Louis I, Duke of Bar
Louis I of Bar was a French bishop of the 15th century and the de jure Duke of Bar from 1415 to 1430, ruling from the 1420s alongside his grand-nephew René of Anjou.Life
He was a son of Robert I of Bar and his wife Marie Valois,. As the couple's fifth son, he was destined for a career in the church. He was Bishop of Poitiers from 1391 to 1395 before becoming Bishop of Langres, and then Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne. At the same time, he acted as bishop-administrator of Verdun.
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 the archbishop being killed and Louis missing-presumed dead. The cardinals, arriving at Pisa, 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 that of his brother-in-law Adolphe, Duke of Juliers and of Berg, who felt that, as a clergyman, Louis was not suited to inherit the dukedom and its revenues. In 1419, in order to put an end to the differences that had existed for several centuries between the dukes of Bar and Lorraine, Louis negotiated the marriage of his grand-nephew René of Anjou to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine, and entrusted them with ruling the Duchy of Bar in the 1420s.
