royal residence that could function as the seat of his government. He commissioned architect Pietro de Caulis to design the Castel Nuovo (1279–87), which was to serve as the residence of the kings and queens of Naples. Charles I provided funding for the rebuilding of the Franciscan church of San Lorenzo Maggiore, an early example of the Neapolitan adaptation of the French Gothic style. While the tracery designs at San Lorenzo Maggiore were inspired by the French Gothic church of Saint Denis, its “cavernous nave and its unarticulated walls” show the influence of Italian Franciscan churches. Charles II of Anjou Architecture During the reign of Charles II of Anjou (1285-1308), the second Angevin King of Naples, the king's wife, Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples, was responsible for initiating a number of architectural projects. The most important of these projects was the rebuilding of the Clarissan convent of Santa Maria Donna Regina Vecchia, after an earthquake destroyed the original convent in 1293. In 1307, Queen Mary donated funds to the abbess of the Clarissans for the construction of the new church. The Clarissans, or Poor Clares, were the female branch of the Franciscan Order, founded by Saint Clare of Assisi. The church comprises two levels; on the ground level is a dark, low-vaulted nave and above it is a choir supported on eight columns. The ground level was most likely for the congregation and the upper level reserved for the nuns. A polygonal apse with stained glass lancet windows illuminates the church, contrasting with the dark nave below. By commissioning Santa Maria Donna Regina, Mary of Hungary began a tradition of royal female patronage in the Kingdom of Naples. In 1283, Charles II funded the reconstruction of the Dominican church of San Domenico Maggiore, a church similar to his father's church of San Lorenzo Maggiore in its fusion of French Gothic and Italian stylistic elements. Painting In 1308, Roman painter Pietro Cavallini and a group of his pupils arrived at the royal court Naples. Cavallini and his students are believed to have been commissioned by Mary of Hungary to paint the fresco cycles located above the choir in the church of Santa Maria Donna Regina. The fresco cycles, completed between 1320 and 1323, cover all four of the church walls and include: the Last judgment on the west wall; pairs of prophets and apostles and the lives of Saint Agnes