THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



HISTORIC SKETCHES. XL. 



THE SICILIAN VESPEES. 



" DEATH to the French ! Down with the French ! " Such was 

 the cry at Palermo on the evening of Easter Tuesday, the 

 31st of March, 1282. It was a terrible cry, one that sounded 

 the knell, not only of many hundred lives of Frenchmen, but 

 the life also of French dominion in Sicily. It was a cry long 

 remembered a cry which became known as that of the Sicilian 

 Vespers, a cry that made brave Frenchmen blench, and gave 

 their enemies an opportunity of sneering without the possibility 

 of being answered. Once Henry IV. of France said, when 

 angry, in conversation with the Spanish ambassador, " If I 

 am provoked, I will breakfast at Milan and dine at Naples," 

 at that time under the Spanish crown. " And perhaps," said 

 the Spanish ambassador, "your Majesty may reach Sicily in 

 time for vespers." 



But how came the French to have any interest in Sicily ? 

 What were the circumstances under which the historic facts 

 known as the Sicilian Vespers took place ? 



The island of Sicily was early conquered by the Saracens, 

 when they spread from their native confines of Arabia into 

 Europe. In their hands it remained till the year 1058, when 

 Roger Guiscard, a Norman chief, undertook to win it back to 

 the Christians, and, overthrowing the Saracenic ruler, established 

 himself in his place. Roger's brother Robert, also a Norman 

 adventurer, had established himself in the kingdom of Naples, 

 and on his death Roger united the two dominions under one 

 crown. In Norman hands the crown of the Two Sicilies re- 

 mained till the time of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa. His 

 son Henry married Constance, the only child and heiress of 

 William II., who was the direct descendant of Roger Guiscard. 

 Henry, upon liis father's death, became Emperor of Germany, 

 and of course, in right of his wife, King of Naples and Sicily. 

 His reign was not a long one, and when Frederick II., his 

 successor, came to the throne, a minor, there was a chance, 

 which was not lost by enemies of the imperial house, to loosen 

 the hold which the emperor had upon his Italian dominions. 



For many years the factions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines 

 that is to say, the partisans of the Papal power (the Guelphs), 

 and those of the emperor (the Ghibellines) had divided all 

 eastern Europe. The interest of the Pope was the interest of 

 a large body of men who, in addition to the influence which 

 their priestly office gave them over an ignorant and superstitious 

 people, possessed an immense power by virtue of the monopoly 

 which they exercised over the sources of secular learning. 

 This influence they exerted in behalf of themselves and their 

 master, and succeeded in forming a compact and well-organised 

 party among the laity in opposition to the imperial power. 

 Among their adherents were the inhabitants of the principal 

 Italian cities, ever apprehensive of danger from their German 

 suzerain ; the kings of France, ever jealous of the power and 

 predominance of the emperors ; and an un-German following 

 in Germany, known as the Saxon party. The Ghibelline or 

 Imperial faction included those who strove to make the emperor 

 supreme as in the older time he had been, and not only claimed 

 for the emperor an entire independence of the Papal see, but 

 asserted his right to appoint and control the Pope himself. 



Of course, between these two factions the warfare was 

 incessant. At times one prevailed, at times the other ; but no 

 opportunity was lost by either of injuring the enemy, whether 

 in season or out of season. The so-called vice-gerent of Christ 

 was no whit better, if so good, as his imperial foe, and means 

 were taken to ensure the success of the Papal cause which it is 

 hard to suppose the vice-gerent' s Master would have approved. 

 When Frederick II.* died in 1250, after a reign of 38 years, 

 spent in ceaseless attacks upon the Papal power, he left two 

 sons, Conrad, his heir, and Manfred, who was illegitimate. 



