On Easter Monday, March 30 th 1282, an incident took place at Palermo which had profound consequences not only for Sicily but for the whole of Europe. A crowd had gathered by the Church of the Holy Spirit, a Norman building located outside the walls of the city to the south-east. Founded in 1177 by the English archbishop of Palermo, Walter of the Mill, the church stood in open countryside near the banks of the river Oreto. The purpose of the gathering was to celebrate evensong, the Vespers, as was traditional after Easter. Waiting for the service to begin, people were in festive mood, with dancing taking place in the open space in front of the church.
Trouble started with the arrival of French soldiers from Charles of Anjou’s military force then occupying Sicily. The Frenchmen had been drinking and, used to abusing the local population, they began to pay unwelcome attention to the Sicilian women. When murmurs of defiance were heard from the Sicilians, the French retaliated by searching them for weapons. A French sergeant named Drouet went too far in manhandling a young noblewoman. The Sicilians could take it no longer and a cry went up of “Moranu li Franchiski!” (“Death to the French!”), a knife was drawn and Drouet was killed, either by the woman’s husband or by a youth in the crowd. A short, fierce struggle followed, the Sicilians attacking the fully armed French with sticks, stones and knives, at the end of which all the French and many Sicilians lay dead. Just as the fighting ceased, the church bells for the Vesper service rang out all over Palermo. At this moment a massacre of the French began, leading to the War of the Sicilian Vespers, which consumed the countries of the Mediterranean for the next twenty years.
Sicily has always been fertile ground for conspiracy theories and the story of the Sicilian Vespers is one of the most intriguing examples. From one point of view the revolt of the Sicilians against the French was a spontaneous act of aggression against their oppressors and was praised as such by Italian nationalists in the nineteenth century. On the other hand, there is evidence to suggest that the revolt was carefully orchestrated to take place just in time to wreck the Mediterranean ambitions of Charles of Anjou. Bartholomew of Neocastro, a contemporary chronicler, claimed that “the revolt was long in preparation”. If this was the case, then it was a conspiracy on a grand scale.
After the initial skirmish in front of the Church of the Holy Spirit, men covered in blood brandishing weapons taken from the fallen French soldiers, ran into the centre of Palermo. To the continuing cry of “Death to the French!” all the French encountered were slaughtered, soldiers, monks, women and children. If their nationality was in doubt, suspects were shown a chickpea and asked what it was. The correct answer was cìciru, a word in the local dialect that was difficult for the French to pronounce. Those who failed the test were killed on the spot. Doors were broken down and households attacked and it is possible that the houses of the French had been previously identified and marked. The Angevin flag was torn down to be replaced by the Imperial eagle, the sign given the city by Frederick II. The justicar, John of St Remy, escaped to the Norman Palace but without the garrison was unable to keep out the mob. When he fled inland to a fortress at Vicari, Palermo was in the hands of the people. Parliament met that same night, declared an independent republic and elected captains to run the city led by a baron named Roger Mastrangelo. Around two thousand French men and women died that day in Palermo.
The next day the fortress at Vicari, where the justicar was rallying his troops, was put under siege by the rebels. During negotiations for his release, the justicar was shot and killed by an archer. The garrison was then massacred. Agents were sent to other cities on the island to spread the news of the revolt. Towns near Palermo were the first to join in such as Corleone, which sent 3,000 armed men to Palermo, and Calatafimi where the local justicar was released unharmed as he was respected for his just administration. By mid-April all western and central Sicily was in rebel hands.
Messina was now the target for the rebels. This was where Charles’ governor of Sicily, Herbert of Orleans, resided and where his fleet was anchored. It was Charles’ preferred city on the island and had received many benefits from him. Initially Messina supported the Angevins but as the popular revolt spread, the governor’s position became untenable. Herbert negotiated a safe passage for himself and his followers to Calabria, where they began to prepare a counter-attack. Messina formally joined the revolt on April 30 th , apparently after receiving a payment of funds from Constantinople. A letter of confirmation of Messina’s support was sent to Michael Paleaologus, the emperor in Constantinople, who received it with relief. When a number of French ships in the harbour at Messina were burnt, the rest of the fleet withdrew.
Charles was furious when he heard the news and appealed to the pope for support. The rebels and Michael Paleaologus found themselves excommunicated. The counter-attack took several months to prepare and in August Charles landed north of Messina with a large force. The Sicilians were urged to surrender by both Charles and the pope. But the Sicilians had had enough of Angevin rule. The castle in Messina was taken by the rebels and Charles’ representatives killed. Alaimo of Lentini, one of the leaders of the revolt, took decisive charge in Messina, repairing the defences and putting together a fleet of Sicilian, Genoese and Venetian ships. Charles launched several attacks on the city but was unable to capture it and after sustaining heavy losses he withdrew his troops.
So far, the Sicilians had defeated the Angevins on their own, taking control of the key cities of Palermo and Messina. Charles, however, remained close by with his large army and navy and it was only a matter of time before the next assault came. The Sicilians had already appealed to the pope to no avail. They now turned to Peter of Aragon, who with his fleet was campaigning in North Africa. A delegation was sent to Peter appealing to him to come to their aid and offering him the crown of Sicily, with his wife Constance the rightful queen. After some discussion Peter accepted, and on August 30 th the Aragonese fleet arrived at Trapani. Here Peter was enthusiastically received, according to the chronicler Esclot. And forthwith all the high nobles and knights of the land went out in barques to the ship of the King and when they were thereon, they kneeled down at his feet and kissed his hand, greeting him with much honour and beseeching him to descend upon the shore of his own land.
Peter was taken from Trapani to the palace in Palermo. Then the people of the land held high festival during four days or more. And they sent precious gifts of gold and silver to the King, likewise cloths of gold and silken stuffs. And the King was well pleased with the people of Trapani and of the regions round about. When Peter was crowned King of Sicily in Palermo on September 4 th , he promised the people to reintroduce the just laws of King William the Good.
(For the full story see Palermo, City of Kings, Chapter 7, page 73).
