Louis III of Naples

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Louis III.

Louis III (25 September 1403 – 12 November 1434) was titular King of Naples from 1417 to 1426, Count of Provence, Forcalquier, Piedmont, and Maine and Duke of Anjou from 1417 to 1434, and Duke of Calabria from 1426 to 1434.

Kingdom of Naples former state in Italy

The Kingdom of Naples comprised that part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was created as a result of the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302), when the island of Sicily revolted and was conquered by the Crown of Aragon, becoming a separate Kingdom of Sicily. Naples continued to be officially known as the Kingdom of Sicily, the name of the formerly unified kingdom. For much of its existence, the realm was contested between French and Spanish dynasties. In 1816, it was reunified with the island kingdom of Sicily once again to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Forcalquier Subprefecture and commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Forcalquier is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.

Piedmont Region of Italy

Piedmont is a region in northwest Italy, one of the 20 regions of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east and the Aosta Valley region to the northwest; it also borders France to the west and Switzerland to the northeast. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres (9,808 sq mi) and a population of 4,377,941 as of 30 November 2017. The capital of Piedmont is Turin.

Contents

Biography

He was the eldest son and heir of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon. [1]

Yolande of Aragon Infanta of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, French noble

Yolande 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. She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Yolande of Bar . Yolande played a crucial role in the struggles between France and England, influencing events such as the financing of Joan of Arc's army in 1429 that helped tip the balance in favour of the French. She was also known as Yolanda de Aragón and Violant d'Aragó. Tradition holds that she commissioned the famous Rohan Hours.

The throne of Aragon fell vacant in 1410 (Louis was then 6 years old) when king Martin I of Aragon died. Louis' mother Yolande was the surviving daughter of sonless King John I of Aragon, Martin's predecessor. They claimed the throne of Aragon for the young Louis.

Crown of Aragon Composite monarchy which existed between 1162–1716

The Crown of Aragon was a composite monarchy, also nowadays referred to as a confederation of individual polities or kingdoms ruled by one king, with a personal and dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona. At the height of its power in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Crown of Aragon was a thalassocracy controlling a large portion of present-day eastern Spain, parts of what is now southern France, and a Mediterranean "empire" which included the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Southern Italy and parts of Greece. The component realms of the Crown were not united politically except at the level of the king, who ruled over each autonomous polity according to its own laws, raising funds under each tax structure, dealing separately with each Corts or Cortes. Put in contemporary terms, it has sometimes been considered that the different lands of the Crown of Aragon functioned more as a confederation than as a single kingdom. In this sense, the larger Crown of Aragon must not be confused with one of its constituent parts, the Kingdom of Aragon, from which it takes its name.

John I of Aragon King of Aragon

John I, called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance, but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of Aragon from 1388 until his death.

Aragon Autonomous community of Spain

Aragon is an 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. The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a historic nationality of Spain.

However, unclear though they were, the succession rules of Aragon and Barcelona at that time were understood to favor all male relatives before any female (this is how Yolande's uncle, Martin of Aragon, inherited the throne of Aragon). Martin died without surviving issue in 1410, and after two years without a king, the Estates of Aragon by Compromise of Caspe in 1412 elected Infante Ferdinand of Castile as the next King of Aragon. Ferdinand was the second son of Eleanor of Aragon and John I of Castile. The family however had secured some Aragonese lands in Montpellier and Roussillon.

History of Barcelona

The history of Barcelona stretches over 2000 years to its origins as an Iberian village named Barkeno. Its easily defensible location on the coastal plain between the Collserola ridge (512 m) and the Mediterranean sea, the coastal route between central Europe and the rest of the Iberian peninsula, has ensured its continued importance, if not always preeminence, throughout the ages.

Compromise of Caspe

The Compromise of Caspe made in 1412 was an act and resolution of parliamentary representatives of the constituent realms of the Crown of Aragon, meeting in Caspe, to resolve the interregnum following the death of King Martin of Aragon in 1410 without a legitimate heir.

Ferdinand I of Aragon Aragonese king

Ferdinand I called of Antequera and also the Just was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and (nominal) Corsica and king of Sicily, duke (nominal) of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya (1412–1416). He was also regent of Castile (1406–1416).

Yolande and her sons regarded themselves as heirs of higher claim and began to use the title of Kings of Aragon. From this "inheritance" forward (Aragon added to other Angevin titles), Louis and Yolande were called the King and Queen of Four Kingdoms, those four being Sicily (including Naples), Jerusalem, Aragon, and Majorca. Of those, only the mainland part of Sicily was ever directly held by Louis, and only briefly. Louis also had claims on the title Latin Emperor, which his grandfather Louis I had purchased in 1383, but he never appears to have used this title. [2]

Kingdom of Sicily former state in southern Italy, 1130–1816

The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of the Italian peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto; 'val' being the Arabic word meaning 'district'.

