Ludwig of Anjou was born in 1274 in the castle of Brignoles in Provence, the second son of Charles II of Anjou (son of King Charles I of Naples and nephew of Saint Louis IX, King of France) and Princess Maria, daughter and heir of King Stephen IV of Hungary. He spent his childhood in great serenity and Christianity, always committing himself to helping the needy, especially the hungry.
In July 5, 1284, during a naval battle in the waters of Naples, his father, Charles II of Anjou was taken prisoner by Alphonse III of Aragon during the war of the so-called “Sicilian Vespers” for the Sicilian government. In 1285, upon the death of his father, Charles succeeded him on the throne, but only with the treaty of Camporeale in 1288 did Alphonse III of Aragon grant his freedom, on condition that he left behind as hostages three of his sons: Ludwig, Robert, and Raymond, along with fifty gentlemen of the kingdom.
Forced to accept, on November 18, 1288, the three youngest princes embarked for Catalonia, in Spain. Ludwig endured with admirable patience the sufferings of exile, urging his brothers to imitate Christ and to trust God, the ever-good Father.
Only on October 31, 1295, were the prisoners finally returned to the family. During the exile, the three boys had brave Franciscan educators by their side: Francesco Brun (future bishop of Gaeta), Pietro Scarrier (future bishop of Rapolla) and were always in contact by letter with the learned Franciscan Peter of John Olivi, receiving comfort from them with his deep thoughts. Thanks to them, Ludwig matured in his vocation to the priesthood.
In January 1290, he became gravely ill of pulmonary tuberculosis; he surrendered to the will of God, placing himself in God’s hands and, miraculously healed, he left the doctors astonished. He then disclosed the promise, made in the imminence of death, to associate himself to the Order of St. Francis.
In 1294 Pope Celestine V permitted him to receive tonsure and the four minor orders. The following year, however, his older brother Carlo Martello of Anjou, king of Hungary and heir to the Naples throne, died. Ludwig, therefore, would have been entitled to the kingdom, but it was precisely this element that prevented him from joining the Franciscans.
Arriving in Naples, in February 1296 he made the official gesture of renouncing the rights to the Kingdom of Naples and to the counties of Anjou and Provence; on May 19, 1296, he was ordained priest by the archbishop of Naples in the Franciscan basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore. He stayed a little while in Naples, continuing his work of charity toward the needy and enjoying the respect of all for his priestly state. But Pope Boniface VIII wanted to appoint him bishop of Tolosa, in France; Ludwig, although reluctant, accepted because of the pope’s insistence, on the condition that he could first become a Franciscan. Thus, on December 24, 1296, he made his profession of the Rule and pronounced vows in the convent of Ara Coeli in Rome; the following December 30, in the basilica of St. Peter, he was consecrated bishop by the Pope himself.
At the beginning of 1297, Ludwig traveled to his new diocese in France, making various stops in Franciscan convents, always dressed in the habit. He finally arrived in Tolosa in May 1297; here Ludwig carried out his episcopal ministry without sparing himself, always present where he could be of help, especially near to the incurably ill. Unfortunately, all this was not compatible with his precarious health conditions; on August 3, 1297, he arrived on the back of a mule in Brignoles to meet his father, but already the signs of his grave state of health were obvious to everyone. He died on August 19.
Per his wishes, he was buried in the convent of the Friars Minor at Marseille, and his tomb immediately became a pilgrimage destination of many faithful. Already in 1300 the cause of canonization began, which took place in Avignon on April 7, 1317, by Pope John XXII.
At the behest of Alfonso V of Aragon, his remains were transferred in 1423 to the cathedral of Valencia in Spain, where they remain to this day.
Cf. Friars Minor, Saints and Blessed, edited by Br. Silvano Bracci, OFM, and Sr. Antonietta Passebon, FMSC, Editor Velar, 2009, pp. 87-90.