The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
that broke out at
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
1282 against the rule of the French-born king
Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
since 1266. Within six weeks, approximately 13,000 French men and women were slain by the rebels, and the government of Charles lost control of the island. This began the
War of the Sicilian Vespers
The War of the Sicilian Vespers or just War of the Vespers was a conflict that started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. It was fought in Sicily, C ...
.
Background
The papacy versus the House of Hohenstaufen
The rising had its origin in the
struggle of investiture between the
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
Holy Roman Emperors for control of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, especially the Church's private
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
known as the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
. These lay between Hohenstaufen lands in northern Italy and the Hohenstaufen
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
in the south; the Hohenstaufens also, at the time, ruled Germany.
In 1245
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
Frederick II and declared him deposed, and roused opposition against him in Germany and Italy. When Frederick died in 1250, his dominion was inherited by his son,
Conrad IV of Germany
Conrad (25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) up ...
. A period of turmoil followed Conrad's death in 1254, and the Kingdom of Sicily was seized by
Manfred, King of Sicily
Manfred ( scn, Manfredi di Sicilia; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the ...
, Frederick's illegitimate son, who reigned from 1258 to 1266.
Manfred had no involvement in German politics, where the
interregnum lasted longer and there was no emperor until 1274. He first styled himself as vicar of his nephew
Conradin
Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duk ...
, Conrad's son. However, following a false rumor that Conradin was dead, Manfred had himself crowned king. He wished for a reconciliation with the papacy, which may have explained his support for the landless
Baldwin II, Latin Emperor
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay (french: Baudouin de Courtenay; late 1217 – October 1273), was the last Latin Emperor ruling from Constantinople.
Biography
Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be bo ...
. However,
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...
and later
Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros (French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le Pu ...
were not prepared to recognize Manfred as lawful ruler of Sicily and first excommunicated him, then sought to depose him by force of arms.
After abortive attempts to enlist England as the champion of the Papacy against Manfred, Urban IV settled on the later
Charles I of Naples
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) ...
as his candidate for the Sicilian throne. Charles invaded Italy and defeated and killed Manfred in 1266 at the
Battle of Benevento
The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in Ch ...
, becoming King of Sicily. In 1268 Conradin, who had meanwhile come of age, invaded Italy to press his claim to the throne, but he was defeated at the
Battle of Tagliacozzo
The Battle of Tagliacozzo was fought on 23 August 1268 between the Ghibelline supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen and the Guelph army of Charles of Anjou. The battle represented the last act of Hohenstaufen power in Italy. The capture and ...
and executed afterwards. Charles was now undisputed master of the Kingdom of Sicily.
Charles of Anjou and Sicilian unrest
Charles regarded his Sicilian territories as a springboard for his Mediterranean ambitions, which included the overthrow of
Michael VIII Palaiologos
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 ...
of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and the capture of
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. Constantinople was captured during the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
and had been brought into the fold of the catholic religion for 57 years under the rule of the
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzanti ...
. With the Byzantine
recapture of the city in 1261, Michael VIII Palaiologos continued to rebuild what was left of the economically strategic city as an important trade route to Europe.
Unrest simmered in Sicily because of its very subordinate role in Charles' empire—its nobles had no share in the government of their own island and were not compensated by lucrative posts abroad, as were Charles' French, Provençal and Neapolitan subjects; also, Charles spent the
heavy taxes he imposed on wars outside Sicily, making Sicily somewhat of a donor economy to Charles' nascent empire. As
Steven Runciman
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54).
He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...
put it, "
he Sicilianssaw themselves now being ruled to enable an alien tyrant make conquests from which they would have no benefit"
[Runciman, ''Sicilian Vespers'', p. 212.]
The unrest was also fomented by Byzantine agents to thwart Charles' projected invasion and by King
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 ...
, Manfred's son-in-law, who saw his wife
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
as rightful heir to the Sicilian throne.
The uprising
The event takes its name from an insurrection which began at the start of
Vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...
, the sunset prayer marking the beginning of the night vigil on Easter Monday, 30 March 1282, at the
Church of the Holy Spirit just outside
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 ...
. Beginning on that night, thousands of Sicily's French inhabitants were massacred within six weeks. The events that started the uprising are not known for certain, but the various retellings have common elements.
