I am Joanna, hear me ROAR!

She outlived four husbands, most of whom died violent, bloody deaths at the hands of political enemies and hired assassins.The Pope excommunicated her for heresy because she refused to give in to papal economic pressure. Her own family, including some very angry in-laws, continually plotted to overthrow her and even to kill her. Deceit and betrayal plagued her rule. Despite all this she managed to reign over a glittering and sophisticated court that was the envy of medieval Europe.

Joanna’s remarkable life is chronicled in Nancy Goldstone’s “The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem and Sicily.” 

The “Lady Queen” reminds me why I love reading history so much. Truth is not only stranger than fiction. It is often richer and much more complicated than anything a writer could make up. Joanna’s life was no exception. In addition to licensing one of the earliest legitimate brothels in Europe, Joanna also opened up the field of medicine to women. Well educated herself, she invited the greatest artists and intellectuals of the day to join her court. Becoming queen at the tender age of sixteen, Joanna was one of the very first European female monarchs to rule in her own right. And rule she did until she could no longer control the swirling forces of political and economic intrigue that had dogged her 39-year reign.

To find out how Joanna met her end, reserve “The Lady Queen” here.