Sicilian Vespers

a general massacre of the French in Sicily by the local population, begun at the sound of the vesper bell on Easter Monday, 1282.

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(1282) Massacre of the French that began a Sicilian revolt against the Angevin king Charles I.

Backed by Peter III of Aragon, the rising broke out when Sicilians killed some insulting French soldiers at vespers in the church of Santo Spirito in Palermo. The people of the city followed suit and massacred 2,000 of its French inhabitants. All of Sicily soon revolted and sought help from the Aragonese, and the war became a French-Aragonese struggle for possession of Sicily. The conflict was finally resolved when the Sicilians chose Frederick III, brother of the king of Aragon, as their ruler in 1302.

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▪ Sicilian history

      (1282) massacre of the French with which the Sicilians began their revolt against Charles I, Angevin (Angevin empire) king of Naples and Sicily; it precipitated a French-Aragonese struggle for possession of that kingdom. Its name derives from a riot that took place in a church outside Palermo at the hour of vespers on Easter Monday, March 30, 1282. Peter III of Aragon, Charles's rival for the Neapolitan throne, conspired to raise a rebellion against him in Sicily. The rising broke out prematurely when Sicilians, incensed by Charles's oppressive regime, killed some insulting French soldiers at vespers in the church of Santo Spirito. The people of Palermo followed suit and massacred 2,000 French inhabitants of the city the night of March 30–31. All of Sicily soon revolted and sought help from the Aragonese, who landed at Trapani on August 30.

      The War of the Sicilian Vespers ensued. The Angevins were supported by the papacy, the Italian Guelfs, and Philip III of France, while the Aragonese were helped by the Italian Ghibellines. The son of Peter III acceded to the throne of Aragon as James II and made peace with the papacy, France, and the Angevins (to whom he renounced Sicily), by the Treaty of Anagni (June 1295). But the Sicilians took as their king James's brother, Frederick III (Frederick III (or II)), who finally secured the kingdom for himself by the Peace of Caltabellotta (August 31, 1302), beginning a long period of Spanish hegemony on the island.

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