tele manière que li benoiez rois meesinement portoit seur ses propres espaules la derreainne chasse ensemble'" avecques homme de noble reint'inbiiuicc Tycbaut, loy de Navarre, de " la lucson a l'evesque jusque a l'église devant dite, et fist les autres chasses porter aiisi devant lui par autres barons et par chevaliers.

Et estoit l'entente du benoiet roy tele, si comme l'en croit, que c'estoit bonne chose et honeste que li dit saint qui avoient esté chevaliers de Jhesu Crist fussent portez par chevaliers. Et quant les cors sainz furent en la dite église, li benoiez rois fist ilecques chanter la messe sollempneunient et fere le sermon au pueple qui ilecques fu assemblé. A/'/isi ennoroit très volentiers les sainz et gardoit leur festes et portoit si grant révérence a toutes manières de reliques, que il ne vouloit pas besier les le jour que il avoit esté avec sa femme et disoit que un preudomme li avoit ce enseigjnié. Outre les choses devant dites, li benoiez rois fist a ses propres despenz, fonda et doua l'abeie de Uoiaumont de l'ordre de Cistiaus ' ; en la quele abeie il a tant d'uevre que l'en ne croit pas que ele peust avoir esté fête par aucun autre de ces parties fors que par le roy. Et croit l'en que es edefices purement, les couc et les mises se montèrent p/ns de cent mile livres de Parisis. De rechief il fonda la meson des Béguines de Paris delez la porte de Barbeel'-; de rechief l'église des Frères Meneurs de Paris 3; de rechief l'église et la meson des Frères Meneurs de la cite de Jopem outre mer.

De rechief il fonda " et fist fere x calices d'argent dorez et autres aournemenz d'église pour x autex qui sont il('C(iies, et avecques ce il establi " et (ist fere livres pour dire le service de Dieu et pour Teslude des frères, et estora la dite meson de Hz et d'autres ostillemenz qui leenz estoient nécessaires. Et ' de rechief il fonda l'église et la meson des Frères Preecheeurs de Compiegne , pour lequel lieu et pour les edefices sanz les muebles, li benoiez rois despendi bien xiiij mile et Ix livres de parisis; et nonpourquant après tout ce furent fêtes ilec moût d'uevres par le commandement du benoiet roy qui moût costerent. Et fist encore li benoiez rois a ses propres despenz consacrer la dite église des frères devant diz. De rechief il fonda et fist edefier a Senliz delez son paies, en l'enneurdu benoiet saint Morice et de ses compaig-nons, une église avecques les officines qui couvienent " a xij frères ou environ de l'ordie et de l'abit de Saint Morice en Bourgoigne 'j et establi que Dieu lust ilecques servi par ces frères perpetuelment. Et après, il doua la dite église et li donna rentes et possessions a recevoir perpetuelment d'an en an jusques a la value de V livres de parisis ou enviion. De rechief il fist fonder et fere la meson des suers de l'ordre des Frères Preecheeurs de Roen'; de rechiefla meson desFreres Preecheeurs deCaen'; de rechief la meson de Valvert delez Paris, de l'ordre de Chartreuse •'; de rechief la meson des Frères du Carme de Paris, la greigneur partie 6.

