The younger Anjou house belonged to the powerful branch of Valois. Its representatives managed a number of lands outside France, including in the Neapolitan state.
Dukes of Anjou: History
If you trace the line of origin of this house, you can find out a lot of interesting things. Margarita Anjou of Sicily, who was the grandmother of King John of France , inherited from her father a number of lands in the counties of Anjou and Maine. She bequeathed them to her son Louis 1. So the dukes of Anjou found their own real estate.
Giovanna 1 of Naples did not have her own children and therefore decided to transfer her crown to Louis 1. Thus, she wanted to get around Karl from Durazzo. To do this, she adopted Louis and handed him the crown. Thus began the battle for governing the Neapolitan state between the older and younger Anjou houses.
Initially, Carl of Durazzo and his son Vladislav retained control of Naples. Louis, meanwhile, added Provence to his possessions. Vladislav was excommunicated due to a conflict with the papacy.
In 1453, Giovanna 2 of Naples died. Along with her death, the elder stupid line of the Anjou house ceased to exist. Shortly before her death, Giovanna 2 managed to adopt Alfonso of Aragon, who was her political ally, and give him the crown. Its branch has become a powerful adversary for Valois. Soon, Alphonse became ruler of Naples.
The last duke of the Anjou line was Rene Good. He died in 1480. After that, the Dukes of Anjou lost their strength as a branch, and all their possessions passed to the royal domain.
Louise 1 of Savoy
The mother of the French king Francis 1 played a crucial role during his reign. Louise 1 of Savoy belonged to such a strong branch as the Dukes of Anjou. Her father was Charles 1 of Bourbon, and her mother was Agnes of Burgundy.
Married Louise 1, at 11, married the representative of the house of Valois Carl of Angouleme. At the age of 20, she remained a widow and did not remove black mourning dresses until the end of her days.
Louise of Savoy was the unspoken ruler of the French state during the reign of her son. She surrounded herself with Italians and brought her brothers Philip and Rene closer to her. Louise’s policies were based on family unions. So, she organized profitable marriages between distant relatives.
In 1523, she offered her hand to Karl Bourbon, who had recently become a widow, but received a polite refusal. After this, Louise began to persecute him, hiding behind her rights - as the king’s mother - on the count’s lands. This provoked his treason. As a result, Karl Bourbon lost all his possessions. And in the hands of Louise of Savoy concentrated a huge domain.
According to legend, this woman died from fear of an impending comet.
Henry 3
The Duke of Anjou, who later became king of Poland, was born in 1551. Henry 3 was a gifted child and naturally had a good character, a penetrating and lively mind. But under the influence of his mother, who wanted to achieve power by all means, he received a poor upbringing. Henry 3 became a coddled, corrupted, capricious and lazy young man. At the age of 16, he was placed at the head of the French army and took part in the battles of Moncontour and Zharnak. In 1753, he commanded the siege of La Rochelle. Because of his laziness and thoughtlessness of orders, the army suffered a crushing defeat.
Henry 3 unsuccessfully made a match for Elizabeth of England, but after refusing he left for Krakow. He did not stay there long, and a year later, having learned of the death of Charles 9, which opened the way for him to the French throne, he left Poland. At home, he handed over the reins of mother’s rule, and he indulged in sensual pleasures.
In 1575, Henry 3 was crowned in Reims, and the next day he married Louise Vaudemont. The king pursued an ill-conceived policy, thereby setting members of many social movements against himself. On August 2, 1588, the Dominican monk Jacques Clement entered the king’s chambers and dealt him a mortal blow with a dagger. With the death of Henry 3, the Valois branch ceased to exist.
Francois of Anjou
The only of the four sons of Catherine de Medici, who did not become king. The Duke of Francois of Anjou stood at the head of a number of factions that were hostile to the king. He participated in a conspiracy against Charles 9, but he was granted forgiveness in exchange for issuing information about his associates. Francois supported the Protestants, but later opposed them. He was proclaimed Count of Flanders, but was expelled by the Flemings themselves. He died of tuberculosis in 1584.
Rene Good (1408-1480 gg.)
Duke of Provence, Anjou, King of Jerusalem and Sicily. Today he is better known as a talented writer than as a politician. Rene of Anjou was born into a family of kings and made a military career.
The legend of his kindness says that when luck in political affairs turned away from him, the ruler began to seek solace in literature and art. Of course, there is a fraction of fiction in this. Rene Anjou remained a prominent political figure, and his creative hobbies could be regarded only as a hobby.