Margaret of Provence

Margaret of Provence was queen of France as the wife of Louis IX. She accompanied Louis on the Seventh Crusade, gave birth at Damietta and helped sustain the French position during the king’s captivity.

Margaret married Louis IX in 1234 and became queen of France while her sisters also entered major European dynasties. During the Seventh Crusade she remained at Damietta while Louis was a prisoner and played an important part in maintaining the French position and arranging support for his release. In later life she defended Provençal family interests and sometimes clashed politically with her son Philip III.

In Robert Shea’s All Things Are Lights, Damietta, al-Mansurah and the king’s captivity place the fictional lovers beside Louis, Margaret of Provence, Robert of Artois and the rising Mamluk commander Baibars.