Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the 9th-century German ruler also called Louis the Bavarian, see Louis the German.
Louis IV
Otto V
Born1 April 1282
Munich
Died11 October 1347(1347-10-11) (aged 65)
Puch, near Fürstenfeldbruck
Spouses
Beatrix of Świdnica
​
​
(m. 1308; died 1322)​
Margaret II, Countess of Holland
​
​
(m. 1324)​
Issue
HouseWittelsbach
FatherLouis II, Duke of Bavaria
MotherMatilda of Habsburg
Arms of the House of Wittelsbach (14th-century).
Arms of Louis IV as Holy Roman Emperor.

Louis IV (German: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian (Ludwig der Bayer,

Latin: Ludovicus Bavarus), was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor
from 1328 until his death in 1347.

Louis' election as king of Germany in 1314 was controversial, as his Habsburg cousin Frederick the Fair was simultaneously elected king by a separate set of electors. Louis defeated Frederick in the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322, and the two eventually reconciled. Louis was opposed and excommunicated by the French Pope John XXII; Louis in turn attempted to depose the pope and install an anti-pope.

Louis IV was

Friesland in 1345 when his wife Margaret inherited those domains.[1][2]

Early reign as Duke of Upper Bavaria

Louis was born in

Rudolph I.[3][4]

Though Louis was partly educated in

Albert I, he quarreled with the Habsburgs from 1307 over possessions in Lower Bavaria
. A civil war against his brother Rudolf due to new disputes on the partition of their lands was ended in 1313, when peace was made at Munich.

In the same year, on November 9, Louis defeated his Habsburg cousin

tutelage. This victory caused a stir within the Holy Roman Empire and increased the reputation of the Bavarian Duke.[1]

Election as German King and conflict with Frederick the Fair

The death of Holy Roman Emperor

Albert I, of the House of Habsburg. In reaction, the pro-Luxembourg party among the prince electors settled on Louis as its candidate to prevent Frederick's election.[7]

On 19 October 1314,

Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, and Henry of Carinthia, whom the Luxembourgs had deposed as King of Bohemia
. These four electors chose Frederick as King.

The Luxembourg party did not accept this election and the next day a second election was held.

John II of Saxe-Lauenburg
, who contested Rudolph of Wittenberg's claim to the electoral vote.

This double election was quickly followed by two coronations: Louis was crowned at

Switzerland from the Habsburg dynasty.[1]

After several years of bloody war, victory finally seemed within the grasp of Frederick, who was strongly supported by his brother

Salzburg
were captured.

Louis held Frederick captive in

excommunicated Louis in 1324, induced Louis to release Frederick in the Treaty of Trausnitz of 13 March 1325. In this agreement, Frederick recognized Louis as legitimate ruler and undertook to return to captivity should he not succeed in convincing his brothers to submit to Louis.[10][11]

Golden Bull of Louis IV 1328

As he did not manage to overcome Leopold's obstinacy, Frederick returned to Munich as a prisoner, even though the Pope had released him from his oath. Louis, who was impressed by such nobility, renewed the old friendship with Frederick, and they agreed to rule the Empire jointly. Since the Pope and the electors strongly objected to this agreement, another treaty was signed at Ulm on 7 January 1326, according to which Frederick would administer Germany as King of the Romans, while Louis would be crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Italy. However, after Leopold's death in 1326, Frederick withdrew from the regency of the Empire and returned to rule only Austria. He died on 13 January 1330.[1][7]

Coronation as Holy Roman Emperor and conflict with the Pope

Seals of Louis IV (Otto Posse 1909)

After the reconciliation with the Habsburgs in 1326, Louis marched to Italy and was crowned King of Italy in Milan in 1327. Already in 1323, Louis had sent an army to Italy to protect Milan against the Kingdom of Naples, which was together with France the strongest ally of the papacy. But now the Lord of Milan Galeazzo I Visconti was deposed since he was suspected of conspiring with the pope.[2]

In January 1328, Louis entered

Pietro Rainalducci as antipope Nicholas V, who soon left Rome and a few years later submitted to Pope John XXII. In the meantime, Robert, King of Naples had sent both a fleet and an army against Louis and his ally Frederick II of Sicily. Louis spent the winter 1328/29 in Pisa and stayed then in Northern Italy. When his co-ruler Frederick of Habsburg died in 1330, Louis returned from Italy. In fulfillment of an oath, Louis founded Ettal Abbey on 28 April 1330.[12]

Edward III becomes Vicar to the Emperor Louis IV.

Franciscan theologians Michael of Cesena and William of Ockham, and the philosopher Marsilius of Padua, who were all on bad terms with the Pope as well, joined Emperor Louis in Italy and accompanied him to his court at Alter Hof in Munich which became the first imperial residence of the Holy Roman Empire.[1]

In 1333, Emperor Louis sought to counter French influence in the southwest of the empire so he offered

Kingdom of Arles which was an opportunity to gain full authority over Savoy, Provence, and its surrounding territories. Humbert was reluctant to take the crown due to the conflict that would follow with all around him, so he declined, telling the emperor that he should make peace with the church first.[13]

Emperor Louis also allied with

Coblence in 1338 and was named Vicar-General of the Holy Roman Empire. However in 1341, the Emperor deserted Edward III but came to terms with Philip VI only temporarily. For the expected English payments were missing and Louis intended to reach an agreement with the Pope one more time.[2][4]

Imperial privileges

Louis IV was a protector of the

Teutonic Knights. In 1337 he allegedly bestowed upon the Teutonic Order a privilege to conquer Lithuania and Russia, although the Order had only petitioned for three small territories.[14] Later he forbade the Order to stand trial before foreign courts in their territorial conflicts with foreign rulers.[15]

