Louis IX, King of France

In the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey is a carved shield with the coat of arms of St Louis (Louis IX), King of France (1214-1270). The shield shows "azure, a semee de lys or" although there is really no paint now remaining, except on one of the straps by which it is hung around a projecting small head on the wall.

These carved shields in the spandrels of the wall arcades are traditionally said to be those of individuals or families who were benefactors to the building of the new Gothic Abbey by Henry III and probably date from the decade 1245-55. Henry had visited Louis, who was married to Margaret of Provence, in France in 1254.