en the monuments of
her munificence, and if you ask a Neapolitan in the street who built
this palace or that church, the answer is almost always the same--"Our
Queen Joanna."

Who was this well-beloved queen, when did she live, and why is she still
held in this affectionate regard by the present residents of sunny
Naples? To answer all these questions it will be necessary to go back to
a much earlier day in the history of this southern part of the Italian
peninsula--a day when Naples was the centre of a royal government of no
little importance in the eyes of the mediaeval world.

Some three hundred years before Joanna's birth, in the early part of the
eleventh century, a band of knightly pilgrims was on its way to the
Holy Land to battle for the Cross. They had ridden through the fair
provinces of France, in brave array upon their mighty chargers, all the
way from Normandy to Marseilles, and there they had taken ship for the
East. The ships were small, the accommodations and supplies were not of
the best, and it was not possible to make the journey with any great
speed. Stopping, as it happened, for fresh stores in the south of Italy,
they were at once invited by the Prince of Salerno to aid him in his
fight against the Mohammedans, who were every day encroaching more upon
the Greek possessions there. Being men of warlike nature, already
somewhat wearied by the sea voyage to which they were not accustomed,
and considering this fighting with the Saracens of Italy as a good
preparation for later conflicts with the heathens and the infidels who
were swarming about the gates of Jerusalem, they were not slow to accept
the invitation. While victory perched upon the banners of the Normans,
it was evident at once that for the future safety of the country a
strong and stable guard would be necessary, and so the Normans were now
asked to stay permanently. This the majority did with immense
satisfaction, for the soft and gentle climate of the country had filled
their souls with a sweet contentment, and the charms and graces of the
southern women had more than conquered the proud conquerors. Just as
Charles VIII. and his army, some hundreds of years later, were ensnared
by the soft glances of soft eyes when they went to Italy to conquer, so
the Normans were held in silken chains in this earlier time. But there
was this difference--the Normans did not forget their own interests.
Willing victims to the wondrous beauty of the belles