Louis I of Anjou
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Louis I, Duke of Anjou (23 July 1339 – 20 September 1384) was a French prince, the second son of
Count of Maine in 1356, and then raised him to the title Duke of Anjou in 1360 and Duke of Touraine
in 1370.
He fought in the
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
, in which his father the king was captured by the English. In 1360, he was one of a group of hostages the French surrendered to the English in exchange for the king. He escaped from England, after which his father felt bound in honour to return to English custody, where he later died.
In 1382, as the adopted son of
Provence and Forcalquier. He also inherited from her a claim to the kingdoms of Naples and Jerusalem. He was already a veteran of the Hundred Years' War against the English when he led an army into Italy to claim his Neapolitan inheritance. He died on the march and his claims and titles fell to his son and namesake, Louis II
, who succeeded in ruling Naples for a time.
Hundred Years' War
Louis was present at the
Edward, the Black Prince. Their ransom and peace conditions between France and England were agreed in the Treaty of Brétigny, signed in 1360. Amongst the complicated items of the treaty was a clause that determined the surrender of 40 high-born hostages as guarantee for the payment of the king's ransom. Louis, already Duke of Anjou, was in this group and sailed to England in October 1360. However, France was not in good economic condition and further installments of the debt were delayed. As consequence, Louis was in English custody for much more than the expected six months. He tried to negotiate his freedom in a private negotiation with Edward III of England
and, when this failed, decided to escape. On his return to France, he met his father's disapproval for his unknightly behavior. John II considered himself dishonored and this, combined with the fact that his ransom payments agreed to in the Treaty of Brétigny were in arrears, caused John to return to captivity in England to redeem his honor.
From 1380 to 1382 Louis served as regent for his nephew, King Charles VI of France.
King of Naples
In 1382 Louis left France in the latter year to claim the throne of Naples following the death of Queen
Amadeus VI of Savoy, and using the money he had been able to obtain during the regency, launched an expedition to regain the Kingdom of Naples
from Charles.
The expedition, counting to some 40,000 troops, and returned to France.
Marriage and children
On 9 July 1360, he married
Joanna of Dreux.[4]
They had the following children:
- Marie (1370 – after 1383)
- Louis II of Anjou (1377 – 1417)[3]
- Charles (1380 – 1404, Angers), Prince of Taranto, Count of Roucy, Étampes, and Gien
References
- ^ Keane 2016, p. 17.
- ^ "Papa Urbano VI e il Regno di Napoli". Cronologia (in Italian). Retrieved November 7, 2011.
- ^ a b Rohr 2016, p. 30.
- ^ Bruel 1905, p. 198.
Sources
- Bruel, François-L. (1905). "Inventaire de meubles et de titres trouvés au château de Josselin à la mort du connétable de Clisson (1407)". Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes (in French). 66 (66). Librairie Droz: 193–245. .
- Keane, Marguerite (2016). Material Culture and Queenship in 14th-century France: The Testament of Blanche of Navarre (1331-1398). Brill.
- Rohr, Zita Eva (2016). Yolande of Aragon (1381-1442) Family and Power: The Reverse of the Tapestry. Palgrave Macmillan.
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