De rechief il fonda l'église et la meson des frères de l'ordre de la Trinité de Fontaineblia«f'. adonques H abbes et li couvenz en cloistre, li dit ' benoiez rois qui souvent venoit a Roiauniont qui est de l'ordre devant dite, quant einsi avenoit que il fust en l'abeie du dit lieu au jour de samedi, il voiiloit cstre au INIandé et seoit ilecques delez l'abbé, et regardoit ilecques par mont grant devocion ce que les moines desus diz fesoient. Et avint pluseurs foiz que, après ce, assez tost que le Mandé esloit fet et la leçon leue qui a esté acoustumee de la Vie des Pères ou des INIorales saint Gringoire, li abbes et li couventz entroient en l'église pour dire complie, li benoiez rois estoit avec eus a complie ausi comme les moines. Et quant complie estoit finee, comme couslume soit en cel ordre que li abes qui va devant les autres doint l'iaue benoiete qui est devant l'uis du dortoier a chascun qui l'ensuit par ordre, et lors ils s'enclinent et montent le dortoier pour gésir, li diz benoiez rois fu pluseurs foiz delez l'abbé qui einsi leur donnoit l'iaue benoiete a chascun, et regardoit par grant devocion ce qui ilecques estoit let et recevoit l'iaue benoiete du dit abbé ausi com un des moines et, son chief encline, issoit du cloistre et aloit a son hostel. Et ces choses devant dites lesoit li rois en la présence de moût de ses mesniees. Et pour ce que il vouloit avoir le pardon que li legaz de Romme otroioit outre mer , il portoit a la foiz pour ce pierres ou aucunes choses semblables ' et fesoit oovrcs d'umilité; et avecques ce, il le fesoit, si comme l'en croit, pour ce que il donnast as autres bon essample, et pour"' le bon essample de lui fesoient les evesques ce meemes et les barons et les chevaliers et mont d'autres. Einsi enformoit neis // sainc rois les autres a fere les choses desus dites.

De quoi une clause est contenue entre les autres choses en la doctrine qui fu esciite de sa main propre et envoiee a sa fille iiohh' rolne de Navarre, et celé clause est tele : « Chiere (ille, oiez volentiers le service de sainte « Eglise; et quant vos serez au service , gardez que vos ne « niusez'ne ne dites paroles vaines. Dites voz oroisons en pes « ou de bouche ou de pensée, et especiaument quant li cors « Nostre Seigneur Jhesu (Hirist sera présent a la messe. Et « encore par aucune espace devant, soiez encore plus en « pes et plus meue et plus soigneuse de Dieu prier. Et oez « volentiers parler de Nostre Seigneur e/z serinons et cJi « parlemenz privez ensement '. » Et avecques ce, il est contenu en la letre de sa main escrite a// roi PhcUpe, son fîiiz de bone mémoire, une clause qui apartient aus choses devant dites, qui est tele : « Soies bien diligenz de fere « garder soigneusement toute manière de bonnes ge? iz « en ta terre, et especiaument les persones de sainte église, « et cens deCent que injure ne leur soit fête ne violence en « leur persones ne en leur choses. « Et après assez tost ensuit ceste autre clause : a Ne soies pas legiers a croire « a nul contre les persones de sainte Eglise; aincois leur fai « enneur et les garde si que il puissent fere le service « Nostre Seigneur en pes.

Et ausi je t'enseigne que tu « aimmes especiaument les genz religieus et leur ayde « volentiers en leur nécessitez; et ceus par qui tu cui« deras que Diex soit plus ennorez et plus serviz, aime les « plus que les autres. »

Scripture echoes

↩Ps.50.9 — I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your folds.

Notes

1 ↩Normalized OCR: esboulissant; rasasianf→rassasiant; benoiel→benoiet; mostra (showed).
2 ↩Normalized OCR: hencoiz→benoiz; fii→fu; aperl→apert; clerenient→clerement; seremeni→serement; qitc→que; (V→et.
3 ↩Heavily garbled source reconstructed as: Et premièrement de la devotion du beneoit roi ou service Nostre Seigneur oïr et entendre devotement (section lead-in on liturgical devotion).
4 ↩a note rendered as 'with chant' (sung liturgical office, not plain speech).
5 ↩Normalized OCR: chanloient→chantoient; Xostre Dame→Nostre Dame; icxenoieiit a leui' Hz se il vouloicnl→s'en aloient a leur liz se il voloient. Double negative ne lessoit pas … que il ne deist = 'did not fail to say'.
6 ↩Severely garbled source reconstructed as: Et un pou de [temps/espace] leur passé, si petit que aucune foiz il ne pooient pas avoir dormi puis qu'il estoient revenuz, il les fesoit apeler a dire prime, et lors chantoient prime … du jor et de Nostre Dame, le benoiet roi présent, disant l'une et l'autre avec un de ses chapelains.