Kingdom of Jerusalem medieval Christian kingdom in the Middle East

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a crusader state established in the Southern Levant by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks. Its history is divided into two distinct periods. The sometimes so-called First Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted from 1099 to 1187, when it was almost entirely overrun by Saladin. After the subsequent Third Crusade, the kingdom was re-established in Acre in 1192, and lasted until that city's destruction in 1291, except for a brief two decades in which Frederick II of Hohenstaufen reclaimed Jerusalem back into Christian hands after the Sixth Crusade. This second kingdom is sometimes called the Second Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Kingdom of Acre, after its new capital. Most of the crusaders who settled there were of French origin.

Kingdom of Aragon medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It should not be confused with the larger Crown of Aragon, that also included other territories — the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece — that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.

Pope Martin V invested Louis III on 4 December 1419 as King of Sicily (Naples). This was in contrast with the will of the childless and aged queen of the Italian kingdom, Joanna II, who had adopted Alfonso V of Aragon as her heir. [3] In 1420 Louis disembarked in Campania and besieged Naples, but had to flee at the arrival of an Aragonese fleet. Alfonso entered the city in 1421 and Louis lost the support of the Pope, tired by the costs of the war. However, when the relationships between Alfonso and the queen suddenly worsened after the arrest of Joanna's lover and prime minister, Gianni Caracciolo, the queen moved to Aversa where Louis joined her. [4] He was adopted and named heir in lieu of Alfonso, giving him the title of Duke of Calabria. When Alfonso had to return to Aragon, the kingdom was pacified. Louis moved to his feudal possession in Calabria, where he lived with Margaret of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy. [4] They had no children. [4]

Pope Martin V pope

Pope Martin V, born OttoColonna, was Pope from 11 November 1417 to his death in 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism (1378–1417).

Joanna II of Naples Queen of Naples

Joanna II was Queen of Naples from 1414 to her death, upon which the senior Angevin line of Naples became extinct. As a mere formality, she used the title of Queen of Jerusalem, Sicily, and Hungary.

Alfonso V of Aragon King of Aragon, Valencia, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia

Alfonso the Magnanimous was the King of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica, Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416, and King of Naples from 1442 until his death. He was one of the most prominent figures of the early Renaissance and a knight of the Order of the Dragon.

Louis could never become king effectively, as he died of malaria at Cosenza in 1434. [4] After Joanna's death the following year, his brother René of Anjou was named King of Naples.

Notes

  1. Kekewich 2008, p. xiv.
  2. Jean Favier, Le Roi René (Paris: Fayard, 2008).
  3. Kekewich 2008, p. 53.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kekewich 2008, p. 54.

Related Research Articles

René of Anjou 15th-century French prince, briefly King of Naples

René of Anjou, also known as René I of Naples and Good King René, was count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar (1430–80), Duke of Lorraine (1431–53), Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence (1434–80), briefly King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem (1438–80) and Aragon including Sicily, Majorca and Corsica (1466–70).

Robert, King of Naples King of Naples

Robert of Anjou, known as Robert the Wise, was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the third son of King Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary, and during his father's lifetime he was styled Duke of Calabria (1296–1309).

Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine French duchess

Isabella was suo jure Duchess of Lorraine, from 25 January 1431 to her death in 1453. She was also Queen of Naples by marriage to René of Anjou. Isabella ruled the Kingdom of Naples and her husband's domains in France as regent during his imprisonment in Burgundy in 1435-1438.

John II, Duke of Lorraine Duke of Lorraine

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Louis II of Naples King of Naples

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Frederick of Naples King of Naples

Frederick, sometimes called Frederick IV or Frederick of Aragon, was the last King of Naples of the Neapolitan branch of the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496 to 1501. He was the second son of Ferdinand I, younger brother of Alfonso II, and uncle of Ferdinand II, his predecessor.

Charles, Count of Maine French noble

Charles du Maine (1414–1472) was a French prince of blood and an advisor to Charles VII of France, his brother-in-law, during the Hundred Years' War. He was the third son of Louis II, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples, and Yolande of Aragon.

Duke of Calabria was the traditional title of the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Naples after the accession of Robert of Naples. It was also adopted by the heads of certain Houses that had once claimed the Kingdom of Naples in lieu of the royal title.

House of Valois-Anjou

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Margaret of Savoy, Duchess of Anjou French princess, duchess, countess

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Charles Martel, Duke of Calabria is a name and title shared by two short-lived heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples.

Marie of Blois, Duchess of Anjou Medieval French noblewoman

Marie of Blois (1345-1404) was a daughter of Joanna, Duchess of Brittany and Charles, Duke of Brittany. Through marriage to Louis I, Duke of Anjou, she became Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Maine, Duchess of Touraine, titular Queen of Naples and Jerusalem and Countess of Provence.

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Louis III of Naples
Cadet branch of the House of Capet
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Louis II
Duke of Anjou
Count of Maine, Provence,
Forcalquier, and Piedmont

1417 – 1434
Succeeded by
René
 TITULAR 
King of Naples
1417 – 1426
Italian nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Louis II
 TITULAR 
Duke of Calabria
1403 – 1417,
1426 – 1434(de facto)
Succeeded by
René