Louis II
- Born:
- July 1, 1506
- Died:
- Aug. 29, 1526, Mohács, Hung.
- Also Known As:
- Lajos II
- Ludvík II
- Title / Office:
- king (1516-1526), Hungary
- king (1516-1526), Bohemia
- Role In:
- Battle of Mohács
Louis II (born July 1, 1506—died Aug. 29, 1526, Mohács, Hung.) was the king of Hungary and of Bohemia from 1516, who was the last of the Jagiełło line to rule those countries and the last king to rule all of Hungary before the Turks conquered a large portion of it.
The only son of Vladislas II of Hungary and Bohemia, Louis was sickly as a child but intelligent. To assure the succession, he was crowned king of Hungary (June 4, 1508) and of Bohemia (May 11, 1509), and became king on his father’s death (March 1516). He was declared of age to rule on Dec. 11, 1521. He married Maria of Austria the following January 13, and both pursued a life of riotous pleasure, soon disqualifying the teenage king from affairs of state.
The Ottoman Turks attacked Hungary in the summer of 1526, and Louis, with an inadequate force, advanced against them. He was routed at Mohács on the Danube (Aug. 29, 1526) and is said to have drowned fleeing the battlefield. After that defeat, Hungary was divided between the Turks and the Austrian Habsburgs.
