Editing Louis I of Hungary (section)

=== First years (1342–1345)===
[[File:The Secretum Secretorum (The Secret of Secrets) - Louis the Great of Hungary.jpg|alt=King Louis I of Hungary, crown, shield, Anjou coat of arms, secpter, Hungarian, medieval, book, illumination, illustration, history|left|thumb|King Louis I as depicted in the ''Secretum Secretorum'' (Secret of Secrets)]]
[[File:Karolus Moravius.jpg|thumb |upright |alt=A young man wearing a ducal crown with a flag in his hand |[[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles, Margrave of Moravia]] (the future Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor), the father of Louis's first wife, [[Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary|Margaret of Bohemia]] (from the ''[[Gelnhausen Codex]]'')]]
Charles I died on 16 July 1342.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=138}} Five days later, [[Csanád Telegdi]], Archbishop of [[Archdiocese of Esztergom|Esztergom]], crowned Louis king with the [[Holy Crown of Hungary]] in [[Székesfehérvár]].{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=52}} Although Louis had attained the age of majority, his mother Elizabeth "acted as a sort of co-regent" for decades, because she exerted a powerful influence on him.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=171}} Louis inherited a rich treasury from his father, who had strengthened royal authority and ruled without holding [[Diet of Hungary|Diets]] during the last decades of his reign.{{sfn|Engel|2001|pp=140, 157}}

Louis introduced a new system of land grants, excluding the grantee's brothers and other kinsmen from the donation in contrast with customary law: such estates [[escheat]]ed to the Crown if the grantee's last male descendants died.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=178}} On the other hand, Louis often "[[Prefection|promoted a daughter to a son]]", that is authorized a daughter to inherit her father's estates, although customary law prescribed that the landed property of a deceased nobleman who had no sons was to be inherited by his kinsmen.{{sfn|Engel|2001|pp=178–179}} Louis often granted this privilege to the wives of his favorites.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=179}} Louis also frequently [[jus gladii|authorized landowners to apply capital punishment]] in their estates, limiting the authority of the magistrates of the [[County (Kingdom of Hungary)|counties]].{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=180}}

[[William Drugeth]], an influential advisor of Louis's late father, died in September 1342.{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=207}} He bequeathed his landed property to his brother, Nicholas, but Louis confiscated those estates.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=182}}{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=54}} In late autumn, Louis dismissed his father's [[Voivode of Transylvania]], [[Thomas Szécsényi]], although Szécsényi's wife was a distant cousin of the [[queen mother]].{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=54}}{{sfn|Kristó|2002|p=49}} Louis especially favored the [[Lackfi]]s: eight members of the family held high offices during his reign.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=182}}{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=54}} [[Andrew Lackfi]] was the commander of the royal army during the first war of Louis's reign.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=91}} In late 1342 or early 1343, he invaded [[Serbian Empire|Serbia]] and restored the [[Banate of Macsó]], which had been lost during his father's reign.{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=56}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=91–92}}

[[Robert the Wise]], [[King of Naples]], died on 20 January 1343.{{sfn|Goldstone|2009|p=182}} In his [[Will and testament|testament]], he declared his granddaughter, [[Joanna I of Naples|Joanna I]], his sole heir, excluding Louis's younger brother, Andrew, Joanna's husband, from becoming co-ruler.{{sfn|Goldstone|2009|p=182}} Louis and his mother regarded this as an infringement of a previous agreement between the late kings of Naples and Hungary.{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=55}} He visited his bride's father, [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles of Moravia]], in [[Prague]] to persuade him to intervene on Andrew's behalf with Charles's former tutor, [[Pope Clement VI]], the overlord of the [[Kingdom of Naples]].{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=55}}{{sfn|Kristó|2002|pp=49–50}} Louis also sent envoys to his Neapolitan relatives and the high officials of the kingdom, urging them to promote his brother's interests.{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=55}} Their mother, Elizabeth, left for Naples in the summer, taking with her almost the whole royal treasure, including more than {{convert|6628|kg|lb}} of silver and {{convert|5150|kg|lb}} of gold.{{sfn|Goldstone|2009|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Engel|2001|pp=156, 159}} During her seven-month-long stay in Italy, she was only able to persuade her daughter-in-law and the pope to promise that Andrew would be crowned as Joanna's husband.{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=57}}