7 ↩Reading OCR-corrupt «vver» as yver (winter) and «falloil» as falloit in pou s'en falloit (‘almost without fail’).
8 ↩Reading «fesoil» as fesoit and «iieis» as neis (‘even’).
9 ↩«sanz note» / «a note»: plain said vs. sung with chant (not musical ‘notes’ in the modern sense).
10 ↩Reading «lesoit» as lessoit (‘allowed/let’).
11 ↩«messe» is understood with «des Anges» by parallel with the weekday Masses named after it; OCR debris (jNIarie, slash marks) cleaned as Marie / benoite.
12 ↩«fere» taken as ferie/feria (ordinary weekday) opposite «feste» (feast); less likely a misreading of faire.
13 ↩Reading «el tons» as el tens (‘in the time/season’); «iij» as three; «celés» as celes (‘those’).
14 ↩Normalized corrupt readings for sense: ijprès→après; quant 11→quant il; clisner→disner; niengast→mengast. midi rendered as Sext (the midday hour of the office).
15 ↩chcvauchoit read as chevauchoit. Parenthetical «mes que ce soit entendu de none en tens déjeune» taken as limiting the None-while-riding practice to the non-fasting season (temps déjeûne), not the fasting season.
16 ↩«en/ après» read as «en après» (afterward).
17 ↩Source is badly corrupted: «/«e U beneoiz rois de\\o'\\. Read as que li benoiz rois devoit, completed by s4 entrer el lit.
18 ↩Fragment continues s3: (devoit) entrer el lit. l'une et l'autre complie = Compline of the day and of Our Lady, as in the preceding section.
19 ↩Normalized corruptions: More→Mère, n'cstoit→n'estoit, chaptde→chapele, leste→feste, elles autres ("estes→et les autres festes, tcle→tele.
20 ↩Read esqueles les chapelains ne disoient pas le service de Nostre Dame en la chapele (ik;→ne; disoienl→disoient; Noire→Nostre).
21 ↩Normalized: hU→Et; bcnoiez→benoiez; n'avoil→n'avoit; lenoit→tenoit; chambio→chambre; trailing me.→mes, continued in s8.
22 ↩Fragment s ausi comme par louz les /ie. read as (mes) aussi comme par touz les lie[us]; almost certainly continues into the next section about places with a chapel.
23 ↩Source is severely garbled ('r dti roiaiiinc avoit chapele'). Read against the preceding fragment about using his chamber as a chapel 'mes aussi comme par touz les lieux…' as 'où li roiaumes avoit chapele' — 'where the royal household had a chapel.'
24 ↩Normalized corrupt forms: fcsoit→fesoit; chauler→chanter; on→en; heu i es→heures; /ô/jbles and //Jbles→foibles; quaut→quant; siaumes→psaumes; vers (office verse in antiphonal exchange).
25 ↩Normalized: eu→en; lenouvelez→renouvelez; Teste→feste; Roman numerals ij/iiij/ix as 2/4/9; 'simple feste de ix leçons' = simple feast with nine Matins lessons.
26 ↩par loisir: rendered as 'unhurriedly' (leisurely / without haste), capturing the deliberate length of the liturgy rather than mere free time.
27 ↩Source OCR has 'Testes' for 'festes' (feasts) and 'l'ust ennourez' for the sense that Our Lord might be honored; rendered from the most plausible Old French reading.
28 ↩'le secré' is the Secret (secreta), the quiet offertory prayer of the medieval Mass, not 'secret' in the ordinary English sense.
29 ↩Source OCR garbles 'sa chambre' as 's;i ('lianil)ie' and 'corussent deschauciez' as 'corusseni doschauciez'; rendered from the obvious intended reading.
30 ↩Source begins 'l{t' for 'Et' and has 'lonouoinent en croisons' for 'longuement en oroisons' (a long time in prayer).
