Love all good, and hate all evil, in whomsoever it may be.
-King Louis IX to his son Philip III
Few men, if any, exemplified the ideal of the Christian monarch better than King Saint Louis IX. Crowned King of France when he was just 12 years old, Louis reigned for the next 44 years, ushering in the realm’s medieval golden age. By the time he died in 1270, France was wealthier, more centralized, and more respected than any other European kingdom.
Upon Louis’s death, a letter of advice addressed to his son Philip was discovered. In it, Louis outlined everything he deemed necessary for his son’s formation — instruction on faith, morals, war, kingship, and more. Referred to as the Enseignements (teachings), the letter steadily gained popularity over the following centuries.
By 1590, its fame was such that a popular song even used it to mock King Henry IV, who at that point was still Protestant, as being unworthy of Saint Louis’s legacy:
Du bon roy sainct Louys
Ton droit tu veux prétendre,
Et jamais tu n’ouys
Ny n’as voulu entendre
L’instruction qu’il donna à son fils,
Congnoissant son âge préfix.
From the good King Saint Louis
You claim your right to descend,
Yet you have never listened,
Nor wished to hear,
The counsel he gave his son,
Knowing the time God had fixed for him.
During the French Revolution, Saint Louis’s Enseignements came to the surface once more when, following King Louis XVI’s trial and execution, they were published alongside the murdered king’s last testament. The royalist printers were intent on making one thing clear: the kings of France had had a set of political and spiritual guidelines to follow — but did the revolutionaries?
Today, we look at the moral, spiritual, and political guidelines King Saint Louis IX laid out to his son Philip. Just as relevant today as they were centuries ago, his advice offers a fount of wisdom for anyone striving to live nobly by leading, loving, and serving those under his command…
1) Love God, Love Good, Hate Evil
Chiers fieus, li premiere cose que je renseigne si est que tu metes…
-Opening lines of Saint Louis’s letter to Philip, as originally written in Old French
The saint’s letter to his son begins, unsurprisingly, on an overtly religious note. But the advice it offers contains deep wisdom that has endeared it even to non-religious readers over the centuries:
Therefore, dear son, the first thing I advise is that you fix your whole heart upon God, and love Him with all your strength, for without this no one can be saved or be of any worth.
You should, with all your strength, shun everything which you believe to be displeasing to Him. And you ought especially to be resolved not to commit mortal sin, no matter what may happen and should permit all your limbs to be hewn off, and suffer every manner of torment, rather than fall knowingly into mortal sin.
For non-Catholic readers, the key to appreciating Louis’s wisdom here is by understanding the meaning of “mortal sin.” In Catholic teaching, there are two kinds of sin — venial, and mortal. Venial sin, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is a lesser sin that "weakens charity” and “impedes the soul’s progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good.”
Venial sin by itself does not, however, “deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.” Mortal sin, on the other hand, does precisely that, as it “destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible.”
For a sin to be mortal, it must meet the following three requirements:
1) It must be “grave matter”
2) The person committing it must have “full knowledge” of its grave matter
3) It must be committed with “deliberate consent” of the will
With this in mind, Louis’s first and most important instruction to his son is this: never commit an act which you know to be evil. It is a powerful lesson that Louis himself was taught at an early age by his mother, Blanche de Castille, who famously said:
I love you, my dear son, with all the tenderness a mother is capable of; but I would infinitely rather see you fall down dead at my feet, than that you should ever commit a mortal sin.
Given that she raised two canonized saints (Louis and his sister, Isabelle of France), one could say that her admonitions, though harsh, ultimately served her children well. But in the end, parental guidance is only one factor — another major one is who you surround yourself with…
2) Keep Good Company
The next major piece of advice Louis gives his son is to pay heed to who he spends his time with:
Dear son, see to it that all your associates are upright, whether clerics or laymen, and have frequent good converse with them; and flee the society of the bad.
Interestingly, Louis takes care to mention the importance of having “frequent good converse” with one’s friends — the upright ones, at least. This is a theme that comes up frequently in his writing, namely that “iron sharpens iron” and that intentional, just, and magnanimous men should spend as much time as possible in each other’s company.
But when it comes to relationships, Louis realizes that those closest to home impact us most, and encourages Philip accordingly:
See to it that those of your household are upright and loyal, and remember the Scripture, which says: "Elige viros timentes Deum in quibus sit justicia et qui oderint avariciam"; that is to say, "Love those who serve God and who render strict justice and hate covetousness"; and you will profit, and will govern your kingdom well.
The word “household” here is interesting, as it refers not just to your family but also to workers or those otherwise under your charge. Louis’s command to surround yourself with “upright and loyal” people, therefore, is two-fold: With regards to those working in or alongside your household (anyone from maids to tax advisors), it is an exhortation to choose them well. With regards to your family, it is an exhortation to raise them well.
Finally, Louis reminds Philip why keeping good company is so important, especially for getting through hard times:
If you have any unrest of heart, of such a nature that it may be told, tell it to your confessor, or to some upright man who can keep your secret; you will be able to carry more easily the thought of your heart.
But apart from sharing your “unrest of heart” with a trusted friend, what is Louis’s advice for dealing with life’s most difficult challenges?
It all comes down to his next piece of advice to Philip — how you should face the contrasting perils of adversity and prosperity, so that you’re not brought down by either…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to INVICTUS to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.