Sicilian Vespers
As Sicilian Vespers is called the on 30th March 1282 ( Easter Monday at the time of Vespers at first) in Palermo in Sicily erupted and a series of massacres in French accompanied survey of the Sicilian population against French rule under Charles I , which quickly over spread the whole island and led to the expulsion of the house of Anjou from Sicily.
background
The events of 1282 put an end to a long-running dispute over rule in the Kingdom of Sicily , a dispute between the Roman-German kings and emperors from the Staufer dynasty and a whole series of popes , between the empire and the papacy, between imperium and sacerdotium . The undisputed rule of the House of Anjou in the Kingdom of Sicily from 1265/1266 was short-lived. After 1282, Charles of Anjou only remained in control of the continental part of the Kingdom of Naples , while the island of Sicily fell to the House of Aragón . The rule of Sicily by various branches of the Spanish royal family lasted until the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession . The Kingdom of Naples then fell to the House of Habsburg , the Kingdom of Sicily to the House of Savoy .
The conflicting parties
The Hohenstaufen
In 1250 Friedrich II died , the last Hohenstaufen, who was also Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Sicily . In his will he had appointed his son Conrad IV , who had already been elected Roman-German king in 1237 at the age of nine , as a universal heir and expressly designated him as the official successor in the empire, in Sicily and Jerusalem, but Konrad found little support in the empire . In 1246, after the deposition and excommunication of Frederick II by Pope Innocent IV , Heinrich Raspe († 1247) and then in 1247 Wilhelm von Holland († 1256) of the papal party was the counter-king - first against Friedrich II and then against Conrad IV. - has been chosen. In 1251 Konrad was also excommunicated by Innocent. The military situation became hopeless for Konrad, so that he moved to Italy in 1252 to secure his rule in the Kingdom of Sicily. Although he was able to conquer Naples, he did not succeed in enforcing the Hohenstaufen claims because he died in an army camp in 1254.
His underage son Konradin (* 1252) was brought up under the care of his uncle Ludwig II of Bavaria . Although he entered the inheritance as Duke of Swabia, he could not enforce his claim to the Roman-German crown. In Sicily, his uncle Manfred , an illegitimate son of Frederick, administered the kingdom until he seized control and the title of king himself in 1258.
After Manfred fell in the Battle of Benevento in 1266 and lost his empire to Charles I of Anjou, who was favored by the Pope, Konradin moved to Italy in 1267 at the request of the Italian Staufer Party, the Ghibellines , whereupon Pope Clement IV banned him .
The Popes
Pope Gregory IX. (1227–1241) had been hopelessly enemies with Friedrich II.
With the election of Celestine IV († 1241), the attempt was made again to achieve a reconciliation of the church with Emperor Friedrich II. But after Celestine died before he could be crowned, the election of Pope Innocent IV (1243–1254) marked the end of the policy of reconciliation, although the new Pope , who came from a Ghibelline family, was initially considered friendly to the emperor. When he was in office, however, he became a staunch advocate of papal power. Innocent felt by Friedrich threatened and saw the Papal States by the Staufer claim to power in northern Italy and in the Kingdom of Sicily circled. Innocent renewed the doctrine of the supremacy of the papacy over the empire, banished the emperor and had him deposed at the 1st Council of Lyon in 1245, called for a crusade against Frederick and sought powerful allies in the royal houses of Europe - so he transferred Edmund , the second son of Henry III. of England , 1253 Sicily as a papal fiefdom. However, this could not enforce his claim, since Conrad IV already held Naples.
During the hostilities that broke out in the Holy Roman Empire after the Council, Innocent supported the opposing kings Heinrich Raspe (1246–1247) and Wilhelm von Holland (1247–1256). Especially in Italy there were persistent and bloody clashes between the supporters of the Pope, the Guelphs, and those of the emperor, the Ghibellines . Even after the death of Frederick II in 1250, Innocent continued the fight against the Hohenstaufen and from then on feuded King Conrad IV and, after his death, his half-brother Manfred of Sicily, whom the nobility and the estates in Sicily had recognized as his father's successor . Shortly before his death, Innocent IV had to learn that Manfred had won the battle of Foggia.
