Author Nancy Goldstone To Visit C.H. Booth Library

Westport author Nancy Goldstone will visit the C.H. Booth Library Wednesday, November 18, at 7 pm, to discuss her newest biography, The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I. Ms Goldstone’s book tells the history of a beautiful queen, a shocking murder, a papal trial — and a reign as triumphant as any in the Middle Ages.

Joanna of Naples (reigned 1343–1382) was not the only medieval queen who ruled in her own right, but led one of the most colorful and eventful lives of any female monarch. She brought her kingdom successfully through foreign invasion, civil wars, conflicts with the Church, and the catastrophe of the Black Death. She was praised by Petrarch and Boccaccio, and attracted other Renaissance luminaries to serve in her court. Moreover, she made a heavy imprint on later history: her decision to support the deposition of Pope Urban VI was arguably the proximate cause of the Great Schism.

Married four times, Queen Joanna I possibly murdered her first husband, fought a war against her second, discovered shortly after the wedding that her third husband was insane, and finally found a loyal protector in her fourth marriage. However, he was not strong enough to save her from the consequences of disastrous misjudgment that cost her the throne and her life.

Ms Goldstone strives through her book to bring Queen Joanna I, who reigned almost 40 years, out of obscurity. The last substantial English biography about this queen dates from the late 19th Century.

Sign up on the library’s website at chboothlibrary.org or by calling 203-426-4533. Refreshments will be served.