WAR
OF THE
SICILIAN
VESPERS
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SCIENTIA
VERITAS
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Charles Creighton Unrevet.

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A 483
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HISTORY
OF THE WAR
OF THE SICILIAN VESPERS.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
25746
HISTORY
OF THE
THE WAR
OF THE SICILIAN VESPERS.
BY MICHELE AMARI.
EDITED,
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTE S,
BY
THE EARL OF ELLESMERE.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
1850.
{
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER IX.
Peter's Progress to Messina.-Macalda, Wife of Alaimo.-
Naval Encounters.-Peter liberates the Prisoners of War.
-Parliament at Catania.-Duel negotiated between the
two Kings.-First Conflicts of the Troops in Calabria.-
Departure of Charles, leaving the Prince of Salerno as his
Substitute." Almugaveri."-Victories of Peter in Cala-
bria.-Queen Constance comes to Sicily with her Children.
-Germs of Disagreement between the Sicilian Barons and
the King-Parliament at Messina, in which James is
appointed Successor to the Throne, and the Government
established.-Disturbances repressed by Alaimo.-Walter
of Caltagirone.-Departure of Peter for Catalonia.—Octo-
ber, 1282, to May, 1283
•
PAGE
1
CHAPTER X.
Fresh Preparations of the Angevins against Sicily.-Acts of
the Parliament of Santo Martino, in the Kingdom of
Naples.-Renewed Charges of the Pope to King Peter and
the Sicilians.-Proclamation of the Crusade.-Sentence by
which Peter is deposed from the Kingdom of Aragon;
and other Practices.-Open Rebellion of Walter of Calta-
girone.-Victory of the Sicilian over the Provençal Fleet
in the Port of Malta, on the 8th of June, 1283, and Conse-
quences resulting from it.-Efforts of the Pope to prevent
vi
CONTENTS.
the Duel.-Peter goes to Catalonia and to Bordeaux.-
Upshot of the projected Duel.-Humours of the People in
the Kingdom of Naples.-The Sicilians occupy some
Towns in Val di Crati.-Preparations for a new Attack
upon Sicily.-Loria attacks the Kingdom of Naples with
the Fleet.—Engagement in the Bay of Naples, on the 5th
of June, 1284, and Capture of Charles the Lame.—Insur-
rection of the Populace at Naples.-May, 1283, to June,
1284
PAGE
50
CHAPTER XI.
Charles, having wreaked his Vengeance at Naples, prepares
for a last Effort against Sicily.-Fruitless Siege of Reggio.
-Second Retreat of Charles, and daring Incursions of the
Sicilians, who occupy many Towns in Calabria, Val di
Crati, and Basilicata.- Expedition against the Island of
Gerba. Suspicions of the Aragonese Government, and
Fall of Alaimo.-Fate of the Prisoners at Messina.-
Death of King Charles and Pope Martin. Measures taken
by the Court of Rome.-Acts of Pope Honorius.-Plot of
two Monks, his Envoys in Sicily.-June, 1284-1285 .
111
CHAPTER XII.
Measures of the Court of Rome against Peter of Aragon.
Grant of the Kingdom of Aragon to Charles of Valois.—
Protests and Practices of Peter.-His Contentions with the
Cortes of Aragon.-League formed amongst the Barons.—
Powerful Army and Fleet equipped by France.—Invasion
of Roussillon, and afterwards of Catalonia.-Extraordinary
Fortitude and Perseverance of King Peter. - Siege of
Gerona.-Mortality in the French Camp.-Peter resumes
the offensive.-Naval Encounters.-Loria, with the Sicilian
Fleet, gains a signal Victory over the French.-Retreat and
Death of Philip the Bold.-Charles the Lame sent captive
to Catalonia.-Death of Peter.-1282-1285.
•
167
CONTENTS.
vii
CHAPTER XIII.
PAGE
Wreck of the Fleet on its Return from Sicily.—James
crowned King.-Acts of the Parliament of Palermo.-
Privileges granted to the Catalans.-Warlike Enterprises.
-Execution of Alaimo of Lentini.-Agosta occupied by
the Enemy, and retaken by the Sicilians.-Second Naval
Victory in the Bay of Naples.-Treaty for the Liberation
of Charles the Lame.-Invasion of the Kingdom of Naples
by King James.-Truce of Gaeta.-Negotiations for a
General Peace, and for a Crusade, concluded to the dis-
advantage of Sicily.-Death of Alfonso, King of Aragon,
who is succeeded by James.-November, 1285, to June, 1291, 229
·
CHAPTER XIV.
Beginning of the Reign of James in Aragon.-Confirmation
of the Friendship between Sicily and Genoa.-Reasons of
the slackening of the War.-Feats of Arms of Roger Loria
in the Kingdom of Naples and in Greece.-James inclines
to Peace.-Public Opinion in Sicily.-Patriots.-Frederick
of Aragon.-Servile Faction.-September, 1291, to Janu-
ary, 1292.
296
THE
WAR OF THE SICILIAN VESPERS.
CHAPTER IX.
"
PETER'S PROGRESS TO MESSINA.-MACALDA, WIFE OF ALAIMO.-NAVAL
ENCOUNTERS.-PETER LIBERATES THE PRISONERS OF WAR.-PARLIA-
MENT AT CATANIA.-DUEL NEGOTIATED BETWEEN THE TWO KINGS.
FIRST CONFLICTS OF THE TROOPS IN CALABRIA. -DEPARTURE OF
CHARLES, LEAVING THE PRINCE OF SALERNO AS HIS SUBSTITUTE.
ALMOGAVERI."-VICTORIES OF PETER IN CALABRIA. QUEEN
CONSTANCE COMES TO SICILY WITH HER CHILDREN.
DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SICILIAN BARONS AND THE KING.-
PARLIAMENT AT MESSINA; IN WHICH JAMES IS APPOINTED SUC-
CESSOR TO THE THRONE, AND THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED.—
DISTURBANCES REPRESSED BY ALAIMO.
-
GERMS OF
WALTER OF CALTAGI-
RONE. DEPARTURE OF PETER FOR CATALONIA. OCTOBER, 1282,
TO MAY, 1283.
ΤΟ
THE first care of the Messinese, after the raising
of the siege, was to reconnoitre the surrounding
country, fearing lest any ambuscades of hostile
cavalry might still be lurking there; but having
convinced themselves that the entire army was
withdrawn, they lost no time in sending orators
VOL. II.
B
2
THE WAR OF THE
to Peter, at Randazzo, inviting him to come to
the city; for they were impatient to hail their
new king, who was indebted to them for their
gallant defence, as well as they to him for his
succour. Peter having returned a suitable reply,
in which he lamented that fortune had not suf
fered him to measure himself sword in hand
against the Angevin prince, immediately put
himself in motion, with the whole Sicilian and
Spanish army, in the direction of Messina, coast-
ing along the northern shore, because he wished
first to drive out from Milazzo a detachment of
a thousand French left in that fortress either
in the hurry of the retreat, or as a stepping
stone to the execution of new designs. Halting,
therefore, at Furnari with his troops, he the
next day despatched John de Oddone, of Patti,
to summon the garrison to surrender; and they,
hopeless of succour, yielding up the castle
with their horses and arms, passed under safe-
conduct to Messina, and thence into Calabria.
Advancing from Furnari, the King of Aragon
took up his abode at the village of Santa Lucia.¹
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 50. Montaner, ch. 65, speaks of the
vexation shown by the king at being unable to encounter the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
3
And here we come to relate an act of feminine
vanity, or of more culpable weakness, because it
led to important political consequences, and be-
cause it serves to develop the character of Peter.
The second wife of Alaimo was Macalda Scaletta,
who had been previously married to Count William
of Amico, exiled in the time of the Suabians. After
his death, having long wandered about in the
disguise of a Minorite friar, and resided in no very
reputable manner both at Naples and Messina,
Macalda recovered her property under the do-
minion of Charles, and became the wife of Alaimo.
She eagerly took part in the revolution of 1282,
forgetting the favours of the Angevin king, or
deeming that every private consideration must
give way before the interests of her country.
But she is undoubtedly deserving of condem-
nation for her treachery to the French in Catania,
whom she feigned to shelter during the tumults
succeeding the Vespers, and then despoiled them
of everything, and gave them into the hands of
the people. Macalda afterwards governed Catania
French. D'Esclot, ch. 95, confirms this, and states that Peter
marched to Messina, with all his own forces and all those of
Sicily.
B 2
4
THE WAR OF THE
1
during the siege of Messina; and now having
heard of the arrival of Peter at Randazzo, she
hastened to pay her homage to him. Proud of
her baronial rank, and of the great name of her
husband, she presented herself before the king
with much pomp, habited in mail and bearing in
her hand a silver truncheon; and although she
had attained her fortieth year, she still sought to
conquer him by other means. But he, having
at that time neither leisure nor inclination for
amorous thoughts, feigned not to understand her,
redoubled his courtesies, treated her with marked
distinction, and himself re-conducted her to
her lodgings with an escort of knights. Ma-
calda, not taking the hint, followed him on his
journey, and, deeming that the halt at Santa
Lucia offered her a favourable opportunity, she
came with much confusion and hesitation of man-
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 43, 87; from ch. 91, we learn the
age of Macalda. D'Esclot, who is as favourable to her as her
fellow-citizen, Neocastro, is the reverse, describes her, in ch. 96,
as "molt bella e gentil e molt prous et valent de cor e de cos e
llarga de donar;" and adds, that she rendered as good service as
a man-at-arms, and that she was used to perambulate the city
with thirty knights. I have adhered to Neocastro, who must
have been better informed of her proceedings, and states her to
have been at Catania during the siege of Messina.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
5
ner to ask shelter of the king, alleging that all
the hostelries were full, and that the little village
furnished no other lodging. Peter gave up his
apartments to her, and removed to others, where
he again found Macalda come ostensibly to visit
him. He therefore, defending himself as best he
could, summoned his knights into his chamber,
and began to converse on general topics, amongst
which, however, he asked Macalda what was the
thing in all the world she most feared; to which
she replied, "The fall of Alaimo;" and being
further asked what she most desired,—" That
which I most desire," answered she, "is not mine;"
but the king, turning a deaf ear to her insinuations,
continued to moralize and narrate, until at length
his eyes became heavy with sleep, when she took
leave, enraged at her defeat. When Queen Con-
stance came to Sicily, Macalda never forgave her
the fidelity of her husband, and her hatred and
arrogance increased to such a pitch as at length
to cause the ruin both of herself and of the grey-
haired Alaimo.¹
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 50-52. D'Esclot, on the contrary,
ch. 96, affirms that when she saw the king in Messina, "que null
6
THE WAR OF THE
Resuming his journey the same night, at day-
break on the 2d of October, the Messinese came.
forth in crowds to meet the king on the heights
burned and wasted by the fury of the enemy,
where neither inhabitants, nor flocks, nor any
vestige of cultivation were to be seen. Peter
received them joyfully, thanking them, and above
all Alaimo, whom he placed at his side, and in
pledge of his friendship and confidence revealed to
him the suspicions concerning his fidelity and that
of the Sicilians in general, which had been insi-
nuated to him by Vitale del Giudice, a designing
old man, who had presented himself to him at
Furnari, despoiled of all he had in the world, as
he said, for the love of the house of Suabia, to
which Alaimo and those who now appeared such
zealous partisans had at one time been the bit-
terest enemies. Amid such discourse they reached
the city, where the priests, the principal citizens,
and the synagogue of the abject Jews in those
days by turns caressed and persecuted for their
wealth, came forth to meet the king. Peter rode
temps nol havia vist, fon molt enamorada axi com de senyor
valent e agradable, no gens per mal enteniment." But the
malicious statement of Neocastro agrees better with the facts.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
17
alone with all the pomp of a monarch; the streets
through which he passed were adorned with
hangings of gold and silk, and the earth strewed
with green boughs and odoriferous herbs. Dis-
mounting at the cathedral, he returned thanks to
God, then entered into familiar discourse with the
citizens, showing himself grateful and courteous
in every word and act; praising the monuments
of the city, and asking information on the minutest
points connected with it. He then proceeded to
the royal palace, where he was received by the
most honourable women of the city, amongst
whom Macalda failed not to appear; and she and
Alaimo dined with the king at his own table.
Then followed public festivities, magnificent from
their wealth and splendour, and joyful from the
cordial mingling of the citizens with the followers
of Peter; the vows made to Heaven in the time
of the siege were duly paid, and the whole
country, says Bartholomew of Neocastro, breathed
only peace, happiness, and enjoyment.¹
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 53. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 18.
D'Esclot, ch. 96. Montaner, ch. 65. Chron. Sic. of the Con-
spiracy of Procida, p. 274. There is no doubt that, in Messina
and many other Sicilian cities, the Jews were in great numbers
and held in high estimation in various branches of trade and
8
THE WAR OF THE
1
Within a few days however the toils of war
were resumed, as the vessels of the enemy were
seen returning in squadrons through the Straits
from Catona to the various ports of the kingdom.
On the 9th of October, James Perez, a natural
son of the king, had entered the harbour of
Messina with two-and-twenty Catalan galleys,
and even during the first festivities Peter had
caused fifteen of those which were lying dis-
mantled in the port to be equipped for service.
Having assembled altogether fifty-two vessels of
war, he therefore began to harass the enemy,
notwithstanding the inequality of forces, believing
theirs to be discouraged and disunited and his
own confident of victory. Turning a deaf ear
to those who would have dissuaded him from the
enterprise, he himself went on board the Catalan
galleys, harangued the crews, blessed them in the
name of God, holding out to them the promise of
victory, and returned to land. On the 11th of
October the Catalans, returning from the in-
commerce. They are often mentioned in our laws, as well as in
many other memorials of the time; and from a diploma of the
24th of January, 1292, quoted by Testa, in his life of Frederick
of Aragon, we find that both the Jews and Christians of Messina
were much addicted to the occupation of dyers.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
9
effectual pursuit of an Angevin squadron in thẹ
waters of Scylla, came in sight of another and
more numerous one in the direction of Reggio,
upon which joining the Messinese they put out
with the fleet, and in the teeth of wind and tide
bore boldly down upon the enemy. Charles,
enraged at the sight, ordered out all his vessels,
amounting to seventy-two, but ill-manned and ill-
equipped, so that, alarmed at the skilful and daring
advance of their opponents eager for the combat,
they put back to land; while the Catalan and
Sicilian vessels beating up under the forts, defied
the enemy to combat, goaded them with insults,
challenged them with their arrows, and not
succeeding in drawing them forth, returned exult-
ingly to Messina. Three days after, eight-and-
forty galleys having sailed from Reggio in the
hope that the wind would have driven the Sicilian
fleet back into port, they were attacked by it so
gallantly and so much to their discomfiture, that
fifteen of our galleys finding themselves foremost
in the chase, ran in upon them unsupported,
and captured twenty-two of those of Principato,
Pisa, and Marseilles. Those who, from the coast
of Calabria, beheld the commencement of this
B 3
10
THE WAR OF THE
unequal conflict, (for it was near the close of day,)
feeling no doubt of the victory, celebrated it by
an illumination causing great alarm in Messina,
which was increased the following day, when a
cloud of sails was seen bearing down upon the
port; but soon the colours were distinguished,
those of Aragon and Sicily waving from the
masts, those of Anjou trailing in the sea, and amid
universal rejoicings the fleet entered the harbour,
bringing with it, according to d'Esclot, four
thousand and fifty prisoners. And at the close of
day, Messina, glittering with bond-fires and illu-
minations, returned evidence to Calabria of the
fallacy of her demonstrations of the preceding
night.'
More generous, and grounded on higher con-
siderations, was Peter's treatment of the prisoners.
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 53. D'Esclot, ch. 98. Saba Malas-
pina, Cont. p. 384. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 18. Montaner,
ch. 65-69. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 41. Giachetto Malespini,
ch. 212. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 75. Sicilian Chron. of the
Conspiracy, p. 274. I have adhered by preference to the narra-
tive of the three former. who recount these facts with little
variation. Montaner includes three separate expeditions in his
account of this one, which affords a new proof of the incorrect-
ness of this author, who writing as an old man, and many years
after the events he relates, confuses both them and their order
of succession in his memory.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
11
Two days after, retaining only the natives of
Provence, he caused the rest to be assembled in
the meadow at the gate of San Giovanni,¹ exhorting
them to mark the difference between him and
Charles of Anjou; the latter would have put
every prisoner to death; he, on the contrary, sent
them back free and without ransom to their homes,
on condition only that they would promise not
to bear arms against Sicily, and that they would
convey letters to Principato and Apulia, inviting
the inhabitants of those provinces to trade in the
island, where, coming with peaceable intent, they
would be welcome and secure.
He offered to any
who chose, to take them into his pay; while to the
others he furnished transports and provisions, and
caused a silver livre tournoise to be given to every
man; so that they went home rejoicing to spread
abroad in Terrafirma the praises of the new King
of Sicily; the Messinese als oemulously encourag-
ing them with prudent admonitions that they had
nothing to fear from the Sicilians, who were hostile
only to the foreign oppressors, not to the Italian
1 This gate exists no longer, the city having been enlarged in
that direction.
12
THE WAR OF THE
nation, which, driven by compulsion to the war,
yet blessed the Sicilian revolution in its heart.¹
Thus within the space of two weeks, the Mes-
sinese having been encouraged by these deeds of
naval daring and success, the enemies deprived of
all wish again to attempt a passage into Sicily, and
the fire-brand thrown even amongst the popula-
tions of the mainland, on the 16th of October,
Peter proceeded on horseback to Catania, that the
face and favour of the new monarch might be
known in Val di Noto. He himself, therefore,
harangued, in the cathedral of Catania, a parlia-
ment, composed of the syndics of as many com-
munes as could be collected at such brief notice;
assuring them that henceforward the united Cata-
lan and Sicilian forces would guarantee their
safety, that they should enjoy all their franchises,
and receive justice from the government, and
reparation of all the abuses of the Angevin rule;
for the happiness of the subject is, said he, the
happiness of the monarch, and whereas they had
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 53. Saba Malaspina, Cont. ´p. 385.
D'Esclot, ch. 98. Montaner, ch. 74, relates this fact with great
exaggeration.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
13
been despoiled by tyranny, liberty should now
restore them to wealth and prosperity. He de-
creed the cessation of the collections, and abolished
the odious rights in force concerning the arma-
ment of vessels, promising that they should not
be revived either under his government or that of
his successors; nor should either general or partial
contributions be ever levied by the sole authority
of the crown. The parliament then granted him
the subsidies necessary to carry on the war, and
for this purpose he returned without further delay,
on the 24th of October, to Messina.'
The relative position of the contending parties
was now reversed; it was the part of Sicily to
attack, and to give aid and encouragement to the
malcontent population beyond the Straits; that of
Charles to assume the best defensive attitude he
could, under the disgrace of his defeat, which he
sought to disguise by writing to the magistrates of
the mainland provinces, (that they might not give
ear to vulgar report,) stating that after having
fearfully wasted the country round Messina, and
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 54. In the Capitoli del Regno di
Sicilia, ch. 44, Concerning King James, it is distinctly stated that
Peter abolished the right to naval service.
14
THE WAR OF THE
- 1,
reduced the city to such extremity that even the
suspension of the siege could no longer avail it,
finding the winter approach, he had thought it
best, for the greater convenience of supplies and
security of his fleet, to remove his camp to a very
small distance¹ on this side of the Straits, in order
afterwards to return at a more favourable season,
and with a still more formidable force to tread
under his feet the horns of these insolent rebels.'
He, however, gave the lie to these boastful words
by his solicitude to guard the coast against all in-
cursions of those whom he, nevertheless, designated
as pirates; in appointing videttes and patrols; and
organising signals of fire by night and smoke by
day, to give the alarm at the first sight of our flag;
for in fact, the Sicilian and Aragonese fleets rode
triumphant in the Mediterranean; and with the
numerous gallions fitted out as corsairs,' carried
danger and dismay along all the coasts of the king-
dom of Naples. To remedy this evil, Charles gave
orders for the immediate refitting of all the galleys
and of a hundred teride. Dismissing all the feudal
1 cc Aliquantulum."
2 Diploma of the 29th of September, 1282.
3 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 395.
4 ( Terida, navicella da riserva e da insidia-scoridoja―(Reve
SICILIAN VESPERS.
15
militias and the Italian auxiliaries, he retained with
him only the French and standing forces, amount-
ing together to seven thousand horse and ten
thousand foot. He distributed them in strong
divisions between Catona and the other maritime
towns of Calabria, remaining himself with the
strongest at Reggio; and in order not to seem
quite inactive, he sent a message of reproach to
Peter, who was now returned to Messina.
1
The bearer of it was Simon of Lentini, of the
Preaching Friars, who, confident in the protection
of his habit, cast in the teeth of the King of
Aragon the deceitful answer which he had re-
turned on the subject of his first preparations;
the war commenced, not only without a declara-
tion of hostilities, but while he was yet feigning
friendship and negotiating a matrimonial alliance;
and the unjust occupation of the kingdom of
Sicily, all of which Charles would prove to him
with his sword. At these accusations, which
nue vessel.)"-I have usually taken the liberty of rendering
"teride" transports, where that appeared to me the equivalent
term.-Trans.
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 384. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 54.
D'Esclot, ch. 97. Chron. of the Conspiracy of Procida, p. 274.
See also Montaner, ch. 67, etc.
16
THE WAR OF THE
breathed of perfidy and treachery, Peter started
from his seat, with hurried step and indignant
mien; but, instantly mastering himself, he re-
turned a well-considered answer to the effect that
the murder of Manfred and Conradin had long
ago declared war between him and the Count of
Anjou; that he held rightful possession of the
kingdom of Sicily, both by hereditary title and
by the election of the people; that hence whoever
charged him with treachery was a liar, and that
this he was ready to maintain in single combat."
He therefore despatched two messengers to King
Charles, with whom the terms of the duel were
debated for a long time, because Charles, not
liking to measure his declining strength against
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 54. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 23, 24.
Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 385-387. D'Esclot, ch. 99. Mon-
taner, ch. 72. Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 5. Diploma of
Charles in Muratori, Ant. Ital. Med. Evi, vol. iii. p. 651,
by which, and others, I have corrected the errors of some
historians, who state that the challenge was sent by Peter.
According to d'Esclot, two servants of Charles, in the disguise of
monks, conveyed an insulting message to Peter; he laughed,
and sent back, as ambassadors with them, some honourable
knights, to learn from Charles whether the two pretended
monks had been sent by him; and finding that they had, these
messengers settled that the duel should take place, and returned
to Messina with Charles's envoys to stipulate its conditions.
For these particulars, I have preferred adhering to Speciale,
Malaspina, and Neocastro.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
17
the King of Aragon in his vigorous prime, wished to
have many companions in the strife, thinking that
his adversary would not be able to find as many
equally brave; while the latter, insisting on the
single combat, offered to come without armour,
whilst Charles should be fully armed, and refused
the duel in Calabria, unless the Prince of Salerno.
himself were given him as a hostage. It was at
length agreed that the two kings, each accom-
panied by a hundred knights, should meet to prove
with their swords "on the side of Charles, as
challenger, that Peter had entered the kingdom
of Sicily treacherously and against right, without
first declaring war; and on the side of the King
of Aragon, as defendant, that the occupation
of Sicily, and every thing else done by him against
Charles, was neither a stain upon his honour, nor
any cause of shame before any tribunal what-
soever, or before the eyes of honest men." Six
knights were deputed on either side by letters
patent of the 26th of December, to conclude the
selection of time and place, who, having assembled
in the royal palace of Messina, decreed that the
encounter should take place in the lists in the
territory of Bordeaux in Gascony, as being near
18
THE WAR OF THE
both to France and Aragon, and belonging to the
upright King Edward of England; that the two
princes should here present themselves, on the 1st
of June 1283, before Edward, or whomsoever he
might depute to represent him, or in default
of either, to whoever governed the country for
him; but that, unless a new agreement were con-
cluded to that effect, they should not fight save
in the presence of Edward, but should wait for
him as much as thirty days, pledging their faith
to abstain from all mutual injury or offence in
Gascony, up to the time of the duel and eight days
after. Lastly, they stipulated that whichever
should fail to present himself with his champions,
should be henceforth held" vanquished, perjured,
false and faithless, a defaulter and a traitor, and
fallen from the name and honour of a king."
These terms were ratified and sworn upon the
Gospels by both princes; and, as it was then
customary to call the real arbitrators of the State
to be surety for the kings, forty of the principal
barons and captains on either side swore upon the
sacred books that loyally and in good faith they
would, to the utmost of their power, promote
their observance, and that, if their prince should
SICILIAN VESPERS.
19
fail in it, they would never more behold his person
nor lend him aid either by counsel or by arms.
Two acts were then drawn up to this effect, signed
in due form by the king and his sureties, and
given on the 30th of December, on the side
of Aragon, from Messina; on that of Anjou from
Reggio. In the latter, we read among many noble
French names, that of one Giovanni Villani, a
relation perhaps of the Florentine historian; while
in the former we remark Alaimo of Lentini, the
Count Ventimiglia, Roger Loria, Walter of Calta-
girone, Peter, the brother, and James Perez, the
natural son of the king.¹ The historians who
1 The diplomas are to be found in Rymer's Foedera, vol. ii.
pp. 226-234. Muratori, Ant. Ital. Med. Evi, vol. iii. p. 655.
Martene and Durand, Op. cit. vol. iii. p. 101. Lünig, Codex
Ital. Dipl. vol. ii. pp. 986, 1015. Register of Charles I. marked
1280, quoted by Vivenzio, Ist. del Regno di Napoli, vol. ii. p. 353.
They are also quoted by Feliu, Anales de Cataluña, book ii.
ch. 17, and by Michael Carbonnell, Chroniques de Espanya, ed.
1567, who affirms the originals to be in the Archives of Barcelona,
of which he was guardian. I have also seen one of them in the
Archives of France, and from the number of copies that exist, it
would seem to have been desired to give the greatest publicity
to these acts. In perfect accordance with these diplomas are the
statements of-d'Esclot, ch. 100, who gives correctly the names of
all the sureties. Montaner, ch. 72, 73. Saba Malaspina, Cont.
pp. 388, 389. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 25. Bart. de Neocastro,
ch. 54. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch. 28, in Baluzio's Marca
Hispanica. Chron. S. Bert. in Martene and Durand, Op. cit.
vol. iii. p. 763, &c.
20
THE WAR OF THE
1
took part on one side or the other, afterwards
mutually accused the two kings of duplicity, the
Sicilians asserting that Charles sought, under pre-
text of the duel, to withdraw his rival from Sicily,
that he might be the more free to renew his
attacks upon the island, and to crush the leaven.
of rebellion in the mainland; while the Guelfs
accused the King of Aragon of equal cunning,
erroneously attributing the challenge to him, as
if, fearing the superior forces of Charles, he had
devised means to retard the resumption of the
war, hoping that the French would die off in
inactivity from the effects of the southern climate.²
Whether they really entertained such thoughts or
not, both Charles and Peter were men to merit
the accusation; but possibly the challenge was
nothing more than an appeal made to public
opinion after the fashion of the times, as a Charles
and Peter of the present day might do by pro-
clamations putting forward humanity, legitimacy,
the balance of power, the benefit of commerce, or
the good of the people.
¹ D'Esclot, Montaner, Neocastro, Speciale, loc. cit.
2 Nangis, Life of Philip the Bold, in Duchesne, H. Fr. S. vol. v.
p. 541. Brief of Pope Martin, in Raynald, Anu. Eccl. 1283, § 8.
Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 86.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
21
Peter dexterously contrived to obtain, by means
of the envoys busied in the performance of those
chivalrous rites, information of the condition
and posture of the enemy against whom he was
preparing to levy serious warfare,' which he
resolved on commencing by the ravages of light
troops, who could best reconnoitre the country, and
would cover his disembarkation. Learning, there-
fore, from Bertram de Cannellis, on his return
from the French camp, that two thousand horse
and as many foot were keeping guard carelessly
at La Catona, and moved besides by the prayers
of the "Almogaveri," panting for battle and for
plunder, on the 6th of November, after sunset, he
caused fifteen galleys to set sail secretly from
Messina, with a force of infantry, under the
command of his natural son, to whom however he
only confided his intentions in a sealed packet,
to be opened when out at sea. The garrison
of La Catona were thus surprised at dead of
night with great slaughter and the capture of
many prisoners, and the greater part driven to
flight, and pursued as far as Reggio, by which the
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 386.
