Talk:Robert, King of Naples

Latest comment: 3 years ago by Surtsicna in topic Children and filicide

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Is this Robert the basis of the legend on which Longfellow based his long poem

"Tales of a Wayside Inn" ; Robert of Sicily ?

This Robert never ruled on the Island.

The figure described in the poem appears to be apocryphal (brother of both a reigning Emperor and Pope). Boccaccio tells a similar story about Jovian in the Decameron. Choess 22:04, September 2, 2005 (UTC)

Children and filicide

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I have tagged the claim that Robert had a daughter executed as dubious. A previous discussion can be seen here. The editors who contributed are Lambiam, 90.197.27.217, and 70.67.193.176.
The claim is dubious because it appears not to be supported by any of the peer-reviewed academic publications specializing in Robert or the Angevins, of which there are plenty, and is contradicted by many. What we have as the citation in this article, for example, is a book about a 16th-century chivalric order written by an art dealer. On the other hand, Balkans history professor John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr. writes that it was Tanush Thopia who "married an illegitimate daughter of Robert, King of Naples, and also was recognized as a count by the Angevins". Andrea does not exist in Fine's version, and no execution is mentioned.
This genealogy book lists two illegitimate children, Boccaccio's love interest Maria d'Aquino and Charles d'Artois, stating that both were executed after Robert's death for conspiring against Andrew of Hungary. I thought this may be the source of confusion, but then I read here that Boccaccio scholar Vittore Branca disproved the very existence of Maria d'Aquino.
Finally, to make matters even more complicated, historian Jean-Paul Boyer writes in his Enciclopedia Italiana entry about Robert that the king's only children were the two sons he had with Yolanda, and historians Samantha Kelly and Darleen N. Pryds, who also wrote about Robert specifically, suggest that he had no illegitimate children.
What are we to make of all this? Surtsicna (talk) 22:16, 24 May 2021 (UTC)Reply