Louis X, the Quarrelsome, King of France

LOUIS X, the Quarrelsome, King of France. - Son of Philip IV the Fair, b. in Paris on 4 Oct. 1289, d. at Vincennes on 5 June 1316. The repeated alteration of the currency's value, the heaviness of the tax burden, and the style of government, arbitrary and contrary to feudal privileges, had provoked, under the reign of Philip IV the Fair, the formation of provincial leagues that included certain members of the clergy and above all the barons, jealous of the influence acquired, in the king's counsels, to their detriment, by the royal legists.

As soon as he ascended the throne (29 Nov. 1314), disturbances broke out in Burgundy and Champagne. The young monarch did not even attempt to struggle by force against the opposition, which was encouraged by his uncle, Charles of Valois. A prodigal, weak of will, devoted to pleasures and gambling, he sacrificed Enguerrand de Marigny, the all-powerful minister under the reign of Philip the Fair, hated by the people, and sent him to his death. With the feudal leagues he sought an agreement and consented to grant the "Charters" to the subjects of Picardy, Burgundy, Champagne, Normandy, Languedoc, etc. At bottom, however, these "Charters" were surrounded by so many restrictions and qualifications that their practical value was for the most part illusory. When Robert, count of Flanders, refused to pay him homage in person, L. X had recourse to arms. But instead of beginning the campaign at a favorable time, that of spring, he waited for autumn, the season of rains. His troops became bogged down in the mud of Flanders, and consequently he was obliged to make a humiliating retreat (1315). The chronicler Jean de Saint-Victor attributes the sudden death of L. X to an excessive ingestion of cold water.

Guglielmo Mollat