prince of the house of Jagiello who laid down his life for Hungary.
See Rerum Hungaricarum libri (vol. 2, ed. Ferencz Toldy, Budapest, 1867); and József Podhradczky, King Louis (Hung.) (Budapest, 1860). (R. N. B.)
LOUIS, the name of three kings of Naples, members of the
house of Anjou.
Louis I., duke of Anjou and count of Maine (1339–1384), was the second son of John II., king of France, and was born at Vincennes on the 23rd of July 1339. Having been given the duchy of Anjou in 1356 he led a wing of the French army at the battle of Poitiers and was sent to England as a hostage after the conclusion of the treaty of Brétigny in 1360, but he broke his parole in 1363 and so brought about King John’s return into captivity. He took part in the war against England which was renewed in 1369, uniting the rival houses of Foix and Armagnac in the common cause, and in other ways rendering good service to his brother, King Charles V. Anjou’s entrance into the troubled politics of Italy was one result of the papal schism which opened in 1378. Anxious to secure the support of France, the antipope Clement VII. persuaded the queen of Naples, Joanna I., to name Louis as her heir, and about the same time the death of Charles V. (September 1380) placed the duke in the position of regent of France. Neglecting France to prosecute his ambitions in Italy, he collected money and marched on Naples; but although helped by Amadeus VI., count of Savoy, he was unable to drive his rival, Charles, duke of Durazzo, from Naples. His army was destroyed by disease and Louis himself died at Biseglia, near Bari, on the 20th of September 1384, leaving two sons, his successor, Louis II., and Charles, duke of Calabria.
Louis II., duke of Anjou (1377–1417), born at Toulon on the 7th of October 1377, took up the struggle for Naples after his father’s death and was crowned king by Clement VII. in 1389. After carrying on the contest for some years his enemies prevailed and he was compelled to take refuge in France, where he took part in the intestine strife which was desolating that kingdom. A few years later he made other attempts to secure the kingdom of Naples, which was now in the possession of Ladislas, a son of his father’s foeman, Charles of Durazzo, and he gained a victory at Roccoserra in May 1411. Soon, however, he was again driven back to France, and after sharing anew in the civil wars of his country he died at Angers on the 29th of April 1417. His wife was Yolande, a daughter of John I., king of Aragon, and his son was his successor, Louis III.
Louis III., duke of Anjou (1403–1434), born on the 25th of September 1403, made in his turn an attempt to conquer Naples. This was in 1420, and he had met with considerable success in his task when he died at Cosenza on the 15th of November 1434. In 1424 Louis received from King Charles VII. the duchy of Touraine.
Another titular king of Naples of this name was Louis, a son of Philip, prince of Taranto. In 1346 he became the husband of Joanna I., queen of Naples, and in 1352 he was crowned king. After making an attempt to conquer Sicily he died on the 26th of May 1362.
LOUIS (893–911), surnamed the “Child,” king of the Franks,
son of the emperor Arnulf, was born at Ottingen, designated by
Arnulf as his successor in Germany in 897, and crowned on the
4th of February 900. Although he never received the imperial
crown, he is sometimes referred to as the emperor Louis IV. His
chief adviser was Hatto I., archbishop of Mainz; and during his
reign the kingdom was ravaged by Hungarians and torn with
internal strife. He appears to have passed his time in journeys
from place to place, and in 910 was the nominal leader of an
expedition against the Hungarians which was defeated near
Augsburg. Louis, who was the last of the German Carolingians,
died in August or September 911 and was buried at Regensburg.
