René
René
(rənā`), 1409–80, king of Naples (1435–80; rival claimant to Alfonso VAlfonso V(Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and Sicily.
..... Click the link for more information. of Aragón and Ferdinand IFerdinand I
or Ferrante
, 1423–94, king of Naples (1458–94), illegitimate son and successor (in Naples) of Alfonso V of Aragón. His succession was challenged by Pope Calixtus III, but Pope Pius II made peace with him.
..... Click the link for more information. of Naples), duke of Anjou, Bar, and Lorraine, count of Provence. He was also called René of Anjou and Good King René. The second son of King Louis II of Naples, he was count of Guise when he married (1419) Isabella, heiress of Lorraine and Bar. He inherited Bar (1430) and Lorraine (1431), but the latter title was contested by a rival supported by Philip the Good of Burgundy. René was captured (1431) and held prisoner, although Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund awarded him Lorraine. At the death (1434) of his brother, Louis IIILouis III,
1403–34, king of Naples (1417–34; rival claimant to Joanna II), duke of Anjou, count of Provence, son and successor of Louis II. He invaded Naples in 1420.
..... Click the link for more information. of Naples, he inherited Anjou, Provence, and the claim to the succession of Joanna IIJoanna II,
1371–1435, queen of Naples (1414–35), sister and successor of Lancelot. The intrigues of her favorites kept her court in turmoil. Her second husband, James of Bourbon, tried to seize power but was imprisoned in 1416.
..... Click the link for more information. of Naples (d. 1435), who adopted him as heir. Released from his imprisonment in 1437, René arrived (1438) in Italy to take possession of his kingdom. Alfonso V, who had taken over the kingdom when Joanna died, defeated (1442) him; René returned to France and established a brilliant court at Angers. In 1445 his daughter, Margaret of AnjouMargaret of Anjou
, 1430?–1482, queen consort of King Henry VI of England, daughter of René of Anjou. Her marriage, which took place in 1445, was negotiated by William de la Pole, 4th earl (later 1st duke) of Suffolk (see under Pole, family).
..... Click the link for more information. , married Henry VI of England. René about that time delegated his interests in Lorraine and Naples to his son John, whom he made duke of Lorraine and Bar in 1452. John's expedition to Naples ended with defeat (1462) at Troja, and he died in 1470. René was obliged by King Louis XI of France to make the French crown his heir in Anjou. In 1473 he retired to Provence and there devoted himself to poetry and painting, for which he acquired a certain reputation. His titles to Provence and Naples passed to his nephew Charles, count of Maine; they reverted to the French crown when the death (1481) of Charles ended the Angevin dynasty. Lorraine and Bar remained under René's descendants. Important in history for his dynastic connections, René was also remarkable as one of the last representatives of medieval chivalry and culture.