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.

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.

[2] Louis I was a younger son of King John II of France who granted Anjou and Maine to him as hereditary appanage in 1360.

[3] The childless Queen Joanna I of Naples adopted Louis I as her son and heir in 1380,[3] because she needed French support against her rival, Charles of Durazzo.

[7] Louis I was determined to seize her inheritance, which included the counties of Provence and Forcalquier and a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in addition to Naples.

[9] After in early 1382 he decided to launch a military campaign against Charles of Durazzo, he started negotiations with Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan.

[10] Louis I crossed the borders of the Kingdom of Naples in September, but Charles of Durazzo avoid to give a pitched battle.

[16] His mother tried to persuade Louis' uncles Philip II of Burgundy and John of Berry to continue the military campaign against Naples.

[22] Charles VI of France reached the age of majority, dismissed the dukes of Burgundy and Berry and decided to provide support to Louis.

[26] The celebrations which lasted for a week were "carefully stage-managed propaganda for the royal house, deliberately contrived to show its fortunes in the hands of a younger generation", according to historian Jonathan Sumption.

[32] Clement VII's legate, Cardinal Pierre de Thury, who had accompanied Louis to Naples, administered the kingdom efficiently on his behalf.

[34] Clement VII provided regular financial support to Louis[35] whose troops achieved a series of major victories and captured Amalfi and Ravello in 1392.

[23] Charles VI of France showed the first symptoms of madness on 5 August 1392, which enabled Philip II of Burgundy to strengthen his position at the French royal court.

[21][36] However, negotiations with their potential Italian allies and Clement VII proved that their goals could hardly be achieved, because of the lack of sufficient financial support.

[38] Charles VI and his counsellors wanted to put an end to the schism and asked Clement VII's cardinals not to elect a new pope.

[40] Louis supported Benedict,[citation needed] but the French prelates decided to enforce the abdication of both popes at their general assembly in Paris on 2 February 1395.

[21] When analysing their situation, historian Alan Ryder concludes that Louis revealed a "character devoid of leadership" and Ladislaus displayed that "acumen and ruthlessness which were to make him the terror of Italy".

[43] Charles VI of France openly abandoned Louis' case when he signed a treaty with Florence, promising not to intervene in Naples.

[44] The legitimacy of Louis's rule in Naples derived from his coronation by Benedict XIII's predecessor, but his mother who administered Provence was to support the French action.

[50] However, after the Duke of Burgundy instigated a mob attack on the Dauphin of France, Louis and his wife joined the Armagnac Faction.