Wednesday 25 March 2015

Medieval Italy - The Queen of Naples V


Andrew's Assassination
The Assassination
On 18th September Andrew was murdered at Aversa, possibly on Catherine’s order. He was preparing for bed[i] when he was informed that a courier had arrived with important paperwork for him. The report sent to Avignon was quite clear;

‘He went into the gallery…..Certain ones placed their hands over his mouth, so that he could not cry out, and in this act they so pressed the iron gauntlets that their print and character were manifest after death. , others placed a rope around his neck, in order to strangle him, and this likewise left its mark.’[ii]
Andrew was suspended over the balcony of his room and the rope holding him was cut. The sound of Andrew’s body hitting the ground woke his nurse Isabelle. She rushed in to discover the assailants who hurriedly dispersed at the sound of her screams. There is a possibility that Joanna was complicit in his death. King Louis was incandescent with rage at his brother’s murder.

Isabelle sent her son Nicholas to report to Louis and Elizabeth on Andrew’s death. the newsmongers of the day now had a story they could sensationalise and Giovanni Villani had a cracker given to him direct by Nicholas;
‘When morning came, the entire population of Aversa went to the Queen’s residence to find out who had perpetrated such a crime, and to exact retribution. The queen suddenly blushed, and, as if transfixed, kept her head down and her tearless eyes averted.’[iii]
Villani’s report had Joanna fleeing Aversa leaving Andrew’s body to the elements; the truth of course is very different; Andrew was buried on the 20th in the cathedral at Naples.
The same day one of the assailants was apprehended; Tomaso Mambriccio, one of Andrew’s personal servants, who had been paid for his involvement in the crime. Andrew had threatened to execute Tomaso once Andrew had been crowned. Although Tomaso had been tortured before his death, his torturers had carefully removed his tongue to ensure that he could not implicate his fellow conspirators, including the person who had paid Tomaso, who was executed.
The Aftermath

Joanna's seal
Both Joanna and Charles of Durazzo contacted the Hungarian court, seeking their support. Charles hoped to turn the death of Louis’ brother to his advantage, whilst Joanna was desperately hoping to placate the Hungarians. She also sent despatches far and wide attempting to spin the news of Andrew’s murder, informing the city of Florence[iv] that the principal assassin had been put to death.

