Louis II of Anjou

Louis II
Portrait of Louis II by unknown artist, c. 1456–1465
King of Naples
Reign	1389–1399
Coronation	1 November 1389
Predecessor	Ladislaus
Successor	Ladislaus
Contender	Ladislaus (1389–1399)
Duke of Anjou
Reign	1384–1417
Predecessor	Louis I
Successor	Louis III
Born	5 October 1377 Toulouse
Died	29 April 1417(1417-04-29) (aged 39) Château d'Angers, Anjou
Spouse	Yolande of Aragon ​ (m. 1400)​
Issue	Louis III, Duke of Anjou René, King of Naples Charles, Count of Maine Marie, Queen of France Yolande, Duchess of Brabant
House	Valois-Anjou
Father	Louis I of Anjou
Mother	Marie of Blois

Louis II (5 October 1377 – 29 April 1417)^[1] was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1384 to 1417; he claimed the Kingdom of Naples, but only ruled parts of the kingdom from 1390 to 1399. His father, Louis I of Anjou—the founder of the House of Valois-Anjou—was a younger son of King John II of France and the adopted son of Queen Joanna I of Naples. When his father died during a military campaign in Naples in 1384, Louis II was still a child. He inherited Anjou from his father, but his mother, Marie of Blois, could not convince his uncles, John, Duke of Berry and Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, to continue her husband's war for Naples. The Provençal nobles and towns refused to acknowledge Louis II as their lawful ruler, but Marie of Blois persuaded them one after another to swear fealty to him between 1385 and 1387.

His cousin, King Charles VI of France decided to support Louis II's bid for Naples in 1389. After Antipope Clement VII crowned him king in Avignon on 1 November 1389, Louis II moved to Naples. His troops could not occupy the whole kingdom, thus it was practically divided between Louis II and his opponent, Ladislaus of Naples. The conflict between Clement VII's successor, Antipope Benedict XIII, and France weakened Louis' position and Ladislaus forced him to leave Naples for Provence in 1399.