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Bishop
of Toulouse, generally represented vested in pontifical
garments and holding a book and a crosier, b. at Brignoles,
Provence, Feb., 1274; d. there, 19 Aug., 1297. He was the
second son of Charles II of Anjou, called the Lame, King
of Naples (1288- 1309), and nephew of St. Louis IX of France;
and of Mary of Hungary, whose great-aunt was St. Elizabeth
of Hungary. If in some and even early sources (Analecta
Franciscana, IV, 310) he is called primogenitus, it is only
because he succeeded to the rights of his eldest brother,
Charles Martel (d. 1295). In 1288 Louis was sent with two
of his brothers to the Kingdom of Aragon as hostage for
his father, who had been defeated and captured in a naval
battle off Naples by the Sicilians and Aragonians (1284).
During the seven years of their captivity (1288-95) in the
castle of Sciurana, Diocese of Tarragona, and partly in
Barcelona, the education of the three princes was entrusted
to some Franciscan friars, among whom were Ponzius Carbonelli
(Analecta Franciscana, IV, 310), Peter of Falgar, and Richard
of Middleton (Analecta Bollandiana, IX, 295). Peter John
Olivi, the great Franciscan Spiritual, was also one of their
friends, who on 18 May, 1295, wrote them a long letter,
published by Ehrle in "Archiv f. Litt. u. Kirchengesch.",
III, 534- 40 (see ibid., 439-41). Louis outstripped his
brothers both in holiness and learning, and, during a severe
illness, made the vow to become a Friar Minor. |
| He
was still in captivity when Celestine V entrusted to him
the administration of the Archbishopric of Lyons, on 7 Oct.,
1294 (Bullar. Franc., IV, 332), having previously granted
Francis of Apt, O.F.M., the saint's confessor, the faculty
of giving him the clerical tonsure and minor orders (cf.
Bullar. Franc., 332). Neither Bull seems to have been carried
out. From John of Orta (Anal. Boll., IX, 292) it appears
that he was tonsured only on 1 Nov., 1295, after his release.
Louis then returned to Naples. After renouncing all the
rights of succession in favour of his brother Robert, he
was ordained subdeacon in Rome by Boniface VIII, and in
1296 deacon and priest at Naples (Anal. Boll., IX, 314).
Boniface VIII appointed the saintly young priest Bishop
of Toulouse, but Louis, wishing first to become a Friar
Minor, received the Franciscan habit in Rome from the minister
general, John Minio of Murro, on 24 Dec., 1296, and immediately
made solemn profession. He was consecrated Bishop of Toulouse
by Boniface VIII on 29 (30?) Dec., 1296 ("Bullar. Franc.",
IV, 422; cf. "Anal. Boll.", IX, 297). After the
Feast of St. Agatha (5 Feb.), 1297, on which day he appeared
for the first time publicly in the Franciscan habit, he
betook himself to Toulouse, where his mild figure and his
virtues were admired by everybody. He was the father of
the poor and a model of administration. But his episcopate
was very brief, for on his return journey from a visit to
his sister, the Queen of Aragon, he was seized by fever
and died at Brignoles.
We have
scarcely any record of literary work of St. Louis. Recently,
however, Amelli, O.S.B., published in the "Archivium
Franciscanum Historicum", II (Quaracchi, 1909), 378-83,
a small treatise on music written by the saint, and from
this it appears that he is also the author of a "Liber
de Musicae Commendatione". Sbaralea ("Suppl. ad
Script.", Rome, 1806, p. 498) ascribes to him also
some sermons. His canonization, promoted by Clement V in
1307 (Bullar. Franc., V, 39), was solemnized by John XXII
on 7 April, 1317 (loc. cit., 111). His relics reposed in
the Franciscan church at Marseilles till 1423, when they
were taken by Alfonso V of Aragon to the cathedral church
of Valencia, of which town Louis became patron saint. His
feast, celebrated in the Franciscan Order on 19 Aug., was
decreed by the general chapter held at Marseilles in 1319
(Anal. Franc., III, 473), and the rhythmical office, beginning
Tecum, composed by the saint's brother, King Robert of Naples,
was inserted in the Franciscan Breviary by the General Chapter
of Marseilles in 1343 (loc. cit., 539), but seems to have
been abolished by the Tridentine reform of the Breviary
under Pius IV [sic, i.e., St. Pius V], 1568 (cf. Acta SS.,
Aug., III, 805).
The
best contemporary life is by the saint's chaplain, JOHN
DE ORTA in Anal. Boll., IX (Paris and Brussels, 1890), 278-340;
ibid., 341-51 (miracles); and in Anal. Ord. Min. Cap., XIII
(Rome, 1897), 338-51, 360-72; XIV (1898), 16-27, 83- 92;
some appendixes, ibid., 92-4, 120-6, 156-8, 181-3. A second
old life is by PETER CALO, of which extracts are given in
Acta SS., Aug., III, 781-97, passim; a compendium edited
by PRESUTI in Archiv. Franc. Hist., I (Quaracchi, 1908),
278- 80; cf. ibid., 569-76 (miracles). BARTHOLOMEW OF PISA
in Anal. Franc., IV (Quaracchi, 1906), 309-17; Chronicle
of the XXIV Generals in Anal. Franc., III (Quaracchi, 1897),
447-52; BLUME AND DREVES, Anal. Hymnica Medii Aevii, XXVI
(Leipzig, 1897), 265-74, give three rhythmical offices formerly
used in Franciscan Breviaries. For some samples of notable
hymns see EUSEBE CLOP, Cantus varii in usu apud nostrates
(Tournai, 1902), 177-88. LEON, Lives of the Saints and Blessed
of the Three Orders of St. Francis (Taunton, 1886), 26-49,
tr. from the Aureole Seraphique, III. The best modern life
is: VERLAQUE, Saint Louis, prince royal, eveque de Toulouse
(Paris, 1885); DA PALMA, Vita di S. Lodovico d' Angio (Naples,
1855). On the iconography, see SALTER, Franciscan Legends
in Italian Art (London, 1905), 180-182; BERTAUX, Les saints
Louis dans l'art italien in Revue des Deux Mondes, CLVIII
(Paris, 1900), 616-44; KLEINSCHMIDT, St. Ludwig von Toulouse
in der Kunst in Archivium Franc. Hist., II (Quaracchi, 1909),
197- 215. Concerning the sixth centenary see the richly
illustrated work, S. Lodovico d'Angio. . .e Sua Santita
Leone XIII, Ricordo del VI Centennario della morte del Santo
1297-1897 e del LX Anniversario del Giubileo Sacerdotale
di Sua Santita 1838-1898 (Rome, 1898).
article
source:
The Catholic
Encyclopedia, Online Edition
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