His successor was Alexander IV (1254–1261), who, like his predecessor, took over the guardianship of the last Staufer Konradin, who had been Duke of Swabia and heir of the Kingdom of Sicily since 1254, in his pontificate. In the dispute over the Roman-German royal crown, Alexander initially supported Alfonso X of Castile (1257–1284), who, however, never entered the empire, later he sided with Richard of Cornwall (1257–1272), in 1257 it came hence a double election of the Roman-German king. The offer to Richard to become king in Sicily was rejected with the words "I will not let the moon be sold to me."
Anjou
The battle for the Kingdom of Sicily (until 1268)
After that, Pope Alexander IV turned to Karl von Anjou, the younger brother of the French King Louis IX, for the first time . (1226–1270), whose enfeoffment with the Sicilian crown initially failed because of excessive counterclaims, also because Louis IX. the Hohenstaufen still considered the legitimate kings of Sicily at that time. The attitude of Louis IX. did not change until 1258 after Manfred von Taranto had usurped the throne in Palermo against the rights of his own nephew Conradin.
Since Manfred did not recognize the pope's feudal sovereignty in Sicily, but the popes continued to claim this right for themselves, but this could not be enforced without support, Urban IV. (1261-1265) also sought support from the great powers of the time. After the failed first attempt by Alexander IV, Urban IV finally reached an agreement with Karl von Anjou in 1263, initially had him elected senator in Rome , and after he had moved into the city, his successor Clement IV (1265 –1268) the Kingdom of Sicily in August 1265 as a fief to Charles of Anjou and crowned him in January 1266.
Charles of Anjou was able to decisively defeat Manfred's troops in the battle of Benevento in February 1266 and was victorious against Konradin in the battle of Tagliacozzo on August 23, 1268 . Manfred had died in Benevento and his family had been imprisoned. Although Konradin was able to escape at first, he was captured, handed over to Karl and, after a short trial, beheaded on October 29, 1268 in Naples.
World Empire plans (until 1282)
After the death of the last Hohenstaufen, Karl von Anjou was able to develop his power to the full. He won the Senature again in Rome, all Roman officials were subordinate to him, the Pope only one figure in his political game. In Sicily he set up a centralized and efficient administration and relied largely on French officials. He also strove for northern Italy, where he took advantage of the intrigues of rival cities and lords. This resulted in the same possibilities and plans that the Staufer emperors had already pursued, especially the embrace of the Papal States from the south and north.
As the undisputed king of Sicily, Charles of Anjou was one of the most powerful rulers of the Mediterranean, who also held the title of King of Jerusalem , King of Albania , Count of Provence, Anjou and Maine, and the regent of the Principality of Achaia and overlord of Tunis was. This opened up extensive opportunities for him to go east in the fight against Byzantium.
But in 1271, after a three-year vacancy , Gregory X. († 1276) was elected a pope who for a decisive period pursued a policy that was less friendly to the French. So it came in 1274 at the second council of Lyons to a forced suspension of his plans. Charles of Anjou had to give up the war plan against the Byzantine emperor ( Basileus ), as the council had taken the decision to restore unity between the western and eastern churches. The basileus Michael VIII had agreed to this agreement because he wanted the support of the Pope against Karl von Anjou's attack on the Byzantine Empire.
In addition, all parties committed themselves to a new crusade, which should be under the direction of the French king. Karl von Anjou could not avoid this appeal.
Byzantium and Aragon
In addition to the parties of the Hohenstaufen, the Popes and the House of Anjou, the Byzantine Empire and the House of Aragon were added.
