Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Sicilian Vespers
In 1266 the Angevin army, led by Charles of Anjou, brother of the French King Louis IX,
defeated and killed Manfred at Benevento on the Italian mainland. Two years later, Man-
fred's 15-year-old nephew and heir, Conradin, was defeated at Tagliacozzo, captured by the
Angevins and publicly beheaded in Naples.
After such a bloody start, the Angevins were hated and feared. Sicily was weighed down
by onerous taxes, religious persecution was the order of the day and Norman fiefdoms were
removed and awarded to French aristocrats.
On Easter Monday 1282, the city of Palermo exploded in rebellion. Incited by the al-
leged rape of a local girl by a gang of French troops, peasants lynched every French soldier
they could get their hands on. The revolt spread to the countryside and was supported by
the barons, who had formed an alliance with Peter of Aragon, who landed at Trapani with a
large army and was proclaimed king. For the next 20 years, the Aragonese and the Angev-
ins were engaged in the War of the Sicilian Vespers - a war that was eventually won by the
Spanish.
