Louis I of Bar

Louis I of Bar (between 1370 and 1375 - 26 June 1430) was a French bishop of the 15th century.

Life

He was a son of Robert I of Bar and his wife Marie Valois (daughter of John II of France), and as their fifth son he was destined for a career in the church. He was bishop of Poitiers from 1391 to 1395 (also being made a cardinal in 1391) before becoming bishop of Langres (1397-1413) then Châlons (1413-30). At the same time he acted as bishop-administrator of Verdun (1419-23 and 1424-30).

He played an important role in French politics after the assassination of the duke of Orleans in 1407. In 1409 he attended the council of Pisa with Guy of Roye, archbishop of Reims, and Peter of Ailly, bishop of Cambrai. At Volti, near Gênes, a quarrel between the marshals of the town and the archbishop of Reims degenerated into a riot, with Guy being killed and Louis missing presumed dead. Arriving at Pisa, the cardinals pronounced the decline of popes Benedict XIII of Avignon and Gregory XII of Rome, and elected pope Alexander V, putting an end to the Great Western Schism.

On the death of his brother Edward III, duke of Bar at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, Louis inherited the dukedom and successfully defended his claim to it against those of his brother-in-law Adolphe, duke of Juliers and of Berg, who considered that as a clergyman Louis was not suited to inherit the dukedom and its revenues. In 1419, to put an end to the differences between the dukes of Bar and of Lorraine which had lasted several centuries, Louis negotiated the marriage of his great-nephew René of Anjou with Isabella (daughter and heiress of Charles II) and entrusted them with ruling the duchy of Bar sometime during the 1420s.

ource

*fr icon Georges Poull, "La Maison souveraine et ducale de Bar", 1994