Michael VIII had been Byzantine emperor since 1259. After Constantinople was conquered by his army, he eliminated the Latin empire established as a result of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and re-established the Byzantine empire. In 1267, Charles of Anjou allied himself with the expelled Latin Emperor Baldwin and the Prince of Achaia (Peloponnese) Wilhelm II of Villehardouin in preparation for a campaign with the aim of Constantinople. In order to thwart these plans to reestablish the Latin Empire, Michael VIII entered into negotiations with the papacy in order to achieve a union of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches and thus to get the Pope to stop any new crusade to Constantinople. Despite strong opposition from the ranks of the Church, the aristocracy and the people, Michael VIII forced the Union and had it solemnly proclaimed in 1274 at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274. But it did not bring the hoped-for success, since subsequent popes doubted the serious will of the Byzantines to join the Union. In 1281, the new French Pope Martin IV approved Charles's planned crusade and excommunicated Michael VIII. The Byzantine emperor then came into contact with King Peter III. from Aragon , an old enemy of Charles of Anjou, as well as with opposition groups in Sicily.
Peter III had married Constanze , the daughter of Manfred of Sicily, in 1262 . This was the basis for preserving the island of Sicily for the Hohenstaufen descendants on the occasion of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282 .
The Sicilian Vespers
As early as 1268, the majority of contemporaries saw the unjust execution of the Swabian Prince Konradin as a monstrous crime, as a transgression of the barriers that had been drawn to the peoples by law and custom for centuries. In the years that followed, the French turned the local population against them through the tough exercise of power and their behavior, which was perceived as high-spirited, in such a way that the oppressed with Peter III. , King of Aragon, came into contact and conspired to throw off French rule.
Even in the run-up to the uprising, the Sicilians' growing dissatisfaction with the French was fueled and financially supported by the Byzantine emperor, who saw it as the only way to avoid the threat posed by Charles of Anjou.
In this crucial situation, on March 30, 1282, a popular revolt against the French officials broke out in Palermo and Corleone , which quickly spread to other cities in Sicily . Messina, the second important fortress in Sicily, did not join the revolt until April 28th.
Giovanni da Procida , former personal physician of Frederick II, had made a decisive contribution to the preparation of the conspiracy at the Aragonese court. However, this uprising broke out spontaneously and probably prematurely. A large crowd had gathered in the square in front of the church at the time of Vespers to attend the service when a group of French mingled with the crowd. A sergeant started bothering a woman with his intrusiveness until the husband attacked him and stabbed him. The other French who fell found themselves surrounded by an angry and armed crowd. Not one survived - over 8,000 French were killed that day. Procida was appointed governor in Sicily in 1283.
Karl took the uprising seriously when, on August 30, 1282, the Aragonese king landed near Trapani , in western Sicily, and after a march along the coast in Palermo, was proclaimed King of Sicily.
Faced with the massive threat posed by Peter of Aragón, Charles traveled to France in early 1283. There both rulers arranged a judicial duel with one hundred knights on both sides to prevent a longer war against each other. The outcome of the duel, which took place in Bordeaux on June 1, 1283 , did not end the war. In July of the same year, Charles's fleet was destroyed near Malta , whereupon the Aragonese raided the coast of mainland Italy and sealed off the port of Naples. Karl made his influence on his nephew, King Philip III. , asserting and moving him to a crusade against Aragón . Pope Martin IV had given his blessing on such a crusade by excommunicating Peter and declaring all of his property forfeit. Meanwhile, Charles's son of the same name, whom he had left behind as regent, suffered a heavy defeat against the Aragonese fleet in the Bay of Naples on June 5, 1284 and was captured. Karl returned to Naples just three days later, having met Peter III. had not been able to expel from the island again, and was henceforth occupied with the defense of his mainland property around Calabria and Apulia . There he made Naples the capital of the remaining part of the Kingdom of Sicily. He died on January 7, 1285 in Foggia .
After twenty years of diplomatic and armed conflicts, the old Kingdom of Sicily was divided into an island and a mainland part in the Peace of Caltabellotta .
