Louis I, Duke of Anjou (23 July 1339 – 20 September 1384) was a French prince, the second son of

John II of France John II (; 26 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: ''Jean le Bon''), was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed between a thir ...

and Bonne of Bohemia. His career was markedly unsuccessful. Born at the Château de Vincennes, Louis was the first of the Angevin branch of the Valois royal house. His father appointed him

Count of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...

and Count of Maine in 1356, and then raised him to the title Duke of Anjou in 1360 and

Duke of Touraine {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Duke of Touraine was a title in the Peerage of France, relating to Touraine. It was first created in 1360 for Philip the Bold, youngest son of King John II of France. He returned the duchy to the Crown in 1363 ...

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

Joanna I of Naples Joanna I, also known as Johanna I (; December 1325 – 27 July 1382), was Queen of Naples, and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1343 to 1381; she was also Princess of Achaea from 1373 to 1381. Joanna was the eldest daughter of C ...

, he succeeded to the counties of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

and Forcalquier. He also inherited from her a claim to the kingdoms of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He was already a veteran of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

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 Battle of Poitiers (1356), in the battalion commanded by his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, the Dauphin. They hardly fought and the whole group escaped in the middle of the confrontation. Although humiliating, their flight allowed them to avoid capture by the English, who won the battle decisively. King John II and Louis' younger brother

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

were not so fortunate and were captured by the English, commanded by

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II of England, Richard II, succession to the Br ...

. Their ransom and peace conditions between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

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 In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

for his nephew, King

Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved () and in the 19th century, the Mad ( or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychosis, psychotic episodes t ...

King of Naples

In 1382 Louis left France in the latter year to claim the throne of Naples following the death of Queen Joanna I. She had adopted him to succeed her, as she was childless and did not wish to leave her inheritance to any of her close relatives, whom she considered enemies. He was also able to succeed her as count of Provence and Forcalquier. Despite his coronation at

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

as King of Naples by

Antipope Clement VII Robert of Geneva (; 1342 – 16 September 1394) was elected to the papacy as Clement VII () by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI and was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. His election led to the Western Schism. The son of ...

, Louis was forced to remain in France and Joan's troops were defeated by Charles of Durazzo, her second cousin and previous heir. Joanna was killed in her prison in San Fele in 1382; Louis, with support of the Antipope, France, Bernabò Visconti of Milan and 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 The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

from Charles. The expedition, counting to some 40,000 troops, was however unsuccessful. Charles, who counted on the mercenary companies under John Hawkwood for a total of some 14,000 men, was able to divert the French from Naples to other regions of the kingdom and to harass them with guerrilla tactics. Amadeus fell ill and died in

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

on 1 March 1383 and his troops abandoned the field. Louis asked for help from his king nephew in France, who sent him an army under Enguerrand of Coucy. The latter was able to conquer

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

and then invade the Kingdom of Naples, but midway was reached by the news that Louis had suddenly died at Bisceglie on 20 September 1384. He soon sold Arezzo to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and returned to France.

Marriage and children

On 9 July 1360, without the consent of his father, Louis married Marie of Blois, Lady of Guise, daughter of

Charles, Duke of Brittany Charles of Blois-Châtillon (131929 September 1364), nicknamed "the Saint", was the legalist Duke of Brittany from 1341 until his death, via his marriage to Joan of Penthièvre, Joan, Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Penthièvre, holding th ...

and Joanna of Dreux. They had the following children: * Marie (1370 – after 1383) * Louis II of Anjou (1377 – 1417) *Charles (1380 – 1404,

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

), Prince of Taranto, Count of Roucy, Étampes, and Gien

References

Sources

* * * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 01 Of Naples 1339 births 1384 deaths 14th-century peers of France 14th-century monarchs of Naples Heirs presumptive to the French throne People from Vincennes Military governors of Paris House of Valois-Anjou Claimant kings of Jerusalem 14th-century regents Dukes of Touraine Dukes of Anjou Dukes of Calabria Counts of Anjou Counts of Maine Counts of Provence Counts of Forcalquier Counts of Étampes Counts of Roucy French prisoners of war in the Hundred Years' War Sons of kings Adult adoptees