Odo (Fr. Eudes) was a crusade propagandist and papal legate on the crusade of King Louis IX of France to the East (1248-1254).
Born probably at Chateauroux (France) around 1190, Odo became a student in Paris around 1210. He was a master before 1229 and chancellor of the University of Paris between 1238 and 1244, when he was appointed cardinal bishop of Tusculum. Odo was deeply involved in the crusade movement both before and during his time as cardinal. He personally preached the cross against the Albigensian heretics in 1226, against the Mongols around 1240, and against the Muslims in the Holy Land between the 1230s and 1260s. As cardinal he masterminded the propaganda campaign for Louis IX’s first crusade and accompanied the king to the East as papal legate. He also actively supported Charles I of Anjou’s crusade against the Staufen dynasty in southern Italy. Odo of Chateauroux was one of the most prolific writers of sermons in the thirteenth century, many of which reflect his own activities as crusade propagandist.
-Christoph T. Maier
See also: Crusade of Louis IX to the East (1248-1254)
Bibliography
Cole, Penny, D. L. d’Avray, and Jonathan Riley-Smith, “Application of Theology to Current Affairs: Memorial Sermons on the Dead of Mansurah and on Innocent IV,” Historical Research 63 (1990), 227-247.
Maier, Christoph T., Crusade Propaganda and Ideology: Model Sermons for the Preaching of the Cross (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
World History
