3 - The Shirt Attributed to St. Louis

Summary

The thirteenth-century shirt attributed to Saint Louis, King Louis IX of France, is one of the most interesting items of underwear to survive from the Middle Ages. In the treasury of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the garment was kept in a glass reliquary from 1970 to 2012, during which time its shape and characteristics were the subject of many questions and hypotheses, with greater and lesser degrees of accuracy. Since 2012, the shirt has been in a showcase, making access easier. The author had the opportunity to study the garment, out of its shrine for the first time since 1970, in March 2011, as part of the preparation of one of a series of articles that appeared in the French magazine Moyen-Âge. Gaelle Bernard, a professional historical costumer specializing in the medieval period, assisted with the analysis of the construction and the identification of stitches. The author returned in March 2013 to take additional pictures and measurements for the present article.

HISTORY OF THE GARMENT

The first record of the relic dates to 1418, when it appeared in the inventory of Charles VI's treasury. The shirt reappeared in 1422, in Regnault Doriac's registers concerning items sold to pay for the king's funeral. In 1480, it was listed in the treasury inventories of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Subsequently, around 1575, it was deposited in a small, broken, ivory casket. During the seventeenth century, the shirt was moved to another reliquary, along with a relic that allegedly belonged to St. Simeon as well as the supposed shroud used to wrap the True Holy Cross. The shroud and the shirt were still together when, on March 12, 1791, King Louis XVI ordered them to be transferred to the abbey of Saint-Denis. In 1795, the shirt, along with other relics, was deposited in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. It was then described as “une chemise que portait Saint Louis dans sa captivité” [a shirt that St. Louis wore in his captivity].