Louis II (5 October 1377 – 29 April 1417) was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1384 to 1417; he claimed the Kingdom of Naples, but only ruled parts of the kingdom from 1390 to 1399. His father, Louis I of Anjou—the founder of the House of Valois-Anjou—was a younger son of King John II of France and the adopted son of Queen Joanna I of Naples. When his father died during a military campaign in Naples in 1384, Louis II was still a child. He inherited Anjou from his father, but his mother, Marie of Blois, could not convince his uncles, John, Duke of Berry and Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, to continue her husband's war for Naples. The Provençal nobles and towns refused to acknowledge Louis II as their lawful ruler, but Marie of Blois persuaded them one after another to swear fealty to him between 1385 and 1387.

His cousin, King Charles VI of France, decided to support Louis II's bid for Naples in 1389. After Antipope Clement VII crowned him king in Avignon on 1 November 1389, Louis II moved to Naples. His troops could not occupy the whole kingdom, thus it was practically divided between Louis II and his opponent, Ladislaus of Naples. The conflict between Clement VII's successor, Antipope Benedict XIII, and France weakened Louis' position and Ladislaus forced him to leave Naples for Provence in 1399.

Louis was the elder of the two sons of Louis I of Anjou and Marie of Blois. Louis I was a younger son of King John II of France who granted Anjou and Maine to him as hereditary appanage in 1360. The childless Queen Joanna I of Naples adopted Louis I as her son and heir in 1380, because she needed French support against her rival, Charles of Durazzo. The rulers of Naples had acknowledged the popes' suzerainty since 1130, but two rival popes were competing for the supreme authority after the Western Schism of 1378. Joanna's subjects regarded Urban VI as the lawful pope, but she preferred Urban's opponent, Clement VII. In retaliation, Pope Urban confirmed Charles' claim to her realms and crowned him king of Naples (formally, king of Sicily) in Rome in June 1381. Charles of Durazzo invaded southern Italy, but Louis I could not leave France to protect his adoptive mother, because his brother, King Charles V of France had recently died. Charles of Durazzo captured Queen Joanna and occupied Naples in September.

Louis I was determined to seize her inheritance, which included the counties of Provence and Forcalquier and a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in addition to Naples. The earliest plans about Louis' marriage were related to his father's search for allies against Charles of Durazzo. In November 1381, Louis I was planning to forge an alliance with Aragon through the marriage of Louis and Louis' younger brother, Charles, with King Peter IV of Aragon's granddaughters, Joanna and Yolande. The plan was soon set aside, because Louis I realized that an alliance with a powerful Italian ruler could serve his purposes. After in early 1382 he decided to launch a military campaign against Charles of Durazzo, he started negotiations with Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan. Bernabò agreed to hire troops to fight against Charles of Durazzo and engaged his daughter, Lucia, to Louis on 13 March 1382.

Louis I had meanwhile come to Avignon where Clement VII crowned him king. He took possession of Provence and Forcalquier, allowing his mercenaries to freely loot the two counties. His military campaign decided Queen Joanna's fate, because Charles of Durazzo ordered her jailers to smother her in July. Louis I crossed the borders of the Kingdom of Naples in September, but Charles of Durazzo avoid to give a pitched battle. Louis I's most mercenaries deserted by the end of 1382, forcing him to offer to abandon his claim to Naples in return for Provence, but Charles of Durazzo rejected his offer. The seven-year-old Louis, who was staying in Anjou, sent a ring to Lucia Visconti to Milan in token of their engagement on 6 May 1384. He was styled as Duke of Calabria in the letter.

Louis I died in Bari on 20 September 1384. In his last will, he asked Clement VII to support his son to seize the Kingdom of Naples. He appointed Enguerrand VII of Coucy to administer the occupied parts of the kingdom as viceroy, stipulating that his widow could only remove Coucy with the consent of his brothers (John, Duke of Berry and Philip II, Duke of Burgundy) and their nephew, King Charles VI of France.

Louis was only seven when his father died. His mother tried to persuade Louis' uncles Philip II of Burgundy and John of Berry to continue the military campaign against Naples. Bernabò Visconti supported her efforts, but both dukes refused to spend more money on the unsuccessful enterprise. The Duke of Burgundy clearly stated that "all these little ventures" should be forgotten. Bernabò Visconti was arrested by his nephew Gian Galeazzo Visconti on 6 May 1385, which put an end to negotiations about the marriage of his daughter and Louis.

Most towns and noblemen supported Charles of Durazzo in Provence and Forcelquier. They entered into a formal alliance against Louis and his mother in Aix-en-Provence. Marie, who was determined to restore their rule in the two wealthy counties, hurried to Marseille. Louis accompanied his mother and they jointly received the oaths of fealty of the three highest-ranking magistrates of the town on 24 August 1385. In return, they ceremoniously pledged that they would always observe the burghers' liberties. Marie entered into negotiations with the members of the League of Aix and persuaded them one by one to accept Louis' rule during the following two years.