I Vespri Siciliani
Author: Steven Runciman
Publisher: Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli / 1976
Pages: 400pp
In August 1280 pope Nicholas died of a heart-attack and the cardinals met once again in Viterbo. But once again they were in perfect equilibrium. The conclave lasted for six months and at the beginning of the new year the population rioted. Charles sent in his troops and confined the cardinals. Frightened, the cardinals chose a Frenchman, Martin IV, an old friend from the French court. From the seven new cardinals appointed within a month four were French and only two Italians.
The new pope detested the Germans and was ready to do anything that favoured the French cause. The Christians of the East left him indifferent.
With Rome once again in his power, Charles felt secure in central Italy. He looked forward to extend his reign in the Rhone valley. He was King of Jerusalem and the leader of the Latin East. His finances were at last secure and the pope did whatever he asked him. This was the time for his attack on Constantinople.
Urged by Charles, Pope Martin broke off the negotiations for the union of churches. It was clear the Greeks were fiercely against the union.
An attack on Constantinople was planned for April 1282. The emperor found he had been encircled by an imposing coalition. But he had not used so far all the weapons at his disposal. The Byzantine diplomacy was still the best in the world.
At the beginning of 1282 Charles, king of Sicily, Jerusalem and Albania, Count of Provence, Forcalquier, Angou and Maine, Regent of Achaia, Supreme Lord of Tunisia and Senator of Rome, was undoubtedly the main powerful sovereign of Europe.
Within a few weeks his ships would enter the Rhone to give the kingdom of Arles to his nephew and also within a few weeks a more imposing expedition would cross over to the Christian East and he would become the lord of the Mediterranean, sovereign of an empire not seen since the time of Justinian. He was even spoken as the Charles of an ancient prophecy.
But arrogance had blinded him. He had forgotten he had enemies in Europe. He had forgotten that despite the efficiency of his government many of his subjects detested him and his haughty officials. He had forgotten those he had exiled who had sworn revenge.
It is time now to introduce a person who will become a protagonist in what was to happen - the Sicilian Vespers. This was Giovanni da Procida. Born not at Procida but at Salerno in 1210. He studied medicine at the renowned university of his birthplace. King Frederick II noted him and he soon became the personal doctor of the emperor.
After the death of the emperor he returned to private practice and among his patients there was the future Pope Nicholas III. He entered service with Manfred who made him Chancellor of his kingdom.
Although Pope Clement recommended him to Charles, Giovanni's loyalty was with the Hohenstaufen, Charles's enemies. He joined Conradin's army and was on the losing side at the battle of Tagliacozzo. He escaped and spent some time in Venice but his house was taken from him, his wife humiliated, his daughter raped and his son killed.
After further wandering, he joined the Aragonese kingdom and became a noble conspirator, travelling all over Europe and gathering supporters.
Even when he was still alive legends about his adventures began to spread, first in the Sicilian dialect and later in works by Petrarch and Boccaccio. He was at the centre of a vast political conspiracy. All his efforts aimed at defeat of the Angevin forces.
Giovanni's main allies were the Emperor of the East and the Genoese republic. The emperor could not offer ships and troops and his fear of an Angevin invasion forced him to submit to the pope. The Genoese were afraid that the alliance between Charles and the Venetians would dislodge the Genoese from their position of strength in the Black Sea. And both the emperor and the Genoese were awash with money.
In 1279 Giovanni went secretly to Constantinople and was warmly received by the emperor who gave him letters to the king of Aragon and to the people of Sicily as well as a generous sum of money.
Dressed as a Franciscan he crossed over to Sicily where he met some important nobles. Then he went to Viterbo and met the pope who he had cured many years back. He went to Barcelona and informed the king of all that had happened and crossed back to Viterbo and met the pope who approved all that he was doing.
From Viterbo Giovanni crossed over to Trapani to meet his fellow-conspirators. Then he crossed to Constantinople, and was received by the emperor who gave him more money. He then sailed towards Trapani and the crew told him that the pope had died but Giovanni hid this news from everyone.
He persuaded his fellow conspirators to come to Malta which seems, says Runciman, to have been less rigidly policed by Charles's informers. Then he informed the others the pope had died. After some discussion he went to Barcelona and informed the king of all that he had done. It was agreed that an expedition to free Sicily would take place in the spring of 1282.
It is difficult to establish what is true in this legend. Giovanni was old at this time, probably 70 years old and it is unlikely he travelled so much. Pope Nicholas does not seem to have been so bloodthirsty as he is made out in the legend though this did not stop Dante from damning the pope and consigning him to hell.
Before the end of 1280 King Peter of Aragon was speaking openly about what was going to happen in the big "dies illa", not far away when everyone would rejoice.
Nor did King Peter give up when another French pope, Martin IV, was elected in 1281. During that year two big naval forces were being prepared - one was Charles's armada to attack, he said, the faithless, but actually it was going to attack Constantinople. King Peter was more cautious: the armada he was preparing was also a crusade, but it was to defend the king of Tunisia who was said to be almost ready to be converted.
Here Giovanni showed his political acumen. He knew that the continental Italians were not dissatisfied with Charles' rule. They might have been irritated by the high taxes and the administration's efficiency but Charles was improving the harbours and the roads and encouraged their markets. And they could always find a job in other countries under the same ruler.
But Charles always suspected the Sicilians, especially after the great insurrection at the time of Conradin. He never visited except when crossing to go to Tunisia. Sicily was administered by Frenchmen who never bothered to learn the language.
The Sicilians had barely endured being governed by Naples in other times. And they hated the French who did not respect their customs. Sicily still contained a Greek core which was sympathetic with the Greeks of Byzantium.
Charles was wrong to neglect the Sicilians and Giovanni da Procida was right to seek their support. Of all the peoples of Europe, Runciman concludes, the Sicilians are the most expert at conspiracies. Their faithfulness to the secret society is only equalled by their faithfulness to the honour of their families.
Everything was done in secret. It is certain that people sent from Aragon were active in Sicily at that time. It is certain that weapons were coming in. It is also certain that the conspirators were in close contact with Constantinople and that they received money with the promise that more would be coming later.
In the spring of 1282 the whole Mediterranean world knew that a crisis was coming. King Charles was gathering his ships together. There was no time for further delays.
Three times he had been forced to withdraw his planned excursion - when King Louis forced him to join him in his crusade, when a storm had smashed the fleet on its way back and when the pope had refused permission during the long negotiations for the reunion of the churches. Nothing was going to stop him now.
So far Runciman's book. For an account of the Sicilian Vespers please read the book review carried on Sunday 3 March.
Charles was expelled from Sicily in 1282 in the aftermath of the 'Sicilian Vespers'. His body was buried in Naples and his heart sent to Paris.