Louis de Blois or as he was more often called, Ludovicus Blosius originally trained for court life but left at the age of fourteen to pursue a life in the monastery of Liesse, becoming it’s abbot by the age of twenty four. There are several accounts of how he left court, some saying that he left by choice and others saying it was a result of an accident in which he needed an operation. He was asked by the surgeons how he would prefer the shape of the incision to be and unexpectedly opted for a cross. This was taken as a sign and the rest, as they say, was history. Now, I don’t know if that was true but it seemed too good a story not to note down.
He is best remembered now as a prolific and greatly learned author who’s various religious works spread across Europe impressing both devout Roman Catholic scholars and the more secular laymen such as Gladstone and Coleridge.
He was an extremely pious man and did not seem to suffer from ambition or pride. Indeed he stoutly refused Charles V who offered him the prestigious archbishopric of Cambrai instead desiring to remain peacefully at his monastery until his death in 1566 ensuring it’s continued reform and journey away from the greed and laxity of the past.