Clement’s letter in reply warned Joanna;
‘Be sedulously on your guard as to whom you trust, and whom you ought to avoid.’[v]
One of the people Joanna needed to guard against was Clement himself who hurriedly wrote to Louis, failing to mention his ambivalence towards Andrew and his many changes of policy and the vexed question of Andrew as ruler of Naples. Clement did not want further strife in Europe; he was already concerned about Edward III’s posturing in the west. To forestall Louis’ complaints, Clement decided to send two cardinals to investigate Andrew’s death.
War Comes To Naples
On 25th December 1345 Joanna gave birth to her son Charles Martel. She placed Charles Martel in the hands of Andrew’s nurse Isabelle, possibly as a sop to Andrew’s relatives, and convinced Clement to stand as his godfather. Joanna’s emissary to Hungary was charged with negotiating Joanna’s release from the nuptial treaty of 1333 to leave her free to remarry.
Louis was furious and wrote to Clement alleging that Joanna was his brother’s murderer. Clement’s emissaries had been dilatory and had not yet arrived in Naples to even begin their investigations. His mother Elizabeth demanded that Clement remove Joanna as queen of Naples and crown her third son Stephen king in Joanna’s place. Charles Martel was to be sent to his grandmother in Hungary.
Joanna determined to marry her cousin Louis of Taranto. She was in need of a husband who understood the political undercurrents in her kingdom. As well as being family Louis was tall, blond and handsome and a tested warrior. Louis’ brother had already forced Joanna to agree to wed him and now Naples was rent by a war between the two brothers.
Robert of Taranto allied with Charles of Durazzo and the two men used their own retainers to form the nucleus of an army; whilst Louis was forced to recruit a mercenary army from outside the kingdom, with the assistance of his mother’s lover Niccolo Acciaiuoili. Robert and Charles, along with the rest of the Durazzo brothers, claimed they were fighting to bring Andrew’s murderers, who were allegedly being harboured by Joanna and Louis, to justice. Clement wrote of Louis;
‘If his marriage is accomplished, those who are vulnerable for being suspected of participating in the criminally infamous death of the king are guaranteed by Louis to be declared safe from punishment.’[vi]
Hugo del Balzo switched sides and became a secret emissary of the pope’s. The dilatory behaviour of Clement’s cardinals rebounded, unfairly, on Joanna. The citizens of Naples objected to the foreign army and protested against Joanna’s protection of Andrew’s murderers. Philippa’s son Raymond, as seneschal of the court, ordered that arms were not to be carried in public and he and his men attempted to enforce his order.
The Nightmare
Castel dell'Ovo
Unfortunately Raymond was captured and was tortured in front of a mob. His tongue was cut out; even so Charles and Robert managed to extract a long list of Raymond’s associates despite this obvious drawback. Raymond implicated himself as well as his mother and many more of Joanna’s associates.
Charles and Robert urged the mob to attack Castel Nuovo. Joanna had moved to Castel dell’Ovo, the most secure fortress in Naples. It was decided to besiege the Caste Nuovo and wait for their supplies to run out, which took three days. Huge del Balzo helped broker the negotiations between the terrified courtiers and the avenging duo.
The prisoners were to be transferred to the Castel dell’Ovo for safekeeping until the Neapolitan chief justice could investigate the claims against them. Hugo del Balzo offered to transfer the captives by sea, an offer which was accepted. Instead, once the accused were on board Hugo had his ship moored in the middle of the bay where he set to with a vengeance;
‘In front of the whole city and upon the open sea – he naturally tortured poor Philippa, Sancia [her daughter][vii] and Robert[viii] upon a monstrous rack.’[ix]
Having broken the agreement with a vengeance, Hugo then turned over his captives to Charles of Durazzo who further tortured the prisoners. The prisoners were finally moved to Castel Capuano. Louis was forced to retreat to Capua while his brother took control of Naples. Louis’ army was ordered to leave the kingdom and citizens were forbidden to aid him.
Civil War
Benevento
A war of moves and countermoves now commenced. Robert of Taranto urged Clement to issue the dispensation necessary to allow him to wed Joanna, while Joanna wrote to Clement informing him of her determination never to wed Robert. On 24th April Robert named himself Captain General of the kingdom; in a counter move on 30th April Joanna assigned control of a large battalion of troops to Louis. On May 6th Robert took control of all public finances; on 30th Joanna assigned Louis six thousand ounces of gold.
Despite the maleficent attentions of his brother, Louis was able to put together an army and upon reaching Benevento the city surrendered to him. By June his forces were sited on a hill overlooking Naples. There he waited and marshalled his forces. But in the north King Louis was preparing to make his move.
Following an impassioned letter to Clement from the dowager queen of Hungary demanding that Maria be divorced from Charles of Durazzo and that Joanna never be allowed to marry again, Clement informed Elizabeth that her son’s murderers would be brought to justice, but that if Hungary invaded Naples it would be regarded as an enemy of the church.
Castel Dell'Ovo from the sea
Clement authorised Bertrand del Balzo, the Neapolitan Chief Justice[x], to investigate Andrews murder. At the same time he informed Bertrand that any member of the royal family implicated in the assassination was to be referred to the jurisdiction of the pope.
Bertrand had several of the prisoners, who had been tricked into his cousin’s tender care, tortured and when they confessed had them executed, after stripping them of their titles and lands.
‘The prisoners were…..paraded through every street in Naples, flagellated repeatedly, their flesh mercilessly seared by the torturer’s hot irons….they were spat upon and stoned. When at length they arrived [at the bonfire]……Master Robert had already just passed away.’[xi]
Bertrand took one of Sancia’s Provencal estates for himself[xii].
Bibliography
The Holy Roman Empire – Friedrich Heer, Phoenix 1995
Joanna – Nancy Goldstone, Phoenix 2010
Absolute Monarchs – John Julius Norwich, Random House 2011
A Distant Mirror – Barbara Tuchman, MacMillan London Ltd 1989
www.wikipedia.en


[i] He and Joanna had separate bedrooms
[ii] Joanna - Goldstone
[iii] Joanna - Goldstone
[iv] The kingdom’s principal trading partner
[v] Joanna - Goldstone
[vi] Ibid
[vii] Sancia was pregnant and her mother was in her sixties
[viii] Robert of Cabannis, another of Sancia’s sons
[ix] Joanna – Goldstone
[x] And cousin of Hugo del Balzo
[xi] Joanna - Goldstone
[xii] Sancia and Philippa were not executed until later, but their estates were confiscated too