22
THE WAR OF THE
assailants exceeded their orders with much risk
to themselves, as day was beginning to dawn;
which rashness on the part of James so displeased
King Peter, that neither the love he bore him,
nor the victory and booty he had just obtained,
could withhold him from depriving his son of the
command; and it was only at the earnest inter-
cession of the Barons, that he abstained from
inflicting still severer punishment upon him; so
firmly was he persuaded that nothing but the
severest discipline could ensure the safety of
these incursions, amidst hostile posts so numerous
and strong.¹ Meanwhile he gained the town
of Scalea in Principato by negotiations, and on
the 11th of November, sent Frederick Mosca,
Count of Modica, to assume the command of it.
He moreover posted five hundred men on the
extreme point of Calabria, who nestling in the
ancient forests of Solano, harassed the garrison
of Reggio, by scouring the country in troops,
1 Saba Malaspina, pp. 389, 390. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 55, 56.
Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 19. Bernard d'Esclot, ch. 102, who adds
the account of the gallant retreat of thirty "Almugaveri” left on
the mainland, and the extraordinary feats of daring of one of
their leaders. Ramondo Montaner gives a different and obvi-
ously incorrect account of this expedition.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
23
carrying off provisions, infesting the roads, and
cutting off all their communications.¹
Amid these skirmishes, and the negotiations for
the duel, the bloody year 1282 drew quietly to
a close, leaving, however, behind it the seeds
of lengthened wars, for which neither pretexts,
men, nor money were destined to be wanting;
for besides the power of Charles himself, the
Court of Rome, finding its first measures inef-
fectual, began to back up its spiritual commands
and diplomatic practices with monetary subsidies ;
the Guelf cities of Italy, whose ill stars com-
pelled them to support the House of Anjou, sent
also abundant supplies of men and sometimes of
money also; and beyond the Alps were the
warlike people of France, always ready to shed
their blood. On the first announcement of the
massacre in Sicily, the Prince of Salerno hastened
from Provence to Paris, to urge his father's
requests, and to compromise his differences with
Queen Margaret of France, on account of the
counties of Provence and Forcalquier.
He
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 390. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 56.
2 Diploma given at Paris, the 20th of June, 1282, by which
Charles Prince of Salerno promised to bring these matters to a
friendly compromise, in the Archives of France, J, 511, 2.
24
THE WAR OF THE
obtained from Philip the Bold a subsidy of
fifteen thousand livres tournoises, and permission
to levy about a thousand men-at-arms, who
under the command of the prince, and of the
Counts of Alençon, Artois, and Burgundy, of
the blood royal of France, maintained in part at
the expense of the Pope,' and accompanied by
numerous other knights, entered Italy in two
bands, between the summer and the autumn, and
advanced upon Calabria, which was the fighting
ground in the wars of the two kingdoms of Sicily
and Apulia, and of which the inhabitants, from
the similarity of their national character and that
of their country, held rather to their neighbours
beyond the Straits than to those on the mainland.
At the same time the Pope consented to allow
Charles, during the present perils of the State,
to garrison the fortresses of Monte Casino, and
2
1 D'Esclot, ch. 101.
Life of
2 Nangis, loc. cit. p. 541. Giachetto Malespini, ch. 217. Gio.
Villani, book vii. ch. 62, 85. Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 385, 392.
Anonymous Sicilian Chronicle of the Conspiracy, p. 266. Ge-
noese Annals, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. vi. p. 580.
Martin IV. in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. iii. part i. p. 610. Chron.
S. Bert. in Martene and Durand, Thes. Nov. Anec. vol. iii. p. 764.
Montaner, ch. 70, excepting the erroneous statement of the death
of the Count of Alençon.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
25
2
1
all others within his dominions held by eccle-
siastics, pledging his faith to restore them imme-
diately at the bidding of the Church; and he,
feeling himself more secure in those provinces,
owing to the assistance received, departed, osten-
sibly on account of the duel, although five months
were yet wanting to the appointed time; but
in reality either because he wished to conclude in
person the negotiations with France and with the
Pope, or because, finding himself compelled by
the aspect of the times to moderate the severity
of his rule in Apulia, his haughty spirit re-
volted against the idea of doing so himself. He
therefore appointed his only son Charles, Prince
of Salerno, called the "Lame," from a personal
defect, to be Vicar General of the kingdom, and
on the 12th of January, 1283, issued his com-
mands from Reggio to the magistrates and offi-
cials to obey the Prince as they would obey
himself. He moreover committed to him the
3
1 Brief given at Montefiascone, 9th December, 1282, in Ray-
nald, Ann. Eccl. 1282, § 27.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 100. Montaner, ch. 73, 77, 78.
3 This diploma is to be found in the catalogue of the parch-
ments of the Royal Archives of Naples, vol. i. p. 248. Montaner,
ch. 73. D'Esclot, ch. 100. Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 395.
VCL. II.
C
26
THE WAR OF THE
2
command of the army,' but first, by the advice
of the Counts of Alençon, Artois, Burgundy,
Squillace, Acerra, and Catanzaro, he changed the
line of defence from the coast of the Mediter-
ranean to the course of the Metauro, either
because the enemy, holding the sea and the woods
of Solano, cut off the supplies from the extreme
point of Calabria, or because he hoped to lure
them so far inland, as to enable him to surround
them with his formidable horse. Abandoning
Reggio and its environs, therefore, he encamped
the bulk of his army in the plains of Santo
Martino and of Terranova, and posted strong
detachments in some of the neighbouring towns.
Before he left Reggio, however, the citizens
feigned such enmity to exist between themselves
and the Messinese, and pretended so much fear,
and such utter incapacity to defend the town
without a French garrison, that the king con-
sented that they should surrender themselves into
the hands of the enemy without being on that
account cousidered guilty of treason, and no
1 Bart, de Neocastro, ch. 54.
2 Ibid. ch. 57. Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 391.
Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 21.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
27
sooner was his back turned, than the inhabitants
having recommended themselves by orators to
the Messinese, offered themselves and their city
to Peter.¹
1
The King of Aragon had already completed
every preparation for the passage: he had given
the command of the fleet to the brave Roger
Loria, collected in Messina a powerful force of
Catalans and Sicilians, and summoned to the
2
3
performance of their military service the barons
of the island, who obeyed his call with alacrity.*
The king composed his army of a small troop of
horse, and chosen bands of archers, crossbowmen,
and above all of "Almugaveri," light infantry,
whom the Spaniards designated by this Moorish
appellation. They wore a short coat, a leathern cap,
a girdle, gaiters and coarse shoes (scarponi), but
neither shirt nor buckler; a scrip slung over their
shoulders contained their food; a short and sharp
sword hung at their side, and in their hands they
bore a lance with a broad iron head, and two pointed
¹ Neocastro, Speciale, Malaspina, loc. cit.; also d'Esclot, ch. 102.
2 Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 20.
3 Idem, ch. 21.
Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 391. Bart. de
Neocastro, ch. 59. Montaner, ch. 75.
4 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 61.
C 2
THE WAR OF THE
fare.
javelins, which they were used to throw with
the right hand alone, and then trust solely to the
lance for attack and defence. Their leaders, guides
rather than captains, were known by the Arabic
name of " Adelilli." This fierce soldiery knew no
discipline and received no pay, but were entitled
to all the booty they could wrest from the enemy,
saving a fifth part, which was reserved for the
nor did they contribute even this when
taken in a so-called royal raid, i. e. regular war-
Inured to hunger, to inclement weather
and rugged country, and differing, according to
contemporary historians, from the rest of their
kind, they took with them as many loaves as they
purposed to spend days in their inroads, eating
with them wild herbs where they found nothing
else; and thus, without baggage or encumbrance,
they hazarded themselves to a distance of two or
three days' journey into the enemy's country,
attacked on a sudden and rapidly withdrew, more
daring and dexterous by night than by day,
amongst woods and precipices than in the plain,
and almost invincible wherever cavalry could not
be brought to oppose them. Peter knew well how
to make of them the sinews of his army in the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
29
mountainous Calabrias; and he had no difficulty
in mustering them, because the Spaniards of the
mountains were used to enrol themselves in this
rugged militia, and it now appeared especially suited
to the Sicilians, bred in a mountainous country,
active, daring, and ready both in thought and deed.'
It was with such followers that Peter, informed
of the backward movement of the enemy, was
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 390, 391, 396. D'Esclot, ch. 67,
79, 103. Montaner, ch. 62, 64. From these we find that
Almugaveri” was not the name of a tribe or nation, but of
a species of soldiers, as we now speak of grenadiers, chasseurs,
&c. The particulars of their mode of subsistence and irregular
organisation are to be found in Montaner, ch. 70, and in two
diplomas of the 7th March and 4th April, 1299, in both of which
the family names show that these bands were formed of mingled
Spaniards and Sicilians. Another diploma, of the 27th Decem-
ber, 4th Indiction (1290), shows the absolute want of discipline
of the "almugaveri ;" on account of which the King of Sicily had
expressly excluded them from the truce he had concluded with
the enemy, not promising obedience from them. In short, their
mode of fighting was precisely that of the " Guerillas," who have
signalised themselves in the modern wars of Spain, and their
discipline infinitely worse.
*
*
This description of the
fanteria spedita" of Aragon and
Catalonia of the thirteenth century, would apply, mutatis mu-
tandis, to their descendants of the present day. The scarpone
was probably the hempen sandal which is now worn not only by
the mountaineer of the Pyrenees, but by the regular infantry of
Spain. In respect of lightness and elasticity it has no equal on
a dry soil. Shod with this the Carlist bands of Gomez, and more
recently the troops of the Spanish contingent sent to Italy, have
executed marches which were the astonishment of the officers of
other services. Gomez, on his retreat from the neighbourhood
of Gibraltar, marched eighty miles in twenty-four hours.-Editor.
30
THE WAR OF THE
preparing to cross the strait, when the embassy
from Reggio so increased his impatience, that on
the following day, the 14th of February, he set
sail for that city, bringing with him Alaimo of
Lentini on board his own galley, among the most
trusty of his barons. The citizens of Reggio
received him so much the more joyfully that, the
sea being now open to them, the long scarcity
they had suffered was exchanged for abundance
of every kind of provision. The troops were
partly quartered in the houses, but these not suf-
ficing, the rest bivouacked in the environs; and
thereupon, the whole of Calabria, already filled
with the fame of the king, began to send him
messengers in secret. The first to declare itself
was Geraci, whither he sent Roger Loria, and
Naricio Ruggieri, Count of Pagliarico, the one to
take and the other to govern the town;' while he
himself being desirous of approaching nearer to
the hostile army, on the 23d February, with a sin-
gle mounted companion, thirty "almugaveri," and
a guide, advanced by secret paths through woods
and valleys, as far as their tents to reconnoitre.
Returning to Reggio, he conducted his troops
through the woods of Solano, to a distance of
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 59. Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 391.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
31
only eight miles from the main body of the French
army and not far removed from their other posts,
where he encamped them on a level spot, known
as La Corona, on the summit of wild and rugged
mountains, itself secure from assault, and offering
every facility for attacks upon the low lands in
the neighbourhood; and hither the Greek natives,
accustomed to hold unsuspected intercourse with
the enemy, brought the king tidings of their every
movement. There he rested on the watch as
quiet and motionless as if the forests had en-
gulfed him, so that already it was whispered
against him in Calabria that he was but a coward
crouching down through fear.¹
But one night, five hundred horse under the
command of Raymond de Baux, encamped at
Lagrussana, near Sinopoli, weary of carousing and
without sentinels, were sleeping in careless secu-
rity, when they were startled by a sudden noise,
and the " almugaveri," slaying and plundering,
poured like a pack of wolves through the encamp-
ment, slew Raymond unrecognised amongst the
common soldiers, and retreated with all speed
bearing off their booty. Not long after, one
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 60. Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 395.
2 Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 21.
32
THE WAR OF THE
Henry Barrotta, treasurer of Charles, bearing
with him six thousand ounces of gold for the pay
of the army, halted in the town of Seminara, at
that time a post of French cavalry, eight hun-
dred strong. Peter, being informed of this by
his spies, was allured by the careless guard they
kept, and still more by the gold; and hence, on
the evening of the 13th of March he himself stole
quietly down from Corona with three hundred
horse, and five thousand "almugaveri,” and having
approached within three miles of Seminara he
halted his men, and revealed to them the medi-
tated stroke. The high-minded Alaimo opposed
his purpose. What glory, pleaded he, could the
king derive from nocturnal rapine and fruitless
slaughter? it would be vain to think of holding
Seminara, so close to the hostile army. Let them
rather spare the hapless town, and advance upon
the camp;
there was the prince of Salerno,
there the flower of the court of France, resting in
careless security-let them attack them at once
without hesitation, and such daring would be
crowned with probable success and certain glory.
History is silent concerning the deportment of the
king, his words, which were doubtless temperate,
and the feelings, perhaps fierce and sinister, which
SICILIAN VESFERS.
33
rose up in his mind against the hero of Messina.
He however persisted in his purpose, and marched
on Seminara, where, while one detachment ap-
proached the walls, the watch offering but a feeble
resistance, the others, making themselves masters
of the gates, cut off all possibility of defence.
The king, as if well acquainted with the town,
spurred at once to the lodging of the treasurer,
but was disappointed of the money, which had
been forwarded to the prince on the preceding
day, and then posted himself outside the walls,
to repulse any succours that might be despatched
from the camp, while the "almugaveri," poured into
Seminara. Barrotta, an ecclesiastic by profession,
but a soldier in manners, aroused by the noise,
started up, leaving a woman he had with him,
grasped his arms, and was slain after a desperate
resistance. Others, defending themselves, were
put to the sword; but the most part fled, some
without clothes, some on foot, some springing on
their unsaddled steeds; but so thoroughly disci-
plined were they, that, notwithstanding this sudden
rout, at the distance of half a league the fugitives
reunited to the number of about five hundred,
and on the withdrawal of the enemy re-entered
C 3
34
THE WAR OF THE
the town, which had meanwhile been sacked and
spoiled, though the lives of the inhabitants, who
for the most part sought safety in flight, had been
preserved by the stern commands of the king.
At break of day the Catalans and Sicilians, loaded
with booty, again buried themselves in the forests
of La Corona, unmolested by the enemy, who had
been tumultuously aroused by the tidings of the
fugitives, but so dismayed and disheartened, that
none would follow the Prince of Salerno, who
wished to advance to the attack. The next day
he sent a squadron of horse to Seminara, and
learning from them that it could not be secured
against a renewed assault, in order that it might
offer no advantage to the enemy, he caused it to
be abandoned even by the natives, whom he scat-
tered through the other towns of Calabria to beg
the bread of exile.¹
By means of such secret movements and noc-
turnal attacks, the King of Aragon was enabled
to occupy many towns even in the immediate
vicinity of the hostile camp; while every day
diminished the hopes of the French, who were
'Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 395, 396. Nic. Speciale, book i.
ch. 22. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 61. And d'Esclot, ch. 102, with
less minuteness.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
35
thus consuming away without striking a blow.
On the other hand, both the influence and the
forces of Peter increased; the success of their
arms and the abundance of the spoil raised the
courage of the Catalans and Sicilians; for, accord-
ing to a Guelf writer, they stormed towns for the
sake of plunder, took prisoners for their ransom,
and carried off cattle for their hides¹—and even
from the Catalan Montaner we learn how eagerly
and emulously those hordes desired the most peril-
ous expeditions in order to enrich themselves:
heedless, owing to their courage and rapacity, of
the strength or numbers of the enemy. Already
<<
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 395, 397.
2
2 Montaner, ch. 70, 75. His account of this first Calabrian
campaign is, however, very inaccurate. In relating how the
almugaveri," in scouring the Calabrias, ventured even as far
as the enemy's tents, D'Esclot (ch. 103) gives the following
anecdote :- An "almugavero," having fallen into the hands of
the enemy, was brought before the Prince of Salerno, who seeing
him small, ill-equipped, and of rude exterior, exclaimed, that
people so low and savage could not have courage. To which the
"almugavero" replied, that he was the last among his own
people, but that notwithstanding he would measure himself with
the best of the French knights, on condition, that if conquered
he should remain at their discretion, but if conqueror he should
obtain his liberty. The Prince consented, in accordance with
the fantastic manners of the times. He restored his arms to the
"almugavero," and summoning a gallant French knight, the
duel took place outside the trenches. The knight taking his
vantage ground, rushed upon the "almugavero," but he bound-
ing aside avoided the lance, and with firm stroke of his javelin
、
'',
36
THE WAR OF THE
Peter, being master of the sea, had extended his
line, and, invited by the inhabitants, had possessed
himself of Geraci on the Adriatic, where he every
day renewed his assaults upon the castle, into
which the French garrison, commanded by one
Guidone Alamanno, had retired on the first com-
mencement of disturbances amongst the citizens,
and was on the point of reducing it by hunger and
thirst, when a rumour of rebellious humours in
Sicily made him hasten his return.¹
Queen Constance, who, so early as the time of
the negotiations for the duel, had been summoned
by Peter to assume the government of Sicily
during his absence, had meanwhile arrived at
Palermo from Catalonia with her younger chil-
dren, James, Frederick, and Yolanda; bringing
with her, as courtier or counsellor, John of Pro-
cida, who, according to the records most worthy
2
in the shoulder brought the horse to the ground, then sprung
upon the knight, cut the fastenings of his helmet, and had well
nigh killed him with his knife. The prince gave him a garment,
and sent him back free to Messina; and Peter, unwilling to b
outdone in courtesy, sent back ten prisoners similarly equipped
to the Angevin prince, saying, that he would always thus give
ten in return for one of his own followers.
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 397. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 55, 61.
2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 62. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 42. Nic.
Speciale, book i. ch. 25. D'Esclot, ch. 103, mentions the arrival
of Queen Constance in April.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
37
of belief, seems now to have come to Sicily for the
first time, no further mention having been made
of him since the plans concerted between him,
Loria, and the King.¹ On beholding the daughter
of Manfred, and the noble and comely appearance
of the young princes, the people welcomed them
with exultation and applause, being gratified at
once by all these novelties and by the victories on
the mainland. But many causes of suspicion and
displeasure were springing up between the barons
and the king. For they having bestowed the
crown upon Peter, their pride, and his annoyance
at the greatness of the obligation, grew to such a
pitch, that no favour or reward was sufficient to
satisfy them, while every trifling malcontentment
appeared treason in the eyes of the king, and he
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 397. Montaner, ch. 59, 99, who is
inaccurate as to dates, but minute in personal details, speaks of
John of Procida and Conrad Lanza, as coming with the Queen.
In ch. 97, 99, apropos of the coming of Constance, he makes
mention of two well-known national monuments: the chapel of
the royal palace at Palermo, which still exists in all its beauty,
and was, according to him, one of the richest in the world; and
the "green hall" in the same palace, where the Parliaments were
held; and here, he continues, was a Parliament assembled on
account of the arrival of the Queen, in which John of Procida
was her spokesman, and Matthew da Termini that of the Parli-
ment.
38
THE WAR OF THE
1
began to employ artifice to bring about the fall of
the most arrogant amongst them. It is probable,
besides, that some displeasure was excited by his
imperfect observance of the promise exacted, to
restore all the regulations of the time of William
the Good, to which indefinite and almost fabulous
ideas were attached, which made them so much
the more eagerly desired by the people as they
thus became more difficult to revive; nor was
Peter a prince inclined to make concessions, or to
maintain privileges which might infringe upon the
regal authority. Perhaps, also, the Sicilians were
jealous of the Catalans, and of not having suffi-
cient share in public affairs; so that some began to
think that they had not exchanged tyranny for
liberty, but only the person of their sovereign and
the race of their rulers. It was natural that such
humours should spread from the barons to those
among the people who were the most enlightened,
and should not be unknown to the king. It thus
came to pass that, on the 8th of April, while Peter
¹ It will be seen in the progress of this work, that the consti-
tution of William the Good was, in those days, the pole-star of
the Sicilians and Apulians; also, how the Neapolitans obtained
it by the acts of Pope Honorius, and the Sicilians by those of
King James.
3
SICILIAN VESPERS.
39
was besieging the castle of Geraci, a spy from the
enemy was taken, who revealed some intrigues of
the Prince of Salerno in Sicily. He confessed,
according to Neocastro, that Walter of Calta-
girone had pledged himself to put him in possession
of the whole island, if, on the departure of Peter
for Bordeaux, he would send fifty galleys with a
body of French horse to any port in Val di Noto.
This Walter, Lord of Butera and other fiefs, the
most powerful chief in Val di Noto and celebrated
by the author of the Conspiracy of Procida, had,
on the first accession of the king, requested to be
one among the hundred champions who were to
go with him to the duel; but afterwards, either
disappointed in his ambitious views, or entertain-
ing suspicions of the ruling powers, his insubordi-
nation grew to such a pitch, that alone of all the
Sicilian barons he refused, despite the reiterated
invitations of the king, to follow him to the war in
Calabria; which fact added weight to the words
of the spy.¹ Saba Malaspina only relates, that the
spy having been tortured before he was hanged,
had revealed vague machinations in Sicily, and that
these indications, joined to previous suspicions, led
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 61.
40
THE WAR OF THE
to the supposition of a conspiracy against the queen
and her children, organised with several other
barons, by Palmiero Abate, of a family originally
belonging to Trapani, but a citizen of Palermo,
a wealthy man, possessed of an extensive territory
and numerous herds in the Val di Mazara, valiant
in arms, small of stature, but great of fame.¹ The
names are, however, of little importance, though it
appears certain that either a plot really existed
amongst the barons, or that it was supposed and
bruited abroad by Peter because he feared it. At
the same time he received the news of the arrival
of the queen at Palermo, and Peter, his brother,
came to seek him in Calabria, anxiously remind-
ing him of the duel, for which the appointed day
was at hand; and, as never perjury or breach of
faith had disgraced the royal blood of Aragon, im-
ploring him not to be the first to show himself a
coward and a defaulter in the eyes of all Christen-
dom. Thus compelled to return to Sicily and
hasten to redeem his oath, Peter, burning with
vexation and anger, desisted from the campaign
in Calabria, abandoned the towns he had already
*
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 397. Palmiero Abate had been
keeper of the Castle of Favignana for Charles I. in 1272
!
SICILIAN VESPERS.
41
occupied, and disbanded his army. That very day
Walter of Caltagirone at length presented himself
in the camp at Solano; a measure tardy indeed to
cleanse himself from such grave suspicions.¹
On the 14th of April Peter recrossed the strait.
with his troops and the vast amount of spoil he
had taken, and on the 22d, the queen and her
children, whom he had summoned from Palermo,
rejoined him at Messina, where, on the 25th, a
parliament was called, composed of the syndics of
the towns, to set the state in order before his
2
departure from the island.
his children to them with
The king presented
much appearance of
affection, and thus addressed them :—“ I am con-
strained to quit this country, which is as dear to
me as my native land. I go before the face of all
Christendom to confound our haughty enemy,
and strong in the justice of God, to vindicate the
honour of my name. For I have risked all things
for your sake, Sicilians; name, person, kingdom,
my very soul itself; nor do I regret it, seeing our
undertaking crowned with success by the omnipo-
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 62.
2 Ibid. ch. 62. D'Esclot, ch. 103, 104, agrees ´exactly with
these dates.
42
THE WAR OF THE
tent hand of the Lord; the enemy driven from
Sicily, pursued and conquered on the mainland;
your laws and franchises restored, and yourselves
increasing in wealth, glory, and prosperity. I
leave you a victorious fleet, experienced captains,
faithful ministers, your queen, and the grandsons
of Manfred. These youths, the dearest part of
myself, I entrust to you, Sicilians, without a fear
on their account. Nay more, as the fortunes of
war are doubtful and perilous, I leave you a new
guarantee of your rights: at my death Alfonso
will possess Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia ;
James, my second son, will succeed me on the
throne of Sicily. During my absence the queen
and James will govern in my stead; and do you
show yourselves docile to this paternal rule,
strong against your enemies, and deaf to the wiles
of those who seek new pretexts in order to betray
you into their hands." Then turning to Alaimo,
"Let my wife and children," said he, "be to you
as your own children,—and do you honour him as a
father.' The Parliament confirmed the succes-
sion of James, which may have been proposed by
the king because desired by the Parliament and
291
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 63.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
43
1
the nation, who would not suffer their ancient
kingdom again to be reduced to a province of
another more distant monarchy, and subject to a
foreign people. Having thus obviated the prin-
cipal cause of discontent, he sought, moreover, to
strengthen himself by the merits and glory of
Alaimo, whom he created Grand Justiciary; but
the other principal offices he bestowed upon his
confidants, making Roger Loria High Admiral ;²
John of Procida Chancellor; and the Catalan,
William Calcerando, whom he raised to the
honour of knighthood, his "Vicar," probably in
the command of the army. The lesser offices he
divided, likewise, between Catalans and Sicilians,
and decreed that, in the government of the state,
no command should be issued without the know-
ledge of the queen. Having concluded these
arrangements, he quitted Messina, on horseback,
on the 26th of April; but before his departure,
he invested Alaimo with the lordships of Buc-
1 So say Neocastro and Speciale; yet it seems probable that
Alaimo had already been called to the office of grand jus-
ticiary, and that it was now confirmed to him.
2 Diploma of Peter given at Messina the 20th of April, 1283,
by which Roger Loria is elected Admiral of Catalonia and Sicily,
published by Quintana, Vidas de Españoles Celebres, vol. ii.
p. 176.
44
THE WAR OF THE
cheri, Palazzolo, and Odogrillo; and embracing
him affectionately, presented him with his own
war-horse, his sword, his helmet, and his shield.¹
By these regulations Peter, in good time,
quieted the fears of the nation, and thus was
enabled, without danger, before he left the island,
to make sure, by rapid and decisive measures, of
the few who still remained mistrustful and con-
tumacious. He sought to give a nearer view of
the regal authority to the towns which most
inclined towards Walter of Caltagirone, and,
therefore, commanding the Infant and Alaimo to
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 62, 63. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 25.
Montaner, ch. 75, 76, 99, 100. D'Esclot, ch. 104. Where these
historians differ I have adhered to Neocastro, who was probably
an eye-witness of these events. It is certain that until the death
of Peter, the regal authority was wielded in Sicily by Queen
Constance, who was assisted in enforcing it by her son James,
the recognised successor to the throne. We have various diplo-
mas given by her; and this mode of government is further
attested by a political Act of the time, for in the treaty concluded
in June, 1285, between Peter of Aragon and the King of Tunis,
(published by Capmany, Memorias historicas del Comercio de
Barcelona, vol. iv. docum. 6 art. 40,) we read: "Which peace we,
the aforesaid Peter, by the grace of God King of Aragon and Sicily,
do grant for the kingdom of Sicily, in our own name, that of the
noble queen our wife, and in that of the Infant James our son,
who is to be heir after us of the said kingdom, by whom we will
cause it to be concluded and granted; and for our kingdoms of
Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia for ourselves, and for the Infant
Don Alfonso, our first-born, heir after us of the said kingdoms," &c.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
45
follow him, he went, on the 28th of April, to Mineo,
where, hearing that the cry of rebellion had already
been raised at Noto, at the instigation of Walter,
by Bongiovanni, of Noto; Tano Tusco; Baia-
monte, of Eraclea; John, of Mazzarino; Adenolfo,
of Mineo, and others, he waited for Alaimo and
his son; agreed with them to attack the rebels
without giving them time to organise themselves;
sent the two latter to Noto, and himself rode
direct on Caltagirone, to seek Walter, who had
not sufficient resolution to await him, but, pre-
texting to his partisans that he would not look
upon the face of the king, who, though courteous
to himself, was arrogant and iniquitous as a ruler,
withdrew himself into the fortified town of
Butera, and the king seeing him retire before him,
and despising him, went on to Trapani, without
further delay, to hasten his departure.'
Alaimo meanwhile proceeded without blood-
shed to put down the rebellion. At the beginning
of May he presented himself before Noto with
James, leaving the young prince at a little
distance from the city, while he himself advanced
with only four men to the closed but undefended
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 64.