According to
Steven Runciman
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54).
He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...
, the Sicilians at the church were engaged in holiday festivities and a group of French officials came by to join in and began to drink. A sergeant named Drouet dragged a young married woman from the crowd, pestering her with his advances. Her husband then attacked Drouet with a knife, killing him. When the other Frenchmen tried to avenge their comrade, the Sicilian crowd fell upon them, killing them all. At that moment all the church bells in Palermo began to ring for Vespers. Runciman describes the mood of the night:
According to
Leonardo Bruni
Leonardo Bruni (or Leonardo Aretino; c. 1370 – March 9, 1444) was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. H ...
(1416), the Palermitans were holding a festival outside the city when the French came up to check for weapons, and on that pretext began to fondle the breasts of their women. This then began a riot. The French were attacked, first with rocks, then weapons, and all were killed. The news spread to other cities leading to revolt throughout Sicily. "By the time the furious anger at their insolence had drunk its fill of blood, the French had given up to the Sicilians not only their ill-gotten riches but their lives as well."
There is also a third version of the events that is quite close to Runciman's, varying only in the minor details. This story is part of the oral tradition on the island up to the present time. This oral tradition cannot be verified, but is of interest to sociologists. According to the legend,
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 ...
was the mastermind behind the conspiracy. It seems that he was in contact with both
Michael VIII Palaiologos
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
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 ...
. All three were later excommunicated by Pope Martin IV in 1282.
Immediate aftermath
After leaders were elected in Palermo, messengers spread word across the island for the rebels to strike before the French had time to organise resistance. In a fortnight the rebels gained control over most of the island, and within six weeks it was all under rebel control, except for
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 ...
which was well fortified, and whose leading family, the Riso, remained faithful to Charles. But on 28 April it too broke into open revolt under the command of
Captain of the People
Captain of the People ( it, Capitano del popolo, Lombard: ''Capitani del Popol'') was an administrative title used in Italy during the Middle Ages, established essentially to balance the power and authority of the noble families of the Italian c ...
and, most significantly, the islanders' first act was to set fire to Charles's fleet in the harbor. It is reported that upon hearing of the fleet's destruction, King Charles exclaimed "Lord God, since it has pleased You to ruin my fortune, let me only go down in small steps."
Charles' Vicar Herbert and his family were safely within castle
Mategriffon, but after negotiations the rebels granted Herbert and his family safe conduct to leave the island upon a promise that they never return. After the restoration of order in the city, the townsmen announced themselves a
free commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup.
C ...
answerable only to the pope. They elected leaders, one of whom was
Bartholomaeus of Neocastro Bartholomew of Neocastro ( 1240 – after 1293) was an Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian K ...
who was prominent in the unfolding events and would later chronicle much of the revolt in
Historia Sicula, an important if sometimes contradictory source of information for historians. Again significantly, the leaders' next act was to send word, via a
Genoese merchant named Alafranco Cassano, to the Emperor Michael advising him that his nemesis Charles had been crippled.
[Runciman, ''Sicilian Vespers'', p. 219.] Only thereafter were ambassadors sent to
Pope Martin IV
Pope Martin IV ( la, Martinus IV; c. 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), born Simon de Brion, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1281 to his death on 28 March 1285. He was the last French pope to have ...
pleading for each city on the island to be recognised as a free commune under the sole suzerainty of the Holy Church. The islanders were hoping for status such as enjoyed by
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Genoa,
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
and other cities, free to form their own government, but morally answerable only to the pope who would hold a vague and unstable suzerainty. However, the French pope was firmly in Charles' camp and he directed the Sicilians to recognize Charles as their rightful king.
Aragonese intervention
![Nespory](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Nespory.jpg)
The pope refused the rebels' pleas to allow the status of free communes; therefore, the Sicilians sent their pleas to
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 ...
married to
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
, daughter of
Manfred, King of Sicily
Manfred ( scn, Manfredi di Sicilia; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the ...
and granddaughter of the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman emperor,
Frederick II. Of all that emperor's heirs, she was the only one not captive and was able to assert her rights. Peter III championed his wife's claim to the entirety of the Kingdom of Sicily.
[Runciman, ''Sicilian Vespers'', p. 201.]
