''Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia'', fully ''Cronica di lu rebellamentu di Sichilia contra re Carlu'', is a Sicilian historical chronicle of the War of the Vespers written around 1290. The anonymous ''Rebellamentu'', probably written at

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, was ascribed to Atanasiu di Iaci by Pasquale Castorina in 1883. Though the ''Rebellamentu'' sometimes adds valuable details to the history of the Vespers, it is frequently untrustworthy. Its monastic provenance is evident in its moralising tone. The antiquity of its language has placed its authenticity beyond doubt, despite its lack of an early manuscript tradition. This has not prevented speculation that it was written contemporarily with events: one verb in one manuscript is found in the first-person present; this may represent the author inadvertently stepping out of his usual frame of reference, or merely an error in that manuscript. The ''Rebellamentu'' covers the years 1279–82 and treats

John of Procida John of Procida ( it, Giovanni da Procida) (1210–1298) was an Italian medieval physician and diplomat. He was born in Salerno, educated in the Schola Medica as a physician. He was a noted physician for his age and received a professorial ch ...

as a hero. It is also the earliest chronicle to record that violence broke out after a Sicilian woman was raped by a French soldier, a story also recorded by Atanasiu di Iaci elsewhere. It says that when the Sicilians complained to

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...

about their high taxes, he responded, "''Vi farro spendiri munita di soli, como altra volta havitu spisu''," threatening that he would re-issue leather money as had been done in the past. This probably indicates that the legend that

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

issued leather money, otherwise first recorded by

Tommaso Fazello Tommaso Fazello (New Latin ''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of Sicily: ''De Rebus Sicu ...

in his ''De Rebus Siculis'' (1558), was current in the late thirteenth century. The ''Rebellamentu'' also makes the

Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: *Angel ...

Pope Nicholas III Pope Nicholas III ( la, Nicolaus III; c. 1225 – 22 August 1280), born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1277 to his death on 22 August 1280. He was a Roman nobleman who ...

party to a conspiracy to dethrone Charles of Anjou. The Florentine chronicler

Giovanni Villani Giovanni Villani (; 1276 or 1280 – 1348)Bartlett (1992), 35. was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the ''Nuova Cronica'' (''New Chronicles'') on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman ...

, who was biased against the Orsini because of the legation of

Napoleone Orsini Napoleone Orsini (c. 1420 – September 1480) was an Italian condottiero. The son of Orso Orsini of Bracciano, he fought for Pope Eugene IV against Francesco Sforza in 1443. Later, in the 1450s, he flanked Ferdinand of Aragon in the strugg ...

to Florence in 1306, supports the allegation. The ''Rebellamentu'' covers John's negotiations with the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Michael VIII Palaeologus Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

and with

Peter III of Aragon Peter III of Aragon ( November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pres ...

, the

Sicilian Vespers The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of S ...

, the coronation of Peter in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in August 1282, the retreat of Charles to

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, and the entry of Peter and John into

in October 1282. The excerpt below describes how Peter was crowned by the Bishop of Cefalù because the incumbent of the Archdiocese of Palermo, Piero II de Santa Fede, had recently died, and the

Archbishop of Monreale The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Monreale ( la, Archidioecesis Montis Regalis) is in Sicily. As of 2000 it is no longer a metropolitan see, and is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Palermo.Giovanni Roccamezza, was away in Rome: The Spinelli Codex, the oldest surviving copy of the text, was probably copied from an older manuscript (perhaps the original) around 1330. It was published in English translation in 2015. Two later Tuscan histories of the Vespers—the ''

Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco The ''Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco'' ("Book of John of Procida and Palaeologus") is a medieval Tuscan history of the Sicilian Vespers. It focusses on the conspiratorial role played by John of Procida, cast as the villain. It was almost certa ...

'' and the ''

Leggenda di Messer Gianni di Procida The ''Leggenda di Messer Gianni di Procida'' ("Legend of Mister John of Procida") is a short medieval Tuscan history of the Sicilian Vespers, synoptic with another early Tuscan account, the '' Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco''. Both texts focus ...

''—may share the ''Reballamentu'' as a source. Conversely, all three may derive from an earlier, now lost source. All three agree on the centrality of John of Procida in the Vespers. The

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Les vêpres siciliennes ''Les vêpres siciliennes'' (''The Sicilian Vespers'') is a grand opera in five acts by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi set to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier from their work ''Le duc d'Albe'' of 1838. ' ...

'' (1855), with music by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

and a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of man ...

, drew upon the ''Rebellamentu'' for elements of its story, notably the rape.Clifford R. Backman (2002), ''The Decline and Fall of Medieval Sicily: Politics, Religion, and Economy in the Reign of Frederick III, 1296–1337'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 6.

Leon Plantinga Leon B. Plantinga is an American musicologist specializing in music of the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His writings have influenced scholarship on Clementi, Beethoven, and Schumann, and his textbook ''Romantic Music'' continues to se ...

(1984), ''Romantic Music: A History of Musical Style in Nineteenth-Century Europe'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Co.), 312, writes that the libretto by Scribe was heavily influenced by Verdi, citing Andrew Porter (1978–9), "''Les vêpres siciliennes'': New Letters from Verdi to Scribe," ''Nineteenth-Century Music'', 2(2), 95–109.

Editions

''Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia. Codice della Biblioteca regionale di Palermo''.
Edited by Filippo Evola (1882).
''Il vespro siciliano. Cronaca siciliana anonima intitolata Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia, codice esistente nell' Archivio municipale di Catania''.
Edited by Pasquale Castorina (1882). * ''Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia'', edited by Marcello Barbato (Palermo, Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani, 2010). *''Sicily's Rebellion against King Charles.'' The ''Rebellamentu'' translated and annotated by Louis Mendola based on the Spinelli Codex (New York, 2015) .

Notes

{{reflist 1290s books Italian chronicles 13th-century history books War of the Sicilian Vespers