DUELS

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Isabelle De Carazzi and Diambra De Pottinella

 On May 25, 1552, Naples in Italy was the setting of a battle between two Italian noble women for the love of one not so noble man. Isabella de Carazzi and Diambra de Pettinella were good friends. However, they inadvertently fell in love with the same man.  Fabio de Zeresola was a handsome man and a great favorite of the ladies of Naples society.  Unbeknownst to Diambra and Isabella, he was seeing them both – a fact that was not discovered until he inadvertently threw an amorous glance at Isabella at a Naples society wedding.

Diambra who was sitting next to her friend saw the glance- and was outraged. Demanding an explanation, it soon became clear that Fabio was courting them both. But rather than turn upon the cad who was two-timing them with each other, the former friends turned on each other- and began to argue about who should have Fabio. Isabella insisted it should be her as with one glance, Fabio had shown he loved her more. Diambra however, was having none of that. Fabio was hers; she declared because she would die for him. And with that, she challenged Isabella to a duel.

The former friends agreed to meet six days later in a local field, where like knights in a tournament they would fight each other to win the hand of Fabio. The prospect of the whole spectacle whipped all of Naples society up into a fever of excitement, and on the appointed day, the entire Naples Court, including the Spanish Viceroy turned out to watch Isabella and Diambra turn the whole notion of chivalry on its head. Isabella chose blue as her color and rode out in a diamond-crested helmet while Diambra wore green and a helmet topped with a serpent of gold.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking