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 Sicilian Vespers (1846), by Francesco Hayez. The War of the ( Sicilian) Vespers started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and finally ended with Francesco Hayez ( February 10, 1791 - December 21, 1882) was an Italian painter the leading artist of Romanticism | |||||||
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 Sicilian rebels Byzantine empire Kingdom of Aragon |  Charles of Anjou | ||||||
The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to a rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I of Naples, who had taken control of the island with Papal support in 1266. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. The Kingdom of Aragon was an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon ( Charles I ( 21 March 1226 &ndash 7 January 1285) commonly called Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Angevin (ˈændʒəvɪn ( French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin Andegavinus from Andegavia Anjou, France) is the name applied Charles I ( 21 March 1226 &ndash 7 January 1285) commonly called Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and It was the beginning of the eponymous War of the Sicilian Vespers. The War of the ( Sicilian) Vespers started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and finally ended with
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Background
The rising had its origin in the struggle between the Hohenstaufen-ruled Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy for control over Italy. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest When Hohenstaufen Manfred of Sicily was defeated in 1266, the Kingdom of Sicily was entrusted to his rival, Charles of Anjou, by Pope Urban IV. Manfred ( Venosa, 1232 &ndash Benevento February 26, 1266) was the King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266 The Kingdom of Sicily (Regnum Siciliae or Sicilie Regno di Sicilia, commonly abbreviated Regno) was a state that existed in the south of Italy Charles I ( 21 March 1226 &ndash 7 January 1285) commonly called Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest
Charles regarded his Sicilian territories as a springboard for his Mediterranean ambitions, which included the overthrow of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus. This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( Greek: Μιχαήλ Η΄ Παλαιολόγος Mikhaēl VIII Palaiologos) (1223 &ndash December 11 His French officials (who governed Sicily badly) mistreated native Sicilians with rape, theft and murder. Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person In Criminal law, theft (also known as stealing or filching) is the illegal taking of another person's Property without that person's freely-given Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries
There are two interpretations, not necessarily exclusive, of events. One stresses the weltpolitik of Michael Palaeologus and the Aragonese king Peter III, Manfred's son-in-law, in fomenting the revolt; the other concentrates on the unpopularity of Charles's rule among native Sicilians. The "Weltpolitik" (world policy strategy was adopted by Germany in the late 19th century replacing the earlier " Realpolitik " approach The Kingdom of Aragon was an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon ( Peter the Great ( Catalan: Pere el Gran, Spanish: Pedro el Grande; 1239 &ndash 2 November 1285) was the King of Aragon The latter view gained popularity during the Risorgimento when it was propounded by the patriot Michele Amari. Italian Unification ( Italian: il Risorgimento, or "The Resurgence" was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian Michele Amari ( July 7, 1806, Palermo &mdash July 16, 1889, Florence) was an Italian patriot born at Palermo, Regarding the former, Michael VIII in his autobiography 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. "[1]
The uprising
The event is named because the insurrection began at the start of vespers on Easter Monday (March 30, 1282) at the Church of the Holy Spirit just outside Palermo. Vespers is the evening Prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Eastern (Byzantine Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, liturgies of the Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a Holiday in some largely Christian cultures especially Roman Catholic Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Palermo ( Sicilian: Palermu, Greek: Panormus, al-Madinah during Muslim rule is a historic City in Thousands of Sicily's French inhabitants were massacred over the next six weeks. The events that started the uprising are not known for certain, but the various retellings have common elements.
According to Steven Runciman, Sicilians at the church were engaged in holiday festivities and a group of French officials came by to join in and began to drink. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH ( 7 July, 1903 &ndash 1 November, 2000) better known as Sir Steven Runciman, was 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.
According to Leonardo Bruni (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. Leonardo Bruni (or Leonardo Aretino) (c 1369 &ndash March 9 1444) was a leading humanist, Historian and a Chancellor This then began a riot, the French were attacked first with rocks, then weapons, killing them all. 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".
Aftermath
Taking advantage of the revolt, King Peter III of Aragon launched a successful invasion, becoming also Peter I of Sicily. Peter the Great ( Catalan: Pere el Gran, Spanish: Pedro el Grande; 1239 &ndash 2 November 1285) was the King of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon was an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon (
Charles remained in control of the mainland Kingdom of Naples until his death in 1285 and his heirs continued to reign there until Peter's successors reunited the territories in 1442. The Kingdom of Naples was an informal name of the Polity officially known as the Kingdom of Sicily which existed on the mainland of the southern Italian
References in culture
- Giuseppe Verdi's opera Les vêpres siciliennes is based on this conflict. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Les vêpres siciliennes ( The Sicilian Vespers) is an Opera in five acts by the Italian romantic Composer Giuseppe
- Francesco Hayez painted a series on the Sicilian Vespers, beginning in 1821. Francesco Hayez ( February 10, 1791 - December 21, 1882) was an Italian painter the leading artist of Romanticism
Other uses of the term
- In 1494 when the French King Louis XII was invading Italy he told the Spanish ambassador that his armies would move so fast that he would "breakfast in Milan and dine in Rome. Louis XII ( June 27, 1462 – January 1, 1515) called "the Father of the People" (Le Père du Peuple was the thirty-fifth king " Whereupon the ambassador replied that doubtless he would be in Sicily in time for Vespers.
- Having previously arranged the murder of mafia boss Joseph Masseria on April 15, 1931 in order to consolidate organized crime in New York City under Salvatore Maranzano, mafia boss Lucky Luciano then ordered the murders of Maranzano and those capos of Maranzano and Masseria whom Luciano saw as threats. Giuseppe "Joe The Boss" Masseria (c 1887&ndash April 15, 1931) was an early Mafia don in the United States. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Salvatore Maranzano ( July 31, 1886 - September 10, 1931) was an Organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania; November 24 1897 – January 26 1962 was a Sicilian Mobster. These murders occurred on September 10, 1931 which marked the end of the Castellammarese War in New York City and in mafia parlance is known as the Night of the Sicilian Vespers. Events 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Castellammarese War (1929 - 1931 was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between two factions The City of New York
- Sicily-born brothers David and Francis Rifugiato named their short-lived band "The Sicilian Vespers" after this event. They released one album on Profile Records in 1988. Profile Records was a Record label known as Panorama Records until Cory Robbins and Steve Plotnicki bought the label from MCA Records. [2] [3]
Notes
References
- Steven Runciman (1958),The Sicilian Vespers, ISBN 0-521-43774-1. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH ( 7 July, 1903 &ndash 1 November, 2000) better known as Sir Steven Runciman, was Considered a classic of history.
- Leonardo Bruni (1416), History of the Florentine People, Harvard, 2001, ISBN 0-674-00506-6. Leonardo Bruni (or Leonardo Aretino) (c 1369 &ndash March 9 1444) was a leading humanist, Historian and a Chancellor 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.
- Michael VIII Palaeologus, De Vita sua Opusculum, (ed. Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( Greek: Μιχαήλ Η΄ Παλαιολόγος Mikhaēl VIII Palaiologos) (1223 &ndash December 11 J. Troitsky in Christianskoe Chtenie, vol. II). St Petersburg, 1885.
- "Sicilian Vespers". In Encyclopedia Britannica Online. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc
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