loggia: a roofed gallery or balcony.
Lokroi Epizephyrioi: See Locri Epizephyrii.
Lollia Gens: An ancient Roman plebian gens. Not appearing in history until the last decades of the Republic, it is believed to have been of Sabine or Samnite origins. The first member of this gens to attain the consulship was M. Lollius in 21 BC.
Lollius (1): (fl. 3rd Century BC) A Samnite, he was held at Rome as a hostage after the Pyrrhic War. Escaping, he became the leader of a band of brigands and seized control of the stronghold of Caricinum in Samnium. He used this fortress as a base of operations for raiding the countryside. In 269 BC, he was defeated and his stronghold captured by the Romans under Q. Ogulnius Gallus and C. Fabius Pictor.
Lollius, Quintus (2): (fl. 2nd – 1st Centuries BC). A Roman knight (eques) living in Sicily. Nearly 90 years old when Verres served as governor of Sicily (73-71 BC), he was victimized by the governor’s assistant Q. Apronius. When Cicero later prosecuted Verres for his crimes, Lollius was too feeble to testify, but his son Marcus Lollius served as his agent. Another of his sons, Quintus Lollius, while gathering evidence to use against Verres in Sicily, was murdered on the road. It was generally believed that the act was done by assassins hired by Verres but there is no evidence that anyone was ever officially prosecuted.
Lombards: (It. Longobardi). A Teutonic people of Scandinavian origins. After a period of settlement in the area of the lower Danube, they invaded Byzantine-held Italy in the spring of AD 568. The name, usually translated as “Long Beards”, is a combination of two Germanic words lang ( = long) and bart ( = beard). Some researchers, however, believe that the second root is actually barta( = ax), thus changing the meaning of the name to “long axes”, referring to a favorite weapon of the Lombards.
Longano (IS): A commune in the province of Isernia. Population: 719 (2006e).
Longi (ME): A commune in the province of Messina.
Longobardi: See Lombards.
Longobardi (CS): A commune in the province of Cosenza. Population: 2,295 (2006e).
Longobucco (CS): A commune in the province of Cosenza. Population: 4,077 (2006e).
Loreto Aprutino (PE): A commune in the province of Pescara, located 4 miles from Chieti.
Losna: Etruscan goddess of the moon.
Louis: King of Sicily (Trinacria) (r1342-1355).
Louis I of Anjou: (b. July 23, 1339, Château de Vincennes, France; d. Sept. 20, 1384, Biseglia Castle near Bari). King of Naples and Jerusalem (r1382-1384); Count of Anjou (1356–1360), Duke of Anjou (1360–1384), Count of Maine (1356–1384), Duke of Touraine (1370–1384), and Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1382–1384). He was the second son of King John II of France and Bonne de Luxembourg. After the French defeat by the English at the Battle of Poitiers (1356), Louis became a hostage and was sent to England in October 1360. He managed to escape and return to France, but was sent back by his father who considered his getaway to be dishonorable.
Between 1380 and 1382 he served as regent of France for his nephew Charles VI. Having been adopted as the heir of Queen Joanna I of Naples, Louis seized control of the counties of Provence and Forcalquier after Joanna’s overthrown and execution (May 12, 1382). He left France in an attempt to secure his claim to Naples, but could not oust Charles of Durazzo, who became King Charles III. Louis died in Bari and his claim to Naples was inherited by his son Louis II.
Louis II of Anjou: (b. 1377; d. Apr. 29, 1417). King of Naples (r1390-1399) in opposition to Ladislaus (r1386-1414). He was the son of Louis I of Anjou, whose claim to the throne of Naples he inherited. On Nov. 1, 1389, he was crowned King of Naples by the antipope Clement VIII. Louis entered Naples in 1390 and held the city until Ladislaus recovered it in 1399. He would continue his contest with Ladislaus, driving the latter out of Rome in 1409. In the following year, Louis allied himself with the antipope John XXIII against Ladislaus. He was able to defeat his rival in battle at Roccasecca in 1411, but was never able to retake the Neapolitan throne. Retiring back into his French holdings, he died in 1417, and his claim to Naples passed to his son Louis III.