Louis IV, Elector Palatine

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Louis IV
Coat of arms
Elector Palatine
Reign	30 December 1436 – 13 August 1449
Predecessor	Louis III
Successor	Frederick I
Born	1 January 1424 Heidelberg
Died	13 August 1449(1449-08-13) (aged 25) Worms
Burial	Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg
Spouse	Margarete of Savoy
Issue	Philip, Elector Palatine
House	Wittelsbach
Father	Louis III, Elector Palatine
Mother	Matilda of Savoy

Louis IV, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1 January 1424, Heidelberg – 13 August 1449, Worms) was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the House of Wittelsbach in 1436 - 1449.

Louis IV was the son of Louis III, Elector Palatine and his second wife Matilda of Savoy.^[1] His mother was a fourth-generation descendant of Thomas III of Piedmont (1248 - 1282), the eldest son of Thomas II of Savoy.^{[citation needed]}

From the death of Louis III in 1436 until 1442, Louis IV ruled under guardianship of his uncle, Count Palatine Otto I of Mosbach. In 1444 he repelled the attacks of the Armagnacs as an Imperial captain.^[2] Louis IV died aged 25 years in 1449 in Worms, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Spirit of Heidelberg. His only son being a minor, Philipp, he fell under the guardianship of Louis' brother Frederick, who later adopted him and then seized the electoral title himself in 1451/52.

In 1445 he married Margarete of Savoy, widow of king Louis III of Naples and daughter of Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy. With her, he had his only son:

1. Philipp (14 July 1448 – 28 February 1508), Elector Palatine from 1476 to 1508.^[3]

• (in German) genealogie-mittelalter.de