The Angevin attempts to reclaim the island continued afterwards. A lasting peace was only achieved with the Treaty of Aversa in 1372, even if the King of Sicily (now called Trinacria) had to recognize the Pope and the King of Naples as overlords. With the heirless death of King Martin I of Sicily, his father, King Martin I of Aragón, took control of Sicily in 1409. He established the personal union of the crown of Sicily with the Aragonese crown. The kings were represented on the island by appointed viceroys. In 1442 Alfonso V of Aragón succeeded after five years of struggle to be enfeoffed with Naples by Pope Eugene IV .
consequences
This uprising was an event of far-reaching political implications for the entire Mediterranean region around Italy, Greece, Spain, France and the Holy Land. The Sicilian Vespers brought down Charles's plans to establish a great empire. His descendants were only able to assert themselves in southern Italy with their main residence in Naples, but played only a subordinate role in European politics and got bogged down in bloody intrigues among themselves. The rule in Acre was also lost in 1286 after the Angevin governor had handed the city's citadel over to King Henry II of Cyprus . The claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem was only preserved under Charles' descendants in their title.
For the Byzantine Empire, the end of Charles gave another respite for the next 150 years until it was conquered by the Ottomans .
The loss of Sicily to Aragón also marked the beginning of Aragonese dominance in the western Mediterranean, in southern Italy and in Greece.
anecdote
In the 16th century, the French King Henry IV boasted to the Spanish ambassador that he could easily humiliate Spain in Italy. “I will have breakfast in Milan,” he said, “and have lunch in Rome.” “Then,” replied the Ambassador, “your Majesty will undoubtedly be in time for Vespers in Sicily.”
Modern aftermath
In the course of the Risorgimento , the Sicilian Vespers was a very popular motif and was seen as the first forerunner of the Italian movement for unity and freedom. It is also mentioned in the fourth stanza of the 1847 hymn Fratelli d'Italia . Goffredo Mameli overlooked the fact that Vespers brought another division of the country at short notice and only replaced one foreign ruler ( Anjou / France ) with another ( Kingdom of Aragón / Spain ).
The opera Les vêpres siciliennes (Italian: I vespri siciliani) by Giuseppe Verdi , which premiered in Paris in 1855, deals with the Sicilian Vespers. Even before Verdi, Peter Joseph von Lindpaintner composed an opera about the Sicilian Vespers, which was premiered in 1843.
Only the train of thousands of Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860 by Sicily initiated the unification of Italy.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brockhaus, 17th edition, Vol. 12, p. 80.
- ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: ALEXANDER IV., Pope. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 101.
- ↑ J. Fleckenstein, H. Fuhrmann, J. Leuschner: Deutsche Geschichte, Vol. 1, Mittelalter, p. 437
- ↑ J. Fleckenstein, H. Fuhrmann, J. Leuschner: Deutsche Geschichte, Vol. 1, Mittelalter, p. 442
- Jump up ↑ J. Fleckenstein, H. Fuhrmann, J. Leuschner: Deutsche Geschichte, Vol. 1, Mittelalter, p. 445
literature
- Otto Cartellieri : Peter of Aragón and the Sicilian Vespers . Heidelberg 1904.
- Robert Rill : The 600th anniversary of the Sicilian Vespers against the background of the Italian culture war . In: Mitteilungen des Österreichisches Staatsarchiv 43 (1993), pp. 134–147.
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Steven Runciman : The Sicilian Vespers. A history of the Mediterranean world at the end of the 13th century . Munich 1959 (English 1958, several reprints).
- Steven Runciman: The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century Cambridge University Press 1958, ISBN 0-521-43774-1 (English edition with online texts)
- Isabel Skokan: The Sicilian Vespers in Germania and Italia . National myths and heroes in 19th century paintings. Lukas Verlag 2009, p. 142, ISBN 978-3-86732-036-8 (also university dissertation Freiburg 2007)
