Joseph I of Salvia
| Saint Louis IX | |
|---|---|
 Contemporary depiction from about 1260 | |
| Reign | 8 November 1256 – 25 August 1291 |
| Coronation | 29 November 1256 in Tolas Cathedral |
| Predecessor | Leo II |
| Successor | Philip I |
| Born | 25 April 1224 Tolas, Lattiva |
| Died | 25 August 1291 (aged 67) Deopolis, Salvia |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Margaret of Sicani (m. 1234) |
| Issue among others... | |
| House | Gaullis |
| Father | Leo II, King of Lattiva |
| Mother | Maria of Samorica |
| Religion | Salvian Catholicism |
King Joseph was coronated king of the Imperium a year after his victory over the Demetaens by Pope Leo VI as King Joseph I of Salvia and Alvernia and oversaw the promotion of the sciences as well as the Church. He funded the construction of the (at the time) largest and most famous cathedral in Salvia, the Spiritu Sancti, and built the foundations of what is today Deopolis. Many historians conclude that Murphy rebuilt Salvia and ushered in a cultural and economic golden age. He is also credited with the foundation of the Sanctum Imperium Catholicum as a nation due to his papal coronation and intricate relationship with the Church. Joseph I died at the age of 67 in 1291, and after undergoing the usual process was canonized a saint in the Salvian Catholic Church in 1487.
The golden age that Joseph I ushered in, the High Medieval Renaissance, was a great cultural, economic, and intellectual transformation that would lay the groundwork for the Magnum Progressum. It was largely based in the increased contact with Marenesian and southern Europan nations due to prosperous trade, which allowed for the introduction of foreign ideas that later monarchs and eventually the philosophers of the Great Progression would take up and develop further. Southern Europan architectural techniques, considered more advanced then Salvian architecture, was adopted by Salvian architects and mathematicians who would develop it further into Gothic architecture. Universities were also constructed and supported by the state and Church in an effort to encourage the learning of the arts, sciences, history, and theology. Most universities were partly or fully controlled by the Church, which Joseph I and his heirs promoted, and as centers of the Great Progression would influence the Catholic worldview many of the humanists possessed.
Many churches, streets, buildings and more are built in his name, while numerous monuments are dedicated to him- a report from Trinity University concluded that around 30% of all monuments in Salvia are dedicated to King Joseph I.