Louis X, called the Hutin (=quarrelsome), King of France. — Son of Philip IV the Fair, born in Paris on 4 Oct. 1289, died at Vincennes on 5 June 1316. The repeated changes in the currency, the excessive burden of taxation, and the arbitrary form of government, contrary to feudal privileges, had provoked, under the reign of Philip IV the Fair, the formation of provincial leagues in which certain members of the clergy and above all the barons took part, jealous of the influence acquired, to their detriment, by royal legists at the king’s court.
As soon as he ascended the throne (29 Nov. 1314), disturbances broke out in Burgundy and Champagne. The young monarch made no attempt to fight the opposition by force, encouraged as it was by his uncle Charles of Valois. Of weak will, devoted to pleasures and gaming, he sacrificed Enguerrand de Marigny, a minister appointed by Philip the Fair and detested by the people, and had him put to death. With the feudal leagues he sought an agreement and consented to grant “Charters” to the subjects of Picardy, Burgundy, Champagne, Normandy, Languedoc, etc. In reality, however, these “Charters” were hedged about with so many restrictions and qualifications that their practical value was largely illusory. When Robert, Count of Flanders, refused to render him personal homage, Louis X resorted to arms. But instead of beginning the campaign at a favourable time, in spring, he waited until autumn, the season of rains. His troops became bogged down in the mud of Flanders, and consequently he was forced into a humiliating retreat (1315). The chronicler Jean de Saint-Victor attributes the sudden death of Louis X to an exaggerated immersion in cold water.