ned him
honour and love everywhere, and he was always remembered as sitting
under the great oak at Vincennes, doing equal justice to rich and poor.
Louis was equally upright in his dealings with foreign powers. He would
not take advantage of the weakness of Henry III. of England to attack
his lands in Guienne, though he maintained the right of France to
Normandy as having been forfeited by King John. So much was he respected
that he was called in to judge between Henry and his barons, respecting
the oaths exacted from the king by the Mad Parliament. His decision in
favour of Henry was probably an honest one; but he was misled by the
very different relations of the French and English kings to their
nobles, who in France maintained lawlessness and violence, while in
England they were struggling for law and order. Throughout the struggles
between the Popes and the Emperor Frederick II., Louis would not be
induced to assist in a persecution of the Emperor which he considered
unjust, nor permit one of his sons to accept the kingdom of Apulia and
Sicily, when the Pope declared that Frederick had forfeited it. He could
not, however, prevent his brother Charles, Count of Anjou, from
accepting it; for Charles had married Beatrice, heiress of the imperial
fief of Provence, and being thus independent of his brother Louis, was
able to establish a branch of the French royal family on the throne at
Naples. The reign of St. Louis was a time of much progress and
improvement. There were great scholars and thinkers at all the
universities. Romance and poetry were flourishing, and influencing
people's habits, so that courtesy, _i.e._ the manners taught in castle
courts, was softening the demeanour of knights and nobles. Architecture
was at its most beautiful period, as is seen, above all, in the Sainte
Chapelle at Paris. This was built by Louis IX. to receive a gift of the
Greek Emperor, namely, a thorn, which was believed to be from the crown
of thorns. It is one of the most perfect buildings in existence.

10. Crusade of Louis IX.--Unfortunately, Louis, during a severe
illness, made a vow to go on a crusade. His first fulfilment of this vow
was made early in his reign, in 1250, when his mother was still alive to
undertake the regency. His attempt was to attack the heart of the
Saracen power in Egypt, and he effected a landing and took the city of
Damietta. There he left his queen, and advanced on Cairo; but near
Mansourah he found him