Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to a rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I, who had taken control of the island with Papal support in 1266.
The rising had its origin in the struggle between the Holy Roman Empire, represented by the Hohenstaufen emperors, and the Papacy for control over Italy. When the last Hohenstaufen was defeated in 1266, the kingdom of Sicily was entrusted to Charles of Anjou by Pope Urban IV. Charles regarded his Sicilian territories as a springboard for his Mediterranean wide ambitions, which included the overthrow of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus.
There are two interpretations, not necessarily mutually exclusive, of events. One stresses the weltpolitik of Michael Palaeologus and the Aragonese king Peter III in fomenting the revolt; the other concentrates on the grassroots unpopularity of Charles's rule among the native Sicilians. The latter view gained popularity during the Risorgimento, when it was propounded by the patriot Amari.
The event is so named because the insurrection began at the start of the evening prayer service of vespers on Easter Monday and eventually led to the massacre of Sicily's French inhabitants, which was completed approximately six weeks later. According to legend, the rebellion started after a Sicilian woman went to a church in Palermo to look for her young daughter, who had spent the whole day there praying, only to find her being raped in the church by a French soldier - whereupon the mother then ran into the streets, shouting Ma fia! Ma fia! (meaning "My daughter! My daughter!" in medieval Sicilian dialect). Some have claimed that this tale provides a plausible explanation as to where the word "Mafia" might have originated.
Taking advantage of the revolt, King Peter III of Aragón launched a successful invasion, becoming also Peter I of Sicily.
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 two territories in 1442.
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