Great Christians of France: Saint Louis and CalvinGuizot, François
History
Great Christians of France: Saint Louis and Calvin
Guizot, François
Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564; France -- History -- Louis IX, 1226-1270; Louis IX, King of France, 1214-1270; Protestants -- France
Another title, more august still--that of 'Saint'--has been
received by only two, Charlemagne and Louis IX., out of this long
line of sovereigns. We must not exact a very strict proof of the
right of Charlemagne to this title in the Catholic Church. He was
only canonized in 1165 or 1166 by the Antipope Pascal III. and
through the influence of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Since
then, not one of the legitimate popes has ever officially
recognised or proclaimed his canonization, but still they have
tolerated and tacitly admitted it, no doubt on account of his
services to the Papacy. Nevertheless, besides emperors and popes,
Charlemagne had warm and powerful admirers; he was the great man,
the popular hero, of nearly the whole German race, who
acknowledged his sanctity with enthusiasm, and have always
religiously honoured it.
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From the earliest days of the University of Paris, Charlemagne
has been the patron-saint of all the German students there. In
France, however, his position in the calendar remained obscure
and uncertain until the end of the fifteenth century, when, from
some motive which we cannot now discover, (perhaps to snatch from
his great enemy, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, possessor of
the finest German provinces in Charlemagne's empire, the
exclusive privilege of showing reverence to the memory of so
great a man,) Louis XI. ordained saintly honours to be paid to
the illustrious emperor, and fixed as his fête-day the 28th of
January, threatening with death all who refused to acknowledge
this new object of worship. In vain: the sanctity of Charlemagne
has never been generally recognised by the Church of France; but
the University of Paris has remained faithful to her tradition,
and in 1661, two centuries after the death of Louis XI.--without
expressly bestowing the title of _Saint_--she publicly
proclaimed Charlemagne her patron, and ordered his fête-day to be
solemnly kept every year. In spite of the hesitations of the
'Parlement' [Footnote 1] of Paris, and the revolutions of our
century, it is still celebrated as the chief fête-day of the
great classical schools in France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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