Sean Heath is an independent scholar who achieved his PhD in 2017 from the University of St. Andrews, UK.

• List of FiguresAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Patron and Protector of France: Saint Louis and his Cult, 1214 - 16182. The Saint of Kings and the King of Saints: Perceptions of Saint Louis, 1618 - 17153. Ruling France under the Shadow of Saint Louis, 1610 - 17154. The Spread of the Cult, 1618 - 17895. Patterns of Devotion6. Saint Louis in the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution, 1715 - 17927. Saint Louis from Exile to Restoration, 1814 - 1830ConclusionBibliographyIndex

France’s monarchy, and especially its religious dimensions, has long fascinated historians. In analysing how the new Bourbon dynasty attempted to entrench its right to rule from the 1590s onwards, Sean Heath focusses on how it promoted and expanded the cult of Louis IX (Saint Louis after 1625). Drawing on an unusually wide range of sources, from music to academic orations, he offers a new account of monarchical legitimacy in the making, whose ultimate beneficiary and image was Louis XIV. A book that will enlarge our view of absolute monarchy in the making.

Sean Heath is an independent scholar who achieved his PhD in 2017 from the University of St. Andrews, UK.

• List of FiguresAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Patron and Protector of France: Saint Louis and his Cult, 1214 - 16182. The Saint of Kings and the King of Saints: Perceptions of Saint Louis, 1618 - 17153. Ruling France under the Shadow of Saint Louis, 1610 - 17154. The Spread of the Cult, 1618 - 17895. Patterns of Devotion6. Saint Louis in the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution, 1715 - 17927. Saint Louis from Exile to Restoration, 1814 - 1830ConclusionBibliographyIndex

France’s monarchy, and especially its religious dimensions, has long fascinated historians. In analysing how the new Bourbon dynasty attempted to entrench its right to rule from the 1590s onwards, Sean Heath focusses on how it promoted and expanded the cult of Louis IX (Saint Louis after 1625). Drawing on an unusually wide range of sources, from music to academic orations, he offers a new account of monarchical legitimacy in the making, whose ultimate beneficiary and image was Louis XIV. A book that will enlarge our view of absolute monarchy in the making.

Sean Heath is an independent scholar who achieved his PhD in 2017 from the University of St. Andrews, UK.

• List of FiguresAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Patron and Protector of France: Saint Louis and his Cult, 1214 - 16182. The Saint of Kings and the King of Saints: Perceptions of Saint Louis, 1618 - 17153. Ruling France under the Shadow of Saint Louis, 1610 - 17154. The Spread of the Cult, 1618 - 17895. Patterns of Devotion6. Saint Louis in the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution, 1715 - 17927. Saint Louis from Exile to Restoration, 1814 - 1830ConclusionBibliographyIndex

France’s monarchy, and especially its religious dimensions, has long fascinated historians. In analysing how the new Bourbon dynasty attempted to entrench its right to rule from the 1590s onwards, Sean Heath focusses on how it promoted and expanded the cult of Louis IX (Saint Louis after 1625). Drawing on an unusually wide range of sources, from music to academic orations, he offers a new account of monarchical legitimacy in the making, whose ultimate beneficiary and image was Louis XIV. A book that will enlarge our view of absolute monarchy in the making.