46
THE WAR OF THE
gate, and breaking it open, cried aloud to the
people to hasten to meet their king. The
people at these words crowding round him, went
obediently forth to do homage to the Infant; for
although they had been momentarily excited by
the name of Walter and by the infinence of his
partisans, they could not as yet be very eager for
new changes of government; and unless impelled
by strong desires, the people rarely resist great
names and resolute measures. Thus Bongiovanni,
who hastened menacingly to the spot, was aban-
doned by all, and constrained to surrender himself
to Alaimo, and lay down his arms at his feet.
Tano Tusco fled, but being taken and put to the
torture, revealed everything.¹
Ignorant of these events, Walter still remained
at Butera, in arms as if in rebellion, but unguarded
and unprepared as in time of peace; when on
the 3d of May the Infant and Alaimo advanced
against the town with a powerful escort, and
James halting with his troops on the banks of the
river, Alaimo ascended the hill, forced open the
gates without opposition as at Noto, and entering,
exhorted the people in the same manner to go
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 65.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
47
forth to meet James with demonstrations of joy
and loyalty. The people, who were not much
attached to Walter, but kept in suspense by the
rumours he circulated of the departure of the
king, and of the overthrow of the Aragonese
dominion in Sicily, now on hearing the name of
Alaimo, and being informed of the near approach
of the Infant, thought only of how best to do him
honour, and cursing Walter and his fables, some
crowded to the gates, some let themselves down
from the walls, and the whole multitude scattered
itself over the slope, descending to the river.
Alaimo, however, stayed not till he had found
Walter. He dismounted at the palace-gate and
entered. There about sixty Tuscan soldiers
fully armed were sitting at table with Walter,
banquetting and bragging when the gallant old
man came forward, and frankly saluted the com-
pany. Doubt and astonishment closed their lips,
and all looked to their lord, who did not stir, but
rested his elbow on the table and his cheek upon
his hand, and without uttering a word fixed his
eyes on the countenance of Alaimo, whether
menacing or terrified he scarcely knew himself.
Alaimo had well-nigh repented of his temerity.
.
48
THE WAR OF THE
He remained silent for a moment, then resolutely
addressed him: "Walter, are you dreaming? to
the lowest of your mercenaries you would extend
your hand, you would return his greeting; and
would you thus receive in your own halls Alaimo,
a knight, Alaimo, your friend? And as your
friend more than you deem, have I come hither;
for now behold in whom you trusted! Behold
your vassals thronging to meet the Infant James,
and conduct him hither in triumph! Up, then,
come with me to offer him your homage also,
while you have yet a moment left to escape from
certain ruin." Walter hesitated; he asked for
security that he should not be dragged beyond sea
to take part in the duel; to which Alaimo retorted
that it had been his own ambition to be one of
the champions, against the wish of the king, who
asked from him neither aid nor counsel; and
Walter at length bowed his wavering will to make
a show of doing honour to the prince, who with-
out believing him, received him graciously,
deeming it enough to have quenched the first
spark of open rebellion, and obviated or deferred
1
1 This is the substance of the words recorded by Bart. de Neo-
castro.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
49
that of so powerful a baron. After this, having
shown himself at Palermo on his way, he hastened
to Trapani where the king was anxiously awaiting
him. Peter learnt the event with great satis-
faction, commanded that the heads of the con-
spiracy of Noto should be punished with death,
and that a strict watch should be kept upon
Walter.¹ Once more commending his family and
the kingdom to Alaimo, he set sail from Trapani
on the eleventh of May, with a ship and four
galleys. He took Palmiero Abate with him as a
champion to the combat at Bordeaux, to gratify
his zeal and warlike tastes according to Speciale;
but according to Malaspina, in order to make sure
of him by fair means on account of the political
suspicions aforesaid.²
Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 66.
2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 67. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 25.
Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 398. The departure of Peter from
Trapani is dryly mentioned by d'Esclot, ch. 104, and Montaner,
ch. 76.
VOL. II.
D
50
THE WAR OF THE
CHAPTER X.
FRESH PREPARATIONS OF THE ANGEVINS AGAINST SICILY.-ACTS OF
THE PARLIAMENT OF SANTO MARTINO IN THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES.
-RENEWED CHARGES OF THE POPE TO KING PETER AND THE
SICILIANS: PROCLAMATION OF THE CRUSADE; SENTENCE BY WHICH
PETER IS DEPOSED FROM THE KINGDOM OF ARAGON; AND OTHER
PRACTICES.-OPEN REBELLION OF WALTER OF CALTAGIRONE.-VIC-
TORY OF THE SICILIAN OVER THE PROVENÇAL FLEET IN THE PORT OF
MALTA ON THE 8TH OF JUNE, 1283, AND CONSEQUENCES RESULTING
FROM IT.-EFFORTS OF THE POPE TO PREVENT THE DUEL.-
PETER GOES TO CATALONIA AND TO BORDEAUX.-UPSHOT OF THE
PROJECTED DUEL.-HUMOURS OF THE PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOM
OF NAPLES.-THE SICILIANS OCCUPY SOME TOWNS IN VAL DI
CRATI. PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW ATTACK UPON SICILY.-LORIA
ATTACKS THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES WITH THE FLEET. ENGAGE-
MENT IN THE BAY OF NAPLES ON THE 5TH OF JUNE, 1284, AND
CAPTURE OF CHARLES THE LAME.-INSURRECTION OF THE POPU-
LACE AT NAPLES.-MAY 1283 TO JUNE 1284.
THE enemy now prepared for a second attempt
upon Sicily, of which the plan had been matured
at the papal court, when Charles, returning from
Calabria, presented himself before the Pope and
the whole college of cardinals to implore assist-
ance.' The blow was to be attempted in the
1 Montaner, ch. 77, 78, relates these practices of Charles at the
Court of Rome.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
51
summer of eighty-three, in order to profit by the
absence of Peter. For this purpose arms and
vessels were prepared, though less in number than
the year before on account of the want of funds,
and because now, in feigning gentleness where
force had proved vain, they counted more upon
the temper of the people. It would appear from
the indications of the spy taken at Geraci, that
the reactionary principles in Sicily, of which we
have spoken above, were in some measure con-
nected with these designs. A greater and more
comprehensive reform of the abuses of govern-
ment on the mainland was now brought forward
with the same object; while the Pope exerted
himself to raise up enemies to Peter, to frighten
away his friends, and, in order to draw off his
forces in another direction, began to menace the
kingdom of Aragon.
King Charles, on his journey from Rome to
Paris, had halted a few days at Marseilles, where
he had charged his vicar in Provence to equip
twenty galleys with all speed, man them with the
best seamen in the country, and send them to
Apulia, in April or May at the latest; and
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 74.
1
D 2
52
THE WAR OF THE
returning himself not long after to Marseilles and
finding the galleys equipped, armed, and manned
to double the ordinary amount, he gave the com-
mand of them to William Cornut and Bartholo-
mew Bonvin, both natives of Marseilles, William
having sworn to deliver the hostile admiral into
his hands, either dead or a captive. In Apulia,
meanwhile, the Prince of Salerno was arming
ninety galleys and transports, which had orders to
be at Reggio by the middle of June. In the
month of April he had abandoned the ill-fated
camp at Santo Martino, where fever and priva-
tion had done the work of pestilence in the
French host, where Peter, Count of Alençon, had
died greatly lamented, and where provisions and
forage were difficult to procure, and pitched his
tents on the sea-shore near Nicotra, in order to
be at hand for embarkation; at the same time
causing eight galleys to be refitted in that part,
all with a view to the invasion of Sicily. But
D'Esclot, ch. 110.
2
1 Montaner, ch. 81.
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 398. The testimony of this
very exact historian is here confirmed by diplomas, amongst
which is one treating of the death of Peter, Count of Alençon,
"carissimi consanguinei nostri," as Charles the Lame wrote
concerning him. This diploma, given from Nicotra the 20th
of April, eleventh Indiction (1283), provides that all the money
SICILIAN VESPERS.
53
before the removal of his camp, the prince had
held a parliament in due form at Santo Martino,
of which some mention must here be made.
""
The prince on this occasion requested subsidies
from the "prelates, counts, barons, citizens, and
true men there assembled in great numbers,
(a new act of condescension of the Angevin
rulers;) and they were granted to him in con-
sideration of the reforms which had been already
in the Acts of the 10th of June, 1282, ill devised
and worse observed, and which being now again
deliberated upon, with the nobles and the represen-
tatives of the nation, new articles were decreed,
and published in this same parliament on the 30th
of March, 1283. They began by openly ac-
knowledging the state of abject servitude and
poverty to which the kingdom was reduced,
required to fulfil the clauses of the Count of Alençon's will,
should be furnished from the royal treasury. And such a dis-
posal of money which Alençon did not possess, would also go
to prove that he died in April, 1283, of illness, as affirmed
by Malaspina, or by slow degrees of the wounds he had received,
according to the author of the Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch.
28, in Baluzio, loc. cit., and not in November, 1282, at the assault
of La Catona, as stated by Montaner.
It moreover appears from some of these diplomas, that amid so
many other exigencies, the Angevin Court was still compelled
to furnish some subsidies to her troops at Acre and Durazzo.
54
THE WAR OF THE
by the faults in past time, as it was said, of the
Suabian tyrants, and recently by the malice of
the ministers and officials of the king betraying
his paternal benevolence. Comprehensive favours
were then granted or confirmed to ecclesiastics
for their goods, their persons, their dwellings, and
their institutions, which extended even to im-
munity from taxes for their hereditary possessions,
and to the civil punishment of excommunicated
persons. The burdens most offensive to the barons
were revoked; the military service restricted, and
every impediment removed to the marriage of
their daughters, or to the levying of just aids
(such was the term) upon their vassals. The pri-
vilege of judgment by peers was restored, and the
oppressive services to the exchequer cancelled.
For the benefit of the entire nation, the prince
freed the transport of provisions within the king-
dom from all custom dues; he promised a pure
coinage; he forbade the spontaneous inquisitions of
the magistrates; diminished the fine for murders
which were not proved; permitted marriages with
the daughters of those guilty of treason; and
corrected the abuse of personal service, and the
frauds of officials; he further decreed that the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
55
exchequer should not claim possession except
upon the decision of the magistrates; that it
should not seize the dowries of the wives of
exiles; that artizans should not be compelled to
refit the king's vessels, nor the cities to construct
new fortresses; and that the justiciaries and other
officials at the end of their tenure of office should
remain forty days on the spot, to give account of
unjust exactions. With regard to the collections
and other general or partial imposts, the prince
decreed, that the citizens of the mainland should
enjoy all the privileges and institutions of the
time of William the Good; but, as the recollec-
tions of that time were now obscure, he trusted to
Pope Martin to draw up within two months a
statement of those usages; for which purpose.
he commanded that two envoys from every justi-
ciary district should immediately present them-
selves before the Pope; and that meanwhile the
cities and provinces should furnish no subsidies,
even as a loan, except in the cases provided by
the constitution. Lastly, he restored to vigour
the recent articles of King Charles, and deputed
inquisitors in every city and township expressly
to watch over the observance of the present ones.
56
THE WAR OF THE
Such were the fruits of the Sicilian revolution to
the people of the mainland.¹
1
Meanwhile, Pope Martin, not attempting to
conceal the fierce passions of his soul, hurled
anathema upon anathema against Peter, his
ministers, his troops, and all the Sicilians. From
Montefiascone, on the 18th of November, 1282,
he pronounced against them the excommunica-
tions already threatened, and repeated his com-
mands to Peter, immediately to evacuate Sicily, and
not to usurp the title, nor exercise the authority
of king. He urged the already excommunicated
Paleologus, with new adjurations, to break off all
connexion with the King of Aragon; and, power-
less to do more than threaten, he appointed a new
term for their submission; giving time to Peter
and to those dwelling in Italy, until the 2d of
February; to the Greeks and others until April
and May; after the expiration of which period
the transgressors would be despoiled of all fiefs,
possessions, and rights; their vassals absolved
1
Capitoli del Regno di Napoli, vol. ii. Articles of Charles,
Prince of Salerno, promulgated the 30th of March, 1283. Saba
Malaspina, Cont. pp. 402, 403, mentions this Parliament, but
falls into error with regard to the time and place, confounding it
with the diocesan synod held at Melfi.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
57
from their oaths of allegiance; their goods and
persons given into the keeping of such of the
faithful as chose to take possession of them (such
was the formula), barring the power of mutilation
or of death.¹
But he soon after broke out into exhortations
to war and bloodshed, without even waiting for
the expiration of the appointed term. "Let the
Lord arise," said he in his exordium from Orvieto
on the 13th of January, 1283, "Let the Lord
arise, and avenge his cause, because of the
wickedness wherewith the wicked provoke him.
every day!" then going on to speak of the
recovery of the Holy Land, impeded by Peter
and the Sicilians by their contentions with the
Church," May God," he continued, "urge the
battle against them; and we, by the Divine
mercy strong in the authority of the Apostles,
exhort all Christians to rise in our behalf, and in
that of Charles our beloved son; and to whom-
soever shall die in this cause we grant remission
of sins, as in the wars of the Holy Land." "
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1282, §§ 23-25. Saba Malaspina, Cont.
p. 392.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, §§ 2—4.
D 3
58
THE WAR OF THE
He
Lastly, on the 19th of March, he thundered
forth his final sentence from Orvieto.
reproached Peter with his first armaments in
Catalonia; his invasion of Africa with forces
inadequate to such an undertaking; his missives
to the Palermitans to harden them in rebellion;
his perfidious embassies to the Court of Rome;
and his treacherous occupation of the kingdom of
Sicily. "But Sicily," continued he, "is an
appurtenance of the Church; and Aragon also
is a fief belonging to us, owing to the homage
paid to Pope Innocent III. by the grandfather of
Peter. We therefore declare this disloyal vassal
despoiled for cause of treason of the kingdom of
Aragon, of which we will bestow the investiture
upon another at our pleasure." And thereupon
he excommunicated Peter for the third time, and
laid an interdict upon all the cities which adhered
to his cause. In publishing this sentence, Martin
alleged that it was done by the advice of the
cardinals, which, if not a lie, was at least an
equivocation, since we read in the history of his
own secretary that several members of the sacred
1
¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, §§ 15-23. Saba Malaspina, Cont.
pp. 392, 393.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
59
college strongly opposed it. "Of this," continues
Malaspina, "it would be very difficult, and rather
the province of a diviner than of a faithful his-
torian, to discover the reason;" and also touch-
ing the Pope's claim upon Aragon, and his right
to pronounce the deposition of Peter, he takes
refuge in obscurity of diction, meanly endeavour-
ing to combine the courtier with the historian.'
2
The Pope, moreover, laboured hard to dissuade
Edward of England from the contemplated
marriage between his daughter and the eldest
son of Peter; denounced the latter as a persecutor
of the Church, and the alliance as incestuous,
because the parties were related to each other in
the fourth degree of consanguinity. By means
of a bishop, who was in his confidence, he dis-
turbed the understanding between the King of
Aragon and the Republic of Venice, which being
desirous to maintain the balance of power in
Italy, missives had been exchanged between Peter
and several of her citizens. He consented that
Charles should defer the payment of the tribute
3
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 392-394.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, §§ 36, 38, brief of the 6th of July.
3 Ibid. § 39, brief of the 7th of June.
60
THE WAR OF THE
2
to the Church.' He exhorted the prelates, Tem-
plars, Hospitallers, and other military monastic
orders in the kingdom of Castile, to take arms
against Sancho, the presumptive heir to the
crown, who had rebelled against his father, and
entered into a league with Peter. He liberated
the Count de Montfort, the sacrilegious murderer
of Prince Henry of England, and gave him the
command of the forces of the Church in Romagna.³
In fact, it would be impossible to record all the
measures taken by this mighty potentate, urged on
by the violence of party spirit and the conscious-
ness of impending danger. The papal court did
indeed tax itself severely, to aid the varying
fortunes of Charles; it exhausted its pecuniary
resources to supply his wants; 4 it saw Romagna
scoured and raised in insurrection by Count Guy
of Montefeltro; Rome more refractory than
ever; and whether true or false, it was rumoured
5
¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 47, brief of the Pope of the 26th
of June, and epistle of King Charles of the 23d of November.
2 Ibid. §§ 54-57.
3 Nangis in Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v. p. 542. Bull
of Pope Martin from Orvieto, 9th of May, 1283, ibid. p. 886.
4 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 51.
5 Ibid. § 28, &c.
book vii. ch. 80, etc.
Giachetto Malespini, ch. 215. Gio. Villani,
Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist. Eccl. in Muratori,
R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 1188.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
61
5
that secret practices were carried on between her
citizens and the King of Aragon himself.¹
The tempest thus invoked began to expend
its fury so soon as Peter had quitted Sicily, when
Walter of Caltagirone, recovering courage, at
length openly discovered himself. He assaulted
Caltagirone, in which the king's lieges were as-
sembled in arms under the royal banner, and
possessed himself of the town, after much blood-
shed, which spread alarm through the whole of
Val di Noto. But the news of Walter's treason
having reached the Infant James, a stripling of
lively and gracious manners, who was then in
Palermo, after a progress through the north of
the island where he had everywhere been received
with regal honours, demonstrations of loyalty,
and renewed oaths of allegiance, he, together
with his counsellors, was greatly troubled by it,
but proceeded forthwith to provide vigorously
against the danger. Written orders were de-
spatched to William Calcerando, the vicar, and to
Natale Ansalone, of Messina, justiciary in that
province, to go peaceably to Caltagirone, cau-
tiously to collect men and arms, and then, by a
1 Life of Martin IV. in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. iii. p. 610.
62
THE WAR OF THE
coup-de-main, to make themselves masters, either
by force or fraud, of Walter's person. This they
effected; for Walter had neither judgment nor
courage equal to his position, and the rebellion
had not taken further root. With him were cap-
tured Francis de' Todi, and Manfred de' Monti;
and all was done so rapidly that the Infant, who
had followed on the track of his couriers, learnt
the tidings before he had yet reached Piazza.
On the 21st of May he went to Caltagirone, and
on the following day Walter and his confederates,
taken in the fact of open insurrection, and con-
victed by the confessions of Bongiovanni and
Tano Tusco, were condemned by the Grand Jus-
ticiary, Alaimo, and immediately thereupon de-
capitated, in the plain of Santo Giuliano, the
people shouting aloud for their death. Bongio-
vanni and Tusco were gibbetted at Mineo; and on
the 27th of May, tranquillity having been com-
pletely restored, the Infant returned to Messina,
amid the applause and rejoicings of the people.¹
Here it was necessary immediately to equip the
fleet to oppose a first attempt of the enemy, who,
ignorant of the skill and success with which the
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 75.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
63
counter-revolution had already been crushed, had
begun to show themselves in the Sicilian seas;
for the twenty Provençal galleys had reached
Naples in May; and taking with them many
knights, both French and natives of the kingdom,
and seven eighty-oared vessels, had proceeded to
Nicotra to join the prince; who, seeing the seas
thus freed from the Sicilian corsairs, and the
navigation resumed by the merchants of Terra di
Lavoro and Principato, who supplied his military
posts, and feeling himself, moreover, strong enough
to assume the offensive, sent the fleet, as a first
demonstration, to cruise round the northern and
southern coasts of Sicily; and if no other favour-
able opportunity presented itself, at least to throw
supplies into the Castle of Malta, besieged by
the Sicilians under Manfred Lancia, who having
occupied the island, were plying their engines
against its walls.¹
Twenty-two Catalan and Sicilian galleys, under
Roger Loria, were lying fully equipped in the
port of Messina, when the latter received tidings
of the hostile fleet, either from light vessels of his
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 398. D'Esclot, ch. 110. Nic. Spe-
ciale, book i. ch. 26. Montaner, ch. 81.
64
THE WAR OF THE
own, or from some barks from Principato, which,
sailing secretly for Sicily with cargoes of fruit and
wine, had fallen in with the Provençal fleet off
Ustica, but had escaped their hands by feigning
themselves to be bound for Tunis, and afterwards
changing their course, had put to shore at Pa-
lermo, Messina, and Trapani.' This information
giving a clue to the designs of the enemy, the
queen instantly despatched a vessel of forty
oars to Malta, bearing orders to the Sicilians
to abandon the siege of the castle and fortify
themselves in the town; while Loria spread his
sails to the wind in search of the Provençal fleet.
He followed it from Ustica to Trapani and Terra-
nova, keeping always two days' sail in the rear,
so that, on reaching Gozzo, he learnt its arrival
at Malta, where the troops had already disem-
1 D'Esclot, ch. 110, expressly mentions this adventure of the
barks from Principato, laden with fruit and wines for Sicily. At
first I could hardly persuade myself to believe that such supplies,
but especially the wines, should be exported from the kingdom
of Naples into Sicily, but the fact is proved by two diplomas
given in Naples on the 2d May, 1284, (12th Ind.) which strictly.
forbid the fraudulent exportation of wines for Sicily practised
in Sorrento and in Castellamare di Stabia, feigning them to
be destined for districts faithful to the king. These diplomas
in the Archives of Naples afford an additional proof of the infor-
mation and accuracy of d'Esclot.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
65
barked, and had proceeded, though without suc-
cess, to lay siege to the beleaguering force in the
city. At midnight, before the 8th of June, 1283,
therefore, he set sail from Gozzo, and took up a
position, with his twenty-two galleys placed in
échelon, in good order, across the mouth of the
harbour of Malta. This was the first expedition
in which Roger had commanded as admiral, and
the mastery of the seas was now to be decided
between his men and the men of Provence. Dis-
daining, therefore, to attack the enemy unawares,
he caused all his martial instruments to sound the
attack, sent a boat to bear his challenge to Cornut;
and perceiving that a hundred French from
the castle were hastening to embark, he awaited
them with all the appearance of indifference. The
hostile admiral sent to reconnoitre our galleys;
and encouraged by the false tidings that they
were only twelve in number, at the first peep of
dawn he rushed impatiently to the attack, with
his own twenty-seven vessels.
The hostile forces were equal in pride, in
courage, and very nearly so in strength; for if
the enemy had the advantage in the number of
vessels and of men, he was inferior as to actual
66
THE WAR OF THE
combatants, on account of his third oarsmen,' who
were neither practised nor dexterous in handling
their bows, and far less efficient than the regular
crossbowmen, alert and unwearied, whom our
admiral had on board, contenting himself with
two men at each oar. At first they encountered
each other with equal fury on both sides, with
showers of stones, arrows, lime and firebrands;
then Loria commanded his men to cover them-
selves as best they could, leaving it to the cross-
bowmen to maintain the struggle, which lasted
thus until mid-day with much loss of blood, the
one party pursuing and attacking, the other
acting only on the defensive. But when Loria
perceived that the missiles, which the Provençaux
had wasted to little purpose, were almost ex-
¹ Montaner, ch. 83, 131, discourses at length upon the advan-
tage of regular crossbowmen, and the inconvenience of third
oarsmen who should act as crossbowmen in the fight. He calls
them "tersols" in Catalan, a word which is rendered by Buchon
in his French translation, (ed. Paris, 1840, p. 288,) as
cr rameurs
surnuméraires, attachés en tiers au service d'une rame." The
regular crossbowmen are called by Montaner "en taula," because
the act of registering is called "taula" in Catalan. To these
crossbowmen, unwearied by any other labour on board the galleys,
Montaner ascribes the continual victories of the Catalans in
regular engagements at sea; at the same time he confesses that
a certain number of galleys with third oarsmen were necessary
in a fleet in order to give chase with more effect.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
67
pended, and that they were beginning to use as
projectiles even things required for the service of
their galleys, he vigorously resumed the offensive,
and raising the cry, "Upon them, Aragon!" our
men bent to their oars with might and main, and
pouring in a tempest of stones, darts, and missiles
of every description, bore down upon the now
wearied and unprovided Provençaux, striking
their galleys amidships, crushing in their flanks,
shivering oars and prows, and springing sword in
hand upon their decks. Such impetuosity carried
the day. Bonvin could not withstand the shock,
and with eight shattered and blood-stained galleys,
rounded the extreme point of the harbour and
took to flight. The remainder of the hostile
squadron fell an easy prey into the enemy's
hands. Only William Cornut closed in a despe-
rate struggle with Loria, and leaping on the deck
of the Catalan galley, (or Loria on board the
Provençal one, for in this historians differ,) the
Marseillais pressing forward in search of his rival,
swung his battle-axe around him with such
vigour, that scattering the crew on all sides, he
found himself face to face with his adversary at the
foot of the mast. He wounded him in the thigh.
68
THE WAR OF THE
with a javelin, and would have finished him with
his battle-axe, had not a stone struck it from his
hand, when Roger, seizing the moment, wrenched
the weapon from his own wound, and plunging it
into the breast of his adversary, tore him through
and through. Thus ended the battle, with a loss
on our side of five hundred killed and wounded,
and on that of the enemy of eight hundred and
sixty prisoners, and more slain. Bonvin, halting
in bis flight at a distance of about five miles from
Malta, caused the dead to be thrown overboard;
and three galleys rendered unfit for sea, to be
sunk, and with the five that alone remained of the
fleet, returned to bear the mournful tidings to the
coast of Provence, where was scarcely an indivi-
dual who had not to deplore the loss of some
friend or relation. The castle soon after surren-
dered to Manfred Lancia, and Roger Loria re-
ceived presents of money, jewels, and munitions
from Malta and Gozzo. Landing at Syracuse, he
sent messengers throughout the island, with
tidings of the victory, and despatched a vessel to
Aragon to announce it to the king. He thence
returned to Messina, towing the captured vessels
by the stern, the hostile banners trailing in his
SICILIAN VESPERS.
69
wake, and all his numerous prisoners on board, of
whom Queen Constance sent twelve knights into
Spain to the king, caused those of lower rank to
labour in the Arsenal of Messina, or at the repairs
of the walls, and threw Nicoloso de Riso into
prison, the pious queen sparing the life which he
had justly forfeited by bearing arms against his
country.¹ But the admiral not content to remain
inactive in the enjoyment of the praises of the
court, or the applause and caresses of the citizens,
and wishing effectually to deprive the enemy of
all desire to renew their attacks upon the island,
re-equipped his fleet in a few days, made sail along
the coasts of Calabria and Principato, and pre-
sented himself in a hostile attitude before the very
port of Naples. The garrison endeavoured to
repulse him with their arrows; his archers in
return swept the shore. He set fire to the vessels,
munitions and marine stores crowded together
within the port; then passed on to Capri and
Ischia, took those two feeble posts by assault, and
¹ His capture in the battle of Malta is shown by a diploma of
King James, given at Messina, on the 19th of July, 1286, in
di Gregorio, Bibl. Arag. vol. ii. p. 500.
70
THE WAR OF THE
returned loaded with booty to pass the winter in
Sicily.¹
The two kings, meanwhile, were occupied in
the west noising abroad the fame of the duel, of
which it is well to relate all the particulars. Pope
Martin, who, in the midst of his intemperate
wrath, showed, in this one respect, both piety
and moderation, had exerted himself to prevent
it, of which proof is extant in irrefragable docu-
ments, which completely overthrow a fabulous
relation of Giachetto and Villani, in which they
state the duel to have been negotiated in the pre-
sence of Martin, the crown of Sicily being the
prize of the contest; and Peter, in case of failure,
declared excommunicated and despoiled of his
kingdom. So far from this being the case, on
the 8th of February, 1283, Martin addressed a
grave epistle to Charles, to reproach him severely,
because of the great love he bore him, (so wrote
2
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 110, 114, 116. Montaner, ch. 82-84, 93. Bart.
de Neocastro, ch. 76. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 26. Saba Mala-
spina, Cont. pp. 398, 399. The trustworthy d'Esclot alone relates
this last expedition to Naples. Montaner, who is often inexact,
relates it with some variations, and before the battle of Malta.
2 Giachetto Malespini, ch. 217, 218. Gio. Villani, book vii.
ch. 86, 87.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
71
the Pope,) for the folly of the deed to which he
had bound himself; for the sinful imprecations
invoked in the diplomas; for this trial, not of
right, but of pride and ferocity. Did he not
perceive the artifice of the King of Aragon, who,
with an army of inferior strength, decoyed him
to measure himself against him on equal terms?
