The little Spaniard and the bearded lady of the Abruzzi

Sir Flinders Petrie, who did more than any other scholar to bring Ancient Egypt and Palestine alive for us, once remarked that the perpetual joy of being a historian is that, whereas most of mankind are confined to one plane, the present, those who study the past have the freedom to sample life on all. It is like being in possession of a time machine, without any of its dangers. Many times and places thus beckon me, but today I am setting its controls to ‘Naples in the 17th century’.

It was an amazing place, probably the most populous city on earth, with nearly half a million inhabitants, and certainly the most crowded. The policy of the Spanish viceroys, to underpin their rule, was to force the nobility of the region to live and build themselves houses there, with countless peasants following in their wake. The rules obliging all to live within the city walls were strictly enforced.