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Medieval Italy - The Queen of Naples IV


Coat of Arms of Cardinal Talleyrand 
The Interregnum
Joanna responded with two letters; one to Clement protesting his abrogation of her powers and the second to Cardinal Talleyrand, imploring his help in reversing Clement’s decision. To improve her chances of attracting Talleyrand’s patronage in Avignon Joanna sent him the currency he craved under separate cover.
The death of Maria’s baby in January brought the two sisters closer again and Charles’ brother Louis of Durazzo was despatched to Avignon to help quash the Hungarian campaign. On 21st January Sancia retired to the Clarissan convent of Santa Croce. Three days after this blow, Joanna wrote again to Clement emphasising that she was the best person to rule both her kingdom and her husband.
‘Your Holiness will deign to call to mind kindly my steadfast and immutable purpose not to make over the administration to my revered lord and husband for…..there is none living who shall strive after his advantage and honor as I shall.’[i]
In reply Clement compromised; Andrew and Joanna would both be crowned but only Joanna’s coronation would be considered blessed by God. Clement’s letters to husband and wife arrived at the same time that Elizabeth returned to Naples, following a sojourn in Rome. The resentment showed her by the Neapolitan courtiers led her to complain to Clement who had had enough of her interference. He ignored the evidence that plots against Andrew’s life were becoming a regular occurrence.
In response Elizabeth decided to take the 16 year old Andrew back to Hungary with her; she was dissuaded from this course of action by a united appeal from Joanna, Catherine and Agnes. To speed her mother-in-law on her way, Joanna lent Elizabeth three galleys to take her and her entourage across the Adriatic. Elizabeth’s departure on 25th February must have been greeted with relief by most of the court.
The Papal Legate
Joanna of Naples
Cardinal Aimeric de Châtelus arrived in the kingdom in early May; on 20th May Joanna accompanied Aimeric to the monastery of San Antonio where he was to lodge. A bureaucrat with a horror of making mistakes, the cardinal had none of the qualities necessary to deal with the complex issues awaiting him.
Relations became very strained between the legate and a very hostile court and it was not long before Aimeric wrote to Clement begging to be transferred. Clement refused but offered the sop of 40 florins a day[ii] plus the authority to draw on the Neapolitan treasury for whatever monies he needed to maintain an opulent lifestyle.
The oath could not be taken until August as Joanna fell ill in the summer and Aimeric refused to take responsibility for the kingdom until she did so. Naples was effectively without a government. The various parties within the court jockeyed for position;
On 24th June 1344 it was Andrew who landed a telling blow; he ordered the release of the Pipini brothers. And on the afternoon of their release knighted them; a telling indication of his unsuitability to rule.
‘Being puffed up with triumph, they [the Pipini brothers] began to live luxuriously, riding in royal state, holding jousts and appearing in the presence of the Queen and Andrew with loftier banners than their own.’[iii]
Santa Chiara
Buoyed up by this success Andrew made it clear that those who opposed his coronation would suffer. Aimeric insisted that Joanna and Andrew make public declarations of obedience to him, contrary to Joanna’s desire to make her oath privately. The ceremony took place on 28th August at Santa Chiara[iv].
Aimeric’s rule was a disaster; his orders were unfulfilled, the crime rate rose dramatically, bureaucrats’ salaries went unpaid. And to top it all Joanna refused to pay to the papal treasury the kingdom’s annual tribute, on the grounds that the kingdom was no longer her responsibility. This acted as a powerful stimulant to Clement’s grasping hands.
Complaints about the fiasco of Aimeric’s rule arrived regularly in Avignon; when Philip of France raised his voice Clement finally broke. On 19th November Clement wrote to Joanna to say that he was recalling Aimeric who was needed elsewhere as Joanna had matured greatly under Aimeric’s tutelage. However Aimeric did not leave Naples until early summer of 1345 interfering in matters as it suited him.
Hypocrisy Reigns
Andrew’s alliance with the Pipini brothers made him a force to be reckoned with; Joanna realised that he was escaping her control. She decided that the best way of stopping the rot would be to ensure that Andrew was not crowned and had Talleyrand and Louis of Durazzo working to that end in Avignon.
Giovanni Villani
