''The Vespers of Palermo'' is an 1823

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

by the British writer

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 ...

. It premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

on 12 December 1823. The original cast included

Charles Mayne Young Charles Mayne Young (10 January 1777 – 1856) was an English actor. He was born to a respected London surgeon (doctor). His first stage appearance was in Liverpool on 20 September 1798, where he played a Young Norval in Home's blank verse trag ...

as Count Di Procida,

Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble ...

as Raimond Di Procida,

George John Bennett George John Bennett (1800–1879) was for nearly 40 years a Shakespearian actor on the London stage, notably Covent Garden and Drury Lane. Life He was the son of the eminent popular comedian George Bennett anHarriet Morland, the daughter of a ...

as Eribert,

Frederick Henry Yates Frederick Henry Yates (4 February 1797 – 21 June 1842) was an English actor and theatre manager. Life Yates was born in London, the youngest son of Thomas Yates, a tobacco manufacturer, of Thames Street and Russell Square. Frederick was educ ...

as Montalba, William Chapman as Anselmo,

Thomas Comer Thomas Comer (1790–1862) was a British stage actor. Comer was born in Bath in Somerset. After appearing in the West End at the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres, he emigrated to the United States and established himself as a leading music ...

as De Couci,

William Claremont William Claremont (died 1832) was a British stage actor who spent many years in the companies of the leading London theatres at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, Covent Garden, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, Haymarket and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Drury L ...

as Villager, Sarah Bartley as Vittoria and Frances Harriet Kelly as Constance. It is set against the backdrop of 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 ...

uprising of 1282 and, like

Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (16 December 1787 – 10 January 1855) was an English author and dramatist. She was born at New Alresford, Alresford in Hampshire. She is best known for ''Our Village'', a series of sketches of village scenes and vividly dr ...

's ''

Julian Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (give ...

'' of the same year, is strongly influenced by the early stages of the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

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 ...

. Both draw links between

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

repression with the defeat of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

's failed 1820 uprising against

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

rule.''The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature'' p.860

References

Bibliography

* Burwick, Frederick Goslee, Nancy Moore & Hoeveler Diane Long. ''The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature''. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850''. Cambridge University Press, 1930. 1823 plays West End plays British plays Tragedy plays Historical plays Plays set in Sicily Plays set in the 13th century {{19thC-play-stub