In 1242 and 1243 Louis IX – the future Saint Louis – took possessions of three major relics of the True Cross as part of the large collection of relics he acquired from the Byzantine Emperor in the wake of the Fourth Crusade. This talk discusses the importance, meaning, and use of those relics at the Capetian court, its role in the developing of Capetian ideology, and its meaning within the context of the crusading culture that fueled Louis’ reign.

Professor Gaposchkin was appointed to Dartmouth College in 2000, becoming Professor of History in 2018 and Chair of the Department of History in 2020. She was recently elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. She received her PhD from Berkeley in 2001.