St. Louis- the city, St. Louis- mutilating Saint.
The city of st. Louis os a bustling one. Having a long history, dating back to 1764, when Pierre Laclede started his French fur trading post along its banks of the mighty Mississippi. The city was founded by the French in Spanish territory in 1764. The name comes from the French King “Louis IX”. Louis IX or “Louis the 9th” has quite a past. Its hard to keep the French Kings straight since there is approximately 18 of them! But this guy, St. Louis the 9th is mentioned in the Fair creature in The Secret a Treasure Hunt book by the name “The Spirit of St. Louis”. It states in the book of Louis the 9ths “Piety”, in a lampooning way. Sometimes it’s hard to stomach our society and what was revered in the past. Louis may have been pious to some. But I, for one, can hardly agree with this title. It’s often a sad moment when we look back and see our history’s so “white washed”. Why would Byron need to teach us about the “REAL” St. Louis? Probably because of the horrendous, and heinous ways the REAL St. Louis treated people that were not Catholic.
From the Jewish perspective, living in 1226 to about 1270 in France, would’ve have been brutal. Under Louis the 9ths rule, any person who was not Catholic were considered blasphemous. Jewish people, in particular faced mutilations of their tongues and lips. The Rabbi’s were forced to sit through Catholic Sermons. These people had their land seized, and given away by the King. As the King noticed the prosperity in Jewish banking, he seized those assets too. They curfews of when they could be out in the public area and if they were to go out, they were forced to wear yellow badges on their arms to identify them. Can you imagine? To top it off Louis burned over 12,000 Jewish History books and Talmuds. Which to this day would’ve been wonderful history for the people and their faith to have had all these years. Good old Louis- before he died of severe diarrhea- (or Dysentery in medical terms), on his 2nd crusade, had acquired what was perceived as Christs “Crown of thorns”. which is still in display at the Paris cathedral of Notre Dame. His good buddy Baldwin the 2nd of Constantinople brought it to him, along with relics of a supposed cross of Christ.
I’d like to appreciate the good things This guy has done- we’ve had impressive Gothic architecture inspired by him. A lot of the Gothic architecture and stain glass designs we can attribute to him. But I am thinking that’s about the only thing. We would be hard pressed to change the name of St. Louis today in America. It is the city known for Blues music, Paddle wheel boats and Mark Twain stories, General Robert E. Lee worked very hard to change the flow of the river to keep it a port city. Ulysses Grant freed his one and only slave there, and Dred Scott’s case for his own freedom, at the courthouse, would set a nation on its way to justice and equality for all. St. Louis has got Budweiser, and the amazing Arch, credit to Tommy Jefferson for his Louisiana Purchase and the scouting Lewis & Clark for their send off there. We have made St. Louis its own national treasure, even if it is named after a mutilating tyrant.