Before the Vespers, Peter III constructed and outfitted a fleet for war. When the pope asked why he needed such a great war fleet, Peter stated that it would be used against the
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
along the northern coast of Africa, because he had legitimate trade interests there and needed to protect them. So when Peter received a request for help from the Sicilians he was conveniently on the north coast of Africa in
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, just 200 miles across the sea from the island. At first, Peter feigned indifference to the request of the Sicilians and their plight, but after several days to allow a proper showing of deference made for the pope's consumption, he took advantage of the revolt. Peter ordered his fleet to sail for Sicily, landed at
Trapani
Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an imp ...
on 30 August 1282. While he marched towards Palermo, his fleet followed close by the coastal road. Peter III of Aragon's involvement changed the character of the uprising from a local revolt into a European War. When Peter arrived at Palermo on September 2, he was received initially by the populace with indifference, as merely one foreign king replacing another. However, when Pope Martin made plain his orders for the Sicilians to accept Charles, Peter promised the islanders that they would enjoy the ancient privileges they had had under the Norman king,
William II of Sicily
William II (December 115311 November 1189), called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. From surviving sources William's character is indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from hi ...
. Thus, he was accepted as a satisfactory second choice and crowned by acclamation at the cathedral in Palermo on September 4, thus becoming also
Peter I of Sicily.
With the pope's blessing, the counterattack from Charles was not long in coming; his fleet from the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
arrived and blockaded the port of Messina and made several attempts to land troops on the island, but all were repulsed.
The commentary of Michael Palaeologus
Years later, in his autobiography,
Michael VIII
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 ...
wrote: "Should I dare to claim that I was God's instrument to bring freedom to the Sicilians, then I should only be stating the truth."
[M. Palaeologus, ''De Vita sua Opusculum'', 9, IX, pp. 537–38.] But as Runciman observes, with or without
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
gold, it was the proud people of Sicily alone who fought against their armed oppressor; and "However it may have been plotted and prepared, it was that one March evening of the Vespers at Palermo that brought down King Charles' empire."
Sources
*Runciman, Steven, ''The Sicilian Vespers'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958, .
*''
Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia, lu quale Hordinau e Fichi pari Misser Iohanni in Procita contra Re Carlu'' is still located in the Central Library in Palermo. Whether it is a contemporary narrative or not hinges on the interpretation of one word in the text. Runciman (p. 329) describes these words as "putirini", the first person plural, vs "putirisi" the impersonal tense.
*The earliest narrative source for the Vespers is the Sicilian language ''
Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia'', written perhaps as early as 1287. It credits
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 ...
with organising the overthrow of the French and portrays him in a positive light. Two later Tuscan
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
histories, the
Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco and the ''
Leggenda di Messer Gianni di Procida'', possibly relying on the ''Rebellamentu'' or the ''Rebellamentu''s lost source, follow it in stressing John's involvement, but they portray him in a more critical light. The ''Liber'', as its title suggests, emphasises John's negotiations with Michael VIII ("Palioloco").
*Besides these there are two
Florentine chronicles of importance. The ''Leggenda'' was once thought to be a source for the ''
Nuova Cronica
The ''Nuova Cronica'' (also: ''Nova Cronica'') or '' New Chronicles'' is a 14th-century history of Florence created in a year-by-year linear format and written by the Italian banker and official Giovanni Villani (c. 1276 or 1280–1348). T ...
'' of
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 ...
, itself a source for the Vespers.
Brunetto Latini
Brunetto Latini (who signed his name ''Burnectus Latinus'' in Latin and ''Burnecto Latino'' in Italian; –1294) was an Italian philosopher, scholar, notary, politician and statesman.
Life
Brunetto Latini was born in Florence in 1220 to a Tuscan ...
, in his ''Tesoro'', similarly adopts the Sicilian version of events, which includes the earliest version of the rape. The Tuscan ''Liber'' turns the rape story around, suggesting the Sicilian woman had pulled a knife on her French suitor when his friends came to aid him.
* . A description of all prayer 'Offices' is given therein... Vespers, Matins, Laudes... etc.
*Jordan, ''L'Allemagne et l'Italie'', at pp. 219–221. This is the best source of the blasphemous and cunning character of Frederick II as king.
*Bäthgen, ''Die Regentschaft Papst Innocenz III im Konigreich Sizilien'' describes Frederick's minority. See also Van Cleve, ''Markward of Anweiler''; and Luchaire, ''Innocent III, vol. III''; and ''Rome et l'Italie'', pp. 153–204. Jordan, (supra) at pp. 272–74 discusses the origin of the Guelf and Ghibelline factions. See also, Hefele-Leclercq, ''Historie des Conciles'' vol VI, I, pp. 6–9.
*Chalandon, ''Historie de la Domination Normande en Italia'', vol. I, pp. 189–211, 327–54. These are excellent sources describing the Norman Conquest of Italy and Sicily by the Guiscard family. For their rule in Sicily, see vol. II, passim.
References in culture
* Author Carlo Treviso's historical thriller novel, ''Siciliana'' (2022), depicts the harrowing events surrounding the Sicilian Vespers Revolt of 1282.
* The Sicilian Vespers has been a commonly represented topic by Italian painters, for example,
Francesco Hayez
Francesco Hayez (; 10 February 1791 – 12 February 1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and ...
painted
three works on the Sicilian Vespers, the first in 1821. Other painters include
Morelli,
Erulo Eroli, and
Michele Rapisardi.
*
Felicia Hemans
Felicia Dorothea Hemans (25 September 1793 – 16 May 1835) was an English poet (who identified as Welsh by adoption). Two of her opening lines, "The boy stood on the burning deck" and "The stately homes of England", have acquired classic statu ...
's tragedy, ''The Vespers of Palermo'' (1824), in which the hero, Raimond di Procida (son of the Count di Procida), supports the insurrection but refuses to take part in the murder of innocent French citizens, is based loosely on this uprising.
* The German composer
Peter Josef von Lindpaintner
Peter Josef von Lindpaintner (8 December 1791 – 21 August 1856) was a German composer and conductor.
Born in Koblenz as the son of a tenor, he studied with Peter Winter and Joseph Graetz. From 1819 onwards he was based in Stuttgart. Some o ...
composed the opera ''Die Sizilianische Vesper'', premiered in 1843 in Stuttgart and recorded in 2015 in its Italian version, ''Il vespro siciliano''.
* The present (but composed in 1847 and set to music in 1848) Italian
National anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...
, "Il Canto degli Italiani", popularly known as "
Fratelli d'Italia
"" (; "The Song of the Italians") is a canto written by Goffredo Mameli set to music by Michele Novaro in 1847, and is the current national anthem of Italy. It is best known among Italians as the "" (, "Mameli's Hymn"), after the author of the ...
" ("Brothers of Italy"): "Il suon d'ogni squilla / i vespri sonò" (with reference to the past uprisings of the Italian people against foreign rulers, occurring again in these years).
* Reflecting the dual significance of the events to both France and Italy,
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 ...
's ''
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) was originally written for the
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...
to a libretto by
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 ma ...
but circulated more widely in its Italian version, ''
I vespri siciliani
''I vespri siciliani'' (; ''The Sicilian Vespers'') is a five-act Italian opera originally written in French for the Paris Opéra by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi and translated into Italian shortly after its premiere in June 1855. ...
''.
* A popular
urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
holds that the Mafia began with the Sicilian Vespers and the word Mafia itself is a
backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
for "''Morte Alla Francia Italia Anelia!''" ("Death to the French is Italy's Cry!"). However, this is very unlikely as Sicilians did not consider themselves to be Italians in the 13th century. The first reference to the term Mafia dates from 1862. The claim that the Mafia originated as a
secret society that had allegedly organised and led the uprising of 1282 was propagated by Mafiosi in the 19th and 20th centuries to promote the Mafia's self-image as the romantic and chivalrous defenders of ordinary Sicilians against foreign oppressors. This origins story came to be believed by Mafiosi themselves with for example the American Mafiosi
Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno (born Giuseppe Carlo Bonanno; ; January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002), sometimes referred to as Joe Bananas, was an Italian-American crime boss of the Bonanno crime family, which he ran from 1931 to 1968.