According to the nearly contemporaneous chronicle of [[John of Küküllő]], Louis launched his first campaign against a group of [[Transylvanian Saxons]], who had refused to pay taxes, and forced them to yield in the summer of 1344.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=91, 94}} During his stay in Transylvania, [[Nicholas Alexander of Wallachia|Nicholas Alexander]]{{spaced ndash}}who was the son of [[Basarab I of Wallachia|Basarab]], the ruling [[prince of Wallachia]]{{spaced ndash}}swore loyalty to Louis on his father's behalf in [[Brașov|Brassó]] (now Brașov in [[Romania]]); thus the suzerainty of the Hungarian monarchs over [[Wallachia]] was, at least outwardly, restored.{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=208}}{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=195}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=93–94}}

Louis joined a [[Northern crusades|crusade]] against the pagan [[Lithuanians]] in December 1344.{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=208}}{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=194}} The crusaders{{spaced ndash}}including [[John of Bohemia]], Charles of Moravia, [[Peter I, Duke of Bourbon|Peter of Bourbon]], and [[William II, Count of Hainaut|William of Hainaut and Holland]]{{spaced ndash}} laid siege to [[Vilnius]].{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=208}}{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=194}} However, a Lithuanian invasion of the lands of the Teutonic Knights forced them to lift the siege.{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=57}} Louis returned to Hungary in late February 1345.{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=208}} He dispatched [[Andrew Lackfi]], [[Count of the Székelys]], to invade the lands of the [[Golden Horde]] in retaliation for the [[Tatars]]' earlier plundering raids against [[Transylvania]] and the [[Szepesség]] (now Spiš in Slovakia).{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=58}} [[Andrew Lackfi|Lackfi]] and his army of mainly [[Székelys|Székely]] warriors inflicted a defeat on a large [[Tatars|Tatar]] army on 2 February 1345.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=199}} Hungarian warriors were victorious in their campaign, decapitating the local [[Tatars|Tatar]] leader, the brother-in-law of the Khan, Atlamïş, and making the [[Tatars]] flee toward the coastal area. The [[Golden Horde]] was pushed back behind the [[Dniester|Dniester River]], thereafter the [[Golden Horde|Golden Horde's]] control of the lands between the [[Eastern Carpathians]] and the [[Black Sea]] weakened.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=199}} A conflict between Louis's uncle and father-in-law (Casimir III of Poland and Charles of Moravia) led to a war between Poland and Bohemia in April.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=95–96}} In this war Louis supported his uncle with reinforcements in accordance with the agreement of 1339.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=95–96}}

While Louis's armies were fighting in Poland and against the Tatars, Louis marched to [[Kingdom of Croatia (1102–1526)|Croatia]] in June 1345{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=98}} and besieged [[Knin]], the former seat of the late [[Ivan I Nelipac|Ivan Nelipac]], who had successfully resisted Louis's father, forcing [[Vladislava Kurjaković|his widow]] and son to surrender.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=339}} The [[Kurjaković family|counts of Corbavia]] and other Croatian noblemen also yielded to him during his stay in Croatia.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=100}}{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=162}} The citizens of [[Zadar]] rebelled against the [[Republic of Venice]] and accepted his suzerainty.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=339}}{{sfn|Magaš|2007|p=60}} Louis meanwhile returned to [[Visegrád]]. He dispatched [[Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia]], to assist the burghers of Zadar, but the ban did not fight against the Venetians.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=103–104}}

====Gallery====
<gallery class="center">
File:First Big Seal.PNG|alt=A crowned young man sitting on a throne|Louis's first royal seal, lost during a campaign in Bosnia in 1363
File:Louis the Great big seal.jpg|alt=A crowned man sitting on a throne|Louis's second royal seal, introduced in 1363
File:Privilege of Koszyce.jpg|[[Privilege of Koszyce|Privilege of Kassa]] (Košice)
File:Aachen Louis.jpg|The Golden Cloak clasp, Hungarian Chapel in the Cathedral of Aachen
</gallery>