Although Conrad had been elected King of the Romans, a 

 title which usually assured the wearer of the imperial title, 

 he was prevented by the arts of Pope Innocent IV. from 

 succeeding to the purple. Strong efforts were also made to 

 oust him from his kingdom of Naples, but there he established 

 himself, and after a reign of two years died, leaving a young 

 son, Conradin, whom, as his successor, he commended to the 



* This monarch was Frederick I. of Sicilv from 1197 to 1250, and 

 Frederick II. of Germany from 1212 to 1250. 



care of the boy's uncle Manfred, and of the Pope. As soon aa 

 Conrad was dead the Pope began an attempt to deprive the 

 child for whom he was trustee of his birthright. He incited 

 the Neapolitan nobles to throw off the kingly yoke, and to form 

 an oligarchical republic under the protection of the Church ; 

 and in furtherance of his plan, he marched a body of troops into 

 the Neapolitan territory. By his influence the Sicilians were 

 induced to abjure their allegiance to Conradin and the Ghibelline 

 house of Suabia, and to form themselves into a sort of republic 

 in connection with Rome. But from the first it was apparent 

 that the constituent parts of the state were too uncongenial to 

 be welded into a veritable republic. The mixed racea among 

 the inhabitants, the aristocratic and popular interests, and the 

 presence of a small minority yet favourable to royalty, were 

 so many causes of disunion. After a few months of trouble 

 and confusion, Manfred, who had raised men and money iu 

 Germany, appeared in arms in the southern provinces, and 

 restored the royal authority on the mainland and in Sicily. For 

 a short time he professed to act as regent for Conradin, his 

 nephew, but at last he gave out that Conradin was dead, and 

 caused himself to be crowned king at Palermo. He was at once 

 recognised as head of the Ghibelline faction, and displayed an 

 uncompromising and active hostility to the Papal court. 



Under these circumstances, Innocent IV. looked about for 

 some one whom he could pit against Manfred. Richard, 

 Earl of Cornwall, brother to Henry III. of England, wan 

 first applied to ; but on due consideration declined the honour 

 of a kingdom which, though the Pope professed to give him, 

 it was yet clear the earl would have to win and also to keep by 

 his own good sword and his own broad pieces. Then it wan 

 offered to one of Henry III.'s own sons, but was declined after 

 much money had been spent in backing up the title. In 

 Charles, Duke of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, Alexander IV., 

 who had succeeded Innocent, found a willing recipient of the 

 kingdom of Naples, even on condition of winning it at the 

 sword's point. To assist him, the Pope published a crusade 

 against Manfred, and promised endless felicity to all who should 

 die fighting in behalf of the French duke. At Benevento where, 

 in spite of terrible bravery, the Neapolitan army was routed, 

 and Manfred, scorning to be taken, plunged into the thickest of 

 the fight and there met death Charles of Anjou at one stroke 

 overcame all resistance, and found himself master of the kingdoms 

 of Naples and Sicily. Conradin, who was not dead, though only 

 a youth in his seventeenth year, pat himself at the head of the 

 remaining friends of his house, and marched to pluck the fruit 

 which the Duke of Anjou had won. At Tagliacozzo he met 

 the French troops, a bloody battle ensued, the Germans were 

 routed, and Conradin fled to Astura, where he was given up to 

 the vengeance of his enemy. That enemy, incapable alike of 

 generosity and mercy, caused him to be publicly put to death, 

 the vice-gerent of Christ consenting. Upon the scaffold, which 

 was erected in the market-place of his own capital city, Con- 

 radin announced, before laying his youthful head on the 

 block, that his rights survived in Peter III. of Aragon, who had 

 married the daughter of Manfred. He slew many more at his 

 death than he had done in his life, for by his sacrifice there was 

 kindled in the breasts of his proper subjects such a hatred for 

 the rulers who had assumed the mastery as was not extinguished 

 till long after the Sicilian Vespers. 



The brutality of the French nsurpor knew no bounds. All 

 who had taken part against him in the late wars were put to 

 death, their property was confiscated, their houses were razed 

 to the ground. Subjection the most utter and complete, 

 nothing short of it would satisfy the tyrant, who, " lacking 

 nothing but the wrath of God," made his kingdom on the 

 mainland a howling waste. But for Sicily his fierce fury was 

 reserved. The Sicilians had risen very generally in favour of 

 Conradine. Charles, therefore, sent over Guillaume 1'Estendard, 

 the cruellest man in his army, to be governor, and to root out 

 the prevalent disaffection. This ruffian fully justified his 

 master's choice. With fire, sword, and gibbet, he " quieted " 

 the island ; there was not a house where there was not one dead, 

 and those who remained alive envied their brothers who had 

 died. Those who had exclaimed against the severity of the 

 Suabian government looked back sorrowfully to the days when 

 Manfred ruled them. " We thought we had got a king from 

 the Father of fathers, and we have gotten antichrist," said the 

 clergy, who, curbed by Manfred, were utterly despoiled by 



