Joan of Naples

Plagues, assassinations and warring popes. The reign of Joan I had it all.Her domain was the Kingdom of Naples. And she held onto it for forty years, resisting everything from a Hungarian invasion to the scourge of the Black Death. Her most scandalous moment came in 1345, when her first husband was murdered. And Joan was one of the main suspects.This killing would eventually lead to Joan's dethronement and her execution. Alexandre Dumas paints a complex picture of a powerful woman in a man's world—beautiful and learned, but also ruthless. It's a fascinating entry in his "Celebrated Crimes" series.