he obtained Bavaria and the surrounding Slavonic districts, of which he undertook the government in 825. Several times he appeared openly in arms against his father, whose death was hastened by the last of these revolts in 840. After the death of his father, Louis vigorously combated the overweening ambition of his brother Lothaire, whom he signally defeated at the battle of Fontenay in 841. Ultimately the kingdom of Louis le Germanique consisted of the following estates:—Ancient France on the right bank of the Rhine, Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Grisons, and Lorraine, the two latter of which were acquired in 870. Louis left three sons, Carloman, Louis, and Charles. He was undoubtedly, in point of courage and capacity, the best of the sons of Louis le Debonnaire; but in respect of moral qualities he was neither better nor worse than the rest of a family in which moral qualities were almost wanting.
Louis III., King of Germany, died at Frankfort on the 18th January, 882. He was the son of Louis le Germanique, on whose death he received by partition Eastern Franconia, Saxony, and Thuringia. Charles the Bald having invaded Germany in 876, Louis met him at Andernach and completely routed his army. He had many conflicts with the Northmen, who at that period were the troublers of Europe.
Louis IV., King of Germany, was the son of the Emperor Arnulf, and was born in 893, and died in June, 911. He was called to the throne by the diet that met at Forchheim, and the archbishop of Mayence, wishing to secure more formal sanction, proceeded to Rome, and requested the confirmation of the pope. The pope declined, alleging that the election had been made without pontifical authority, a claim until that time altogether unheard of. He died suddenly, no chronicle telling us either the place or cause.
Louis V., Emperor of Germany, surnamed the Bavarian. was born in 1282, and died on the 11th October, 1347. On the death of his father Louis the Severe, duke of Bavaria, he was sent to Vienna by his mother Matilda, daughter of Rudolph of Hapsburg. He was there brought up with his cousins, who afterwards became his greatest enemies. In 1298 he returned to Bavaria to undertake the government; and in 1314 engaged in a war with his cousin Frederick the Handsome. Frederick was elected emperor by one party and Louis by another. Louis was supported by the free towns and by the liberal portion of Germany; but it was several years before he could obtain any decisive advantage. The pope sided with Frederick, and Louis saw that strong measures were necessary. He marched into Italy and caused himself to be crowned emperor at Rome. He sided with the Ghibellines, declared John XXI. guilty of heresy, and nominated a new pope, who took the name of Nicholas V. This creation of an anti-pope was a grave political error, and involved Louis in many troubles. He returned to Germany, and some years later concluded a treaty with Edward III. of England to aid him in his wars with Philip of France. In September, 1338, he met Edward at Coblentz, where two thrones were erected in the market-place for the two monarchs. In 1341 he secured Lower Bavaria for his own family, to the exclusion of collaterals. In 1345 he was engaged in a war with John of Bohemia, and obliged to purchase peace. In 1346 he was nominally deposed by the electors, and died the year following from an attack of apoplexy while engaged in a bear hunt.—P. E. D.
HUNGARY.
Louis I., King of Hungary and Poland, called the Great, was born on the 5th March, 1326, and died in 1382. He was the son of Carobert, king of Hungary, and in 1342 was elected to succeed his father, at the age of sixteen. He engaged in war with the king of Bohemia, and forced him to raise the siege of Cracow. He also drove back the Tartars, who had made an irruption into Transylvania. In 1345 he turned his army against the Croats. His brother Andrew having been strangled by order of his wife, Joan I., queen of Naples, he marched into Italy at the head of an army of thirty thousand men, but without effecting any great operation. In 1348 he again went to Italy. Joan fled, and Louis received the homage of the princes, and with them repaired to the balcony where the unfortunate Andrew had been deprived of life. Charles of Durazzo he put to death, and the other princes were placed in confinement. In 1370 he succeeded to the throne of Poland, and died while engaged in a war with Jagellon.
Louis II., King of Hungary and Bohemia, was born on the 1st May, 1506, and was drowned on the 29th August, 1526. He was the son of Ladislaus, and succeeded his father at the age of ten. Soliman II. having sent ambassadors to him, Louis was guilty of the atrocity of cutting off their noses. Soliman was furious, captured Belgrade, Peterwarden, and some other towns, and defeated the Hungarians in a great battle on the plain of Mohacz. Two months after the body of the young king was found in a marsh, horse and rider having sunk together. In 1521 Louis had married Maria of Austria, sister of Charles V., but left no children.—P. E. D.
ITALY AND SICILY.
Louis II., son of Lothaire I., born about 822, was nominated to the throne of Italy in 844, became associated with his father in the empire in 849, succeeded to the imperial crown in 855, obtained from his brother Charles of Provence in 859 the cession of the country between the Jura and the Alps, and after the death of that prince in 863, he divided Provence with his other brother Lothaire II. In 866 Louis marched against the Saracens of the duchies of Benevento and Calabria, and continued the war for five years. In 871 he was taken prisoner by the duke of Benevento; and his last warlike effort was an attempt to punish that prince, which did not succeed. Louis died in 875.
Louis III., King or Emperor of Italy, surnamed L'Aveugle, grandson of the preceding, was born about 879. He was the son of Boson, king of Arles, and Hermengarde, daughter of Louis II. He succeeded his father in that kingdom in 887. In 899 he went into Italy to make war against Berengarius, and having worsted that prince, was crowned emperor at Rome in 900. Berengarius, however, afterwards took him prisoner in Verona in 905; and after putting out his eyes and depriving him of the imperial title, sent him back to Provence. Louis died in 929.
Louis of Tarentum, King of Naples, was born in 1320, and died 25th May, 1362. He was cousin of Queen Joan I., and probably had paid too great attention to that inconsiderate lady before she strangled her husband, Andrew of Hungary. He espoused her soon after without dispensation. He made his peace with the pope, however, and obtained in right of his wife the title of King of Naples. In a battle fought with the Hungarians before Naples on the 6th June, 1349, Louis was defeated. The German mercenaries who had fought against him, not receiving their pay, revolted, and turned the tide of affairs. In May, 1352, Louis and Joan were crowned with great ceremony. The kingdom was ill-governed and in disorder, and Louis died without being able to regulate its affairs.
Louis of Arragon, King of Sicily, was born on the 4th February, 1338, and died on the 16th or 17th October, 1355. He was the eldest son of Peter II. and Elizabeth of Carinthia. He succeeded his father in August, 1342, and on the 15th of September following was crowned at Palermo, his uncle John of Randazzo acting as regent. The people of Messina revolted and took the citadel; but the regent recovered it by assault, and hanged their leader, John Magna. This reign, if such it may be called, was characterized by anarchy and confusion, internal strife and petty civil war. Sicily did not fall under the yoke of the princes of Anjou, who were fully occupied in asserting their claim to Naples. Louis left two natural children, and was succeeded by his brother, Frederick III.
Louis I., King of Sicily or of Naples, Count of Provence, Duke of Anjou and of Maine, was born at Vincennes on the 23d July, 1339, and died on the 20th September, 1384. He was the second son of John II. king of France. At the battle of Poitiers, 19th September, 1356, he commanded the right wing of the second line, and was one of the first to fly. When John regained his liberty he erected Anjou into a duchy—an honour which had its drawback, as Louis was named one of the hostages for his father, and was sent to England. In 1363 he was allowed to cross the channel to visit his wife. He took the opportunity of breaking his parole, and remained in France. In 1364 he was present at the coronation of his brother Charles V. When Edward reclaimed his prisoner from the new monarch, Charles replied by naming his brother lieutenant of Languedoc. Louis took several towns from the English; but was principally known by the grievous taxation he imposed on his own subjects. In 1380, at the instigation of Pope Clement VII., Joan of Naples adopted Louis as her successor; but the anti-pope Urban declared Joan dethroned and gave the crown to Charles of Durazzo. At the death of Charles, Louis was named regent of France, an
