ed, leaving
Anjou to his eldest son Philip of Valois, on whose recognition as king
of France (Philip VI.) on the 1st of April 1328, the countship of Anjou
was again united to the crown. On the 17th of February 1332, Philip VI.
bestowed it on his son John the Good, who, when he became king in turn
(22nd of August 1350), gave the countship to his second son Louis I.,
raising it to a duchy in the peerage of France by letters patent of the
25th of October 1360. Louis I., who became in time count of Provence and
king of Naples (see Louis I., king of Naples,) died in 1384, and was
succeeded by his son Louis II., who devoted most of his energies to his
kingdom of Naples, and left the administration of Anjou almost entirely
in the hands of his wife, Yolande of Aragon. On his death (29th of April
1417) she took upon herself the guardianship of their young son Louis
III., and in her capacity of regent defended the duchy against the
English. Louis III., who also succeeded his father as king of Naples,
died on the 15th of November 1434, leaving no children. The duchy of
Anjou then passed to his cousin Rene, second son of Louis II. and
Yolande of Aragon, and king of Naples and Sicily (see NAPLES).

Unlike his predecessors, who had rarely stayed long in Anjou, Rene from
1443 onwards paid long visits to it, and his court at Angers became one
of the most brilliant in the kingdom of France. But after the sudden
death of his son John in December 1470, Rene, for reasons which are not
altogether clear, decided to move his residence to Provence and leave
Anjou for good. After making an inventory of all his possessions, he
left the duchy in October 1471, taking with him the most valuable of his
treasures. On the 22nd of July 1474 he drew up a will by which he
divided the succession between his grandson Rene II. of Lorraine and his
nephew Charles II., count of Maine. On hearing this, King Louis XI., who
was the son of one of King Rene's sisters, seeing that his expectations
were thus completely frustrated, seized the duchy of Anjou. He did not
keep it very long, but became reconciled to Rene in 1476 and restored it
to him, on condition, probably, that Rene should bequeath it to him.
However that may be, on the death of the latter (10th of July 1480) he
again added Anjou to the royal domain.

Later, King Francis I. again gave the duchy as an appanage to his
mother, Louise of Savoy, by letters patent of the 4th of February 1515.
On her death,