Religion, he continued, forbade these single com-
bats even to private individuals, much more
to the rulers of nations; he therefore charged
him not to presume to enter the lists. As vicar
of Christ he would absolve him from the oaths
by which he had bound himself; but, in case of
his persistance, he menaced him with censures and
every other punishment which the Court of Rome
could inflict. He proceeded to enforce the words
of this letter by the mouth of the Cardinal of San
Niccolò in Carcere Tulliano, and of the Cardinal
of Santa Cecilia, whom he had sent to France in
company with Charles. In a letter to Edward of
England, dated the 5th of April, he forbade him,
with the customary menaces, to act as marshal of
1
2
I ¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, §§ 8-12, brief given at Orvieto on
the 3d of April. Nangis, in Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v.
p. 541.
2 Raynald, ibid. § 13; and Nangis, ibid. p. 542.
72
THE WAR OF THE
the field, or to suffer the combatants to enter
Gascony;¹ and not long after he wrote to Philip
the Bold to the same effect. But at length he
ceased his opposition, either perceiving that he
could not conquer the determination of Charles, or
entering into his designs and those of the French
court, which seem to have had an object deeper
and less innocent than a mere chivalrous en-
counter.2
To Charles's solicitations the King of England,
after some delay, replied that he would send
ambassadors to him; and he did in fact send
Godfrey de Grenville and Anthony Beck to
convey to him a letter, in which he declared
that, if by so doing he should gain both the king-
doms of Aragon and Sicily, he would not suffer
such a cruel and bloody rite to be performed in
his presence, or in his territory, or in any other
place where he had power to prevent it. He
¹ Raynald, ibid. § 7. Rymer's Fœdera, vol. ii. pp. 242-244.
Also Chron. of the Monastery of St. Bertin in Martene and Durand,
Thes. Anecd. vol. iii. p. 763.
2 Nangis, loc. cit.
3 Rymer's Fœdera, diplomas of the 25th March and 5th April,
1283, vol. ii. pp. 239, 240. Here we read in the epistle to
Charles "Kar sachez de
Reaumes come celui de Cezile e de Aragon nous n'en serrions
vérité qe pur gainer teus deus
SICILIAN VESPERS.
73
2
signified to the Prince of Salerno that he had
returned a direct refusal to Charles;¹ despatched
the same messengers to Peter, and finally, in order
effectually to rid himself of the whole matter
by withdrawing all means of rendering the lists
secure, he commanded the Seneschal of Bordeaux
to hold the city at the disposal of Charles and
of the King of France.³
The two hostile kings nevertheless continued
to, act their parts. From Sicily Peter sent to
entrust the selection of the champions to his son
Alfonso, in Aragon, who enrolled a hundred and
fifty knights, to provide against any chance of
failure of the appointed number. They consisted
of Catalans, Aragonese, Italians, Sicilians, Ger-
mans, and even of a son of the King of Morocco,
who was disposed to become a convert to Chris-
gardeins du chaump où la susdite bataille se fest; mes mettroms
peine et travail en totes les maneres que nous saverons qe pes e
acord fust mist entre vous, come celui qe moult le vodroit."
1 Ibid. The expression is having refused "tut outre.”
2 Ibid. p. 241.
3 D'Esclot, ch. 104. This statement, which we find in no other
contemporary history, accounts for the apparently contradictory
conduct of Edward; in first refusing the field, and then suffering
the lists to be erected and the combatants to come. By giving
up the city to the French during the appointed term, the duel
was prevented without any further trouble,
VOL. II.
E
74
THE WAR OF THE
tianity should he issue victorious from the combat.
Charles, on his side, caused a hundred suits of
the finest armour to be manufactured at Paris,
and, quitting the court of France, proceeded to
make every preparation for the duel, or for its
pretence; and, for the same reason as his adver-
sary, assembled as many as three hundred cham-
pions, of the first hundred of whom sixty were
French, and the rest Provençaux. Philip him-
self caused his name to be enrolled, and enjoined
upon all his barons to be present at the duel,' so
that the fame of it spread through every part of
France; and every where the nobles were arming
and mounting in the hope, if not to take part in
the combat, at least to be spectators of it, and
poured in crowds into Bordeaux, as if war were
on the point of breaking out. Charles caused
the lists to be erected in the plain near the city;
they were of oblong form, encircled with steps like
those of an amphitheatre, and solidly constructed
of woodwork and iron, with two encampments
fortified with ditches and stockades for the two
hostile bands; they were at opposite ends of the
This is mentioned by Nangis, and other writers on the
French side.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
75
lists, and the one near to the only gate which was
opened for entrance or exit, was destined for the
French, the other for the Aragonese, which gave
rise to suspicions that the French purposed, should
the enemy remain masters of the field, to occupy
the gate from without, and having thus enclosed
them within the defences, to put them to the
sword. Still greater mistrust was excited by the
general arming throughout France, and by the
knowledge that all the passes around Bordeaux
were occupied by French troops.
From Trapani Peter steered his course direct
for Spain; for having set sail on the eleventh of
May, his fear was great lest he should not arrive
in time. To the south of Sardinia he fell in with
tempestuous weather, and finding sailing to be im-
possible, he increased the number of oarsmen in
two of the galleys, and leaving his ship, continued
his course on board of them with only three
knights. He gave orders to gain the island at all
costs, in defiance of winds and waves and of the
pirates who abounded in those waters; and replied
to the admiral, Raymond Marquet, who conjured
him not to expose himself to such risks: "No;
whatever is in the power of mortal I will do, that
E 2
76
THE WAR OF THE
I
may be able to present myself in the lists. My
fate, whatever it be, is immutably decreed, and it
is better for man to trust himself fearlessly to
fortune, than to make vain efforts to escape from
her." With such sentiments, after recruiting
himself for a brief space on shore, he returned to
his vessel, in the teeth of a west wind, which
drove him within sight of the coast of Africa.
Cursing the fates which threatened to make him
appear a defaulter and traitor to his oath, he re-
mained three days without food from grief and
anxiety; but, thanks to the skill and exertions of
the seamen, on the third day they reached Mi-
norca. Here the king took some nourishment; he
traversed the sea to Cullera, and on the 19th of
May reached Valencia accompanied by only three
knights.
Here, while still exhausted from the voyage, he
learnt the suspicions created by the great display
of force made by the French,--if with no other
object, at least to deter him by fear from proceed-
ing to Bordeaux. He reflected that he could not
take with him an army sufficiently strong to con-
front them, but at the same time he was equally
unwilling to fail in the fulfilment of his oath, or
SICILIAN VESPERS.
25
to place himself undefended in the power of his
enemies: he had, however, little trouble in devising
a means of eluding the difficulty. He despatched
orders to his champions, who were all in readiness
in the neighbourhood of the frontier, that each
one should halt in the place where he had first
received information of the unfair dealings of the
French. He despatched Gilbert Cruyllas to the
Seneschal of the King of England, to require of
him to guarantee a fair field, and every day he
sent a fresh messenger after him, both in order to
receive constant intelligence, and also to render
the appearance of the followers of the King of
Aragon upon the roads no unusual occurrence.
He himself, with three trusty knights, Blasco
Alagona, Berenger Pietratallada, and Conrad
Lancia, on horseback, and without any other
retinue, joined company with one
with one Domenic
Figuera, of Saragossa, a horse-dealer, well ac-
quainted with the country, binding him to secresy
by fearful oaths, and confiding the secret of his
journey to no one of his court, not even to the
Infant Don Alfonso. The king armed himself
with a shirt of mail under his clothes and a
steel head-piece under his cap, wrapped himself
78
THE WAR OF THE
in an old blue cloak, took a javelin in his hand, and
a valise upon his horse to appear like the servant of
the merchant, while the others disguised themselves
in still meaner clothing, as grooms.
as grooms. Figuera, on
the other hand, was richly attired and equipped,
and treated with distinction; he used his com-
panions roughly, lodged apart, and the king waited
upon him at table and poured water for him to
wash his hands. Thus, mounted on swift pal-
freys, which they changed at every post, they
took the road to Tarragona; to the inquiries
made of them at the frontier passes the merchant
replied that he was travelling on his own business
with his servants; and thus eluding all the snares
of the enemy, they halted under the walls of Bor-
deaux, at noon on the 31st of May.
The king immediately sent Berenger, the son
of Cruyllas, into the city to seek his father, and
to charge him secretly to persuade the English
Seneschal, John de Greilly, to come forth from
the town, by telling him that a knight, one of his
friends, wished to speak to him on a subject of
importance, and requesting him at the same time
to bring with him a notary. John went forth as
desired, at nightfall, and Peter, feigning himself
SICILIAN VESPERS.
79
to be another envoy, asked again whether the
King of Aragon could come. Greilly resolutely
replied that he could not; that large bodies of
French horse were stationed in the neighbour-
hood; that King Edward had never guaranteed
the field, and now could not do so if he would,
even by uniting his own forces with those of
Aragon, as he had already, he said, affirmed to
Gilbert. Peter thereupon requested him to let
him see the lists; Greilly conducted him thither,
and then the King of Aragon, throwing back his
hood, discovered himself to the seneschal, who
conjured him for the love of God to save himself
from his enemies. The king mounted his charger,
rode three times round the lists, and halting in
the midst, solemnly protested to the seneschal and
to the notary, that he had come to redeem his
oath, and that if the duel did not take place it was
not to be ascribed to him, but to the perfidy of his
enemies. He then had a protestation to this effect
drawn up in due form, in which Greilly attested
the coming of the King of Aragon, and the order
given by Edward to consign the city to Philip and
to Charles. The king left his arms to the English
seneschal, requested him to delay the promulga-.
80
THE WAR OF THE
tion of the occurrence for a short time, and putting
spurs to his horse gallopped back towards the
Spanish frontier, by the way of Bayonne. He
reached that city weary and travel-worn, not
having closed his eyes for three days, and from
thence published a protest, sent letters and mes-
sengers to the princes of Christendom, and, in
the anticipation that war would immediately
be declared, summoned all such of his subjects
as might be in France to return forthwith to
Aragon.
Charles, on the other hand, who had been at
Bordeaux ever since the 25th of May, being
informed by the seneschal of the coming of his
adversary on the very day of the duel, was in-
furiated at the tidings, sent off horsemen in
pursuit of him (whose toil was, however, fruitless,
owing to the start that Peter had obtained),
showered bitter reproaches upon Greilly, and even
presumed so far as to confine him in the palace,
but speedily released him, on seeing the citizens
rise in rebellion against such violence. On the
saine day Charles, with all his champions fully
armed, remained in the lists until noon; and a
French force, of some say three, some five
1
SICILIAN VESPERS.
81
thousand horse, and some many more, osten
tatiously occupied the outskirts of the city.
Charles uttered a haughty protest, openly pro-
claiming Peter a defaulter and a coward; but Saba
Malaspina himself says, that in his heart he was
full of chagrin that his snare had thus been spread
in vain; and d'Esclot relates, that he called his
daring enemy not a man, but rather a fiend of
hell, and even worse; for at the sign of the cross
the devil will flee away, but against him there is
no security; you deem him a thousand miles away
and you find him upon you. At length, leaving
Bordeaux on the eleventh of June, Charles
hastened to publish in Italy an interminable
recapitulation of the offences of Peter, and of the
taunts and insults to which he had submitted.
And thus the drama ended. All contemporary
historians agree pretty closely as to the facts here
related, though differing in some particulars, and
endeavouring to lay the chief blame upon Charles
or Peter, according as they belonged to this or
that party. To enter into this question appears
to me both tedious and useless. What is un-
doubted is, that both presented themselves on the
spot, Charles accompanied by an overwhelming
E 3
82
THE WAR OF THE
force, Peter secretly and alone; and that Edward
was not there, nor did he guarantee the field.
The adversaries were bound by oath to be at
Bordeaux on the 1st of June, but not to fight
unless in presence of the King of England, or in
accordance with the terms of a new agreement.
Thus both ostensibly fulfilled the conditions of
their strange compact and in reality eluded it,
and hence each found pretext to throw the blame
upon the other, which was in fact the sole object
of both.¹
The failure of the machinations of Walter of
Caltagirone, the defeat of Malta, and the daring
1 The whole of this narration is taken from Saba Malaspina,
Cont. pp. 399-402. D'Esclot, ch. 104, 105. Montaner, ch. 80,
85, &c.
Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 67-69. Nic. Speciale, book i.
ch. 25. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 44. Ptolemy of Lucca, Hist. Eccl.
book xxiv. ch. 7, 8, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 1188. Geste
de' Conte di Barcellona, ch. 28, Op. cit. Frate Francesco Pipino,
book iii. ch. 17, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. Ferreto Vicentino,
ibid. p. 954. Life of Martin IV. ibid. vol. iii. pp. 609, 610.
Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 31, 32. Nangis in Duchesne,
Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v. p. 542. Paolino di Pietro, in Mura-
tori, R. I. S. vol. xxvi. p. 39. Giachetto Malespini, ch. 218.
Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 87. Memoriale dei Podestà di Reggio,
in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. viii. pp. 1155, 1156. Chron. Mon.
S. Bertini, in Martene and Durand, Thes. Anecd. vol. iii. p. 764.
The manifesto of King Charles against Peter of Aragon, addressed
to the commune of Modena, is to be found in Muratori, Antiqui-
tates Italicæ Medii Evi, vol. iii. Diss. 39, p. 650.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
83
incursion of the Sicilian admiral, compelled the
Prince of Salerno to defer the prosecution of the
campaign until the succeeding year, at the very
time when having equipped some more galleys
and transports at Brindisi, he was on the eve of
embarking with the Count of Artois.¹ Charles,
the degenerate son of his father, with that quick-
ness of action which often characterises mode-
rate intellects though distinguished by its results
from genuine valour, all through his life exerted
himself much, to effect nothing; made vast pre-
parations to see them vanish into smoke; and
now being fully intent upon the invasion of Sicily
the following year, the first thing he did was to
lose the very object which he had but a short time
before laboured so hard to gain by reforms and
promises to his subjects. Instead of remitting the
old burdens he rendered them more vexatious by
exempting from them the natives of Provence and
other foreigners; he again demanded loans from
the communes of Terrafirma, nor did their
peremptory refusal bring him to his senses. He
erred, moreover, in counting too much upon the
blind simplicity of the people, when the deputies
1 D'Esclot, ch. 115.
84
THE WAR OF THE
of the provinces appeared before the Pope to
claim the promised reform of the tributes, and
Martin, who played into the hands of Charles,
pretexted doubtful precedents and the necessity
of a minute examination, with which he charged
Cardinal Gherardo, the Legate at Naples,' urging
him to haste by letters as much as he in reality
desired the decision to be delayed. Hence the
humours called into existence in the kingdom of
Naples, by the Sicilian revolution, by the reverses
of the house of Anjou, and by the friendly demon-
strations of the court of Aragon, began anew to
work. In Sicily, on the contrary, freed from the
unpopular energy of Peter, the people were
soothed to tranquillity by the mild government of
Queen Constance, and the year passed over so
quietly that our historians make mention of none
but external occurrences. Montaner asserts that
after sharing together the glory of the battle of
Malta, the Sicilians and Catalans mingled more
and more intimately, uniting themselves in the
bonds of friendship and relationship, which is an
incontestable proof of good government. It thus
2
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, brief of the 25th Nov. § 46. Saba
Malaspina, Cont. p. 403.
2 Montaner, ch. 84.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
85
happened that the Queen of Sicily was able to
attempt an expedition of the most daring character,
which the Viceroy of Naples was powerless to
defeat even in the very heart of his kingdom.
That winter the price of provisions was very high
in Italy, and Scalea, Santo Lucido, Cetraro, and
Amantea, moved either by penury or malcontent-
ment, (for Scalea had been the first town on the
mainland to give itself to Peter the preceding year,)
offered themselves to Queen Constance, on condi-
tion that she would defend them and supply them
with provisions, to which the queen readily con-
sented; the negotiation being conducted by some
inhabitants of Scalea, who, for murders committed,
had fled their country and taken refuge in Sicily.
She, therefore, sent thither eight galleys with a
body of "almugaveri" and some transports laden
with corn, which at once reduced its price one-
half,' to the great relief of the inhabitants. The
66
´almugaveri ” having landed, began to invest the
whole of Val di Crati and Basilicata. The Justi-
ciary of Basilicata advanced against them with
powerful bands of horse, and they having, according
to their custom, laid wait for him in a narrow
1 From forty to twenty tari the load, according to Malaspina.
86
THE WAR OF THE
gorge, broke his ranks with great slaughter, and
pursued him as far as a castle belonging to the
Bishop of Cassano, to which they laid siege.
The Count of Modica arriving from Sicily with a
few horse and still more ferocious bands of "almu-
gaveri," Basilicata was harassed with yet greater
cruelty. He took a few villages, and the town of
San Marco, where he turned the church of the
Minorite friars into a strong redoubt, from which
he drove back with considerable loss Rizzardo
Chiaramonte, and some other barons, who attacked
him with great valour; an example not followed
by the other feudataries of the kingdom, who
were extremely dissatisfied with the Angevin
government. It was in vain that, in May of the
following year, another appeal was made to the
feudal militias of the kingdom of Apulia, to
march against Scalea, and that even some merce-
naries from Tuscany were sent thither under the
command of Roger Sangineto; for our party held
their ground, and those provinces were exposed to
forays, plunderings, and nocturnal assaults,' which
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 119. Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 403, 404. The
former speaks of the occupation of these four towns; Malaspina
of Scalea only.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
87
seem hardly credible when one reflects that on
their left was the camp of Nicotra, on their right
the capital, and that the whole kingdom was
teeming with warlike preparations.
The Pope, no ways dismayed by the failure
of the preceding year, but rather excited by
opposition to greater zeal and pertinacity, now
strained every nerve for the repetition of the
attempt, even to the neglect of his own perils
and necessities. For Rome was in a state of
insurrection owing to the pressure of the famine,
and the vicar of Charles closely besieged in the
capital;' the pontifical treasury was exhausted
yet the government was compelled to purchase
grain in Apulia, lest the Romans should proceed
to still greater lengths.2 The Pope's first step
was to renew the excommunications on the
Anniversaries of the Last Supper, of the Ascen-
sion, and of the Dedication of the Basilica of
St. Peter's, diligently promulgating them through-
out the whole of Italy, and especially at Genoa,
where many of the citizens were disposed by
their Ghibeline principles to assist the new
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 404.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 52.
3 Ibid. 1284, § 1.
3
88
THE WAR OF THE
dynasty in Sicily; and even the magistrates in-
clined to the same side, Philip the Bold having
striven in vain to persuade them to league them-
selves with the Church, and with Charles, against
the King of Aragon, and barely succeeded in ex-
torting from them a promise of strict neutrality.'
The tithes of the churches of Provence, of Arles,
and of the other dominions of Charles, which
were not yet due, he assigned to him for the
expenses of the Sicilian war; authorizing the
pontifical legates to compel payment of them
from the bishops. At the solicitation of the
Prince of Salerno, after the defeat of Malta,
he exerted himself to have twenty galleys armed
for him at Venice, offering to furnish 5,000
ounces of gold from the apostolical treasury;
2
1 Reply of the Podestà, the Captains, the Councillors and the
Commune of Genoa to the King of France, in the Archives of
France.
The king had sent two ambassadors to request from Genoa
favour, aid, and service," for the Pope and the King of Sicily,
"uncle" of the King of France, against the King of Aragon, who had
acted "against the Church, against the prohibitions of the Pope,
and against the King of Sicily," concerning which every one
knew how much the King of France was interested in the matter.
Genoa replied that she had been at peace with the King of
Aragon for 170 years, and had no cause to break with him now;
but promised not to assist him with money or with arms.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1284, § 10.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
89
but the prudent Republic gave for answer,
"that she would never make war without cause
either upon the King of Aragon, or upon any
other Christian; "¹ and revived the observance of
an ancient law, which forbade private individuals
to take up arms for any foreign state without
the permission of the Doge, and of both the
Councils; a praiseworthy regulation, in accord-
ance with public right, and with the law of
nations, but which the Court of Rome regarded
as an offence, on account of which the Legate
Cardinal di Porto was directed to excommunicate
Venice. Following the counsels of a sounder
policy, however, Pope Honorius re-admitted her
into the bosom of the Church in 1285.2 Three
envoys came, moreover, from the prince to Mar-
tin, again to solicit funds for the invasion of
Sicily; and he, not scrupling to lay hands upon
the tithes of all Christendom, formerly levied
for the war in the Holy Land by Pope Gregory
and the Council of Lyons, now furnished from
¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 40. The brief to Prince Charles,
subsequent to the event, is dated the 22d of April, 1284. D'Esclot,
ch. 115, gives the answer of the Venetians.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, §§ 63, 64. Here we find the bull
of Honorius, given from Tivoli the 4th August, year 1.
E
90
THE WAR OF THE
2
them 28,393 ounces of gold, no small sum for
those days, entrusting the management of the
greater part of it to Cardinal Gherardo, in whom
he had the most confidence. From some epistles
of Martin, it appears that other sums were also
furnished to the Prince of Salerno. The latter
even went so far as to ask for the pontifical
troops, who were combating in Romagna under
the brave Count John d'Eppe, and Martin granted
them, heedless of his own tottering authority in
those parts. Lastly, on the 2d of June, three
days before the ruin of the enterprise, Pope
Martin still further strengthened it by the pub-
lication of a crusade against a Christian people.
To his old and thread-bare accusations he added,
that Sicily was a refuge for heretics, that the
inquisitors were there prevented from pursuing
them, and supplies for the Holy Land diverted
from their destination. He therefore commis-
sioned Cardinal Gherardo to preach the crusade
against Peter and the excommunicated Sicilians,
and seeking only to collect numbers, to give the
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 40, in the said brief of the 22d
April, 1284. Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 418.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1284, §§ 13, 48.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
91
cross to every man who presented himself, with-
out regard to his nation or origin.'
Meanwhile King Charles busied himself in
Provence in borrowing money and equipping
vessels for this new attack upon Sicily;² and for
the same purpose his son, who had remained at
Nicotra until the autumn of 1283, left there the
army under the command of the Count of Artois,
and returned to Naples, whence, as circumstances
directed, he visited every part of Apulia.³ Above
all he sought to collect money; for the sums
swallowed up by the war appeared incalculable.
So that, profiting by his father's permission to
raise as much as 100,000 ounces of gold on the
security of all his possessions and kingdoms, not
content with the subsidies of the Pope nor with
the general contributions of the kingdom of
Apulia, he borrowed large sums from Tuscan
merchants on the guarantee of Martin, and the
security of the ecclesiastical tithes; and, when
the pressure of necessity became still greater, he
pledged silver plate and ornaments for small
¹ Raynald, ibid. §§ 2, 3.
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 402.
3 Ibid.
92
THE WAR OF THE
}
sums; exhausted the purse of Cardinal Gherardo
and other private individuals; demanded further
supplies from the cities which showed themselves
most tractable; sold the pardon of crime; again
put a compulsory value upon a debased coinage;
and, aiding himself by the authority of the
cardinal, in a Council of all the prelates of the
kingdom convoked at Melfi, he wrested from
them a promise of the ecclesiastical tithes for two
years longer, and immediately sent his commis-
saries to collect them; he also obtained aid in
men, or a composition in money, from the military
orders, and sought to raise troops throughout the
whole of Italy, in Tuscany, in Romagna, in Lom-
bardy, from municipalities and from individual
condottieri, whom he assured of their pay with so
much earnestness in words, as to show how greatly
the fact was to be doubted. He demanded
performance of their feudal service from all the
barons, who, after presenting themselves at Naples,
were to proceed to Calabria to join the army
under the Count of Artois; and many he decoyed
by new concessions. He urged the heads of the
Guelf party at Florence to hasten the equipment.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
93
of the vessels promised by Pisa; and took Genoese
galleys into his pay, besides the Pisan ones that
were coming with his father's fleet. He entrusted
the command of his naval forces to the Vice-
admiral James de Brusson; and busied himself
with extreme diligence in fitting out vessels,
collecting provisions, and constructing engines of
war of immense size, worked by Saracens from
the Sicilian colony of Lucera, of whom he also
took many, both horse and foot and mounted
archers, into his pay; nor do we read anything at
that period in the registers of the Neapolitan
chancery, except concerning soldiers, munitions,
and weapons for the use of the army. A new
suit of armour was also manufactured at Naples
for the prince, who entered with eager zeal
upon the military career, in which within the
space of a few months he met with so signal a
reverse that he never again ventured to resume it.
During the spring of 1284, the whole kingdom of
Naples was filled with the noise of these warlike
preparations, because, after the ill success of the
preceding year, the Angevin rulers, having less
confidence in popular feeling, had again recourse
to overwhelming military force, as in 1282;
94
THE WAR OF THE
although Charles still continued his practices with
a few of the Sicilian barons, which, however,
were as ineffectual as the counter-revolutionary
feeling was weak in Sicily. Nevertheless, the
enemy, fearing some attack from our adventurous
fleet ere he had completed his preparations, used
at this period the utmost vigilance in guarding
the coasts of the mainland. His intention was to
make himself complete master of the sea by the
destruction of our naval force, if it ventured to
show itself, and if not, by blockading it in the
ports; and then disembarking the troops on the
island, not as formerly to sit down before fortified
places, but to waste the country, burn the crops,
cut off all communication between the cities, and
thus isolated, compel them to surrender. Charles
forbade his son to attempt any expedition until
he should have arrived from Provence with the
fleet.¹ The prince had thirty galleys in readiness
at Naples, and forty at Brindisi. And within a
few days, the two divisions having effected a
junction at Ustica, a hundred vessels of war with
a much greater number of transports would be
able to pour their overwhelming forces upon Sicily.
¹ Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 27. 2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 76.
2
SICILIAN VESPERS.
95
The Chancellor, John of Procida, however,
received timely warning from some of the many
informers whom he employed on the mainland
to watch the proceedings of the enemy. The
queen's council met to consider the importance
of the crisis; the king was away, the army un-
prepared, the fleet small; in this perplexity the
council determined to adopt the daring resolution
which alone offered a chance of safety; that,
namely, of boldly attacking the enemy before he
could unite his forces. For this purpose thirty-
four galleys and several lesser vessels were
hastily fitted out in the port of Messina with the
greatest care, and manned with select companies
of Catalans and Sicilians provided with arms of
the best quality. When the fleet was in readiness,
Constance summoned to her presence, with the
inferior captains and pilots, the admiral, who was
her foster-brother, and had been educated at her
court. In forcible and earnest words she reminded
him of the constant affection shown him by the
reigning house of Aragon; that her all depended
upon this fleet; and that she committed the
honour of the king, the crown, herself and her
children to God alone and to Roger Loria. At
96
THE WAR OF THE
these words, the admiral knelt at her feet, and
placing his hands in those of the queen, according
to the form of feudal homage, he replied: "Never
has the royal standard of Aragon been vanquished,
nor shall it be so to-day; for this, O Queen,
place your trust in the Almighty." The other
warriors repeated the same oath, even with tears;
after which Constance dismissed them. The
people cheered them as they left the port, and
prayed to God and to the Virgin Mother to grant
them victory. The admiral gave orders to put to
shore at no great distance; there he reviewed his
troops and crews, and harangued them with
military brevity, to the effect that within a fort-
night a great battle would be fought; that they
were advancing to the attack of two fleets, one
lying in readiness in the port of Naples, the other
coming from the west. "They are seventy galleys,"
said he in conclusion, "but, warriors, armed as
we are, we need not fear a hundred.” And in
reply, the men cried with one voice, "Forward,
forward, the victory is ours!" Coasting the
Calabrias they entered the gulf of Salerno, and
hence arose a report in Naples that Peter, having
suddenly returned from Aragon with his whole
SICILIAN VESPERS.
97
fleet, was sweeping the waters of Principato.
A Genoese, named Navarro, was therefore de-
spatched in a sixty-oared vessel to reconnoitre,'
and he brought back another false report, that the
fleet, which he had hastily observed from a dis-
tance, consisted only of twenty galleys, and a few
barks. On his return, he vaunted the ship and
twenty-eight galleys of the prince as more than
sufficient to oppose them, so that the young Charles,
whose pride was aroused, gave orders to go forth.
against the enemy. But the Neapolitans, with
whom he was by no means popular, refused to
arm themselves at his bidding.
Roger, meanwhile, was cautiously manoeuvring
outside the Bay of Naples, not knowing where
Charles might be with the Provençal fleet, and
watching his opportunity to fall either upon him
or upon the prince. He therefore anchored at
Capri, meditating first a demonstration against
Baia, and then to approach the port in hopes of
inducing the prince to come out and give battle
at a disadvantage; or if he failed in this, purposing
1 This particular is recorded by d'Esclot. His accuracy is
proved by the fact that a diploma of the 20th June, 1284, shows
the vessel of this Genoese, Navarro, to have been in the pay of
the Neapolitan government.