The chroniclers of the time started claiming that Joanna was being free with her favours; Domenico da Gravina claimed that Joanna slept with Louis of Taranto, Giovanni Villani[v] claimed that Joanna was the mistress of Bertrand, son of Charles of Artois, along with others including Robert of Taranto. While Boccaccio posited that the recently promoted Robert de Cabanis may have been her lover.
‘It was said that the pandering of Philippa was responsible for putting Joanna into Robert’s embraces. This crime requires a lot of faith for….no others except these must have known Joanna’s secret.’[vi]
Aimeric made sure that Joanna’s behaviour was reported to the pope; he informed Clement that Joanna was giving away property and income to her favourite, imperilling the church’s interests and income. Aimeric’s expenses, paid by the Neapolitan government amounted to 19,000 gold florins[vii].
Clement was so overcome by Joanna’s extravagance he wrote a bull on 30th January 1345 revoking all grants of monies and property made by Joanna or Sancia since Robert’s death. This bull was not made public until Aimeric left the kingdom of Naples in May. 
A second bull forbidding Joanna from consorting with Philippa and her family was made public in February. Aware that Aimeric was spying on her, Joanna resumed marital relations with Andrew and in April the news that she was pregnant was bruited abroad.
The Tempest
The expectation of an heir only served to exacerbate Elizabeth’s desire to see her son on the throne of Naples and the pressure on Clement began anew. On June 14, 1345 Clement, after receipt of a bribe of 44,000 marks[viii], agreed to allow Andrew the title of king of Naples, but he was only to be heir in the event of Joanna's death. He wrote to Joanna ordering her to crown Andrew.
Joanna objected to this latest attempt at interference by the pope; she had only recently learned of the bull revoking all her gifts since Robert’s death. She ignored Clement’s instructions. But Charles of Durazzo, whose standing as husband of the heir was in peril with the possibilities inherent in Joanna’s pregnancy, now took Andrew’s side in the quarrel.
In the midst of the quarrel Sancia died on 28th July and was buried at Santa Croce. Her property[ix] was shared between Charles of Durazzo and Robert of Taranto[x]. This infuriated the pope who wrote on 21st August demanding that Andrew be crowned forthwith. He also sent a bishop nuncio to replace Aimeric.
Another death further complicated matters; Agnes of Périgord died in the midst of trying to marry her son Louis to Catherine’s daughter Marguerite[xi]. Catherine bitterly opposed the match. Agnes had been ill since May and was now bedridden. Domenic da Gravina assures us that;
‘The doctor required that the sick woman’s urine be collected…so he could draw his diagnosis. Exhorted by the Empress [Catherine] and the Queen, malevolent women arranged to have madame Sancia[xii] [who was pregnant] sleep near the patient….They collected the duchesses’ early morning urine….replaced it with Sancia’s and showed that to the doctor.’[xiii]
The doctor diagnosed pregnancy and had the unenviable task of informing Agnes’ son that she was pregnant. The story continued that, to save the family honour, Agnes was poisoned. The chronicler was not a member of the court and was most likely embroidering an already fraught family quarrel. But it does highlight the coalition between the Joanna, Catherine and Philippa, forged to fight the encroachments of the alliance between Andrew and Charles of Durazzo.
The Papal Legate
Porta San Giovanni, Aversa
The papal nuncio chose this moment of bitterness and division to announce Andrew’s coronation, which was to take place on 20th September 1345. After Agnes’ death the court moved to Aversa; Joanna and Andrew rode there, arriving together on 7th September. They intended to return to Naples on 19th.
Aimeric arrived in Avignon in early September and debriefed the pope on the shortcomings of the Neapolitan ruling families. Whilst Aimeric was incompetent, he was not stupid and he made it quite clear to Clement that Andrew was a feckless youth who could not be trusted to rule.
Clement reversed his earlier decision and in two letters, written to Joanna and Andrew on 20th and 21st September, recognised Joanna as sole heir to the throne and chastised Andrew for his immaturity. He was expressly forbidden, upon pain of excommunication, from interfering with Joanna’s rule once he was crowned.
Bibliography
Chronicles – Froissart, Penguin Classics 1968
The Holy Roman Empire – Friedrich Heer, Phoenix 1995
Joanna – Nancy Goldstone, Phoenix 2010
Absolute Monarchs – John Julius Norwich, Random House 2011
A Distant Mirror – Barbara Tuchman, MacMillan London Ltd 1989
www.wikipedia.en


