[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Louis of Anjou, and a Correction

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble friends,

In yesterday's post I stated that Louis of Anjou was held captive by the
English at Calais when his father King John II was released from English
captivity to raise his own ransom. This was based on material I read some
years ago, and was incorrect. Perhaps he initially surrendered to the
English at Calais, but according to Wikipedia Louis was held hostage in
England. He even tried to negotiate a side deal with Edward III to regain
his freedom. When this failed, he somehow slipped out of England. Given the
details from the Wikipedia article, I concede this is the truth.

Louis of Anjou (1339-1384) and his interest in an Italian throne is part of
a most unusual story, littered by bodies right and left (too many to detail
here). Joanna I was queen of Naples as well as Countess of Provence and
Forcalquier. With no living descendants and distrusting her grasping
relatives, she adopted Louis of Anjou as her son and heir in 1381. This
enraged her rival Charles of Durazzo (Johanna's second cousin and an in-law
as well!), who had Joanna imprisoned. In early 1482 Louis and an army were
on the move to rescue Johanna. Charles ordered Joanna to be murdered
(either by suffocation or strangulation, depending on who is telling the
story) on 27 July 1382.

Louis' troops were soon bogged down by the smaller mercenary army of Sir
John Hawkwood, so Louis was unable to reach Joanna in time. Louis continued
his attacks with the help of more French troops. On 13 September 1384
Louis' army was checked at Bisceglie near Naples by Charles (now styling
himself Charles III, King of Naples). Louis himself was wounded in the
fighting, and died a few painful days later on 20 September 1384. With
Louis' death, the French lost interest in Italy, at least for a while.

Charles III didn't fare much better. In 1385 he seized the throne of
Hungary as Charles II, displacing the daughter of another Louis (King Louis
I of Hungary), Mary of Hungary. In February 1386 Charles was assassinated
on the orders of the dowager queen (Mary's mum), Elizabeth of Bosnia.

And you thought Game of Thrones was rough!

Louis of Anjou's bio page is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I_of_Anjou .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.