Page:Book of the Riviera.djvu/166

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CHAPTER IX


DRAGUIGNAN


The Department of Var—A lifeless town—Dolmen—S. Armentarius kills a dragon—The old walled town—The Fronde—The Sabreurs and the Canifets—Les Tourettes—Joanna I. of Naples; her story—The Crown of Jerusalem—Charles I. of Anjou—Death of Conradin—Murder of Andrew of Hungary—Philippine Cabane—Louis of Hungary invades Naples—Joanna buys a sentence clearing her of guilt by the sale of Avignon—Joanna's many sales—Again declared innocent—Charles of Durazzo—Urban VI. and Clement VII.—Urban incites Charles against Joanna; her assassination; her character—Butello—Death of Charles—Joanna II. makes Réné her heir—Pedigree—Joanna and Caracciolo.


DRAGUIGNAN is the capital of the Department of Var. The name of the department is a misnomer. It received the name when the department extended to that river, formerly the boundary of France. But when, in 1860, Nice was ceded to France and the department of the Maritime Alps was formed, then a slice of territory, through which flowed the River Var, was detached and united to the newly constituted department. The con- sequence is that the River Var at no point runs through the department to which it gave its name.

Draguignan is not an interesting town. It lives on its character as departmental capital. It has no manufactures, no trade, no life save that which is infused into

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