31 ↩Source has 'n'esloit' for 'n'estoit' and 'aucune; (biz a tout la chape' for 'aucune foiz a tout la chape' (sometimes still wearing the cape).
32 ↩Normalized heavily corrupted OCR (cens→ceus, mesuj'e de chandcle→mesure de chandele, comniandoit cjue→commandoit que, lossassent→lessassent, Etcjuant→Et quant, aloxt→aloit) to the most plausible OF reading.
33 ↩Read afeîjloiez as afeibleiez (weakened); desatemprees as immoderate/untempered; toutovoies as toutesvoies; d'hvver as d'yver.
34 ↩Read c|uant→quant, pqoit→pooit, on→ou, (uerre→fuerre (straw/litter).
35 ↩Reconstructed abeic→abeie; l'eliû'ifus hommes ou femmes→religieus hommes ou femmes; fesoitet→fesoit et; edefiement→édification/building-up.
36 ↩Read cjue/cjuant→que/quant; fu'erre→fuerre; siegos acoiistiinicz→sieges acoustumez.
37 ↩Read sergnnz d'iinues→serganz d'armes; henoiez rois→benoiez rois; gages to>; pleins→gages toz pleins.
38 ↩'serganz d'armes' rendered as men-at-arms/armed retainers of the household, not modern police sergeants.
39 ↩Source reading «que il fesoit Tere au pueple» looks corrupt; rendered as an impersonal sermon to the people. «Tere» may be a garbled name or «frère».
40 ↩Normalized «aucune loiz» as «aucune foiz» (sometimes), which fits the surrounding formula and sense.
41 ↩Heavily damaged source «Do sa de\>ocion an cor.» reconstructed as the subsection heading «De sa devotion au cors», continued in the next sentence.
42 ↩Source «s Nostre Seigneur rccei'oir.» reconstructed as the continuation of the heading: «Nostre Seigneur recevoir».
43 ↩Trailing «No.» completed from the next sentence’s opening as «Nostre Seigneur»; the full name continues in s7.
44 ↩Opening «sO-e Seigneur Jhcsu Crisl» read as «Nostre Seigneur Jhesu Crist», completing s6; «a 1 Assoncion» treated as «a l'Assoncion».
45 ↩OF cuer here is the church choir/chancel (Mod. Fr. chœur), not 'heart'; eu is read as en. Trailing OCR noise after église ("') ignored.
46 ↩Normalized corrupt forms: antel→autel; gemissemcnz→gemissemenz; Crlst→Crist; do→de.
47 ↩Highly corrupt heading restored as Old French 'De sa devotion a la vraie croiz aorer' (of his devotion to adoring the True Cross), matching chapter rubric pattern.
48 ↩Restored: cl→el (on); ou \\ estoit→ou il estoit; fiist a ccl jour→fust a cel jour; chauccs→chauces; inetoit→metoit; ofFroit lar<enient→offroit largement; autiex→autels.
49 ↩'avant-piez sanz semeles': footwear covering the upper foot without soles, so the bare soles touched the ground while flesh stayed modestly covered.
50 ↩Restored: Noire→Nostre; (-///Jsi→einsi; (pie→que; Taloit→l'aloit; dcmouroil→demouroit; gardeeors→gardecors (close body garment).
51 ↩Restored: Yeticorcs→encore; doncjues→donques; endémentieres cjue→endémentieres que; lermes→larmes.
52 ↩Restored: Eoys→Loys; esclierpe→escherpe (pilgrim's scrip).
53 ↩Normalized noisy readings: outreiiier→outremer; piemiere→première; Cisliax→Cîteaux/Cistercian; Biauvez→Beauvais; fête→faite; eu chapitre→en chapitre.
54 ↩Normalized Tabeie→l'abeie; Fabé→l'abé; c( 13ethleem→Bethleem.
55 ↩Verb form frisent is corrupt in the witness; rendered as 'remain' from context (prostration until the abbot rises), matching s5's account of lying outstretched in prayer.
