Louis II of Anjou was the rival of Ladislaus as King of Naples. He was a member of the
House of Valois-AnjouThe Valois House of Anjou, or the Younger House of Anjou, was a noble French family, deriving from the royal family, the House of Valois. They were monarchs of Naples, as well as various other territories....
.
Biography
Born in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, Louis II was the son of Louis I of Anjou, King of Naples, and came into his
AngevinThe Valois House of Anjou, or the Younger House of Anjou, was a noble French family, deriving from the royal family, the House of Valois. They were monarchs of Naples, as well as various other territories....
inheritance, which included
ProvenceProvence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, in 1384, with his rival Charles of Durazzo (father of Ladislaus), of the senior Angevin line, in possession of
NaplesThe Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
.
In 1386, the underage Ladislaus was expelled soon after his father died. Louis II was crowned King of Naples by the
AvignonAvignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
ese
antipope Clement VIIRobert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Pope Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first Avignon antipope of the Western Schism.-Biography:...
on 1 November 1389 and took possession of Naples the following year. He was ousted in turn by his rival in 1399.
In 1409, Louis liberated
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
from Ladislaus' occupation; in 1410, as an ally of the
antipope John XXIIIBaldassarre Cossa was Pope John XXIII during the Western Schism. The Catholic Church regards him as an antipope.-Biography:...
he attacked Ladislaus and defeated him at Roccasecca (1411). Eventually Louis lost his Neapolitan support and had to retire. His claim to Naples passed to his son, Louis III.
He married his first cousin once removed
Yolande of AragonYolande of Aragon, , was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son...
(1384–1443) in
ArlesArles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
in 1400, giving him a possibility of inheriting the throne of
AragonAragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
through her right. Her father, King
John I of AragonJohn I , called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance , but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of...
had died in 1396, and her uncle king
Martin I of AragonMartin of Aragon , called the Elder, the Humane, the Ecclesiastic, was the King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia, and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409...
died in 1410.
Louis II died at his chateau of
AngersAngers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, the heart of Anjou; he is buried there.
Family
Louis and Yolande had five surviving children:
- Louis III of Anjou, titular King of Naples, Duke of Anjou, etc.
- René of Anjou
René of Anjou , also known as René I of Naples and Good King René , was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence , Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar , Duke of Lorraine , King of Naples , titular King of Jerusalem...
, King of Naples, Duke of Anjou, etc.
- Charles of Le Maine
Charles du Maine was the third son of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon.In 1434, he married Cobella Ruffo Charles du Maine (Château de Montils-lez-Tours, 1414 – 1472, Neufvy-en-Touraine) was the third son of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon.In 1434, he married Cobella Ruffo...
(1414–1472), Count of Maine
- Marie of Anjou
Marie of Anjou was the Queen consort of King Charles VII of France from 1422 to 1461. Her mother, Yolande of Aragon, played a leading role in the last phase of the Hundred Years' War.-Family:...
(1404 – 1463), married 1422, BourgesBourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
Charles VII of FranceCharles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
- Yolande (1412, Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
– 1440), married 1431, NantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
Francis I, Duke of BrittanyFrancis I , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort and titular earl of Richmond, from 1442 to his death. He was son of Duke John VI and Joan of France.He first married, at Nantes in 1431, Yolande of Anjou Francis I (in Breton Fransez I, in French François I) (Vannes/Gwened, May 14, 1414 –...
See also
- Monarchs of Naples and Sicily
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Louis I
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Duke of Anjou1384–1417
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Louis III
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Count of Maine1384–1417
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Count of Provence and Forcalquier1384–1417
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Count of PiedmontPiedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
1384–1417
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King of Naplesin contest with Ladislaus of Naples1384–1417
factual rule1389–1399