VOL. II.
F
98
THE WAR OF THE
to shape his course as if for Sicily, then in the night
to turn towards Ponza, and there in the channel
to lie in wait for the king's fleet. But no vessel
came forth from the port of Naples, notwith-
standing his depredations amongst the islands and
along the shore, wasting the cultivated lands, and
exacting tribute from, or sacking the towns; and
a bark belonging to king Charles having fallen
into his hands, from which he learnt that the
king, with thirty Provençal and ten Pisan galleys,
was within a distance of about one or two days'
ordinary sailing, Loria perceived the dreaded
union of the two hostile fleets to be impending,
took counsel with the most experienced of his
captains, and resolved, immediately, at whatever
cost, to give battle to the prince. Coming to
Nisita by night, Roger captured two Gaetan
galleys, in those waters, and armed them on his
own side, dividing the prisoners throughout the
whole fleet, which amounted to six and thirty
galleys, besides the lighter craft. He sent the
Catalan, John Alberto, with a bark to reconnoitre
the fleet at Naples, and thus ascertained its real
numbers, and also that the whole coast was
glittering with arms and fires. At break of day
SICILIAN VESPERS.
99
he appeared in an attitude of ostentatious menace
at La Gaiola, outside the promontory of Posilipo.
It was the 5th of June, 1284. The feelings
of all in Naples were so excited by the de-
predations and outrages committed during the
previous days by our forces; by the exer-
tions of the nobles, who sided with the Court;
and by the arrogance of the hostile demon-
strations, that, learning on the same night the
arrival of the Sicilian fleet at Nisita, the people
imbued with unwonted daring, demanded to be
led to battle; the tocsin sounded; French,
Apulians, knights, and artizans, grasped their
arms, and rushed to the vessels in such haste as
nearly to capsize them. The nobles, some wish-
ing, says Saba Malaspina, to make a show of
fidelity, others of valour, counselled the battle;
and above all, the Count d'Acerra, the favourite
of Prince Charles, urged him to embark in
person, in order further to encourage the com-
batants. Consequently he turned a deaf ear
both to the arguments and the authority of
Cardinal Gherardo, who remembering the tre-
mendous conflicts of Messina, admonished him
to be cautious in encountering the Sicilians, to
F 2
100
THE WAR OF THE
!
obey the commands of his father by awaiting the
fleet, and with it certain victory, and not to throw
himself into the snare spread for him by Roger
Loria. But still further piqued by these words,
the prince only made the greater haste to
embark; first, however, giving orders to have
a splendid banquet prepared at Court to celebrate
the victory. With him were James de Brus-
son, Vice-admiral, William l'Estendard, Rainald
Galard, the Counts of Brienne, Montpellier, and
Acerra, Friar James of Lagonessa, and several
other barons. Their galleys amounted to twenty-
eight or thirty, all furnished by the kingdom of
Naples, the greater part being manned by
natives of the kingdom, a few only by Provençaux
and French.
Loria now, as if in flight, stood across to
Castellamare, either to obtain the advantage of
the sun, or to decoy the enemy out to sea, causing
their ranks to become disordered in the pursuit;
and with great noise and shouting they proceeded
to give chase. Darting a-head of all the rest
came two galleys, commanded by Richard Riso
and Henry Nizza, two renegade Sicilians, who
called aloud to Loria, crying: "Oh, Hero,
SICILIAN VESPERS.
101
whither would you fly? But in vain you seek
to escape. Behold! here are the fetters that
await you,”—and they held chains aloft to show
him. Our mariners meanwhile plied their oars
in silence. At a distance of four leagues they
halted, and wore round; the admiral traversed
the fleet in a boat to encourage the men.
"Look
at them," said he; "already they have thrown
themselves into confusion; they either never
before saw the sea, or never beheld the clash
of arms. Let them shout, but we will strike."
He then commanded twenty galleys to place
themselves close together in order of battle; he
bade the oars be shipped, and the decks cleared,
and ranged the archers upon them; of the
remainder of the vessels he formed a reserve,
with orders not to join in the conflict except in
case of urgent necessity. This done, the trumpets
sounded, the war-cry of "Aragon and Sicily!" was
raised, and our fleet bore down upon the enemy
already surprised and disconcerted by this sudden
change of tactics.
In an instant their ranks were broken, for
eighteen galleys from Naples, Sorrento, and
Principato took to flight, without awaiting the
102
THE WAR OF THE
onset, leaving the prince with his own galley,
four from Naples, two from Gaeta, one from
Salerno, one from Vico, and one from Scio,
to contend for honour, but no longer for victory.
The French, though unaccustomed to the sea,
fought with undaunted courage. More numerous,
and expert in the management of vessels, the
Catalans and Sicilians struck the hostile galleys
with their prows, shattered the oars of the enemy,
threw fire on their decks, soap and tallow on the
benches of the oarsmen, and lime-powder in their
eyes, and showered down upon them stones and
arrows. Yet was it long before their resistance.
could be conquered. The slaughter became
general; and the greater part of the gallant
French knights having been slain, numbers car-
ried the day. The galley of the prince remained
alone, surrounded and disabled; her prow and
half her decks occupied by the hostile forces:
but a handful of the bravest, forming a close
circle round the prince, who, small and lame,
could ill defend himself, performed prodigies of
valour, and above all Galard, a man of Herculean
strength, who dealt wounds and death around
him at every blow, or hurled his adversaries over-
SICILIAN VESPERS.
103
board by main force. At sight of such deter-
mined resistance, Loria commanded the galley
to be sunk, and some of his followers who had
boarded her, strove to pierce her with stakes.
One Pagano, a trumpeter and expert diver,
plunged into the sea, to perforate her sides with
an iron bar. Pierced in six different places, the
galley was already beginning to sink; the sailors
gave the alarm, but were unheard by the combat-
ants. Galard paused at length:-" Save us," he
exclaimed, "for the fortune of the day is yours;
the prince and the noblest swords of France here
surrender themselves to you!" L'Estendard,
shouting aloud, demanded that the person of the
prince be held sacred. Charles, taking off his
sword, inquired of his adversaries, "Which among
you is a knight?" and the admiral having
answered, he gave it up to him; at the same time-
accepting the hand which Roger held out to aid
him to spring upon his galley, for the other was
sinking fast. Nine galleys were captured, one
of which taking to flight with great speed, Roger
despatched a Catalan vessel, commanded by
Natale Pancia, in pursuit of her; and thinking
that the rowers were pausing for breath, he
104
THE WAR OF THE
threatened to have them all blinded if they did
not bring back the hostile galley; so that by
superhuman exertions, they succeeded in over-
taking her; knowing Roger to be a man capable
of fulfilling his cruel menace-great at once in
his virtues and in his vices, of dauntless valour
and brutal ferocity.'
The battle was followed by a laughable episode.
Roger had treated the prince with great honour,
and the latter, richly armed and surrounded by
1 This account of the battle is taken from the following con-
temporary historians, who differ but little between themselves:—
Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 76, 77. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 27..
Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 404-408. D'Esclot, ch. 119-127.
Anonymous Diary in the Raccolta di Cronache del Regno di
Napoli, printed by Perger, vol. i. p. 109. Giachetto Malespini,
ch. 222. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 93. Memoriale de' Podestà
di Reggio, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. viii. pp. 1157, 1158. Chron.
S. Bert. in Martene and Durand, Thes. Anecd. vol. iii. p. 764.
Nangis, Gesta Philippi III. in Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script.
vol. v. p. 543. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch. 28, in Baluzio's
Marca Hispanica. Montaner, ch. 113. Chronicle of Parma, in
Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. p. 812. And most of the other con-
temporary historians, who relate the event without any details.
These writers state the numbers of the vessels very variously.
I have adhered to the account of the Catalan d'Esclot, because he
is very minute in his particulars, and little given to exaggeration.
These facts are also attested by numerous diplomas, amongst
them some providing for the administration of the property of
the counts and barons slain, or captured with Charles, in this
battle, and one granting subsidies to the wives of the prisoners,
Rainald Galard, James de Brusson, and William l'Estendard.
})
SICILIAN VESPERS.
105
numerous knights, was seated on board the
admiral's galley, when a boat from Sorrento came
alongside with envoys from the municipal autho-
rities who, mistaking him for the admiral, pre-
sented him with four baskets of early figs, and
two hundred augustals of gold "for a suit of
hose; and would to God," they continued, "that
as you have taken the son, so you had taken the
father also; and be it known to you that we were
the first to turn." The prince smiled, and said to
Loria, "By God, what faithful subjects are these
to the king!" But while lamenting the dis-
loyalty of the vassals, the young Charles forgot
who had been the first to infringe the social com-
pact; he forgot the avarice, the cruelty and
arrogance, and the ill-advised and brutal tyranny
of his government.
1
In the Castel dell' Uovo2 there were sounds of
¹ Giachetto Malespini, ch. 222. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 93.
2 Saba Malaspina says, "Castrum ad Mare," and that the
Princess ascended "scopulum castri." D'Esclot also speaks of
"Castello di San Salvatore al Mare," and leads us to suppose
that there was the prison of Beatrice. Montaner states her to
have been confined in the Castel dell' Uovo. These statements
combined, leave no doubt that the former also meant to speak of
the Castel dell' Uovo, which rises in the form of a peninsula, on
a lofty rock in the midst of the sea.
F 3
106
THE WAR OF THE
weeping in the chamber of the princess, who had
ascended to the top of the highest tower as soon
as Charles weighed anchor, and, keeping her eyes
fixed upon the fleet, had beheld the encounter,
the flight, and the disappearance of the prince's
ship, and seemed unable to withdraw her gaze
even when the Neapolitan fleet was dispersed
and night had closed in. The cardinal joined
her with a pale and anxious countenance, alarmed.
by the menacing aspect of the people; and
together their thoughts dwelt upon the gallant
warriors, now fearing them slain, now hoping
them still alive though captive, when two Sicilian
galleys stood into the port with a letter from the
prince; from whom, alarmed as he was for his
fate in so merciless a war, the admiral had de-
manded the immediate liberation of Beatrice, the
young and beautiful orphan daughter of Manfred,
who passed from her cradle to a prison in which
Charles had kept her as it were buried alive.
The prince wrote therefore to desire that the
damsel should be instantly given up, and the
Sicilians added, that were this not done, they
would then and there cut off his head on board
the galley, in full view of Naples. The princess
SICILIAN VESPERS.
107
thereupon hastened to seek Beatrice, to present
her with jewels and feminine adornments, and,
throwing herself at her feet, to conjure her in
God's name to save the life of her husband.
Beatrice was conveyed to the fleet with dis-
tinguished honours, and then all sails were set.
At the Straits of Capri, Riso and Nizza were
beheaded as traitors on board the galley of Loria;
and the fleet returned to the port of Messina.¹
Here, when the sails were first descried, the
whole population, of all ages and sexes, crowded
down to the shore in trepidation and anxiety ;
which, on beholding the signals of victory and the
galleys, taken from the enemy, and learning the
capture of the Prince of Salerno with so great a
number of barons, gave place to indescribable re-
joicings. When the crowd of prisoners was dis-
embarked, they were, as is too apt to be the case
in all countries, insulted by the populace, who
all called to mind the former tyranny, the siege,
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 77. Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 408,
409. D'Esclot, ch. 128. Memoriale de' Podestà di Reggio, in
Muratori, R. I. S. vol. viii. p. 1158. Montaner, ch. 113. The
condemnation of Riso and Nizza is mentioned by Neocastro, who
alone amongst the historians of the battle makes mention of
these unhappy men.
108
THE WAR OF THE
the reciprocal injuries, and some even the
detested features of the barons who had been
their oppressors; so that the more impetuous
forced their way through the crowd, looked at
them face to face, and mocked them with
taunting words: "Who was your instructor in
naval warfare? Oh! what a calamity is this!
to give up your swords to naked Catalans and
Sicilian galley-slaves! Here for the second time
you appear in triumph at Messina !" In order to
avoid still worse treatment the prince disembarked
in the disguise of a Catalan soldier. But the
queen, her sons, and the more influential of the
citizens succeeded in quelling the blind fury of
the multitude, who were on the point of sounding
the tocsin, and raising the old cry of "Death to
the French!" The prince was confined at first in
the royal palace, and afterwards in the castle of
Matagrifone with l'Estendard. An historian in-
forms us that they were not chained, but jealously
guarded by the citizens and soldiers; and the
high-minded Constance forbade the Infants to
behold the son of Charles of Anjou in his fallen
state. The other knights were quartered in the
houses of the chief men of the c'ty, to whose
SICILIAN VESPERS.
109
+
custody they were consigned. And the queen,
with many tears, embraced her sister thus rescued
almost by a miracle from the hands of the enemy.'.
This defeat stirred up a tempest in Naples.
against the Angevin rule. The people, rising tumul-
tuously, shouted through the streets, "Hurrah
for Roger Loria, and death to King Charles !"
and for two days, defying all restraint, they
sacked the houses of the French, a few of whom,
falling into their hands, were slain; but the
greater part having retired from the city with five
hundred of their cavalry, escaped, and contem-
plated taking refuge in Calabria with the Count
of Artois, but for the encouragements of the
Cardinal and of the Barons; who urged them to
assemble round the citadel of Capua, and not to
fear the populace, nor this sudden outbreak
resembling a fire of straw, for the Neapolitan
nobles were all on their side. And so in fact it
proved; the Barons of Naples, either conquered by
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 410. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 77.
Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 27. D'Esclot, ch.129. Montaner, ch.113.
These authorities, and especially that of Malaspina, prove that
the massacre of more than two hundred of the prisoners on their
arrival at Messina, invented or mistimed by Ricobaldo Ferrarese
and Francesco Pipino, in Muratori, vol. ix. pp. 142, 694, is
entirely without foundation.
110
THE WAR OF THE
the arts and authority of the Cardinal, or tamed by
the influence of the Court, became at that critical
moment the supporters of the usurper. Hence
the populace seeking to expel the French, were
unable to do so; being opposed by their own
countrymen, and two days afterwards subdued
and punished by King Charles himself.¹ The
impulse of the movement communicated itself to
Gaeta, and to several other towns, which after
making a little stir, as Charles wrote in his
habitual tone of contempt, were silenced by the
same causes.2
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 410, 411. Chron. S. Bert. loc. cit.
vol. iii. p. 765. Letter of King Charles to Pope Martin, dated
Naples, the 9th June, 1284, in Testa's Life of Frederick II. of
Sicily, docum. ii. Memoriale de' Podestà di Reggio, in Muratori,
R. I. S. vol. viii. p. 1158. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 94. Life of
Martin IV. in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. iii. p. 610. Giachetto
Malespini, ch. 222.
"
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 411. Letter of King Charles to
Pope Martin, quoted above.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
111
CHAPTER XI.
CHARLES, HAVING WREAKED HIS VENGEANCE AT NAPLES, PREPARES
FOR A LAST EFFORT AGAINST SICILY.-FRUITLESS SIEGE OF REGGIO.
-SECOND RETREAT OF CHARLES, AND DARING INCURSIONS OF THE
SICILIANS, WHO OCCUPY MANY TOWNS IN CALABRIA, VAL DI CRATI,
AND BASILICATA.-EXPEDITION AGAINST THE ISLAND OF GERBA.-
SUSPICIONS OF THE ARAGONESE
ARAGONESE GOVERNMENT, AND FALL OF
ALAIMO.-FATE OF THE PRISONERS AT MESSINA.-DEATH OF KING
CHARLES AND POPE MARTIN.-MEASURES TAKEN BY THE COURT OF
ROME. ACTS
-ACTS OF POPE HONORIUS. PLOT OF TWO MONKS, HIS
ENVOYS, IN SICILY.-JUNE, 1284—1285.
On the very day of the battle Charles sailed from
the waters of Tuscany into those of Naples, having
with him about forty galleys, and borne onwards
by prosperous winds and brilliant hopes, until, as
he himself wrote to the Pope, he met at Gaeta the
messenger of fear and anguish. He was cut to
the heart, more by the death and capture of his
gallant knights than by the loss of his fleet; as
for his son, he only grieved to see him a pledge
in the hands of the enemy. So that, whether it
were a feint or the customary uncontrolled trans-
port of his fury, he exclaimed, “Oh that he were
112
THE WAR OF THE
slain rather than captive! For what were it to me
to lose a helpless priest, a fool, who always gives
ear to the worst counsel ?" The inhabitants of
Gaeta, who, at the instigation of their exiled
countrymen, were on the point of rising in re-
bellion, on receipt of the tidings from Naples, felt
their courage fail at the unexpected appearance of
the king with his fleet. He, however, heeded
them not; being urged on by a thirst for deadlier
vengeance, and hesitating whether at once to
follow on the track of Loria, or to vent his fury
2
upon Naples. He decided for the latter, as the
nearest at hand. Landing there on the 8th of
June, he refused to disembark at the port, and
halting at the Carmine, threatened to burn Naples,
from which he was with difficulty dissuaded by
Cardinal Gherardo and the nobles, who strove to
excuse the populace by pleading, "Sire, they
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 411. Giachetto Malespini, ch. 222.
Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 94. Memoriale de' Podestà di Reggio,
in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 1158. Ptolemy of Lucca, ibid.
book xxiv. ch. 11, pp. 1190, 1294. Ferreto Vicentino, ibid.
vol. ix. p. 955. Chron. S. Bert. Op. cit. vol. iii. p. 765. Letter
of Charles to Pope Martin, dated the 9th June, 1284, in Testa,
Life of Frederick II. of Sicily, docum. ii. D'Esclot, ch. 119 and
several diplomas.
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 411.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
113
were fools." "And I," replied the king, "will
punish the wise for suffering the fools to commit
such folly." He had those who either were guilty
or were deemed such, put to the torture,' investi-
gated, threatened; and, moved at length to cle-
mency, contented himself with hanging about a
hundred and fifty, or a few more victims; hoping,
however, to indemnify himself for such modera-
tion by a much greater sacrifice of life in Sicily."
The people of Apulia, who during the reverses of
the government had dared to raise their heads,
now humbled themselves so much the more pro-
foundly, offering both their persons and their
goods to the king; who, in the pride of his heart
which had raised him so high, at this apparent
revival of his former power, flattered himself that
he should still conquer in the struggle. He re-
fitted at Naples both his own fleet and the shat-
tered remnants of that of the prince, commanded
the equipment of that at Brindisi to be completed,
¹ Giachetto Malespini, ch. 222. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 94.
2 Nangis, in Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v. p. 543.
Francesco Pipino, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. p. 693.
3 Giachetto and Villani, as quoted above. Also, with fewer
details, Niccolò Speciale, book i. ch. 28; and the author of the
Life of Martin IV. in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. iii. p. 611.
114
THE WAR OF THE
changed the captains of the Neapolitan army and
the officials of the civil government, sent letters
throughout Italy, stating, in a tone of unconcern,
that the fleet of the rebel Sicilians had fled before
him; that the volatile and cowardly populace that
clamoured on the mainland were dispersed; that
he had still more than sufficient forces, both mili-
tary and naval; eighty-six galleys, and as many
teride; the numerous family of his son to succeed
him on the throne; and that he was about to
effect the well-merited extermination of the rebel-
lious inhabitants of the island. In his letter to
the Pope he adds, that, provided only he had
funds, this time he should surely triumph; and
intreats the Pope, with his accustomed loving-
kindness, to provide for this final effort. Fearing,
however, that either the blind zeal or perhaps the
treasure of the Pontiff might at length be ex-
hausted, he, on the same day, charged two of his
counsellors, the bishop of Troia and Oddone Poli-
ceno, to raise a loan, with the co-operation of the
trusty officials of the Pope. He bade them go to
the Court of Rome, to Tuscany, to Lombardy;
to solicit cities, companies, merchants; so that by
any means they might raise fifty thousand ounces
SICILIAN VESPERS.
115
of gold. A few days after he commended himself
to Messer Berardo of Naples, notary of the Pope,
speaking of this no longer as a loan but as a sub-
1
sidy. Nor did he apply in vain to Martin, who
having already, for his sake, made such havoc of
the tithes of the whole Catholic world,² now within
a month again supplied him with 15,600 ounces
of gold, gleaned from the distant churches of
Scotland, Dacia, Suabia, Hungary, Slavonia, and
Poland; always under pretext of the honour and
advantage of the bark of St. Peter.³
Thus was Charles assembling a fourth powerful
armament, with the auxiliary forces of the greater
part of the Italian cities; Reggio, then in possession
of the Sicilians, was ostentatiously appointed as
1 Letters of Charles, dated the 9th and the 14th of June, in
Testa, Life of Frederick II. of Sicily. In another of the 10th of
June, to be found, like the preceding ones, in the Royal Archives
of Naples (register marked 1283, A, p. 150), Charles requested
from the Pope the bands of John d'Eppe, writing, besides other
pressing arguments, that, "Sicut capitis sanitas vel languor in
membris, sic in meis negotiis eiusdem Ecclesii status et dispositio
sentiatur." Perhaps he thus meant to give the Pope to under-
stand the converse, namely, the need which the Church had
of him.
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 418.
3 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 41, giving an epistle of the 24th
July, 1284.
116
THE WAR OF THE
the place of rendezvous.
1 He rode to Brindisi on
the 24th of June, and caused the fleet to sail from
Naples under two admirals, the one Provençal,
the other Italian, with orders to join the Adriatic
fleet after sailing round Sicily, in order to cause
terror to the enemy, and to avoid the
passage of
the Strait, which, guarded in flank by Loria and
the Messinese, was anything but secure, On
their way they fell in with a Catalan trading vessel,
which they seized, and threw all the men over-
board, with the exception of a few Romans and
Pisans, as if by so doing they could repair the dis-
grace of the defeat at Naples. Having here and
there insulted the coasts of the island, and pre-
sented themselves for a moment in an attitude of
defiance before the chain of the harbour of Mes-
sina, they proceeded to join the other fleet at
Cotrone, and having renewed their supply of pro-
visions, laid siege to Reggio about the middle of
July. The king proceeded thither by land, with
an army of ten thousand horse, and forty thou-
sand foot, if Bartholomew de Neocastro is to be
believed. His larger vessels amounted to a hun-
dred and fifty or two hundred.
Charles took up
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 412.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
117
his quarters at La Catona with a portion of the
army, leaving the bulk of it encamped before
Reggio; having taken which-and how could he
fail to do so?-he purposed crossing over into
Sicily.¹
But Reggio, weak both in situation and de-
fences, offered an unexpected resistance, owing to
the valour of the Catalan William de Ponti, and
of a small garrison of Catalans and Sicilians,
amongst whom were three hundred Messinese.
This gallant band sustained the fiercest assaults,
and maintained a vigilant guard, notwithstanding
the fatigue to such small numbers; while their
arrows, shot with the truest aim from the walls,
thinned the ranks of the besiegers, who for the
most part came to the war either compelled by
force, or allured by pay, perhaps even hating the
aged king on whom fortune was turning her back,
and murmuring at the want of supplies which
the Prince of Salerno had failed to provide in
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 412, 413. Bart. de Neocastro,
ch. 78. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 28. Giachetto Malespini,
ch. 222. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 94.
We do not learn from
these writers that Charles sojourned chiefly at La Catona during
the siege of Reggio, but it is proved beyond a doubt by diplomas
in the Royal Archives of Naples.
118
THE WAR OF THE
sufficient quantities, and which were besides very
scarce that year throughout the whole of Calabria.¹
Hence it was that after the first alarm the Mes-
2
sinese so soon regained their courage; hence this
mighty, but ill-constructed engine of war, fell to
pieces in a moment, even under the masterly
hands of Charles. Hesitating whether or no to
cross the strait, he remained at La Catona until
the latter end of July; when perceiving that the
siege of Reggio made no progress, he went to
press it in person. The 4th of August he passed
on to Amendolia: the 5th to the coast of Bruz-
zano. He sent for provisions and engines, and it
would seem as if he had here awaited the result of
some conspiracy in Sicily, and meditated an assault
on the eastern coast of the island; for he once
3
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 78. Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp.413,414.
2 Saba Malaspina, ibid.
3 I am led to the suspicion of secret practices in Sicily:-
1. By the words of d'Esclot, ch. 119, who says, that in the
spring of 1284, the Prince of Salerno was preparing to pass into
Sicily, "con volentat de alguns homens traydors qui eren en
Cecilia." These would surely have continued with the father,
the practices entered into but a few months before with the son.
2. By the reaction which took place in Sicily after the retreat
of Charles, caused by the fiercest partisans of the house of
Aragon and of the Revolution of the Vespers.
3. By the selection of Count Robert of Artois as Vicar-General
in Sicily, with full power to grant pardons and guarantees.
SICILIAN VESPERS,
119
more tried the bait of concessions, perhaps at the
request of the Sicilians, with whom he was in
communication, naming Count Robert of Artois
Vicar-General in Sicily, with full authority; con-
fiding in him, says the diploma, as he would con-
fide in himself, and giving him power to grant
pardons and guarantees, which the king would
unhesitatingly confirm. Charles purposed sending
him into Sicily with a body of troops, but this
design was not carried into effect. The king
again returned to Reggio, and having attempted a
skirmish which produced no effect, he raised the
siege on the 13th of August, and returned
with the whole of his army and fleet to La
Catona.
Thereupon, Roger Loria, unable to come forth
from Messina with the fleet, owing to the over-
whelming inequality of forces, commanded bands
of horse to be stationed along the shore; the
people full of courage and confidence resumed
their arms; the Infant Don James further
encouraged them by his presence; nor was it
long before the Messinese began with light row-
ing boats to molest the hostile galleys, insulting
them with arrows and with gibes, in the hope of
120
THE WAR OF THE
luring them to approach the port of Messina.¹ But
all their attempts at provocation were fruitless, for
the enemy now thought only of effecting a retreat.
That such should be the sole result of efforts
so vast, appears incredible; so that, of the his-
torians of the time, some state that Charles sent
two cardinals to Messina to negotiate for the
ransom of his son, and that Peter of Aragon
detained them until the season for military opera-
tions was over; while others maintain that the
Angevin monarch suddenly stayed the invasion
because his adversaries threatened to put the
Prince of Salerno to death. This menace, which
carried into effect might have proved a wise and
salutary measure, to strengthen the Sicilians with
the courage of desperation, would not, I think,
have sufficed to arrest the progress of Charles
when confident of victory. The error of the
former is yet more manifest, for Peter never
returned from Spain to Sicily, nor could it be
3
4
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 78, 80. From the latter we learn the
presence of James in Messina.
2 Giachetto Malespini, ch. 222. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 94;
which also speaks of the failure of provisions.
3 Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 28. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 48.
4 !!! - Trans.
Q
SICILIAN VESPERS.
121
supposed that the season for military operations
was over in the middle of August. But it was
the force of an invincible necessity of a widely
different character, which thus, for the second
time, drove the Angevin government to the bitter
humiliation of retreat. Malaspina alleges only
the want of provisions, which Charles also states
in his epistles. But the diplomas of the king
reveal other and more pressing causes. The
army murmured, chafed, and became every day
more unmanageable, and the example of this
contumacy took effect amongst the inhabitants
of the Calabrias. In the fleet, the crews were
thinned by desertion; the contagion spread to
the army, and could not be checked either by
the guards placed by the king over the roads
and passes, by the strictness of the inquisition he
enjoined against deserters, or by the cruelty of
his decrees, which show the tyrannical fury to
which he gave way, on beholding the ruin which
he was powerless to arrest. For, not knowing
how otherwise to prevent the natives of the
kingdom from abandoning him, he caused the
crime of desertion, which was sapping the strength
¹ Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 413, 414.
VOL. II.
G
122
THE WAR OF THIE
of the royal forces, to be punished as felony,
publishing on the 7th of August, from Bruzzano,
a decree which he afterwards repeated several
times, sentencing every deserter to the loss of
a foot. In the case of Saracens, it was to be
a foot indiscriminately; in the case of Christians,
in order to show them greater favour, it was to
be the left foot. But the desertions continued
for a long time, along the whole line of retreat,¹
as well as these fearful punishments which were
of no service to the king. Reggio was behind
him, menacing, and uninjured; in Sicily the
armament was carried on with great vigour ;
his own army disorganizing itself, and melting
away. What need, then, to seek other causes
for Charles's retreat?