[i] Ibid
[ii] In 2013 the relative:historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £30,860.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £1,163,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £7,698,000.00 www.measuringworth.com.
[iii] Joanna - Goldstone
[iv] A monastery complex set up by Sancia and Robert
[v] A Florentine banker who wrote the Nuova Chronica
[vi] Joanna - Goldstone
[vii] In 2013 the relative: historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £16,100,000.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £628,400,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £4,128,000,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[viii] In 2013 the relative: historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £37,290,000.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £1,455,000,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £9,560,000,000.00 www.measuringworth.com Some records state that Clement was given as much as 100,000 gold florins
[ix] Sancia had left it to a number of monasteries
[x] Philippa’s son and thus a double counterblast to the pope’s bulls and exhortations
[xi] Who later married Francesco del Balzo
[xii] A friend of Joanna’s
[xiii] Joanna - Goldstone

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Medieval Italy - The Queen of Naples III


Joanna of Naples
The New Queen
On 22nd January Andrew was knighted in a private ceremony at Castel Nuovo with three witnesses, including the notary and the vice-Seneschal, Raymond of Catania[i]. Due to the period of mourning for Robert, Andrew had to do without the feasts normally due on such an auspicious occasion. Instead he immediately sprung into action as the Chronique of Parthénope[ii] records;

