THE WESTERN MEDITERRA.NEAN KJNGDOMS 1200-1'100Santa Chiara, for instance, where Robert and other Angevins
are buried in lavish marble tombs which recall French and
Proven~al styles. Nor is this surprising in a dynasty which
took a keen interest in the county of Provence, and proudly
displayed in decorations the fleur-de-lys of Charles I's royal
French ancestors. Proven~al poets, blending with south Italian
lyricists whose work had been fostered by the Hohenstaufen,
remained active around the Angevin court, and Charles I
fancied himself as a composer of verses. The Norman and
Hohenstaufen courts were no more eclectic in taste than
that of the Angevins; the close attention of the Angevins to
French and Proven~al courtly models simply added to the
diversity at court. Like many fourteenth-century courts that
of Naples patronised chivalric orders, imitated from the
Order of the Star in France and of the Garter in England;
ten years after Robert's death Nicola Acciaiuoli organised the
'Order of the Holy Spirit' (also known as the Order of the
Knot) for the flower of the Neapolitan nobility.^13 Attention
to the ideals of chivalry, at a time of growing misconduct in
war, shows further responsiveness to the influence of north
European courts.
More disinterested was the Angevin patronage of letters,
though even there King Robert acquired glory in his own
day by his friendship for Petrarch, who came to Naples in
1341 so that King Robert could examine whether he was
worthy to receive the Laurel Crown, not awarded since
antiquity, for his knowledge of poetry. Giovanni Boccaccio,
active also in the study of classical literature, was present
at Petrarch's examination in Naples. Although less lucky in
his attempts to gain lavish patronage from the Angevins,
Boccaccio had spent his youth in Naples, apprenticed to the
Bardi bank. He was then a close friend of Nicola Acciaiuoli,
though later they quarrelled. The young Boccaccio spent
more time at the picnics and revels of the Neapolitan nobility,
less at the royal court itself; but his admiration for Robert the
Wise and the influence of his Neapolitan education upon his
writing were both substantial.^11 (A reading of the Derameron
- D'AJ.D. Boulton, The Knights of the Crown. ThP monarchical ordns of
Knighthood in later mnliroal f~·urope, 1325-1520 (Woodbridge, 19R7).
pp. 211-40; Leonard, An[.,rioini, pp. 463-7. - V. Branca, Bocmcrio. ]"he man and his works (Hassocks, Sussex, 1976),
pp. Hi-76.