56 ↩Rubric restored: dcçocion→devocion; ans→aus.
57 ↩Normalized mont→mout; Cdiapele→Chapelle (Sainte-Chapelle); ({ue→que. xl mile = 40,000.
58 ↩Source is a truncated sentence fragment (Et li benoiez rois.) that continues into the next sentence; rendered as the subject phrase only.
59 ↩liens: settings/mounts for relics (not 'bonds' in the abstract sense); chasses: reliquary cases/shrines.
60 ↩Normalized OCR: dcsus→dessus; pcrpetuex→perpetueles; ehaseun→chascun; d'an on an→d'an en an; X=10, c=100 livres.
61 ↩Normalized OCR: (jiiclcs→quelles; Lovs→Loys; flst→fist.
62 ↩on la tierce→en la tierce; moson→meson; paies→palais; roqueste→requeste. Final 'delez le ,' is truncated in the source; sense taken as lodging beside the palace and the chapel.
63 ↩Frères preecheeurs = Dominicans (Friars Preachers); Frères meneurs = Franciscans (Friars Minor).
64 ↩Normalized OCR: dos→des; soUempnelment→sollempnelment; continuelmont→continuelment; mendier→mengier (meal); aeoustumé→acoustumé; refroitoioi-s→refretoires.
65 ↩OF paies roial is read as palais royal (the royal palace), consistent with the neighboring section’s use of paies le Roi for the same complex.
66 ↩Normalized corruptions: Pans → Paris; compile → Compline (complie); dos chapelains → des chapelains; on oroisons → en oroisons.
67 ↩Normalized: aboie → abbey; Roiaumont → Royaumont; Mioliiel → Michiel/Michael; loi → roi; giant → grant; sollempnclment → sollempnement.
68 ↩Normalized liturgical/OCR forms: Vonile cxultemiis → Venite exultemus; sieo-e Tabbé → siège de l'abbé; T( Deuni Jaiidanius → Te Deum laudamus; Teglise/leglise → l'église.
69 ↩esconse is rendered as lantern (a hand-lantern or lamp-shade used to shield light); Testai read as l'estal, the choir stall.
70 ↩Reading short transitional formula El après ce as Et après ce / 'And after that,' continuing the Royaumont vigil narrative from the previous section.
71 ↩messe a note rendered as 'sung Mass' (Mass with chant/notation), as opposed to a low spoken Mass.
72 ↩Normalized several corruptions: Tabeie→l'abeie; eu cuer→el/au cuer; uieesme→meesme; Lovs→Loys; chapole pai'…cl→chapele par…et; loeno-es→loenges. The clause et l'ère' ornz chanz is read as et faire oranz chanz ('and offer prayerful song').
73 ↩sollempnemcnt→sollempnement; cstoit→estoit. Processional route and vesture read as continuous: from Saint Clement's chapel to the main church beside the saints' relics.
74 ↩fêtes read as past participle of faire (OF fetes/faites, 'done'), not as 'feasts'.
75 ↩Reading poisf' as poïst ('could') and the broken ending so;? as son, completed by s2 (son fiuz ainzné).
76 ↩Reading chies ' nu as chief nu (bare head). Continues the split clause from s1 (son fiuz ainzné).
77 ↩Reading d n'avoit as il n'avoit; audit autel/ as audit autel; devant dizi as devant diz (the aforesaid).
78 ↩Reading messages (|ui as messages qui; enneur as honor; Saint Morise/Morice as Saint Maurice (Theban Legion).
79 ↩Reading 11 as li; mètre as metre; a 1 evesque as a l'evesque; enlun/- as environ. Place-name Monz likely Mont-l'Évêque near Senlis.
80 ↩Reading cbasses as chasses (reliquary shrines); sollenipneument as sollempnement.
81 ↩Heavily damaged clause restored as: ensemble avecques un homme de noble lignage, Tiebaut, roy de Navarre, de la meson a l'evesque... (Tycbaut/loy/lucson/aiisi/meesinement).
