She had been badly brought up. Philippine Cabane, a washerwoman,
wife of a fisherman, had been nurse to Charles, and she became later
the nurse and confidante of Joanna. She was a very beautiful and
a thoroughly unprincipled woman. On the death of her husband she
married a young Saracen slave in the service of Raymond de Cabane,
_maître d’hôtel_ to the King. Raymond fell under the influence of this
Saracen, and he introduced him to King Robert, who created him Grand
Seneschal, to the indignation of the Sicilian nobility, and himself
armed the Saracen knight.[9] Soon after marrying this man, we find “la
Cabanaise,” as she was called, installed as lady of honour to Catherine
of Austria, first wife of Charles of Calabria. Soon she induced Raymond
to adopt her husband, and to give him his title and bequeath his
fortune to him. Catherine of Austria died, and then Charles married
Marie de Valois; and when Jeanne or Joanna was born, Charles entrusted
his child to this infamous woman.
King Robert had been younger brother of Charles Martel, King of
Hungary, and the Crown of Naples was liable to be disputed between the
branches. It was therefore deemed advisable to marry Joanna to Andrew,
son of Caroly I., and grandson of Charles Martel, King of Hungary.
Joanna and Andrew were married when mere children—she, in fact,
was only seven when affianced to him. She and Andrew never liked
each other, and when they occupied one throne, dislike ripened into
aversion; two factions rent the Court with their rivalries, one
favoured by the King, the other by the Queen. At last Philippine Cabane
induced Joanna to acquiesce in a plot to murder Andrew. One evening in
September, 1345, when the Court was at Averso, the chamberlain of the
King entered the bedroom, where were Andrew and Joanna, and announced
to him that he had despatches of importance to communicate. Andrew rose
from bed and went into the adjoining apartment, where he was set upon,
and hung from the bars of the window with a rope into which gold thread
had been twisted by the hands of Joanna, for as Andrew was a king, “Let
him be strangled royally,” she had said.
The body of Andrew was left hanging from the window for two days.
Joanna at the time was aged eighteen, but she was utterly corrupt in
mind. At quite an early age she had had a _liaison_ with the son of _la
Cabanaise_. Pope Clement VI. deemed it incumbent on him as suzerain
to order the murderers to be punished; but only accessories suffered.
Philippine was tortured and died under torture. Her son, Robert de
Cabane, was also made to suffer in like manner; but a wad was put in
his mouth to prevent him from betraying the part the Queen had in the
murder, and those publicly executed were also so gagged that they might
not reveal her complicity in the crime.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account