peace and tranquillity of the gay court, and plunge it into deepest woe.
It should be known that by a former division of the possessions of the
royal house of Naples, which had been dictated by the whim of a partial
father, the elder branch of that house had been allotted the kingdom of
Hungary, which had been acquired originally as the dowry of a princess,
while to the younger branch of the house Naples and Provence had been
given. Such a division of the royal domain had never satisfied those of
the elder branch of the family, and for many years the rulers of Hungary
had cast longing eyes upon the fair states to the south. The good King
Robert, desiring in his heart to atone for the slight which had been put
upon them, decided to marry Joanna to his grand-nephew Andreas, the
second son of Carobert, King of Hungary, thus restoring to the elder
branch of the family the possession of the throne of Naples without
endangering the rights of his granddaughter, and at the same time
extinguishing all the feuds and jealousies which had existed for so long
a time between the two kingdoms. So the young Hungarian prince was
brought to the Neapolitan court at once, and the two children were
married. Joanna was but five years old and Andreas but seven when this
ill-fated union was celebrated, with all possible splendor and in the
midst of great rejoicing. The children were henceforth brought up
together with the idea that they were destined for each other, but as
the years grew on apace they displayed the most conflicting qualities of
mind and soul.

A careful analysis of the court life during these youthful days will
reveal the fact that its essential characteristics may be summed up in
the three phrases--love of literary study, love of gallantry, and love
of intrigue; it so happens that each of these phases is typified by a
woman, Joanna representing the first, Maria,--the natural daughter of
Robert,--the second, and Philippa the Catanese, the third. Much has been