‘On the day of Wednesday, the 22nd of the month of January, as the lately deceased King Robert had dictated….Andrew….appeared lawfully at [Joanna’s] door at the Castel Nuovo, despoiled her and knew her carnally.’[iii]
Joanna and her advisers were well aware of the difficulties that Robert had left by denying Andrew even a titular interest in the government of the kingdom. One of the senior nobles, Hugo del Balzo, Count of Avellino, was appointed as ambassador to the papal court. Hugo was to stand surrogate for Joanna to formally make obeisance to the pope for the fief of Naples and to petition Pope Clement VI[iv] to permit Andrew to be crowned king. In this way it was hoped that Andrew’s relatives could be persuaded not to attack the status quo.
The Attractions of the New Heir
Coat of arms of Charles of Durazzo 
Other relatives were eager to overset Robert’s will. Agnes of Périgord had her eye on her younger niece’s dowry for her son Charles; the 14 year old Maria was wealthy in her own right in addition to her position as heir to the throne.
Playmates from an early age, Maria and Charles got on well together. And Agnes made sure of Sancia’s support for the marriage as well as Joanna’s. Sancia wanted to reduce the Empress Catherine’s influence at court by increasing the prestige and standing of the Durazzo branch of the family.  For Maria there was an added advantage; that she would not have to leave Naples, her childhood home, to marry her cousin.
Agnes decided to petition the Holy See for permission to wed Maria to her eldest son, Charles. Agnes used the services of her brother Hélie de Talleyrand- Périgord, one of the most influential cardinals at the papal court, to approach Clement[v]. Agnes offered her brother 22,000 florins[vi] to arrange the marriage.
On 26th February Clement signed the bull allowing Charles to marry any woman he liked, keeping the intended bride anonymous to thwart ambitious relatives. The formal engagement took place at Castel Nuovo on 26th March. A furious Catherine protested to both Clement and Joanna and called on the king of France to intervene.
On 28th Charles abducted Maria, taking her to his neighbouring estate, where the couple were secretly wed. The marriage was immediately consummated; in retaliation Catherine’s son Louis captured a Durazzo castle and other properties. The Durazzos hit back and within weeks Naples was on the brink of civil war.
Averting Civil War
Pope Clement VI
Horrified by the resultant mayhem, Joanna refused to recognise the wedding and declined to hand over Maria’s dowry. She wrote to Clement complaining of Charles and Maria’s behaviour and demanding that the wedding be annulled.
Clement was assailed by letters from angry relatives; Philip of France and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of Hungary, wrote as well, objecting that the marriage was in contravention of the agreement made between Hungary and Naples whereby if Joanna died, Andrew was to marry Maria.
Dismayed Clement wrote a scurry of letters; two to Joanna, the second asking her to forgive the couple;
‘You, as her sister, nourished and educated beneath the same roof, should palliate these things so imprudently done and guide her back to the path of honour and favour.’[vii]
And he wrote one to Maria;
‘The marriage did please and does please us, but it would please us more but for these sinister occurrences. Appease Joanna advisedly.’[viii]
Clement also wrote to Philip and Elizabeth disavowing all knowledge of the lady Charles was going to wed. Cardinal Talleyrand sent his chamberlain to smooth out matters and obtain his 22,000 florins. This he did, aided by the fact that Maria was now pregnant[ix]. On 14th July 1344 agreement was reached whereby Charles was officially accepted as Maria’s husband by the Neapolitan government who had to pay a large sum to Catherine.
An Unwelcome Visit
Coat of arms of Andrew of Calabria
The dust hadn’t settled when, on 25th July, the dowager queen of Hungary arrived to visit her son. Elizabeth was concerned about her son’s position vis-á-vis the throne. Despite Andrew being referred to as king by the Neapolitans and deferred to, it was quickly borne on Elizabeth that her son had no real standing in the kingdom and that Joanna had no intention of changing that.
Trying to argue Joanna to give Andrew some power, Elizabeth claimed that;
‘She [Joanna] risked nothing in inviting her husband to lead the kingdom. All that would be needed would be to set limits that he should not infringe upon.’[x]
Unable to get any change out of her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth turned to the pope. Clement decided to send in a Papal Legate. The Neapolitans were horrified and quickly sent Hugo del Balzo to remind the pope that this was in contravention of the original 1265 agreement between the papacy and Charles of Anjou.
Unfortunately for Joanna, a recession was imminent and Hungarian gold would find a welcome in Clement’s pockets[xi]. The influential Florentine trading houses of Bardi, Peruzzi and Acciaiuoli[xii] had been forced to invest their monies in the wool trade, following the failure of the Neapolitan grain harvests in the 1330s. Now the wool trade was suffering too from  Edward III’s ambitions as his war with the French took hold[xiii]. Edward was refusing to pay back the loans he’d taken to pay for his own little war.
A Tragedy Waiting to Happen
Petrarch
When the blow fell on 3rd August 1343 Sancia and Joanna wrote in vain to the Florentine government asking for preferential treatment in the distribution of assets. The Neapolitans had used the Florentines as the financing arm of government and thus the recession bit harder in Naples than anywhere else in Europe.
A further visitor arrived on 11th October; Petrarch’s visit was the harbinger of future tragedy. He had come at the instigation of his friend Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, to obtain the freedom of the three Pipini brothers who had been jailed for being involved in the 1338 unrest in the kingdom, during which they had committed murder, rape, pillage, arson and treason; a small army had been required to force their surrender. Their properties had been divided between the Neapolitan courtiers upon their conviction.
Despite audiences with Sancia and Joanna, Petrarch was forced to admit failure; Joanna wrote to the pope explaining her decision;
‘These prisoners could not presume to speak of innocence when no one is unaware of the extraordinary abuse they perpetrated in the time of King Robert; devastation, plunder, arson, murders and abuse of all kinds.’[xiv]
Frustrated by his failure Petrarch wrote to Avignon complaining of the corruption of a dissolute kingdom; he ascribed the thwarting of his mission to Friar Robert. Andrew suddenly became an advocate for the Pipini and everyone that Elizabeth’s gold could influence now bombarded Avignon with complaints about Joanna and her advisers.
On 28th November 1343 Clement issued a bull dissolving the ruling council and prohibiting Joanna from exercising her sovereign rights as queen. He named Cardinal Aimeric de Châtelus as Papal Legate with full powers to rule in Naples.
Bibliography
Chronicles – Froissart, Penguin Classics 1968
The Holy Roman Empire – Friedrich Heer, Phoenix 1995
Joanna – Nancy Goldstone, Phoenix 2010
Absolute Monarchs – John Julius Norwich, Random House 2011
A Distant Mirror – Barbara Tuchman, MacMillan London Ltd 1989
www.wikipedia.en


[i] One of the son’s of Joanna’s nurse, Philippa
[ii] One of the official records of the time
[iii] Joanna - Goldstone
[iv] Benedict died two years earlier; Clement’s display of nepotism and wealth was even more ostentatious than John’s
[v] Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord had engineered Clement’s accession to the papal throne.
[vi] In 2013 the relative:historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £18,500,000.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £757,500,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £5,043,000,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[vii] Joanna - Goldstone
[viii] Ibid
[ix] The child, a boy was born in January 1344 and lived only a few hours. Joanna (or Jeanne) was born in 1344, Agnes was born the following year and on 28th July 1347 Maria gave birth to Margaret.
[x] Joanna - Goldstone
[xi] One of many venal popes
[xii] Catherine’s lover was a member of this family
[xiii] The houses had been forced to underwrite Florence’s war with Pisa, further reducing their capital
[xiv] Joanna - Goldstone