See Regino von Prüm, “Chronicon,” in the Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores, Band i. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826); E. Dümmler, Geschichte des ostfränkischen Reichs (Leipzig, 1887–1888); O. Dietrich, Beiträge zur Geschichte Arnolfs von Kärnthen und Ludwigs des Kindes (Berlin, 1890); and E. Mühlbacher, Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern (Innsbruck, 1881). (A. W. H.*)
LOUIS OF NASSAU (1538–1574), son of William, count of
Nassau, and Juliana von Stolberg, and younger brother of
William the Silent, took an active part in the revolt of the Netherlands
against Spanish domination. He was one of the leaders
of the league of nobles who signed the document known as “the
Compromise” in 1566, and a little later was a member of the
deputation who presented the petition of grievances called “the
Request” to the regent, Margaret of Parma. It was on this
occasion that the appellation of “the Beggars” (les Gueux) was
first given to the opponents of King Philip’s policy. On the
arrival of Alva at Brussels, Count Louis, with his brother
William, withdrew from the Netherlands and raised a body of
troops in defence of the patriot cause. In the spring of 1568
Louis invaded Friesland, and at Heiligerlee, on the 23rd of May,
completely defeated a Spanish force under Count Aremberg, who
was killed. Alva then advanced to meet the invaders with a
large army, and at Jemmingen (July 21), with very slight loss,
annihilated the levies of Louis, who himself escaped by swimming
from the field across an estuary of the Ems. He now joined the
army of his brother William, which had in October to beat a
hasty retreat before Alva’s superior skill. Then Louis, in
company with his brothers William and Henry, made his way
across the French frontier to the camp of the Huguenot leader,
Admiral Coligny. Louis took an active part in the campaign
and fought heroically at Jarnac and Moncontour. In 1572
Louis, not deterred by previous disaster, raised a small force in
France, and, suddenly entering Hainaut, captured Mons (May 23).
Here he was besieged by Don Frederick of Toledo, Alva’s natural
son, who blockaded all approach to the town. William made an
attempt to relieve his brother, but failed, and Mons had to
surrender (September 17). Louis, who was sick with fever, withdrew
to his ancestral home, Dillenburg, to recruit his health,
and then once more to devote his energies to the raising of money
and troops for another invasion of the Netherlands. In the hope
of drawing away the Spaniards from the siege of Leiden by a
diversion in the south, Louis, with his brothers John and Henry,
at the head of a force of mixed nationalities and little discipline,
crossed the frontier near Maastricht, and advanced as far as the
Mookerheide near Nijmwegen. Here he was attacked by a body
of Spanish veterans under an experienced leader, Sancho d’Avila,
and speedily routed. In the disorderly flight both Louis and his
younger brother Henry, refusing to abandon the field, lost their
lives. Their bodies were never recovered. Thus perished at the
age of thirty-six one of the most chivalrous and gifted of a gallant
band of brothers, four of whom laid down their lives in their
country’s cause.
See P. J. Blok, Lodewijk von Nassau, 1538–1574 (The Hague, 1689), and the Cambridge Modern History, vol. iii. chs. vi. and vii., and bibliography (1904); also A. J. Van der Aa, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden (22 vols., Haarlem, 1852–1878).
LOUIS, JOSEPH DOMINIQUE, Baron (1755–1837), French statesman and financier, was born at Toul (Meurthe) on the 13th of November 1755. At the outbreak of the Revolution the abbé Louis (he had early taken orders) had already some reputation as a financial expert. He was in favour of the constitutional movement, and on the great festival of federation (July 14, 1790) he assisted Talleyrand, then bishop of Autun, to celebrate mass at the altar erected in the Champ de Mars. In 1792, however, he emigrated to England, where he spent his time studying English institutions and especially the financial system of Pitt. Returning to France on the establishment of the Consulate he served successively in the ministry of war, the council of state, and in the finance department in Holland and in Paris. Made a baron of the empire in 1809 he nevertheless supported the Bourbon restoration and was minister of finance in 1814–1815. Baron Louis was deputy from 1815 to 1824 and from 1827 to 1832. He resumed the portfolio of finance in 1815, which he held also in the Decazes ministry of 1818; he was the first minister of finance under the government of Louis Philippe, and held the same portfolio in 1831–1832. In 1832 he was made a peer of France and he died on the 26th of August 1837.
