
Coat of Arms of Louis of Taranto. They are the combination of the arms of Anjou and those of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem.
'Louis' (
1320[1] –
26 May 1362), of the
House of Anjou, was the
Prince of Taranto from
1346 and
King of Naples from
1352. He was a son of
Philip I of Taranto and
Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea. His paternal grandparents were
Charles II of Naples and
Maria of Hungary. His maternal grandparents were
Charles of Valois and his second wife,
Catherine I of Courtenay.
In
1342, Louis became
Grand Master of the
Order of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the oldest and most prestigious military orders of Christendom. In
1346, his elder brother
Robert became the titular
Latin Emperor. Louis was invested with Taranto.
On
20 August,
1346, Louis married his cousin, the
queen of Naples,
Joan I, in
Naples, becoming her second husband and the only of her husbands to be accorded the title of king. He was crowned as King of Naples in 1352 (or perhaps
1353).
In
1360, as king, Louis invaded
Sicily, in support of the insurrection against
Frederick III the Simple. In
1361, Louis and Joan had to flee Naples for
Gaeta to escape the armies of
Louis I of Hungary. When Louis died, no husband of Joan was ever crowned king after him and Taranto passed to his younger brother
Philip II.
Wife and children
Children of his marriage (1346), with Joan I, Queen of Naples:
★ Catherine (
1347–aft.
1362)
★ Francesca (
1349–
1352)
Other offspring:
★ Esclabonde (illegitimate)
★ Clemenzia (illegitimate)
Notes
1. Or 1308.