It was further hastened by a fearful tempest
which broke at night over the fleet, anchored
without shelter at La Catona, which, as the least
perilous alternative, stood out to sea, and on
returning the following day after being exposed
to great danger, found the land forces had suffered
almost as much from the fury of the wind and
1 Many diplomas attesting these facts are to be found in the
Archives of Naples, in the registers of 1283 and 1284.
:
SICILIAN VESPERS.
123
rain. At noon, while the sun shone brightly
at Messina, a tempest again burst upon the
opposite coast, making it appear, says Neocastro,
as if even the sea and sky would drive back
the strangers.' Still more worthy of note, how-
ever, was the valour of Raymond Marquet, a
Catalan, Vice-Admiral of Aragon. He was sent
to Sicily by the king, with fourteen galleys, when
tidings reached Catalonia of the renewed warlike
preparations of the enemy, and was traversing
the waters of Milazzo, when one Villaraut, a
Catalan knight, who commanded the city, dis-
cerning his squadron from the shore, hastened
alongside in a boat to give him warning that the
strait was encumbered by the powerful fleet of
the enemy.
"The king commanded me to take
these galleys to Messina, and no human power
shall make me turn," replied Raymond, and con-
tinued his course. Villaraut sent instant advice
to the Infant, and our fleet, emulating the gallant
Catalans, went forth to meet them as far as
Torre di Faro, and both entered the harbour
unmolested in the face of the enemy."
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 79.
2
2 Ibid. ch. 80. Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 414.
G 2
124
THE WAR OF THE
After these events Charles no longer delayed
his retreat; which the Sicilians perceiving, they
began to molest him as they had done in 1282,
equipping as many as fifty-four galleys, between
Catalans and Sicilians. When they were ready,
Roger Loria assembled the officers and crews and
all the rest of the forces, in the piazza of St. John
of Jerusalem, and amid profound silence, caused
by the reverence in which he was held, thus
addressed them: 66 Behold for the second time
the flight of the Neapolitan usurper! Behold
confusedly mingled in yonder fleet, men of Pro-
vence whom we have twice defeated in naval
warfare, inexperienced French, and, differing
widely from them in manners and in wishes,
Tuscan and Lombard mercenaries and disaffected
Apulians, all of Italian race, who remember our
liberation of their prisoners, our merciful deal-
ings with them in the war, and, may I not say it?
even our expulsion of the insolent strangers.
But you, Catalans and Sicilians, differing in lan-
guage only, you are one in heart and in glory;
together you have been tried in battle; and what
is yonder ill-assorted multitude to you? Attack
it, then, and disperse it while fortune is on our
SICILIAN VESPERS.
125
1
side." And the people with one voice replied,
"Forward to the battle! To the ships!" and
hastening on board, weighed anchor, without even
waiting for the word of command. The strength
of the wind and current drove them across to
Reggio, and would probably have caused their
inevitable destruction, when the commander of
one of the galleys called a halt, and ordered the
sails to be furled. The rest obeyed him mecha-
nically, as is often the case with the multitude.
"Do you not perceive," continued he, "that we
are running on shore, without having fought the
French?" This man saved the fleet; shifting
their course they anchored off the promontory of
Peloro, twelve miles distant from the enemy.
Here an assault was made, either by the design
of the admiral or the desire of the crews, upon.
Nicotra, which was defended by Count Peter of
Catanzaro with five hundred horse, two thousand
foot, and as many inhabitants of the place, who,
confident in the vicinity of the king's forces, kept
a careless guard. Loria, selecting ten galleys,
attacked the place suddenly at midnight; not so
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 414, 415.
126
THE WAR OF THE
suddenly, however, but that the count had time
to sink eight galleys which he had in the arsenal,
and to fly with all his followers. There was
therefore little bloodshed, but the spoil taken was
rich and abundant. Our troops in their anger
set fire to the galleys and to the town, that the
enemy, who had made Nicotra a principal post
during the war, might no longer have this
resource; but those who were in reality most
injured were the inhabitants of the town, who
wandering about houseless and homeless, were
forced to seek shelter here and there throughout
Calabria, and for the most part at Monteleone
and Mileto. One Geraci of Nicotra, a knight,
was captured, and beheaded as a traitor at.
Messina, having once taken arms for the cause
of the King of Aragon, which he afterwards aban-
doned. Peter Pellicia, also a knight, and native
of Nicotra, suffered a still more cruel punishment.
While governing Reggio for the Sicilians, moved
by envy and malignity, he had excited the people
to rise and put to death seven of the principal
citizens; he was afterwards arrested by the orders
of Peter, but escaped from his prison. The
SICILIAN VESPERS.
127
admiral, having found him at Nicotra, gave him
up to the children of his victims, by whom he was
torn to pieces.
Returning at day-break to the fleet, the admiral
perceived that of King Charles sailing up the
Ionian sea towards Cotrone; he at once gave chase,
and at nightfall found himself off Castelvetere,
four miles from the enemy. Roger was tempted
to go himself to reconnoitre, and entering a fishing
boat, glided silently between the hostile vessels,
listening to the conversation of the men, some of
whom spoke in praise of him, although an adver-
sary, while others abused King Charles as unlucky
and disheartened, and the greater part wished
only to return to their own homes. Here the
admiral encountered a great risk, but fortune
favoured him as she had so often done.
"Who
goes in that boat ?" cried a sentinel; to whom the
admiral quickly replied, "A poor fisherman,
labouring in the king's service." Presently re-
joining his own fleet, he took with him a band of
three hundred Catalans and Sicilians, to assault
Castelvetere, a town four miles from the shore.
They reached the foot of the walls in silence, and
having no ladders, by binding their lances
128
THE WAR OF THE
together constructed a substitute for them, upon
which one Fasano, of Messina, was the first to
scale the wall. Falling in with the guards, who
were on the watch, he slew four of them, and was
slain by the remainder; but a few other Messinese
having followed on his track, opened the gates,
so that the place was sacked with much greater
effusion of blood than at Nicotra. The following
night the admiral pushed on as far as Castro-
villari, fifteen miles inland, and made himself
master of it, and likewise of Cerchiaro and Cas-
sano, on his return to the fleet. Re-embarking,
he assaulted Cotrone, and then set sail for Sicily,
leaving the king to bring back his fleet and army
with all speed to Apulia,
Still greater were the reverses experienced by
the Angevin cause, on the side of the Mediterra-
nean. Matthew Fortuna, at the head of two
thousand "almugaveri," had fearlessly maintained
himself the whole summer in the towns he had
occupied in Basilicata, which is scarcely to be
credited, except upon the suspicion that Charles,
bent on the invasion of Sicily, may have con-
temptuously disregarded him. Animated by the
example of the admiral, he, one rainy night, took
SICILIAN VESPERS.
129
both the town and castle of Morano, at a blow,
and afterwards Montalto, Regina, Rende, Laino,
Rotonda, Castelluccio, Lauria, Lagonegro, and
other towns in Val di Crati and Basilicata.
The forces of the king were dista nt and in
retreat; while, on the other hand, the example of
Nicotra was present to the people, amongst whom
rebellious humours were rife; and moreover, two
Calabrian friars, of the family of Lattari, went
about, with many others, urging and exciting the
most influential persons, so that the hearts of all
were turned towards the new sovereignty; ban-
ners bearing the arms of Sicily were secretly
prepared, and a breath would have sufficed for the
whole of Calabria to declare itself. Tropea did
so, being moved to it by two friars; her example
was followed by Strongoli, Martorano, Nicastro,
Mesiano, and Squillaci. The overthrow of
Charles's rule appeared so certain, that even his
own immediate followers began to fail him, and
John de Ailli, or Alliata, a Frenchman, lord of
Fiumefreddo, in Val di Crati, came to Messina to
do homage to the Infant James, who confirmed
that fief to him, and granted him another in
addition to it. Mileto, Monteleone, and the
G 3
130
THE WAR OF THE
other towns hesitated, and the whole of the
Calabrias would have been lost, had it not been
for the Count of Artois, who, having followed the
king, on hearing these tidings turned back at
once with his cavalry, and stationed himself at
Monteleone, to overawe those who were rebel-
liously inclined, and check the inroads of a small
band of "almugaveri," who, from Tropea, scoured
the surrounding districts according to their
custom. The inhabitants, maltreated both by the
"almugaveri" and the count, heaped the bitterest
curses upon him, because for the support of his
troops he caused the corn to be dug up which
they had concealed during the famine of that
year. Henry Peter di Vacca, an Aragonese of
distinguished name and great valour, sent pro-
bably to Tropea by the Infant James, with the
authority of viceroy, to foster these important
movements in the Calabrias was, however, able to
effect little, owing to the smallness of his force.¹
For this the admiral was to blame, who, with
his dreaded fleet, might have followed up his
¹ All these military operations are to be read with little varia-
tion in Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 82, and Saba Malaspina, Cont.
pp. 415-417. They are moreover confirmed by many documents
in the Royal Archives of Naples.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
131
success in these first expeditions to destroy the
naval force of the enemy, and at least to effect a
general rising in the Calabrias and Basilicata.
But instead of this, and regardless of the progress
of events on the Mediterranean coast, he planned
a piratical expedition, for the gratification of his
envy or cupidity, as if there remained no more
enemies to combat. While out at sea with his
fleet he proposed an attack on the fertile Island
of Gerba, distant only a few miles from the coast
of Africa, between Tunis and Tripoli; an enter-
prise which he said would be grateful to the
whole of Christendom, and most profitable to
those who should achieve it, as the Mahometan
dogs who inhabited it peaceably and securely
were rolling in wealth. The crews applauded
the project; they called on God and the Virgin;
and in their impatient covetousness steered their
course for Gerba, arriving before it on the 12th
of September. During the night they stationed
a galley in the narrow channel, fordable at low
water, which separates the island from the main-
land; and having thus cut off their escape, fell
upon the defenceless inhabitants. With infidels
132
THE WAR OF THE
no scruples could be felt. Those who resisted and
those who fled were alike slain; those who con-
cealed themselves in subterranean caves were
unearthed, like foxes, with smoke; the greater
number carried off as slaves; and an immense
booty secured of gold, silver, and other spoil.
The prisoners amounted to two thousand ac-
cording to Montaner, six thousand according
to Neocastro; and the slain to four thousand,
which, though horrible to relate, is probably true,
as I do not suppose any historian could be so
insensate as, in such a matter, to seek glory by
exaggeration, of which, however, I suspect Mon-
taner's statements of the booty taken in this
and similar expeditions, and think it likely that,
being himself an adventurer, he records the
visions of his own envy, rather than facts, when
he states that, after the deduction of all expenses,
the plunder divided between Loria's followers was
so great that they afterwards disdained to play
for anything but gold coin, and would scarcely
have admitted to their gaming parties a comrade
who staked even a thousand marks of silver.
Such of the islanders as escaped captivity or the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
133
sword, paid a large sum for their ransom, and
swore allegiance to the crown of Sicily.' The
admiral erected a fort on the island, which was
2
afterwards granted to him in fief." About this
time an Arab prince named Margano, proceeding
along the sea-shore towards Tunis with a nu-
merous band of horse, was surprised and seized
by the men of a Catalan galleon, and brought to
the Infant, who kept him, says Neocastro, not as
a prisoner of war, but as a prize, in the castle of
Messina,³ where he became thus, by a singular
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 83, 84. Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 30.
Montaner, ch. 117, who, by an anachronism, relates this expedi-
tion after James's invasion of Calabria, and confounds it with the
others that Loria made at that time in the Levant. As to the
rest, the geographical descriptions of these historians agree with
the most accurate that we have in these days. This island is
also called Zebiba, and gives its name to, or derives it from, the
species of grape so called in Sicily. It lies in 34° 10′ of latitude
north, and 9º of longitude east from the meridian of Paris. It is
girded by a sand-bank of some ten miles in width, and from
three to seven braccia in depth of water, which extends like an
isthmus as far as the continent, and which at one time could be
forded. Pliny records that the barbarians destroyed a bridge
which joined it to the mainland. The island produces olives,
figs, grapes, and the celebrated lotos of the ancient Greeks.
2 This was not, however, immediately after the conquest, for
in a diploma of the 25th January, 1285, we find his titles to be,
Admiral of Aragon and Sicily, Lord of Castiglione, Francavilla,
Novara, Linguaglossa, and Tremestieri.
3 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 85.
i
134
THE WAR OF THE
:
fatality, the fellow-captive of the Prince of Sa-
lerno. But the capture of this African, neither
an enemy nor a cause of annoyance to us, could
bring no glory to our arms, being rather an act of
covetousness and rapine worthy of pirates. Such
indeed was the whole expedition against the
Island of Gerba, were it not that this ill-gotten
possession was afterwards maintained to the
honour of the nation. It remained a dependency
of the crown of Sicily, notwithstanding the re-
bellion of the admiral who aspired to sovereign
power, and the calamitous wars in which it was
involved; nor was the little island lost until the
latter years of the reign of Frederick II., when
the licentious and factious aristocracy consumed
the forces of Sicily in execrable internal warfare.
Roger Loria reconducted the fleet to winter at
Messina, filling Sicily with slaves from Gerba ;
and crossed over into Calabria with a body of
horse. There he made himself master of Agra-
taria and Roccella; and encountered and defeated
a feudatary named James of Oppido, and sacked
and burned his town. Then proceeding to
Nicotra with other intent, he repaired the walls,
strengthened the surrounding hamlets, and re-
SICILIAN VESPERS.
135
called the dispersed inhabitants; after which, as
if to make amends for this act of humanity, he
returned to Sicily, to satisfy with other enormities
the bloodthirsty restlessness of his spirit, whose
pride and ambition knew no bounds.'
The jealousy of power, fostered by distance in
the mind of Peter, and by envy in that of Roger
and the other ministers of the Infant James, was
already giving rise to harsh counsels in Sicily;
the more so, that, in matters of state, the limits
between offensive and defensive measures are but
ill defined. It should seem that there being a
party amongst our nobles desirous of restricting
the power of the court of Aragon, and inclining
to opposition, some of them showed favour to the
French prisoners, and especially to the Prince
of Salerno, while others may, perhaps, have en-
tered into some communication with King Charles.
The faction siding with the court, and strength-
ened by the Calabrian and Apulian exiles, ex-
aggerated these practices, attributiug them in-
discriminately to those by whom they had been
really conducted, and to others who only sought
to maintain the franchises of the nation, and
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 86.
136
THE WAR OF THE
accusing them, in a body, of treason, in order
to have a pretext for ridding themselves of whom
they would, and to secure the support of the
people, which still retained their abhorrence of
their former tyrants. After the return, therefore, of
the fleet from the Island of Gerba, and the retreat
aud disorganization of King Charles's army, the
Aragonese faction feeling itself safe from foreign
invasion, turned all its attention to conquer in-
ternal opposition by crushing a few of the most
powerful and active of its adversaries, and by
ostentatiously noising abroad the condemnation
of the Prince of Salerno. Its first step was to
put to death Simon of Calatafimi, and Pieraccio
1
1 I have come to these conclusions from the examination of
the facts contained in this chapter, and in particular from the
fate of Alaimo, the slaughter of the prisoners at Messina, and
the sentence pronounced against the Prince of Salerno. Con-
cerning the suspicions of Angevin practices in Sicily, see above,
note 3, p. 118. They are confirmed by Nangis, in his Life of
Philip the Bold, Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v. p. 544, in
which we read: "Sed quia Siculi principem Salerna Carolum
quem captum tenebant, de urbe Messanæ ad quoddam castellum
Siciliæ transtulerant, volentes cum ipso, sicut sibi dictum fuerat,
reconciliari, timens Siculorum infidelitatem," &c. These humours
might be true, although Nangis erred as to the cause of the
removal of the Prince of Salerno from Messina to Cefalù, which
was precisely contrary to that which he assigns. See also
Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 420, 421; and Neocastro, ch. 86,
88, 89.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
137
of Agosta, both of them noble; the latter, accord-
ing to Neocastro's own confession, at the insti-
gation of those who were envious of his power,
as a partisan of the French; the former because
being known to be adverse to the revolution,
and to the new sovereignty, he had quitted Sicily
under pretence of going with his wife and children
to England, to enter the service of King Edward,
but was afterwards taken in the act of repairing
to Naples contrary to his oath. After these,
the great Alaimo himself succumbed to the youth-
ful perfidy of James, whom Montaner praises in
the words of the Catalan proverb, "The thorn
will never prick that is not sharp from the first ;"
and such, indeed, was the Infant; but he was
sharp and precocious in evil, and at twenty years
of age was expert in treachery.
112
The fall of Alaimo was hastened by the arro-
gance of his wife, who, not to mention others,
treated even Constance herself with insolence
and contempt. She refused her the title of
queen, giving her only that of mother of Don
James; rejected her courtesies, and rarely ap-
peared at court, unless it were to display some
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 86.
2 Montaner, ch. 95.
138
THE WAR OF THE
new splendour of adornment; but she once went
there during the captivity of the Prince of Salerno,
to sound the feelings of the courtiers and nobles.
Finding herself with child, she insisted, setting
herself above all law and usage, on taking up her
abode in the convent of the Minorite Friars at
Messina, on account of the beauty and retirement
of the spot. Queen Constance went thither to
visit her, which, however, had no effect in con-
ciliating her hostility. After the birth of her
child, the queen sent for Alaimo, and offered
herself and her sons, James and Frederick, as
sponsors for the infant; an honour which Macalda
declined, under pretext of fearing the cold of the
water for it, and three days afterwards had it
baptized in church by some persons of the lower
orders. It was also remarked that, on another occa-
sion, at Palermo, when the queen had been carried
in a litter, on account of illness, to the sanctuary
of the Virgin at Morreale, on the following day,
Macalda, who was neither out of health, nor de-
sirous to visit any sanctuary, caused herself to be
carried about the streets in a litter covered with
scarlet, and afterwards travelled in the same, then
very unusual, fashion, from Palermo to Nicosia,
SICILIAN VESPERS.
139
He
making soldiers and vassals toil under the weight
of the burden in severe winter weather. These
acts of feminine spite and ostentation were crimes
in the eyes of the court, and are recorded as such
by Neocastro with the addition of one of deeper
dye, namely, that Macalda extorted from her
uxorious husband an oath to fly the court, to take
part in no counsels against the French, and even
to forward the restoration of their dominion.
relates, besides, the notorious facts, that the
Infant, making a progress at that period through
the several towns of the island, Macalda intruded
her company upon him, as was her custom; and
this time increasing in arrogance, not content
with rivalling him in splendour, and in the num-
bers of her suite, assumed the authority of Jus-
ticiary equally with her husband, and gave ground
for still worse suspicions, by bringing with her three
hundred and sixty men-at-arms, of doubtful or
suspected fidelity, carefully selected from different
towns, while the escort of the prince consisted
only of thirty horsemen.
Thereupon a stroke of policy was plotted in the
counsels of James. Going to Palermo, he sent
with the greatest secresy to summon all the
140
THE WAR OF THE
Catalans of the neighbourhood, whether knights,
officers of the treasury, or members of the gar-
risons of forts, to meet at Trapani on a certain
day;
he despatched thither nine of the fourteen
galleys of Marquet; hastened there himself with
a strong body of horse, and did not, until some
days after, give notice of his movements to
Alaimo, who, thus rejected by the court, proceeded
to Trapani with Macalda by another road. One
day, however, James having assembled his council,
unexpectedly summoned Alaimo as if restoring
him to favour; and turning to him, touched upon
the perils which he saw to be impending notwith-
standing the recent victories, saying that his
father was not to be moved either by letters or
messages to send sufficient reinforcements, and
adding that he knew no one who could have
influence to persuade him, unless it were Alaimo;
it rested with him, therefore, to save his country
and his sovereign; and to do so by going at once
to. the king with the galleys that were waiting
there in readiness to sail for Catalonia. When the
Infant ceased speaking, his counsellors followed
up his words with yet more pressing solicitations.
The noble Alaimo understood them, and perceived
SICILIAN VESPERS.
141
that there was no escape; he looked them in the
face and replied that he would go. That same
day, therefore, the 19th of November, 1284, he
embarked; at Favignana he encountered a tem-
pest by which a galley was wrecked at Levanzo ;
and with the remainder he reached Barcelona.
Here he was joyfully received by Peter, who
listened, praised, and promised him that they
should together return to Sicily. But these
hypocritical courtesies deceived neither Alaimo
nor any one else.¹
Peter had, doubtless, himself commanded the
abduction of Alaimo, together with the show of
condemnation of the Prince of Salerno which, as
we have already said, was closely connected with
it, and which historians, either from party spirit or
imperfect information, have recorded with some
differences indeed, but still so as not to diverge
very
far from the truth, and to let us perceive that
this was in reality an artifice to distinguish the
lieges of the court from its opponents; to put an
end to all clandestine practices, by frightening
both the Sicilians and the prisoners; to stir up
once more the ancient passions of the people; and
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 88.
142
THE WAR OF THE
to secure the praise of forbearance by staying the
sword of justice which hung over the life of
Charles's son. Alaimo, either in public or in
private, had opposed the condemnation of the
prince, and this was perhaps the principal cause of
his ruin.¹ The event becoming speedily known
1 According to the Catalan Montaner, ch. 113, 114, the rulers
of Sicily, after liberating the prisoners of lesser note taken at the
battle of Naples, sent to ask the king, who was then at Barcelona,
what they should do with the nobles; the prince at the same
time summoning a parliament to meet at Messina in two months,
to give time for the answer to arrive. The king immediately
sent back private letters, to be seen by none but the queen, her
sons, and the admiral, which dictated all their subsequent acts.
Assembling a parliament of the nobles, the syndics of the cities,
and all the people of Messina, James reminded them of the fate
of Manfred and Conradin, as if to demand that the blood of the
only son of Charles of Anjou should be shed to avenge them;
whereupon his death was demanded by all, and the sentence
drawn up. But James, in order to save the prince, unexpectedly
caused him to embark for Catalonia, which proves how incor-
rectly Montaner remembered the facts, and how he sought to
colour them to the advantage of James. Saba Malaspina,
Cont. pp. 420, 421, also mentions the parliament at Messina,
supposing that the Neapolitan exiles persuaded the queen to this
act of vengeance, which was proposed to all the most determined
enemies of the French, convoked from all parts of the island;
but being opposed by the Messinese, the parliament was tumultu-
ously dissolved, and the exiles vented their rage by the slaughter
of as many prisoners as they could find. This writer adds, that
James entertained sentiments of fierce hostility against several
nobles, who had refused to come to the parliament, or to con-
demn the prince, amongst whom was Alaimo of Lentini, famous
and beloved throughout the whole of Sicily; so that to remove
him from the centre of his forces, James treacherously lured
1
SICILIAN VESPERS.
143
throughout the island to the wonder and grief of
all, disheartened the partisans of Alaimo, while it
raised the courage of those of the court; and the
admiral, fresh from his recent successes, followed
by a handful of fugitives from the kingdom of
Naples, began to raise the populace of Messina,
accusing of treason the best of those who held for
Alaimo. Thereupon the infuriated people, de-
manding the death of the French prisoners,
rushed upon the houses of Alaimo in which many
of them were confined, and upon the royal palace,
where were about a hundred and fifty more
guarded by twenty Catalan soldiers. And here
was exhibited a striking example of fidelity on the
one side, and ferocity on the other, to show into
what extremes mankind will run; for the Cata-
lans at first resisted, but finding themselves over-
powered by numbers, they unbound the prisoners,
and armed them as best they might, saying, "We
will fight together for your lives;" and from
him to Palermo, and then despatched him to Catalonia. Neo-
castro, ch. 87, 88, speaks of no parliament at Messina, but of one
at Palermo, convened after the attack upon the prisoners at
Messina. From this testimony it appears doubtful whether a
parliament were held at Messina before the massacre, but the
causes and humours which I have described in the text are
manifestly revealed.
144
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windows and roofs, with weapons and tiles, they
repelled the assailants, although their numbers
continued to increase. "Burn them out," cried
the exiles at length; and faggots were piled
around the palace. Suffocated by the smoke, the
unhappy victims leapt from the windows and
implored mercy, but they were struck down
and flung back still living into the flames; and
Malaspina even relates other horrors committed
by the exiles so fearful, that I neither believe nor
will repeat them. Prisoners and guards, he con-
tinues, all were slain. Neocastro is silent con-
cerning these acts of atrocity, and diminishes the
number of the prisoners to sixty; others state
them at two hundred, and record the conflagra-
tion.' The humanity of the queen and the walls
of the fortress of Matagrifone saved the prince
and many others with him.
A parliament was then convened at Palermo, to
deliberate concerning his fate; in which, accord-
ing to Neocastro, all agreed to put him to death, in
vengeance for the fate of Conradin, the Messinese
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 88. Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 420,
421. Giachetto Malespini, ch. 224. Gio. Villani, book vii.
ch. 96. Ricobaldo Ferrarese, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. p. 142.
Francesco Pipino, ibid. ch. 18.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
145
alone dissenting with James and the queen. This
is confirmed, notwithstanding their differences as to
details, by Montaner, Giachetto Malespini, Villani,
and by a letter from King Alfonso of Aragon to Ed-
ward of England, which in treating of peace with
Charles II., affirms him to have been condemned
to death by the Sicilians, and saved by the king.
Another contemporary invents a story to the effect
that, on a certain Friday, the queen sent to warn
Charles to prepare himself for death, and after-
wards pardoned him in consideration of the firm-
ness with which he received this announcement,
and his readiness to die on the day which wit-
nessed the sufferings of our Saviour; but this
story evidently arose from the facts related above.
It is certain that the prince was removed at this
period to the castle of Cefalù, in order to obviate
any attempts against him or in his favour. The
remainder of the prisoners were set at liberty,
under promise not to bear arms against us,—an
engagement afterwards observed by Galard only."
Macalda, in the meantime, the only one
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 88, 89. Francesco Pipino, in Mura-
tori, R. I. S. vol. ix. ch. 18. Giachetto Malespini, ch. 224. Gio.
Villani, book vii. ch. 96. Epistle of Alfonso to Edward, dated
the 4th January, 1289-90, in Rymer's Foedera, vol. ii.
VOL. II.
H
146
THE WAR OF THE
of all her faction who was not intimidated,
was gone to Messina, hoping still to be able to
turn the tables upon the court party; but this
audacity exasperated the rulers, who immediately
proclaimed Alaimo guilty of high treason, de-
spoiled him of his possessions, which they divided
amongst their own favourites and partisans; and
on the 13th of January, at Girgenti, beheaded
Matthew Scaletta, brother of Macalda, who it was
said had confessed to a conspiracy entered into
with his brother-in-law. On the 19th of February
they proceeded to incarcerate Macalda herself,
and her children; she, however, undaunted by
ill-fortune, preserved her dignity and cheerful-
ness, passed her time in playing with the Arab
prince, and with her attendants; and on one
occasion, when the admiral came to despoil her of
the titles she bore in right of the fief of Ficarra,
she, as if still in the plenitude of her power, re-
proached him in these terms: "Thus nobly are
we rewarded by your master! we summoned him
as our ally, not as our king; and he usurps the
state, and from fellows reduces us to slaves.'
This we have brought upon ourselves; but tell him
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 88, 89, 91.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
147
that I would not exchange these fetters, nor even
the scaffold, for his throne sullied by misdeeds."
It appears, however, that misfortune must have
worn out the spirit that it could not conquer, and
that Macalda died soon after in confinement, as his-
tory makes no further mention of her. It was
not long before Alaimo and his grandsons Ade-
nolfo of Mineo, and John of Mazzarino, were
placed under arrest in the camp of Peter in Cata-
lonia. It was said that a courier had been seized
with letters from Alaimo to the King of France
teeming with treason, in which he demanded
security for himself and his grandsons, promising
to join him, and with ten galleys to recover
the whole of Sicily for the house of Anjou. Peter
showed these letters to Alaimo, who denied any
knowledge of them, upon which he was set at
liberty, but closely watched; his grandsons, how-
ever, soon after slew a secretary by whom they had
been written. The murder being discovered, was
confessed under torture by Adenolfo and by a
servant, and the former also confessed to the
attempted treacherous dealings with France, in
consequence of which he was confined with
Alaimo and John in the castle of Ilerda. King
H 2
148
THE WAR OF THE
Peter proceeded thus far; his son, more cruel
than himself, having ascended the throne of Sicily,
contrived their death.¹ Little faith is to be
attached to these misdeeds, promulgated from afar
by the Court of Aragon; and those attributed to
Alaimo in Sicily are no less uncertain. The two
Catalan historians are silent concerning them, as
if conscious of the guilt of their lords. Malaspina
writes that James bore ill-will to the lord of Len-
tini, because he had opposed him with regard to
the condemnation of the Prince of Salerno.
