Sicilian Vespers
In 1282 a spontaneous uprising in Palermo expelled the forces of Charles of Anjou from Sicily and reshaped Mediterranean politics.
Overview
Charles of Anjou had ruled Sicily harshly since 1266, taxing the island heavily to fund his ambitions against Byzantium. On Easter Monday 1282 an insult to a local woman by a French soldier sparked a riot in Palermo that became a general massacre of the French garrison over the following weeks. The revolt drew in Peter III of Aragon, who claimed the Sicilian crown by marriage and opened the twenty-year War of the Vespers against Angevin power. Sicily passed to Aragonese rule, ending Charles plans for a Mediterranean empire and weakening papal influence in the south. The uprising became a lasting symbol of popular resistance to foreign domination.
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