Louis concentrated his energies also on the economic development of the cities of the empire, so his name can be found in many city chronicles for the privileges he granted. In 1330 the emperor for example permitted the

gulden.[1]

Dynastic policy

Gold Gulden of Lübeck, 1341

In 1323 Louis gave

Carinthia was released as an imperial fief on 2 May 1335 in Linz to his Habsburg cousins Albert II, Duke of Austria, and Otto, Duke of Austria, while Tyrol was first placed into Luxemburg hands.[16][17]

With the death of duke

Margarete Maultasch with John Henry of Bohemia and marrying her to his own son Louis V, thus alienating the House of Luxemburg even more.[2]

In 1345 the emperor further antagonized the lay princes by conferring

Margaret II of Hainaut. The hereditary titles of Margaret's sisters, one of whom was the queen of England, were ignored. Because of the dangerous hostility of the Luxemburgs, Louis had increased his power base ruthlessly.[1]

Conflict with Luxemburg

Ludwig IV's tomb, Frauenkirche, Munich

The acquisition of these territories and his restless foreign policy had earned Louis many enemies among the German princes. In the summer of 1346 the

John of Luxemburg
was killed; Charles himself also took part in the battle but escaped.

But then Louis' sudden death avoided a longer civil war. Louis died in October 1347 from a stroke suffered during a bear-hunt in Puch near

Rupert of Germany, a great-grandnephew of Louis.[1]

Family and children

In 1308 Louis IV married his first wife, Beatrice of Silesia (1290-1322).[3] Their children were:

  1. Meißen), married at Nuremberg 1 July 1329 Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen
    (d. 1349)
  2. Daughter (end September 1314 – died shortly after).
  3. Louis V, Duke of Bavaria (July 1315 – 17/18 September 1361), duke of Upper Bavaria, margrave of Brandenburg, count of Tyrol
  4. Anna (c. July 1317[18] – 29 January 1319, Kastl)
  5. Agnes (c. 1318 – died shortly after).
  6. Stephen II (autumn 1319 – 19 May 1375),[3] duke of Lower Bavaria

In 1324 he married his second wife, Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut and Holland (1308-1356). Their children were:

  1. Margaret (1325 – 1374), married:
    1. in 1351 in
      Stephen, Duke of Slavonia (d. 1354), son of the King Charles I of Hungary
      ;
    2. 1357/58 Gerlach von Hohenlohe.
  2. Anna (c. 1326 – 3 June 1361,
    Fontenelles) married John I of Lower Bavaria
    (d. 1340).
  3. Louis VI the Roman (7 May 1328 – 17 May 1365), duke of Upper Bavaria, elector of Brandenburg.
  4. Elisabeth (1329 – 2 August 1402, Stuttgart), married:
    1. Lord of Verona (d. 1359) in Verona
      on 22 November 1350;
    2. Count Ulrich of Württemberg (died 1388 in the Battle of Döffingen) in 1362.
  5. William V of Holland (12 May 1330 – 15 April 1389), as William I duke of Lower Bavaria, as William III count of Hainaut[19]
  6. Agnes (Munich, 1335 – 11 November 1352, Munich).
  7. Albert I of Holland (25 Jul 1336 – 13 December 1404), duke of Lower Bavaria, count of Hainaut and Holland.
  8. Otto V the Bavarian (1340/42 – 15/16 November 1379), duke of Upper Bavaria, elector of Brandenburg.
  9. Beatrice (1344 – 25 December 1359), married bef. 25 October 1356 Eric XII of Sweden.
  10. Louis (October 1347 – 1348).

See also

  • Kings of Germany family tree
    . He was related to every other king of Germany.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-3-7917-6013-1
    .
  2. ^ a b c d Hubertus Seibert. "Ludwig der Bayer (1314 –1347) Reich und Herrschaft im Wandel" (PDF). Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Thomas 2010, p. 387.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-3-638-30839-7
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0195334036
    .
  6. ^ "John, King of Bohemia". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b Walter Friedensburg (1877). Ludwig IV. der Baier und Friedrich von Oesterreich von dem vertrage zu Trausnitz bis zur zusammenkunft in Innsbruck. Druck von Pontt & v. Döhren.
  8. ISBN 9780893560164
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-107-65876-9
    .
  10. ISBN 978-1-5312-4075-2
    .
  11. ^ Richard Doebner (1875). Die Auseinandersetzung zwischen Ludwig IV. dem Bayer und Friedrich dem Schönen von Oesterreich im Jahre 1325. Keyssner.
  12. ^ Bernd Schneidmüller. "Wir sind Kaiser - Ludwig IV. zwischen Gott und den Fürsten" (PDF). Uni Heidelberg. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  13. ^ Cox 1967, p. 25-27.
  14. ISBN 1-85367-535-0
  15. JSTOR 43612325
    .
  16. ISBN 978-3-17-023234-1
    .
  17. ^ Michael Menzel. "König Ludwig IV. belehnt seinen Sohn Ludwig mit der Mark Brandenburgund befiehlt, ihm zu huldigen" (PDF). Historische Kommission zu Berlin. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  18. ^ Mumie Anna - Die Rettung einer Prinzessin (in German) [retrieved 22 March 2016].
  19. ^ Arblaster 2018, p. 266.

Books

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Louis the Bavarian
Born: 1282 Died: 1347
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Duke of Lower Bavaria

1340–1347 		Succeeded by
Albert I
Otto V
Preceded by
Duke of Upper Bavaria

1301–1347
Count Palatine of the Rhine

1319–1329 		Succeeded by
Rudolf II
Preceded by
William the Bold
Margaret II
 Succeeded by
William the Mad
Preceded by
Frederick the Handsome
as rival and then co-ruler 		Succeeded by
King of Italy
1327–1347
Holy Roman Emperor
1328–1347
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