Neocastro affirms neither his guilt nor his inno-
cence, but states him to have been urged on by
the pride of his wife, and speaks in the uncertain
tone of one at once an admirer of the hero of
Messina and a minister of King James. Of
documents we have only the act decreeing his
death in 1287, which is so obscure that, if it prove
any guilt at all, it is that of James in the assas-
sination of the noble old man, who thus paid the
penalty of having used all his influence to support
King Peter against Walter of Caltagirone and the
rebels of 1283. His only crimes were the obli-
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 96.
2 It is to be found in Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 109.
•
SICILIAN VESPERS.
149
gations conferred upon the house of Aragon; the
glory of the defence of Messina, and of the be-
stowal of the kingdom; the love and reverence of
all Sicily; greatness ungraced by modesty'; and
above all, the envy of Procida and Loria, not
patriots but adventurers, ready to sacrifice every-
thing to those who bestowed upon them wealth
and power.
While the first measures adopted against Alaimo
were creating commotion in Sicily, King Charles
was exhausting both his own strength and that of
the kingdom of Naples, in his wild anxiety to
renew the attack upon it. Tracked by our fleet,
he retired to Cotrone, where he halted a few
days, and where the confusion occasioned by the
frequency of desertion increased a hundred-fold.
Irritated and chagrined, the king proceeded to
Brindisi, where, to console him, he received
tidings of a fresh insult offered to his arms by
that Conrad of Antioch, who had co-operated so
zealously with the expedition of Conradin. Having
assembled a band of Neapolitan exiles and others,
near the confines of the kingdom, in a country
subject nominally to the Church, but practically
to every truculent feudatary or brigand, he made
150
THE WAR OF THE
an armed incursion into Abbruzzo for the re-
conquest of the lordship of Alba. He was met
and defeated by the Count of Campania,' but
receiving funds from Queen Constance again
made head.2 One Adenolfo, who at the same
time excited disturbances in Campania, was
defeated by John d'Eppe and the pontifical
troops. Perugia, Urbino, Orvieto, and other
cities, likewise raised their heads against the
Church and the Guelf party which, though still
powerful, had suffered a severe check through the
medium of King Charles."
He himself, worn out by fatigue and hardships,
and but just recovering from a quartan fever, was
overwhelmed with cares. His son in the hands
of the enemy; the mainland invaded by them;
armaments, men, and money, all expended in
vain; and himself involved in debt owing to the
loans he had obtained from France, and from all
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, § 15. Saba Malaspina, Cont.
p. 419. A diploma given at Brindisi, the 8th November, 13th
Indiction (1284), showing that Stephen Angelone had given a
castle on the confines of the province of Molise to the traitors,
amongst whom was Conrad of Antioch. In the Royal Archives
of Naples, register marked 1283.
2 Saba Malaspina, ibid.
3
Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1284, § 16.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
151
parts of Italy: and how was he to supply the
boundless requirements of the war, now that the
people of Naples were refractory, and almost
openly refused both taxes and contributions ?¹
Nevertheless he dissembled as best he might,
talked loudly of the war which in the following
spring he would carry into Sicily, and the King
of France into Aragon, and proceeded to cause
his ships to be refitted, seamen to be pressed by
force into his service, the forts to be victualled,
grain to be collected, biscuit to be prepared, and
an immense number of arrows and other arms
and accoutrements to be manufactured. He
enticed the feudataries to the performance of the
military service, by permitting them to levy fresh
contributions upon their vassals; and being
always anxious for money, and having exhausted
every other source, he fell back into his old errors,
and issued proclamations for a general benevo-
lence, condescending to address persuasions and
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 417.
2 Malaspina, loc. cit., and many documents in the Royal
Archives of Naples, amongst which a diploma given at Barletta,
the 25th November, 13th Indiction, for various kinds of manu-
factured arms required by the forces, would be important to any
inquirer into the state of strategic art at that time.
152
THE WAR OF THE
almost entreaties to his subjects. He declared to
them that if God were still the same Lord who
had subdued kings and kingdoms at a glance, he
would conquer this small island of Sicily, and
should have done so at once, he added, had not
the ribald Peter of Aragon suddenly risen up to
oppose him; compelling him to place the war on
another footing, to engage in the duel, and to stir up
France against the kingdom of Aragon; and after
his return to Italy it was the famine alone which
had prevented him from bringing the Sicilians again
under the yoke. "My cause," he exclaimed, "is
yours. The rebels once subdued, all troubles will
cease; and peace and justice will cause the
kingdom to flourish." Money being, however,
necessary to bring about this consummation, he
this year requested from all the communes the
usual collection, and eleven per cent. extra from
all who did not grudge to aid their king some-
what more liberally. Thus, divided between the
want of money and the necessity of moderation,
he commanded that the collection should be paid
in advance, and at the same time convened a
parliament to meet on the first of December at
Foggia, for which place he afterwards substituted
A
SICILIAN VESPERS.
153
Melfi, on account of the greater cheapness of
provisions. A suspicion, springing perhaps from
calumny, was at this time excited in his mind that
three of his judges, amongst whom were one
Quintavalle, and Thomas of Brindisi, a native of
Bari, were plotting a treasonable conspiracy to
burn his fleet; summoning them, therefore, to
his presence, he condemned them to be hanged
like common thieves, regardless of the privileges
of their office. After these warnings, which were
far from pleasing to his subjects, he proceeded to
Melfi, disturbed in mind and shaken with fever,
but hoping great things from the parliament.
He hastened impatiently, therefore, to convoke
it, himself remaining in the palace, either from
illness, or vexation at the obvious state of public
feeling; and being refused fresh contributions
dissolved it precipitately. He then again applied
to his usual resource, Pope Martin, who, always
prodigal of what was not his, had shortly before
granted him anew the tithes of all the churches of
Italy for three years, and had again proclaimed
the cross against the island rebels. Messenger
after messenger was despatched to him by the
king, who dreamed only of funds, troops, and a
H 3
154
THE WAR OF THE
renewal of the war, and sought to conceal from
himself and all around him the malady that was
dragging him to the tomb.'
Already advanced in years, attacked in the
chest, and worn out with rage and disappoint-
ment, he became a prey to continual fever; so
that it was with great difficulty that he re-
moved from Melfi to Foggia, to meet the queen
on her return from Provence. The meeting be-
tween them was a very painful one, Charles having
hardly strength to hold out his trembling arms
to her.2 It was then that he for the first time
urged the Pope, in all sincerity, to hasten the
reforms of the government.' He commended to
him the distracted and endangered kingdom,
which, on account of his son's captivity, he could
bequeath to no certain successor, excepting in-
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. pp. 417-419. Also Ricobaldo Fer-
rarese, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. pp. 142, 252. Nic. Speciale,
book i. ch. 29, and book vi. ch. 10. Francesco Pipino, in Mura-
tori, R. I. S. vol. ix. p. 695; and many others attribute Charles's
death to grief and mortification at the events of the Sicilian war.
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 421. Ptolomeo da Lucca, Hist.
Eccl. book xxiv. ch. 11, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. A diploma
given by Charles I. at Melfi, the 14th December, 13th Indiction,
provides for the expenses of the queen's journey, Royal Archives
of Naples, register 1284.
* Bull of Martin, in Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 3.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
155
asmuch as he substituted for him, on we know
not what conditions, Charles Martel, eldest son
of the Prince of Salerno, a lad of twelve years
of age, with the Count of Artois as guardian, or
baiulo, as he was called, and John de Montfort,
Count of Squillaci, as Captain-General, saving,
however, the pleasure of the Pontiff. He ap-
pointed Philip the Bold guardian of the counties
of Provence and Anjou, (but not of the person
of the new count,) until the liberation of Charles
the Lame; or, in case he should die in captivity,
until Charles Martel, or his next brother, should
attain his majority; and to this effect he wrote
to Philip the day before his death, calling him
the only hope and refuge of the house of Anjou,
and conjuring him by the ties of blood not to
refuse the guardianship. After this he confessed
his sins, took the sacrament with a great ap-
pearance of piety, and even to the last deceived
the world and himself, saying that he hoped for
the forgiveness of God, because he had under-
taken the conquest of Sicily and Apulia, rather
for the honour of Holy Church and good of his
soul, than from ambition or thirst of power.
Thus he expired at Foggia, the 7th of January,
156
THE WAR OF THE
1285, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and the
nineteenth of his reign.'
The Guelf Villani records the fable, that on
the same day his death was announced at Paris
1 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 422. Giachetto Malespini, ch. 223.
Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 90. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 95. Mon-
taner, ch. 118. Chronicles of the Kingdom of Naples, edited by
Perger, vol. i. pp. 31, 58. Here the death of Charles is placed in
1284, reckoning the years from the 25th of March. Nic.
Speciale, book i. ch. 29. Ferreto Vicentino, in Muratori, R. I. S.
vol. ix. p. 955, and most of the other contemporary historians.
Having documents to prove the appointment of Philip the
Bold as guardian of the counties, I think this a sufficient reason
for throwing a shade of doubt over the assertion of the historians
quoted above, that the kingdom was bequeathed immediately to
Charles Martel. Charles I. could not have desired to separate
the kingdom from the counties, since he left the latter also to
Charles Martel, in the event of the death of Charles the Lame.
It therefore seems improbable that he should have established
two different orders of succession, leaving the kingdom to Charles
Martel immediately on his majority, and the counties only after
the death of his father in captivity. On the other hand, Charles
might have thought that by appointing a guardian for the coun-
ties rather than the count, he had sufficiently provided for the
government of Anjou and Provence during the incarceration of
their rightful lord, but that he thought it neither lawful nor
safe to leave the regal crown to a prisoner, or the throne un-
occupied until his liberation. The recognised supremacy of the
Court of Rome, and the fact that no such case was provided for
in the statute of investiture, perhaps increased the difficulty, and
it is not impossible that Charles may have evaded it by referring
it to the Pope. I have not sought to supply by analogy the
deficiency of facts, and have left in doubt the terms of the sub-
stitution of Charles Martel, as they remained in the acts of the
governors of Naples until the liberation of Charles II. The age
of Charles, erroneously reported in the Chronicle of Asti, in
SICILIAN VESPERS.
157
1
by brother Arlotto, of the Minorite Friars, and
Giardin da Carmignola, both celebrated astrolo-
gers. The Sicilian Speciale notes, that at that
time Mount Etna was shaken by a tremendous
earthquake: the eastern flank of the mountain
was riven asunder, and from it gushed a stream
of lava, which flowed down to the Church of the
hermitage of San Stefano, but having reached it,
parted into two branches, leaving it untouched.²
A Spanish friar, instead of recounting prodigies
concerning the fate of Charles, describes the
noble demeanour of the King of Aragon, who,
being apprised of it at the siege of Albaracin,
exclaimed without any appearance of exultation,
that the world had lost one of the most gallant
knights it had ever produced.³
On the death of the monarch, Pope Martin
proceeded to prevent the disorganization of the
kingdom, and provide for the interests of the
Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 164, may be learnt from P. Anselme,
Hist. Généalogique et Chronologique de la Maison Royale de
France, vol. i. ch. 14, p. 191. The condition of the nomination
of Artois is given in Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 5.
1 Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 95.
2 Nic. Speciale, book i. ch. 29.
3 Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch. 28, in Baluzio's Marca
Hispanica.
Vor M
..
ས།
158
THE WAR OF THE
Church. With the concurrence of the sacred
college, he immediately appointed Cardinal Ghe-
rardo the colleague of Artois, denominating them
both bailiffs of the kingdom, deputed to this office
by the holy Church of Rome till such time as the
Prince of Salerno should be released from cap-
tivity, or until the further pleasure of the Pope;'
an act of subtile policy, admonishing the house
of Aragon not to calculate too much on the value
of the pledge which they held in their power;
and reminding the world of the pretensions of
the Pope to the suzerainty of the kingdom of
Sicily, of which the throne was considered vacant,
and the person of the king doubtful. Hence, the
diplomas of the time have been headed variously,
and without apparent rule; sometimes with the
name of Charles, the eldest son of the Prince of
Salerno; sometimes vaguely with that of the heirs
and successors of Charles I.; and sometimes with
the names of the bailiffs in addition, or even with
these latter alone.²
2
A more salutary measure was that of carrying
¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, §§ 5-8, bull of the 14th of
February.
2 Catalogue of the parchments in the Royal Archives of Naples,
vol. ii. diplomas, pp. 1-43, and note 1 to p. 2.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
159
into effect the reforms not completed in the acts
of the parliament of Santo Martino, in which the
principal points being referred to the Pope,
remained as doubtful as heretofore. Now Martin
desired in earnest to introduce the new regu-
lations, as justice is resorted to where violence is
impossible. He wrote that these reforms had been
requested from him by King Charles at the time.
of the progress to Bordeaux, and again recently;
that he had long been employed in maturing them,
and that they would presently be promulgated.'
He moreover added a subsidy of 100,000 livres
tournoises for Artois to employ in arming himself
for the defence of the kingdom;' which measures,
together with the wisdom and vigour of the
regents, especially of Artois, sustained the throne,
which was vacant and the claim to it divided
between a captive and a child, with discontented
and rebellious subjects, and the enemy close at
hand, though weakened by mistrust in Sicily, and
3
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 3, bull of the 9th of February.
2 Chron. Mon. S. Bertini in Martene and Durand, Thes. Nov.
Anecd. vol. iii. p. 765. Nangis, Life of Philip the Bold, in
Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v. p. 543. Life of Martin IV.
in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. iii. p. 611. Francesco Pipino, book iv.
ch. 21, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 726.
3
Nangis, loc. cit.; Francesco Pipino, loc. cit.
160
THE WAR OF THE
:
by civil disturbances and foreign war in Aragon.
Conrad of Antioch, again invading the Abbruzzi,
¹
was driven back; and in the other provinces
only three maritime towns, Gallipoli, Cerchiaro
and San Lucido, went over to Peter.²
war.
Hardly had the loss of King Charles been thus
repaired, when the Neapolitan government expe-
rienced another, which could not, like this one, be
attributed to mortified ambition, or to the toils of
Towards the close of March, Pope Martin,
the implacable enemy of Sicily, expired at
Perugia, according to some, of a surfeit of eels,
which he was accustomed to feed upon milk,
and then drown in the sort of wine called
vernaccia; for this he had
attacked in a satire of the time,
¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 9.
2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 90.
3
been gracefully
entitled, Primo
3 It is attributed to an Abbate Gioacchino. Francesco Pipino,
loc. cit. book iv. ch. 20.
"Dal Torso fu, e purga per digiuno
Le anguille di Bolsena e la vernaccia."
DANTE, Purg. c. 24.
With Benevento da Imola's comment on this passage. Francesco
Pipino, book iv. ch. 21, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 726, quotes
these two doggrel lines:—
"Gaudeant anguille quod mortuus est homo ille.
Qui quasi morte reas excoriabat eas.
"}
The death of the Pontiff, but not its cause, is also mentioned
by Giovanni Villani, book vii. ch. 106. Ricobaldo, loc. cit. &c.
:
SICILIAN VESPERS.
161
principio de' mali, in which he is represented
with the mantle and triple crown, on his right
hand a banner, symbolical of the wars he had
kindled, and on the left an eel erecting itself
towards a little bird perched on the mitre, which,
poised on extended wings, bends down to peck at
Others however speak of Martin in a very
different tone.¹
The cardinals, without any delay of which the
times did not admit, called to the pontifical throne
James de' Savelli, a Roman and not at that time
in priest's orders, shrunken and infirm in person,
but of acute capacity, and more anxious to pro-
cure the advantage of his friends than the injury
of others. He assumed the name of Honorius IV.2
Without the uncompromising energy of Martin,
he adopted the same course, in pursuance of the
ancient policy of the Court of Rome. Honorius
would, perhaps, have sought to check the power-
ful and ambitious King of Naples; but now it
was for him to sustain the tottering throne whose
peril was that of the whole Guelf party in Italy.
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 12.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 14. Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist.
Eccl. book xxiv, ch. 13, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi.
162
THE WAR OF THE
He therefore sent supplies of money to Artois,'
confirmed the grant of the tithes of the Italian
2
churches, for the exigencies of the Sicilian war,
and commended the heirs of Charles of Anjou
to the friendship and good offices of foreign
sovereigns. A letter of his to the Emperor
Rudolph has been preserved to us, in which he
admonishes him not to resist the payment of
the tithes in his dominions to the King of France,
who was already involved in heavy expenses by
the war with Aragon.³
The two statutes already drawn up by Martin,
to which Honorius appended his sanction on the
16th of September, 1285, are noted in the histo-
ries of the kingdom of Naples. In the first he
confirmed by his Apostolic authority all the eccle-
siastical privileges decreed in the parliament of
Santo Martino, as has been already mentioned.*
The other concerned the civil administration, in
which, after a long preamble ascribing the rebel-
lion of Sicily solely to the oppression and injustice
1 Nangis, loc. cit. p. 544. Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 16.
2 Raynald, ibid.
³ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 23, brief of the 1st of August,
1285.
* Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 43, &c.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
163
.
1
of the government, the laws of the same parlia-
ment of Santo Martino were transcribed and
amplified, and many others dictated for the pro-
tection of the persons and property of subjects
of every class. The iniquitous spoliation of those
who suffered shipwreck was disallowed; in favour
of the baronial families the right of inheritance
of fiefs was extended to brothers and their de-
scendants; military service, or "adoamento," was
limited to wars within the confines of the king-
dom; above all, collections were prohibited
except on the four feudal occasions; and the sum
was fixed which might be raised for each of them.
I do not know whether to praise as a more effec-
tual guarantee of the rights of the subject, or to
blame as an encroachment on the regal authority,
the right of appeal by the municipalities to the
Holy See decreed on this occasion, and the inter-
dict on the private chapel of the king to be
incurred upon the first violation of these fran-
chises, and to be followed by excommunication
in case of persistance: but the Court of Rome
could certainly not turn its spiritual weapons to
better civil purposes. Honorius caused these acts
1
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, §§ 29-51.
164
THE WAR OF THE
to be studiously promulgated by Cardinal Gherardo
throughout the whole of the kingdom of Naples,
especially in the towns and provinces nearest to
Sicily; and for a short time they were observed.
Afterwards they became obnoxious to the ruling
powers, either as imposed by the Court of Rome,
or as being too liberal, and they were never incor-
porated in the laws of the kingdom."
Together with these praiseworthy laws Hono-
rius employed reprehensible arts for the purpose
of exciting conspiracies in Sicily. To this intent
he despatched thither secretly two Preaching
Friars, Perron of Aidone, a Sicilian, and Anthony
del Monte, an Apulian, who proceeding to Ran-
dazzo, conveyed to William, Abbot of Maniace,
pontifical letters. empowering him to grant indul-
gences to whoever should rise in rebellion in
favour of the Church. The war carried on with
so much ostentation by the King of France
against Aragon, kept the Sicilians in a state of
suspense; the wrongs of Alaimo were fresh in
their minds, together with the contumacious
humours which had served as a pretext for them;
¹ Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 53.
2 Giannone, Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli, book xxi. ch. 1.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
165
:
!
and the constitution of Pope Honorius was more
liberal than the present institutions of Sicily. Thus
the Abbot with grave religious exhortations soon
gained over to his side his two nephews, Nicholas
and Francis, of Messina, Bonamico de Randi, a
man-at-arms, John Celamida of Troina, and many
others of Randazzo, who bound themselves by oath
to betray, I know not which they purposed, their
country or their king. And such power had the
authority of the Pope to blind the judgments of
men, that the two monks, proceeding to Messina,
were received into the convent of the nuns of
Santa Maria delle Scale, from which secure hiding-
place they issued secretly to weave the threads of
the conspiracy. As it spread, however, it leaked
out. One Matthew of Termini, put upon the
scent by the Infant James, and aided by two
Minorite Brothers, Simon of Ragusa, and Ray-
mond a Catalan, succeeded at length in tracing
the two Preaching Friars, whom, by the aid of a
beggar woman, he was enabled to surprise in
their own dwelling. Being brought before the
Infant, without receiving so much as a menace
they revealed the whole of the transaction; and
were sent back to Naples, with clothing, money,
166
THE WAR OF THE
and a vessel furnished for the purpose; not from
clemency, but from policy and fear of the Pope.
The Abbot fled; and being arrested at Palermo,
was conveyed as a prisoner to Malta, thence to
Messina, and finally released and sent to Rome.
Those less guilty, on the other hand, were severely
punished; the nephews of the Abbot were be-
headed at Messina; Celamida gibbeted; Bona-
mico escaped into the forests of Etna, where he
assembled a gang of desperadoes, and was flattered
and won over to the royal cause by the arts of
Matthew of Termini.' Thus was the conspiracy
quelled in Sicily; while in Aragon, the war, (to
relate the events of which we must now go back
a little in the order of time) terminated with no
other result than the perpetration of fearful
cruelties, and immense slaughter.
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 98.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
167
I
!
:
CHAPTER XII.
MEASURES OF THE COURT OF ROME AGAINST PETER OF ARAGON.
GRANT OF THE KINGDOM OF ARAGON TO CHARLES OF VALOIS.-
PROTESTS AND PRACTICES OF PETER.HIS CONTENTIONS WITH THE
CORTES OF ARAGON. LEAGUE FORMED AMONGST HIS BARONS.
POWERFUL ARMY AND FLEET EQUIPPED BY FRANCE.-INVASION OF
ROUSSILLON, AND AFTERWARDS OF CATALONIA. EXTRAORDINARY
FORTITUDE AND PERSEVERANCE OF KING PETER.-SIEGE OF GERONA.
MORTALITY IN THE FRENCH CAMP. PETER RESUMES THE OF-
FENSIVE.-NAVAL ENCOUNTERS.-LORIA WITH THE SICILIAN FLEET
GAINS A SIGNAL VICTORY OVER THE FRENCH. RETREAT AND
DEATH OF PHILIP THE BOLD.-CHARLES THE LAME SENT CAPTIVE
TO CATALONIA.-DEATH OF PETER.-1282-1285.
THE war against Aragon, devised on the first
failure of the Sicilian enterprise, for the purpose
of involving Peter in such difficulties in his ancient
kingdom as should compel him to abandon the
defence of the new one, was concerted for nearly
three years, between Charles of Anjou, Pope
Martin, and Philip the Bold.
the Bold. I am willing to
believe the statement of Martin, that the king
was urged on by many of the French barons, who
pleaded that the insults of Peter of Aragon had
168
THE WAR OF THE
:
become insupportable, and, if unavenged, would
be a stain on the honour of the blood royal, and
of the whole French nation; for it appears that
all the resentment aroused by the massacre of the
Vespers had turned against the king of Aragon,
when it was seen that he it was who reaped
the advantage of it; continued to gather new
laurels at the expense of the house of Anjou;
and caused French blood to flow afresh in the
struggles in Calabria. The public feeling was no
doubt inflamed by the arts of the nobles, noising
abroad the fame of the duel, and branding Peter as
a coward, because he had avoided it, and a traitor,
because he had attacked Charles in Sicily without
a previous declaration of war. Besides, the Court
of France, constantly urged, solicited, and flat-
tered by the House of Anjou,' and allured more-
over by the glory to be acquired by restoring it
to its former power in Italy, might well desire an
enterprise which held out the prospect of con-
siderable acquisition beyond the Pyrenees. The
1 At this time Charles I. and the widowed Queen of France,
made a compromise of the questions which had arisen between
them, concerning the inheritance of Raymond Berenger, Count
of Provence. Diplomas of the 10th of November, 1283, and the
23d of March, 1284, in the Archives of the kingdom of France.
J, 511, 3.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
169
nation, naturally prompt to war, was further
incited to it by the state of society and by the
habit of the Crusades; for this was a real
crusade, whether we consider the banners dis-
played, or the objects of the crusaders, which,
in the thirteenth century, had become low and
profane. It is to be observed, that in negoti-
ating this so called holy enterprise, prompted by
the Court of Rome, an unusual jealousy and mis-
trust of her displayed itself in the counsels of
Philip, a desire to lavish the funds of the Church,
a penetration and a reserve which astonished and
mortified Martin, but which he was forced to
endure. The monarchical principles which had
prevailed in the reign of St. Louis, and which had
begun to operate against feudality, now rose in
opposition to the papal power, and paved the way
for the struggle between Pope Boniface and Philip
the Fair.
The first impulse of the rulers of France was to
commence the war at once, without further cere-
mony; they desired the tithes of the ecclesiastical
revenues, and were ready to take up arms. The
bishop of Dol, and Raoul d'Estrées, Marshal of
France, bore this message from Philip to the Pope,
VOL. II.
I
170
THE WAR OF THE
towards the close of the year 1282. But the latter
replied that he wished to give a better colouring
to the proceeding, by waiting for Peter to persist
in the occupation of Sicily until a given period;
and then compiling, in grave terms and with all the
forms of justice, the act of transfer of the king-
dom of Aragon; and this he did, writes he, with
great promptness, trusting in God and in France,
that she would always be ready to carry out by
force of arms the judgments of the Court of Rome.
To make the prize still greater, he issued another
bull, despoiling Peter of the kingdom of Valencia.'
Yet he sought to impede the aggrandizement of
France by the war which was to be maintained at
the cost of her blood, by declaring, in opposition
to the wish of several of the cardinals," that he
would grant those kingdoms to one of the sons of
Philip the Bold, chosen either by the king, or,
in case of delay on his part, by the holy See, but
always with the exception of the eldest. Nor did
he neglect any opportunity of securing his own
profit in the conditions for the establishment of
the new dynasty; demanding immensely compre-
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1283, §§ 34, 35.
2 Saba Malaspina, Cont. p. 394.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
171
3
hensive ecclesiastical immunities, with homage
and tribute to Rome. To negotiate these and
other terms of the undertaking, he had de-
spatched as pontifical legate John Chollet, Car-
dinal of St. Cecilia, who came to the French
Court with Charles of Anjou, before the day of
the duel;² and with that authority, says Monta-
ner, which binds on earth and looses in heaven,
he annulled the oaths by which Philip was bound
to the King of Aragon's alliance. He experienced
much greater difficulty in conquering the opinions
of the king's counsellors, recorded above, and
shared by the prelates and barons composing the
parliament, which had not yet degenerated into a
mere court of justice, but which might be said, in
the language of the present day, to represent the
interests of the nation, or of those privileged
classes who arrogated to themselves the name.
1
Bull of the 27th of August, 1283, in Raynald, Ann. Eccl.
1283, §§ 25-32; and in Rymer's Fœdera, vol. ii. p. 252, &c.
2 Nangis, Life of Philip the Bold, in Duchesne, Hist. Franc.
Script. vol. v. p. 542. Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist. Eccl. book xxiv.
ch. 12, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. See also Saba Malaspina,
loc. cit. and Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch. 28. The objects of
the French Court in carrying on this war, and the solicitations
of Charles I. of Anjou, are openly declared by the latter in the
diploma of the 5th of October, 1284.
3 Montaner, ch. 79.
I 2
172
THE WAR OF THE
I do not think that I am confounding the ideas
of the thirteenth century with those of the present
day, in saying, that not only was the Court of
France anxious to secure advantageous terms from
that of Rome, but that the Parliament also was
unwilling to burden the nation with the whole
weight of a war, the benefits of which were to be
reaped not by it, but by Charles of Anjou, the
Court of Rome, and one of the sons of Philip the
Bold. According to the first design mentioned
above, the demands of France were restricted to
the tithes for three years, within the then limits
of the kingdom; but when the investiture came
to be negotiated according to the wishes of the
Pope, the tithes of all Christendom were required,
or at least those for four years, in the greater part
of the present territory of France; the first-fruits
of the newly filled ecclesiastical benefices; pious
bequests and other subsidies; besides indulgences,
authority for the commutation of vows, and some
other conditions for the maintenance of the dignity
of the king in his relations with Rome; the eccle-
siastical liberties of the people of Aragon were
upheld; and above all, these favours were demanded
of the Pope, whether the advice of the parliament
SICILIAN VESPERS.
