CHAPTER XI

QUEEN JOAN OF NAPLES

A conspicuous feminine sinner—Marriage of State—Her beauty—Her Hungarian husband—Petrarch and the monk—Joan’s ascent to the throne—The Naples succession—Her favourites—The churches of Naples—Joan’s lovers—Factions of Naples—Charles of Durazzo—A bold proposal—Charles’s ambitious plots—War of the Factions—Disappearance of Maria—Becomes the wife of Charles—Joan’s horror pp. 200-217