From She-Wolf to Martyr

The Reign and Disputed Reputation of Johanna I of Naples

Biography & Memoir, Royalty, Nonfiction, History, Medieval
Cover of the book From She-Wolf to Martyr by Elizabeth Casteen, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Elizabeth Casteen ISBN: 9781501700996
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: November 18, 2015
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: Elizabeth Casteen
ISBN: 9781501700996
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: November 18, 2015
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

In 1343 a seventeen-year-old girl named Johanna (1326–1382) ascended the Neapolitan throne, becoming the ruling monarch of one of medieval Europe’s most important polities. For nearly forty years, she held her throne and the avid attention of her contemporaries. Their varied responses to her reign created a reputation that made Johanna the most notorious woman in Europe during her lifetime. In From She-Wolf to Martyr, Elizabeth Casteen examines Johanna’s evolving, problematic reputation and uses it as a lens through which to analyze often-contradictory late-medieval conceptions of rulership, authority, and femininity.

When Johanna inherited the Neapolitan throne from her grandfather, many questioned both her right to and her suitability for her throne. After the murder of her first husband, Johanna quickly became infamous as a she-wolf—a violent, predatory, sexually licentious woman. Yet, she also eventually gained fame as a wise, pious, and able queen. Contemporaries—including Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Birgitta of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena—were fascinated by Johanna. Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources, Casteen reconstructs the fourteenth-century conversation about Johanna and tracks the role she played in her time’s cultural imaginary. She argues that despite Johanna’s modern reputation for indolence and incompetence, she crafted a new model of female sovereignty that many of her contemporaries accepted and even lauded.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1343 a seventeen-year-old girl named Johanna (1326–1382) ascended the Neapolitan throne, becoming the ruling monarch of one of medieval Europe’s most important polities. For nearly forty years, she held her throne and the avid attention of her contemporaries. Their varied responses to her reign created a reputation that made Johanna the most notorious woman in Europe during her lifetime. In From She-Wolf to Martyr, Elizabeth Casteen examines Johanna’s evolving, problematic reputation and uses it as a lens through which to analyze often-contradictory late-medieval conceptions of rulership, authority, and femininity.

When Johanna inherited the Neapolitan throne from her grandfather, many questioned both her right to and her suitability for her throne. After the murder of her first husband, Johanna quickly became infamous as a she-wolf—a violent, predatory, sexually licentious woman. Yet, she also eventually gained fame as a wise, pious, and able queen. Contemporaries—including Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Birgitta of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena—were fascinated by Johanna. Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources, Casteen reconstructs the fourteenth-century conversation about Johanna and tracks the role she played in her time’s cultural imaginary. She argues that despite Johanna’s modern reputation for indolence and incompetence, she crafted a new model of female sovereignty that many of her contemporaries accepted and even lauded.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book With Sails Whitening Every Sea by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Memories of War by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Hear My Sad Story by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Imagining Religious Leadership in the Middle Ages by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book The Brown Recluse Spider by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Brutality in an Age of Human Rights by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Radicals on the Road by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Protection by Persuasion by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book The Tie That Bound Us by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Making Morocco by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Stagestruck by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book Protest Politics in the Marketplace by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book The Informed Patient by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book The End of Grand Strategy by Elizabeth Casteen
Cover of the book History Is a Contemporary Literature by Elizabeth Casteen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy