General Notes

King of Naples (1435-42), Rene of Anjou, b. Jan. 6, 1409, d. July 10, 1480,
occupies a place in both the political and the literary history of his time.
Rene inherited (1434) from his brother Louis III of Anjou the French lands of
Provence and Anjou, as well as a claim to the throne of Naples.
In 1435, on the death of Joan II of Naples, he became titular king but was
driven out (1442) by a rival claimant, Alfonso V of Aragon. He then turned his
attention to his interests in France. He fought (1449-50) alongside Charles
VII of France against the English in Normandy and in 1466 accepted the title
king of Aragon from the Catalans rebelling against John II of Aragon. He was
the author of two romances in prose and verse.