LADISLAO, king of NAPOLI. - B. in Napoli on 11 February 1377, d. there on 6 August 1414. He succeeded (1386) his father Carlo III, assassinated at Buda. Circumstances forced the regent Margherita to leave Napoli, which was seized by the supporters of Luigi II d'Angiò. Declared of age (1393), he nevertheless remained for many years under his mother’s influence.
At the beginning of his reign he defeated the rebellious barons and populations and, in 1399, occupied Napoli and the rest of the Kingdom. Having dissolved his marriage to Costanza di Chiaramonte, he married Maria di Lusignano. Having landed at Zara, he proclaimed himself king of Hungary, but subsequently renounced this in order to seek the imperial crown; his efforts, however, failed. Upon the death of Bonifacio IX and the outbreak of an uprising in Roma, he entered it as mediator, and the new pope Innocenzo VII proclaimed him “defender, protector, and standard-bearer of the Church.” He besieged Taranto twice and, having married Maria d'Anghien, conquered that principality. On 21 April 1408 he militarily occupied Roma, in order to keep Gregorio XII at his mercy. When Giovanni XXIII crowned Luigi II d'Angiò king of Napoli, he rose up and suffered a defeat at Roccasecca (1410), but subsequently managed to prevail. Having occupied Roma for a third time, he came to terms with the Pope and, while preparing to resume the struggle, fell ill at Narni; having returned to Napoli, he died there.