Bonanno was born i ...
telling his friends and family when asked about the origin of the Mafia that it began with the Sicilian Vespers. The fact that many Sicilians considered the Piedmont-dominated Italian state that emerged after Italian unification in 1861 to be a sort of foreign occupation gave the Mafia a strong reason to promote this image to capitalise on the widespread resentment felt by people in the ''Mezzogiorno'' about the way that the Piedmontese monopolised power in the new state. Hence the story about Mafia as the leaders of the Sicilian Vespers was invented, with the implication that the Italian state was the latest in a series of foreign oppressors and it would be ignoble for Sicilians to co-operate with the Italian state against the Mafia.
19th-century Italian Paintings depicting Sicilian Vespers
Francesco Hayez 022.jpg, 1821-1823 by Francesco Hayez
Francesco Hayez (; 10 February 1791 – 12 February 1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and ...
I Vespri Siciliani - Domenico Morelli 1823-1901.jpg, 1859-1860 by Domenico Morelli
Domenico Morelli (4 August 182313 August 1901) was an Italian painter, who mainly produced historical and religious works. Morelli was immensely influential in the arts of the second half of the 19th century, both as director of the Accademia di ...
I vespri siciliani - Michele Rapisardi.JPG, 1865 by Michele Rapisardi
I vespri siciliani - Erulo Eroli.jpg, 1890-1891 by Erulo Eroli
Other uses of the term
*In 1594, when the French King
Henry IV was taking some tedious peace negotiations with the Spanish ambassador in France, bored with the unwillingness of the Spaniards to accept his terms, he stated that the King of Spain should behave with more humility, for if not, he could easily invade Spanish territories in Italy, stating that ''"My armies could move so fast that I would have breakfast in Milan and dine in Rome."'' Whereupon the Spanish ambassador replied ''"Now then, if that is so, Your Majesty would surely make it to Sicily in time for Vespers"''.
*Having previously arranged the murder of mafia boss
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 ...
on 15 April 1931 in order to consolidate organized crime in New York City under
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...
, mafia boss
Lucky Luciano then ordered the murders of Maranzano and those capos of Maranzano and Masseria whom Luciano saw as threats. These murders allegedly occurred on September 10, 1931, which marked the end of the
Castellammarese War in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and in
mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
parlance is known as the ''Night of the Sicilian Vespers''. This was later proved to be mostly a myth in mafia culture as no hard evidence exists that all these murders – outside of Maranzano and a few others – actually occurred.
*Sicilian-born brothers David and Francis Rifugiato named their short-lived band "The Sicilian Vespers" after this event. They released one album on
Profile Records
Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records.
History
In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. ...
in 1988.
CD Baby: THE SICILIAN VESPERS: The Sicilian Vespers
/ref>
* Operation Sicilian Vespers (1992–98), an internal security operation involving the collaborative forces of the Italian Armed Forces
The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...
and local police in the fight against the mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
in Sicily
Notes
References
* Bruni, Leonardo. (1416), ''History of the Florentine People'', Harvard, 2001, . Regarded as the first history book to be called "modern", and the first modern historian, it also happens to cover the events of this period.
* Mendola, Louis. (2015), ''Sicily's Rebellion against King Charles'', . Translation of Lu Rebellamentu di Sichilia.
* Mott, Lawrence V. ''Sea power in the medieval Mediterranean: The Catalan-Aragonese fleet in the war of the Sicilian vespers'' (University Press of Florida, 2003).
* Runciman, Steven
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54).
He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...
. (1958),''The Sicilian Vespers'',
online
* Colomer Pérez, Guifré, Memòries de la guerra de les Vespres (1282-1285). Controvèrsies ideològiques i conflictes polítics a la Mediterrània occidental, Tesi Doctoral URV, 2022 (català) http://hdl.handle.net/10803/675697
External links
*
Historia Sicula text
"Sicilian Vespers"
In ''Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'' Online.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
{{coord, 38.1167, N, 13.3667, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Conflicts in 1282
1282 in Europe
1280s in the Byzantine Empire
13th-century rebellions
13th century in the Kingdom of Sicily
Genocide
Military history of Catalonia
Military history of the Kingdom of Sicily
War of the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian rebellions
Massacres in Italy
Francophobia in Europe
Ethnic cleansing in Europe
Charles I of Anjou
History of Palermo
Shibboleths