Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sicily's Slide from Glory
Under the Angevins, who succeeded the German Hohenstaufens, Sicily was weighed down
by onerous taxes, religious persecution was the order of the day and Norman fiefdoms were
removed and given to French aristocrats. On Easter Monday 1282, the city of Palermo ex-
ploded in rebellion. Incited by the alleged 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 Sicilian nobility, who had formed an alliance
with Peter of Aragon. Peter landed at Trapani with a large army and was proclaimed king.
For the next 20 years, the Aragonese and the Angevins were engaged in the War of the Si-
cilian Vespers - a war that was eventually won by the Spanish.
By the end of the 14th century, Sicily had been thoroughly marginalised. The eastern
Mediterranean was sealed off by the Ottoman Turks, while the Italian mainland was off
limits on account of Sicily's political ties with Spain. As a result, the Renaissance passed
the island by, reinforcing the oppressive effects of poverty and ignorance. Even Spain lost
interest in its colony, choosing to rule through viceroys. By the end of the 15th century, the
viceroy's court was a den of corruption, and the most influential body on the island became
the Catholic Church (whose archbishops and bishops were mostly Spanish). The church ex-
ercised draconian powers through a network of Holy Office tribunals, otherwise known as
the Inquisition.
Reeling under the weight of state oppression, ordinary Sicilians demanded reform. Un-
fortunately, their Spanish monarchs were preoccupied by the wars of the Spanish succes-
sion and Sicily was subsequently passed around for decades from European power to
European power like an unwanted Christmas present. Eventually the Spanish reclaimed the
island in 1734, this time under the Bourbon king Charles III of Sicily (r 1734-59).
Between January and August of 1656, the bubonic plague wiped out about half of Naples' 300,000 inhabit-
ants and much of the economy. The city would take almost two centuries to reach its pre-plague head-
count again.
