| Louis I | |
|---|---|
 Louis praying on the occasion of founding his order of chivalry | |
| King of Naples Count of Provence andForcalquier | |
| Reign | 18 August 1348 – 26 May 1362 |
| Coronation | 27 May 1352 |
| Predecessor | Joanna I |
| Successor | Joanna I |
| Co-monarch | Joanna I |
| Born | 1320 Naples,Kingdom of Naples |
| Died | 26 May 1362 (aged 41–42) Naples, Kingdom of Naples |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Joanna I of Naples |
| Issue | Catherine of Taranto Françoise of Taranto |
| House | Capetian House of Anjou |
| Father | Philip I of Taranto |
| Mother | Catherine II, Latin Empress |
Louis I (Italian:Luigi,Aloisio, orLudovico ; 1320 – 26 May 1362), also known asLouis of Taranto, was a member of theCapetian House of Anjou who reigned asKing of Naples,Count of Provence andForcalquier, andPrince of Taranto.
Louis gained the crown of Naples by marrying his half-first cousin/ first cousin-once-removed,Queen Joanna I, whose prior husband,Andrew, had died as a result of a conspiracy that may have involved both of them. Immediately after securing his status as her co-ruler, Louis successfully wrested away all power from his wife, leaving her a sovereign in name only. Their disastrous marriage resulted in the birth of two daughters, Catherine and Frances, neither of whom survived their parents. During their joint reign, Louis dealt with numerous uprisings, attacks, and unsuccessful military operations; he is generally considered an inefficient monarch. Following his death, Joanna resumed her power and refused to share it with her subsequent husbands.
A member of theCapetian House of Anjou, Louis was born inNaples as the second son ofPhilip I, Prince of Taranto, andCatherine II, Latin Empress.[1] He was apatrilinealfirst cousin once removed of bothQueen Joanna I of Naples and her husbandAndrew, Duke of Calabria, in addition to being Joanna's maternal first cousin. Louis' older brotherRobert, Prince of Taranto, was having an open affair with Queen Joanna. When the 17-year-old Andrew was assassinated on 18 September 1345 for seeking to co-reign with his wife, Joanna was immediately suspected of ordering the murder with the help of Louis and Robert.[2]
Following her husband's death, the young queen was strongly influenced by Robert, but by October 1346, she had become closer to Louis.[3] The brothers' mother died the same month, leaving her claim to theLatin Empire to Robert, who in turn ceded the Principality of Taranto to Louis.[4]
Louis and Joanna married in Naples on 22 August 1347,[3] without seekingdispensation fromPope Clement VI – necessary because of their beingclosely related.[4] The marriage was an attempt to secure the kingdom for Louis rather than to pacify the belligerent branches of the House of Anjou.[5]
The couple fled to Provence, which Joanna ruled as countess, afterKing Louis I of Hungaryinvaded Naples to avenge the murder of his brother Andrew.[3] They met Clement, feudal overlord of the Kingdom of Naples, inAvignon. To secure his acceptance of their marriage and support against the accusations of Andrew's murder, Joanna sold him the city.[4]
TheBlack Death forced the Hungarians to retreat from Naples in August 1348. Louis and Joanna, who had just had their elder daughter, Catherine, immediately returned to the kingdom.[4] On 18 August 1348, Louis, with the queen's consent, assumed the title of King of Jerusalem and Sicily, obviously without the pope's approval.[6] From early 1349 onwards, all documents for the kingdom were issued in the names of both husband and wife, and Louis was indisputably in control of military fortresses.[3] On coins issued during their joint reign, Louis' name always preceded Joanna's.[5] Although he was not officially recognised by Clement as king and co-ruler until 1352, it is likely that Neapolitans considered him their monarch from the moment he started acting as such.[3]
Louis took advantage of the turmoil caused by yet another Hungarian attack to wrest complete royal authority from his wife.[5] He purged the court of her supporters,[7] and struck down her favourite, Enrico Caracciolo, whom he accused of adultery in April 1349 and very likely had executed.[3]
In 1350, the King of Hungary launched another invasion, forcing Louis and Joanna to flee toGaeta. Louis narrowly defeated Hungarian forces with Pope Clement's help. The Pope, however, reprimanded Louis for "treating the Queen as a prisoner and servant", and agreed to recognise Louis as king and co-ruler only on the condition that he accepted the fact that he held the crown in Joanna's right.[7] Their younger daughter, Françoise, was born soon thereafter. Louis received Clement's formal recognition as his wife's co-ruler in all her realms on 20[4] or 23 March 1352,[8] and wascrowned king alongside her onPentecost on 25[4] or 27 May 1352.[8] Françoise, by then the couple's only surviving child, died on their coronation day. Louis founded theOrder of the Knot on the occasion of the coronation, most likely hoping to enhance the tarnished reputation he shared with Joanna.[9] In 1356, they were crowned inMessina as rulers of Sicily, but failed to capture the entire island, which had been seized from the House of Anjou by theHouse of Barcelona in 1285 and thereafter ruled as a separate kingdom.[5]
The death of their supporter, Clement VI, was a blow to Louis and Joanna. His successor,Innocent VI,excommunicated them for failing to pay their annual tribute to theHoly See. The issue was resolved by a visit to Avignon in 1360.[4]
Louis' attempt in 1360 to dethroneFrederick the Simple and regain Sicily ended in a failure, though he did manage to occupy much of the island (includingPalermo, the capital) before its barons rebelled. At home, he faced opposition from his and his wife's cousins, theHouse of Anjou-Durazzo, who strongly resented his dominance, withLouis of Gravina stirring revolts inApulia.[4]
Louis died, probably ofbubonic plague, inNaples on 26 May 1362.[8] Joanna immediately resumed authority in her realms.[8] Although she remarried twice more, toJames IV of Majorca andOtto of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, Louis remained the only husband of hers whom she accorded the status of co-monarch.[5] Taranto passed to his younger brother,Philip II. Upon Louis' death, the order he had created simply dissolved.[8] He was buried in theTerritorial Abbey of Montevergine, next to his mother.[10]
Though a chronicler wrote that the "death of Louis of Taranto caused great corruption in all the kingdom",[7] his contemporaries unanimously thought him to be lacking in both ability and character.Petrarch, familiar with the members of the Neapolitan court, described him as "violent and mendacious, prodigal and avaricious, debauched and cruel", a person who "knew neither how to make his subjects love him" and who even had no "need of their love".[8] Louis I's greatest achievement was appointingNiccolò Acciaioli asgrand seneschal, which provided Naples with a capable administrator and military leader.[5]
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Media related toLouis I of Naples at Wikimedia Commons
Louis I of Naples Cadet branch of theHouse of Capet Born: 1320 Died: 26 May 1362 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas sole ruler | King of Naples Count of Provence andForcalquier 1348–1362 withJoanna I | Succeeded byas sole ruler |
| Preceded by | Prince of Taranto 1346–1362 | Succeeded by |
