Money Value Of St. Louis

When Louis IX, the saint, surrendered with his whole forces to the Saracens at Mansura, on the 5th of April, 1250, 1,000,000 golden bezants - equal to half that number of the livres of the day - were demanded for his freedom. But the Moslerus came down to 800, 000 bezauts, and, in the end, by I ing Damietta Loais got off for 100,000 I marks - equal, roughly, to over L1,000,000 sterling of today. These golden bezaats contaiued about I 30 shillings' worth of our gold, but to go to market with would buy then as niuch probably as ï sovereigns now would. Were the scorner allowed to break forth here, he would probably teil how this j high priced and saintly carcass was treated by his people when Louis died, at the siege of Tunis, 20 years later. Being hard up for enibalrners, they had (according to the journal of Aubery) to quarter and boil him down in separate caldrons, and so sent but his whited skeletou to