82 ↩Reading 'sollempneunient' as 'sollempnement' (solemnly).
83 ↩Opening 'A/'/isi' treated as 'Ainsi' (thus/in this way). 'besier les' taken as 'kiss them' (the relics).
84 ↩'Uoiaumont' read as Royaumont; 'fête' read as 'faite' (made/done); 'Cistiaus' as Cîteaux/Cistercian.
85 ↩'p/ns' read as 'plus' (more than); 'couc' as costs/outlays (cos/coûts).
86 ↩'Barbeel' taken as the Barbel Gate; 'Jopem' as Jaffa (Joppa); trailing '3' after Paris treated as a footnote mark, not text.
87 ↩Source is heavily OCR-damaged: reading x as the numeral 10; il('C(iies as iluec ('there'); (ist as fist; Teslude as l'estude; Hz as liz ('beds'); ostillemenz as furnishings/equipment. The surface fonda is awkward before chalices and may hide lost text or a list-formula residue from the preceding foundation of the house (likely the Friars Minor house at Jaffa); sense rendered as equipping that house.
88 ↩Reading xiiij mile et Ix as 14,000 and 9 (Paris livres); nonpourquant as 'nevertheless/yet'; fêtes as 'were made/done'.
89 ↩Restoring paies as palés ('palace'); enneurdu as en l'enneur du; compaig-nons as compaignons; ordie as ordre; lust as fust. xij read as twelve.
90 ↩Reading V as five; enviion as environ ('or thereabouts').
91 ↩Restoring spaced compounds (de rechief la; des Frères; de Caen). Roen = Rouen; Valvert = the Carthusian house of Vauvert; greigneur partie = the greater part. Trailing editorial numeral '6' treated as a note marker, not part of the narrative.
92 ↩Corrupted place-name Fontaineblia«f' read as Fontainebleau (Fontainebliaut).
93 ↩OCR restored as: adoncques li abbes; Roiauniont → Royaumont; voiiloit cstre au INIandé → vouloit estre au Mandé.
94 ↩Mandé rendered as the monastic Mandatum (Maundy rite), not a generic 'command.'
95 ↩INIorales saint Gringoire read as Morales saint Grégoire; esloit as estoit.
96 ↩couslume → coustume; ce qui ilecques estoit let read as estoit fet.
97 ↩Witness lesoit read as fesoit ('did').
98 ↩OF pardon in a legatine / outre-mer setting rendered as 'indulgence,' not ordinary 'forgiveness.'
99 ↩oovrcs → oevres; stray pour\"' normalized to pour.
100 ↩Witness neis // sainc rois read as neis li sains rois.
101 ↩Source OCR is corrupt: reading escrite (not esciite), noble roine de Navarre (not iiohh' rolne), fille (not (ille), and ne musiez ne (not niusez'ne) for idle chatter/distraction during the office.
102 ↩Reading Jhesu Christ for corrupted Jhesu (Hirist; li cors Nostre Seigneur = the Body of Our Lord (Eucharistic presence).
103 ↩plus meue: rendered 'more intent' (inwardly stirred/moved toward prayer); could also be 'more moved' in a devotional sense.
104 ↩Reading ez sermons et es parlemens privez ensement for e/z serinons et cJi parlemenz privez ensement.
105 ↩Reading au roi Phelippe, son filz for a// roi PhcUpe, son fîiiz; sentence breaks mid-phrase at bonnes genz (printed ge? / iz in s6).
106 ↩Reading genz for iz; et sens defent for cens deCent; fete for fête — 'carefully forbid that injury or violence be done to them'.
107 ↩Leading « and lone a before Ne treated as quote-openers; enneur = honor; pes = peace.
108 ↩Normalized line-break/OCR join cui« deras → cuideras (“you will think/judge”); ennorez read as honorés (“honored”).
109 ↩Source is only the closing quotation mark ending Louis’s letter-clause begun in the preceding section.

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