Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis IV
Portrait of Louis IV (on a late gothic graveplate made of red marble in 1468 by Hans Haldner), tomb in the Frauenkirche of Munich
King of the Romans until 1330 with Frederick the Handsome
Reign	20 October 1314 – 11 October 1347
Coronation	25 November 1314 (Aachen)
Predecessor	Henry VII
Successor	Charles IV
King of Italy
Reign	31 May 1327 – 11 October 1347
Coronation	31 May 1327 (Milan)
Predecessor	Henry VII
Successor	Charles IV
Holy Roman Emperor
Reign	1328 – 11 October 1347
Coronation	17 January 1328 (Rome)
Predecessor	Henry VII
Successor	Charles IV
Duke of Bavaria until 1317 with Rudolf I
Reign	1301 – 11 October 1347
Predecessor	Rudolf I
Successor	Louis V, Stephen II, Louis VI, William I, Albert I and Otto V
Born	April 5, 1282 Munich
Died	11 October 1347(1347-10-11) (aged 65) Puch near Fürstenfeldbruck
Burial	Frauenkirche in Munich
Spouse	Beatrix of Świdnica Margaret II, Countess of Holland
Issue	Matilda, Margravine of Meissen Louis V, Duke of Bavaria Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria Louis VI, Duke of Bavaria William I, Duke of Bavaria Albert I, Duke of Bavaria Beatrice, Queen of Sweden Otto V, Duke of Bavaria
House	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Louis II, Duke of Bavaria
Mother	Matilda of Habsburg
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Louis IV (German: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.

Louis IV was Duke of Upper Bavaria from 1294/1301 together with his elder brother Rudolf I, served as Margrave of Brandenburg until 1323, as Count Palatine of the Rhine until 1329, and he became Duke of Lower Bavaria in 1340. He obtained the titles Count of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland in 1345 when his wife Margaret inherited them.

Louis was born in Munich, the son of Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Matilda, a daughter of King Rudolph I.

Though Louis was partly educated in Vienna and became co-regent of his brother Rudolf I in Upper Bavaria in 1301 with the support of his Habsburg mother and her brother, King Albert I, he quarrelled with the Habsburgs from 1307 over possessions in Lower Bavaria. A civil war against his brother Rudolf due to new disputes on the partition of their lands was ended in 1313, when peace was made at Munich.