In  this  year,  at  the  Advent  of  our  Lord,  Louis,  the  French
king,  who  was  still  suffering  severely  from  the  remains  of
the  illness  which  he  had  contracted  when  engaged  in  war  in
Poitou,  fell  into  a  deathlike  trance,  and  lay  for  some  days  as
if  dead,  and,  according  to  the  statement  of  several  who  sat
round  him,  was  entirely  deprived  of  breath.  His  mother
and  brother,  and  some  others  of  his  intimate  friends,  who
stood  by,  thought  that  the  king  had  grown  stiflf  in  death,
and  his  mother,  who  was  more  aflfected  with  sorrow  than  the
others,  with  sighs  interrupting  her  speech,  gave  utterance  to
these  words  :  "  Not  imto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  to  thy
name  give  the  glory,  and  this  day  preserve  the  kingdom  of
Erance,  as  thou  hast  always  heretofore  done  honourably."
She  then  aj)plied  to  her  son's  body  the  holy  cross  and  crown
of  Christ,  and  the  lance  which  had  been  obtained  possession
of  in  his  time,  and  made  a  vow  in  his  name  that,  if  Christ


38  MATTHEW  PABIS.  [a.D.  1244.