173
should be for or against the war, that is, whether
the nation should or should not concur in the
enterprise in favour of the king's son. These exac-
tions incensed the Pope; he replied to Philip on
the 9th of January, 1284, calling the demand of
the first-fruits of ecclesiastical benefices scan-
dalous; that of favours to be conceded, failing
the consent of the parliament, monstrous; that
of the tithes of all Christendom absurd; and
severely reproaching Philip and the parliament
with bad faith, inconstancy, and cowardice, for
abandoning the holy See and the House of Anjou,
bringing dishonour on the French name, and
affording food for the calumnies of its enemies.
But as is usually the case with the party whose
desire is the strongest, he began to concede the very
demands of which he complained, by sending his
consent to the several conditions in several letters
to the legate, and directing him to give way in case.
the king should persist.' These concessions and
the acts of the legate accomplished the desired end.
A meeting of the prelates and barons was con-
voked at Paris on the 20th of February, 1284;
1 Brief of the 10th of January, 1284, in Rymer, Op. cit.
vol. ii. p. 263.
174
THE WAR OF THE
the king informed them of the negotiations that
had lately passed, and moved the question of war
against Aragon. They demanded a day to deli-
berate, and three to answer, and early upon the
21st they assembled in the Royal Palace, the
prelates and barons separately in two different
halls, the king being absent. The legate, who
was close at hand and by no means inactive,
afterwards feigned great astonishment, at the
inspiration by which the two chambers, separate
and ignorant of each other's proceedings, decided
at the same moment in favour of war. The
barons were the first to send this message to the
prelates; the legate hastened to summon the king
and the court; and the same day, in open par-
liament and in presence of a great multitude, the
result of the deliberations was announced to
Philip by the Archbishop of Bourges and Simon
de Nigel. Philip thanked them, gave his sanction
to the enterprise, and the following day, con-
voking the parliament anew, he communicated to
them that his choice had fallen upon Charles
of Valois, his second son.1 His father took the
Bull of Martin IV. in Rymer, loc. cit. p. 267. Nangis, Life
SICILIAN VESPERS.
175
oaths in his name; and the cardinal conferred
upon him the investiture of the kingdoms of
Aragon and Valencia, and of the county of
Barcelona,¹ with the singular formality of placing a
hat upon his head; whence, as he never obtained
the territory, he was subsequently nicknamed
King of the hat. The Pope ratified the proceed-
ings on the 1st of March; issued the bull of
investiture in form on the 3d of May;³ and on
the same day conferred on the cardinal of St.
Cecilia plenary authority in France, Navarre,
Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, and all other pro-
vinces where troops were to be levied or war
carried on; granting the tithes of ecclesiastical
property for four years in the kingdom of France,
and in the provinces of Vienne, Lyons, Liege,
Metz, Verdun, Toul, Besançon, Tarantaise, Em-
brun, and even in cities belonging to the Empire,
of Philip the Bold, in Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script. vol. v.
p. 542. He however places this parliament in 1283, in opposi-
tion to the documents alleged.
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1284, § 5, &c. Rymer, loc. cit.
p. 267.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 136, who places this investiture in 1285.
Montaner gives this appellation to Charles of Valois, in ch. 119,
and elsewhere. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 41.
3 Raynald and Rymer, loc. cit.
176
THE WAR OF THE
and other distant countries.' He then charged
the legate to preach the crusade, granted in-
dulgences as in the wars of the Holy Land,' also
3
pious bequests as well as the tithes, and a loan,
which the king had requested from the sums
already collected for the deliverance of Jerusalem,
besides other favours which he had asked, one of
which demanded by the barons, was that the
crusaders should be bound to pay them the usual
taxes and contributions. The ecclesiastical tithes
within his dominions were also granted to James,
King of Majorca and Count of Roussillon, brother
of King Peter, who desirous of throwing off the
feudal supremacy of Aragon, had taken this
opportunity of turning against his brother, under
4
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1284, §§ 4, 10. Bull of the 5th of May,
1284, in the Archives of France, J, 714, 6. Saba Malaspina,
Cont. p. 394. Nangis, loc. cit. p. 542. Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist.
Eccl. book xxiv. ch. 12, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. That the
tithes extended to Germany, is shown by a brief of Honorius, in
Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 23. See also Nic. Speciale, book ii.
ch. i. See Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 70, 71, 91, for these prelimi-
naries of the invasion of Aragon.
2 Raynald. Ann. Eccl. 1283, §§ 24, 35; 1284, § 4. Saba Malas-
pina, Cont. p. 394.
3 Brief given at Orvieto, the 25th of June, 1284, in the Ar-
chives of France, J, 714, 7.
4 Brief given at Perugia, the 30th of October, 1284, in the
Archives of France, J, 714, 8.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
177
colour of obedience to the Church.' His conduct
was so much the more base, that he long dis-
sembled the terms into which he had entered in
1283, with the enemies of his race, engaging him-
self to hold Montpellier and Lans in fief from the
King of France; and binding himself by a solemn
promise in writing to give up to him the passes of
Catalonia, to furnish him with forts and provisions,
and to take up arms against his brother. He swore
upon the Gospels to observe this unholy treaty,"
which drew down the most fearful calamities upon
his country.
Peter having been apprised of the first sentence
of the Pope, while preparing to render it null
in fact, determined also to combat it in form.
He appealed against it by ambassadors, of whom
some fell into the hands of the enemy, and
Arnold of Rexach and Bernard de Orlé³ reached
the Roman court; where, having repeated the
arguments of the king, they demanded a safe-
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1285, § 25. In this bull there seems to
be an error in the date or in the name of the Pope.
2 Diplomas of James, King of Majorca, given from Palayrac
the 16th, and from Carcassonne the 17th of August, 1283, in the
Archives of France, J, 598, 4, 5.
3 Zurita, Ann of Aragon, book iv. ch. 42.
13
178
THE WAR OF THE
1
conduct for him to come and defend himself in
person before the college of cardinals, and pro-
posed the arbitration of five Christian princes;
but, being rudely repulsed by the Pope, they
entered a protest, and appealed against the
sentence to God and to St. Peter in a deed drawn
up in due form by a notary :'
a fancy which
accorded well with the spirit of the times, and
which sprung from a just principle held by Peter
in common with the loftiest intellects of that age,
on all the records of which it is vividly im-
pressed, namely, always to draw a distinction
between religion and the Church; and while
blaming the Pope when circumstances rendered
it necessary, constantly to uphold the Christian
faith. It was doubtless this principle which dic-
tated the legend upon the augustals of gold coined
in Sicily, which bore on the face the Sicilian
eagle, the name of Queen Constance, and above
it the motto, "Cristo vince, Cristo regna, Cristo
comanda," and on the reverse the arms of
Aragon with the name of Peter, and above it,
"La somma possanza in Dio è." As a last
1 Montaner, ch. 104.
2
2 Lello (Michele del Giudice), Description of the Church of
SICILIAN VESPERS.
179
argument for his defence, to elude the question
of the right of the Court of Rome, he prepared
the donation of the realms to Alfonso, of which
1
we have already spoken above; but Peter made
no use of it, because the question was eventually
debated at the sword's point. Conscious of
strength in his naval superiority, and in the
institutions of both the kingdoms of Aragon and
Sicily, he made the sentence of the Pope a sub-
ject of pleasantry, calling himself no longer a
king, but only Peter of Aragon, a knight, father
of two kings, and lord of the seas."
same unconcern, and with the light-heartedness
of a troubadour, he wrote verses in Provençal,
declaring that the display of the lilies troubled
him indeed, but that experience would soon show
whether they would have power to wrest from
St. Mary of Morreale, part ii. p. 21. Maurolico, Hist. Sic. book i.
p. 15, ed. Messina, 1716; which adds, that they were of very pure
gold, 72 to the lb. Paruta, Numismatica Sic. in Burmanno,
Thes. Ant. Sic. vol. vi. p. 1231.
With the
It is true that in the thirteenth century the legend "Cristo
vince" was placed upon several coins, in Sicily, Constantinople,
and other states, but it appears to have been chosen by Peter in
the intention that I have mentioned; and he added force to it by
the addition of the other still more significant one:-" La somma
possanza in Dio è "—(supreme power is in God).
¹ See Chap. VIII.
2 Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 87.
180
THE WAR OF THE
him the red and yellow baton, or whether those
who came to Spain to seek for pardon would
there find perdition; for himself he asked no
armour for the struggle, only the encouragement
of a smile from his lady-love.'
He despatched another embassy to France to
complain of this breach of faith, but his envoys
could not even obtain a sight of the king; and
the same was the case with Queen Margaret,
mother of Philip, who sought to intercede for
peace.³ In vain Edward, King of England,
endeavoured to mediate, first by his ambassadors
in Gascony, and afterwards by letters to the
Abbot of St. Denis; for the legate, who had been
well selected by the Pope, succeeded in counteract-
ing all pacific counsels. Nevertheless Peter was
4
1 Le Parnasse Occitanien, ou Choix de Poésies Originales des
Troubadours, Toulouse, pp. 290, 291. Here may be found these
verses by Peter of Aragon, and the replies of the Troubadour
Peter Selvaggio, and of the Comte de Foix.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 108, 109. Montaner, ch. 104.
3 Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 52,
4 Diploma of the 12th January, 1284, in Rymer's Foedera,
vol. ii. p. 264.
The policy of Edward is explained in another letter of the 12th
January, 1283, (in Rymer, loc. cit.) written by him in reply to
Queen Constance, who governing Aragon in the absence of Peter,
had earnestly entreated the intervention of the King of England,
SICILIAN VESPERS.
181
unable to induce him to declare war against
France, although other causes were not wanting;
nor was he more successful with the Emperor
Rudolph, from whom he demanded succour, offer-
ing in return the cession of his claims to the
county of Savoy, and assistance against the
Guelf party in Italy.' He calculated more upon
Sancho of Castile, whom he had supported in his
rebellion against his father, and the latter being
dead, and the kingdom usurped by Sancho, Peter
had frequent interviews with him, in which
they bound themselves to afford each other
mutual assistance, and Sancho was liberal of
promises, but in the hour of need was found
wanting. After wearying himself in vain with
these negotiations from June 1283 to the com-
mencement of 1285, the King of Aragon beheld
the hosts of France already at his doors, without
a single foreign potentate having come forward
to his assistance.
in opposition to the menaces of Philip the Bold. Edward pro-
mised to afford all the assistance in his power in the way of nego-
tiation, none in that of arms.
1 Zurita, Ann. of Aragon,
book iv. ch. 52.
2 Montaner, ch. 102, 120. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv.
ch. 34, 47, 51, 59.
182
THE WAR OF THE
Nor had he more to hope from home, for
the haughty and independent Spaniards regarded
with abhorrence the Sicilian enterprise, com-
menced without the consent of the Cortes, and
ended without benefit to the nation; nay more,
to its peril, Peter's invasion of the territories of
others having exposed their own to such imminent
danger. They were, moreover, disquieted by the
fear of Heaven,' for Pope Martin, aware of the
non-observance of the interdict, enforced it by
imperative commands addressed to the Arch-
bishop of Narbonne. So that they now beheld
the churches shut, a single mass in the week
stealthily and gloomily celebrated; no sacrament
administered, except baptism to the newly born and
penance to the dying; and a curse resting upon
the land on which the blood of their forefathers
had been shed in defence of the Christian faith.
Hence, in their indignation, they denominated
Sicily the island of grief. Their pride was out-
3
¹ Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 37.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1284, §§ 11, 12.
3 Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch. 28, in Baluzio's Marca
Hispanica. "Quæ recte doloris insula nuncupatur," writes the
monastic chronicler concerning Sicily, alluding to the excom-
munications and wars to which his country had been subjected
on her account.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
183
raged by the impenetrable reserve with which
Peter conducted his government, taking counsel
neither from the Cortes, nor from the nobles of
his kingdom, and giving ear only to Italian exiles,
or, Sicilian subjects. But above all they com-
plained of the non-observance of the franchises,
or, as they were termed in the national idiom, the
fueros of their country; of the refusal to restore
the possessions once wrongfully occupied by King
James; of the quinta, or extraordinary subsidy
levied upon horned cattle, which, granted for the
maintenance of the Valencian war, but deprecated
by the Cortes of Exea, continued nevertheless to
be exacted; of the authority of the Justiza set
at nought; of the jurisdiction of the magistrates
disturbed, and other similar abuses. Their feel-
ings were embittered by the fear that the coming
war would be attended with much bloodshed, as
deeds of great daring were expected from King
Philip, and much fear was inspired by the wealth
and power of Rome."
1
Soon after the adventure of Bordeaux these
humours began to manifest themselves on occa-
sion of a first incursion, made as a signal of
¹ Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 37, 38.
184
THE WAR OF THE
*
hostilities by the command of Philip, from the
adjacent kingdom of Navarre, which he had
already occupied.' Many thousands of French,
both horse and foot, advanced a distance of four
leagues to waste the territory of Aragon; yet this
did not suffice to induce the Aragonese to yield
obedience to the king, who had hastened to
Tarragona, and summoned them to arms. He
then convoked the Cortes at Tarragona, and there
both knights and representatives of the people
with singular unanimity, having resolved to
check at once the usurpation of power, on the
1st of September, 1283, gave utterauce to the
most serious complaints, concluding by exhorting
the king to take counsel with them concerning
the impending war. He replied proudly that he
was not used to regulate his conduct by the
counsels of others; and that when he needed the
advice of the Cortes, he would ask it. They
retorted by demanding the reform of abuses, and
he, by saying that this was no time to argue, but
to fight. Thereupon the Cortes, perceiving that
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 106. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 33,
35. Nangis, Life of Philip the Bold, in Duchesne, Hist. Franc.
Script. vol. v. p. 542. Montaner, ch. 111.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
185
their words were thrown away, according to
ancient precedent bound themselves in a league
or giura, as it was called, from their all taking
an oath that they would maintain with life
and property the liberties of the nation; that
whoever should fail in the performance of it,
should be challenged to combat by all the rest as
a coward and traitor to his word; that they
would all defend those who should be persecuted
by the king without being condemned by the
justiza, or by his peers; that if Peter remained
obstinate, his son should be called to the throne ;
and that whoever should resist this league, should
be subdued by force of arms.
Peter with vague
promises adjourned the Cortes to Saragossa, and
here, finding them more determined than ever
and ready to proceed to any extremity, he con-
sented to confirm the franchises, hoping after-
wards to elude their observance, and hastened
with all speed to the frontiers of Navarre. But
the members of the league, knowing his character,
before they returned to their homes met in the
Church of the Saviour, at Saragossa, and there
renewed their oath; enforced it by seizing some
towns and fortified places for their common
186
THE WAR OF THE
security; and elected from amongst themselves
certain deputies, with the name of conservators,
to watch over the interests of the country, and
to summon the rest to enter into the league.¹
I will not dwell more at length upon the civil
dissensions of Aragon, which would be beyond the
limits of my subject, and will merely mention that
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 132. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 38, 39.
Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 91. Carbonell, Chron. p. 76. Carbonell
wrote in the fifteenth century, but with the Archives of Aragon
at his disposal. He says that the Catalans treated the king with
less insolence, and thus obtained from him greater concessions, or,
to speak more correctly, the restitution of those privileges which
Peter had annulled from anger and natural dislike. On this
subject Carbonell records a curious fact: the Catalans, when sum-
moned to the performance of the military service, presented
themselves for the purpose with lances without points, and empty
sheaths without sword or poniard; and on the reason being
inquired of their appearing in this strange guise, they replied
that they had done so in order not to fail in their oath to the
king, who had burnt the charters of their constitution, liberties,
and privileges, and that at the risk of losing both life and
property they would follow him, thus unarmed, wherever it should
be his pleasure. Peter, softened by such submissive conduct,
restored their franchises by a diploma given at Barcelona on the
11th of January, 1283, (or 1284 by our reckoning, which makes
the year begin on the 1st of January.) See also Feliu, Anales
de Cataluña, book xi. ch. 17.
The author of the Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, (in Baluzio's
Marca Hispanica,) who is a zealous Catalan, complains of the
nobles and commons of Aragon who refused all help to the king,
but does not mention the civil dissensions of Catalonia, which
were far less bitter.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
187
Peter granted a similar confirmation of privileges
to the kingdom of Valencia, and did so with a far
better grace to the Catalans, when, their Cortes
being assembled at Barcelona in the commence-
ment of 1284, they proffered a request to this
effect; for he saw them ready to follow him in
any enterprise, and he called to mind the part
they had taken in the Sicilian wars. Never-
theless, either urged on by his imperious nature,
or by the pressure of necessity, he soon after
aroused afresh the indignation of the Aragonese
league by demanding the payment of the taxes in
advance; so that the leaguers, whose Spanish
pride was equal to his own, assembled in arms,
treated the king's commands with contempt, and
proceeded to enter into negotiations, on their own
account, with the Pope and the Governor of
Navarre. Thus, he received only tardy and
inefficient aid from the Aragonese in the war of
which the theatre lay in Catalonia, beyond their
own frontiers.¹ And, meanwhile, with these dis-
agreements in words only, began to mingle
troubles of a different nature. Instigated by
France, Don John Nuñez, of Lara, lord of
¹ Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 39-41, 45, 54, 58, 63.
188
THE WAR OF THE
Abbaracin, rose in rebellion, but, not being joined
by others, the city was forced to surrender after a
long siege.¹ The king having entered it, assem-
bled all the forces he could, passed the Ebro, in
his turn scoured the enemy's territory, and re-
turned with much booty. Parting with no very
friendly feelings from the leaguers of Saragossa,
he hastened to Barcelona, which was almost a
republic, and where a man of the people, named
Berenger Oller, was plotting a dangerous move-
ment against the nobles. Peter dispersed his
followers by the mere fame of his approach; with
Berenger he dissembled, succeeded in capturing
him himself, and caused him to be hung by the
throat, together with seven others, on Easter-day,
1285. Then suddenly taking with him a handful
of men-at-arms, who knew not whither, nor on
what errand they were bound, he crossed the
Pyrenees, and fell upon Perpignan, where the
king of Majorca then was, on the point of declar-
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 117, 118. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv.
ch. 44, 46.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 130, 132, 133. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 91.
Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 53-55. Montaner, ch. 111,
simply records the incursion of the Aragonese into Navarre; all
the other facts which appear to him dishonourable to the king,
he either suppresses or distorts.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
189
ing himself for France and giving a passage to
her armies through Roussillon, a territory of
great importance to the impending war. The
city was occupied by Peter, and the castle held in
his name; James escaped through a sewer leaving
his wife and children captives in the hands of his
brother, and without further delay passed over to
the enemy.¹
War having once been decided upon by France,
immense forces were collected from half the
nations of Europe. The proclamation of the cross,
and the prospect of pay, attracted to the standard
of Philip natives of Picardy, Provence, Gascony,
Burgundy, and Toulouse; French, Bretons, Eng-
lish, Flemings, Germans, and Lombards. The
Italians were more numerous on board the fleet,
consisting of Pisan and Genoese vessels, with
those of Provence and Gascony. There were
altogether a hundred and fifty galleys, with a
much greater number of transports. The army
consisted of seventeen thousand men-at-arms,
eighteen thousand crossbowmen fully armed,
'D'Esclot, ch. 134-136. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, ch. 28.
Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 91. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 1. Zurita,
Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 56.
190
THE WAR OF THE
"
1
above a hundred thousand foot, vast numbers of
pioneers, sutlers, and camp-followers, and eighty
thousand wagons. In these statements all the
historians of the time are nearly agreed, and the
grave d'Esclot adds, that it was a thing not to be
believed, excepting by those who had seen it with
their own eyes. Slowly this unwieldy multitude
at length assembled at Toulouse, during the
Easter festival of the year 1285. Here the troops
were reviewed,' and the oriflamme unfurled, which
was followed by King Philip in person, his sons,
Philip the Fair and Charles, the King of Majorca,
and the legate, with a great train of barons. As if
inheriting the passions of Pope Martin, and
engrafting them on an inflexible and ferocious
nature, the legate was foremost of all the host
to instigate to cruelty. Philip the Fair, on the
contrary, whether from admiration of Peter his
mother's brother, or from envy of Charles the
1 "E ottantamila vetture !?"-Trans.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 181, 187. Montaner, ch. 119. Bart. de Neo-
castro, ch. 91. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 1. Gio. Villani, book
vii. ch. 102. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit. The chro-
nicler states the horse to have been 20,000, and the infantry
innumerable. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 54. See also
Nangis, Life of Philip the Bold, in Duchesne, Hist. Franc.
Script. vol. v. p. 544.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
191
new King of Aragon, came with a bad grace, and
looked unfavourably upon the legate. This dislike
began to show itself one day at court, where Peter
being stigmatized as a giver of offence and a
brigand rather than a king, the youth sharply
contradicted the legate, and disputed on the
subject with his father and brother, calling the
latter, in the heat of the argument, king of the
hat, and predicting that this was all he would
gain by the papal grant. At the beginning of
May this formidable host entered Roussillon.'
It advanced, divided into six bands, or rather
armies, one of which, under the banner of the
Church, was commanded by the legate, who,
exasperated because in the occupation of Perpig-
nan and all the country Elna alone resisted,
encouraged the soldiers to put all the inhabitants
to the sword; for when perpetrated against the
enemies of the Church, such acts either were no
sin, or he would absolve them from it. The
crusaders, therefore, spared neither age, sex, nor
religion in the ill-fated town; they violated the
nuns in the monasteries, slew the priests, and
the women after subjecting them to their pleasure,
1 D'Esclot, ch. 136. Montaner, ch. 103, 119, 121.
192
THE WAR OF THE
and dashed the infants against the walls; and all
this in order that Peter might be unable to aid
Sicily, and that the wishes of the House of Anjou,
of the Guelf party, and of the Court of Rome,
might be gratified in Italy. But after the easy
conquest of Roussillon, the army was compelled to
halt at the passes of the Pyrenees, under the hill
of Paniças, where they purposed crossing them in
order not to remove to too great a distance from
the sea and the fleet. This obstacle threw the
immense multitude into disorder; all murmured,
and many quitted the army, first going in
mockery to the foot of the hill with three stones,
which they threw forward, exclaiming, "This one
for the soul of my father, this for that of my
mother, and this for mine;" and then taking a
handful of Spanish earth, and putting it in their
pockets, "this," they added, "shall procure me
absolution." These occurrences still further ex-
asperated the legate, who was both impatient
and inexperienced in war. On one occasion he
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 137, 138, 140, 141. Montaner, ch. 121. Nangis,
Life of Philip the Bold, loc. cit. p. 545, who relates the instiga-
tions of the legate, and erroneously called the town Janua, and
Villani, book vii. ch. 102, calls it Janne. Geste de' Conti di Bar-
cellona, loc. cit.
1
SICILIAN VESPERS.
193
reproached the French captains with want of spirit,
but this Philip could not brook, and retorted
sharply, that as his words were so warlike, he had
better gather his bands and himself advance first
to the attack of the passes. The legate received
also another rebuff from Peter, to whom he sent a
haughty message, enjoining him to vacate the
territory of the Church and of Charles King of
Aragon. "This territory," replied Peter, "cost
little either to those who bestowed, or to those who
have accepted it; my ancestors gained it with their
blood; let him who now desires it purchase it at
the same price."¹
Nor was this empty bravado on the part of
the gallant warrior, who maintained himself in
the midst of this ruin, with such marvellous con-
stancy, daring, and military wisdom; though aban-
doned by all as the penalty of his too despotic
rule, having neither an army, a fleet, funds, nor
the enthusiasm of the people to rely upon.
When
1 D'Esclot, ch. 144, 145. The author of the Geste de' Conti di
Barcellona, loc. cit., also speaks of the stones flung as if against
the Spaniards, to secure the indulgence. He however does not
state it to have been done in mockery, nor by the soldiers, but
by the unarmed multitude, amongst whom were many women,
who had followed the army for this sole purpose. He recounts
the fact at the siege of Gerona.
VOL. II.
K
194
THE WAR OF THE
he learnt that the French army was assembled
at Toulouse, though still ignorant of the direction
it would take, trusting to the temper of his people,
who, he was convinced, would not submit to
foreign domination on any terms, he called the
nobles and burgesses of Aragon to arms for the
defence of their own frontiers, and issued the
same summons in Catalonia to the cities, and to
the knights of St. John, and of the Temple. At
Barcelona he caused the tocsin to be sounded
according to custom, to raise the people. Then,
hearing of the occupation of Roussillon, he
hastened to the frontiers of that province, where
he directed his troops to assemble; and having
halted a short time at Junquera for want of
forces, and learning that the enemy would ad-
vance on the following day, he hastened on the
10th of May to prevent them in the occupation
of the passes, or to die there as a king. With
only twenty-eight horse and seventy foot,
ascended the hill of Paniças, which, on one side,
commands the Gulf of Rosas, and on the other,
a narrow mountain gorge, rugged indeed, but the
least so that was to be found in that range. Here
he caused many scattered fires to be lighted, to
he
SICILIAN VESPERS.
195
feign the presence of a large army, and having
gained one or two days by this stratagem, he
encamped there the Catalonian troops who gra-
dually assembled, and strengthened the gorge
with redoubts, barrels filled with sand, and loose
masses of rock, to be hurled from the heights.
He guarded the other passes with the few forces.
he could spare, rather videttes than bodies of
troops. At the camp of Paniças Peter received
the ambassadors of Bohap, King of Tunis, and
there, on the 18th of June, was signed a treaty,
securing peace and commercial intercourse for
fifteen years, and affording mutual favour and
security to the navigation and trade of the sub-
jects of the two kings, the Sicilians being ex-
pressly included amongst those of Peter, and
procuring for the latter the payment of the ancient
tribute of the kingdom of Tunis to the crown of
Sicily, together with the reimbursement of the
arrears which had not been paid to Charles of
Anjou. Thus undauntedly did the King of Ara-
gon confront the overwhelming danger which
menaced him, and for full three weeks he de-
tained the French army at the foot of the
Pyrenees, of which, during that time, they once
K 2
196
THE WAR OF THE
attempted to force the passes, but were re-
pulsed.¹
Here, however, as every where, a traitor was
found, (and in this instance it was one of the monks
of a convent in those mountains,) to guide the
enemy to another pass, through ravines so wild and
rugged that they were but incautiously guarded,"
by which the whole French army entered Spain
about the middle of June. Peter therefore aban-
doned the now useless position of Paniças, and
proceeded to remodel his whole system of war-
fare according to the necessity of the case; he
dismissed his troops, forbade the expenditure of
resources in the defence of small towns; himself,
after a short struggle, abandoned Peralada which
was burnt by his followers, whether to prevent
the sacking of the place by the enemy, or owing
to the heroic thought of the Viscount of Roca-
berti, lord of the town, who could devise no other
means of arresting for a short time the advance
1 D'Esclot, ch. 139, 140, 142, 143, who quotes that portion of
the statutes of Barcelona which prescribes the "levée en masse"
in case of invasion. Montaner, ch. 119, 120. Zurita, Ann. of
Aragon, book iv. ch. 58-60. Nangis, loc. cit. p. 545. See the
treaty with the King of Tunis in Capmany, Memorias, &c. vol. iv.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 146. Montaner, ch. 122.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
197
of the French, is not distinctly shown. Peter
then retreated through Castellon and Gerona,
hastily summoned the representatives of the
towns, and finding them infected with the panic
which had spread through Catalonia, so that
many were flying for refuge to Valencia, he
encouraged them with every appearance of con-
fidence, explained to them his design of wearing
out the enemy by guerilla warfare, and asked for
a small supply of money to keep together a few
troops. Having received it, he supplied Gerona
with provisions as well as he could, commanded
that within three days the whole of the popula-
tion incapable of bearing arms should evacuate
the town, strengthened it with bastions and glacis,
and threw into it a small garrison of a hundred
horse, and two thousand five hundred "almugaveri”
and crossbowmen, under the command of Ray-
mond Folch, Viscount of Cardona. King Philip,
with his whole army, having inundated northern
Catalonia, abandoned by its inhabitants of their
own accord, pitched his camp before Gerona.
if the conquest were already achieved, the legate
proceeded to crown Charles King of Aragon, and
the country was divided into fiefs, and bestowed
As
198
THE WAR OF THE
upon his knights; while the whole line of coast
to within a few miles north of Barcelona, was
encumbered by the immense fleet of the allies,'
which had distinguished itself by the enormities
committed at Cape San Felipe, where the ad-
miral invited the wretched inhabitants, who had
fled at his approach, to return, and then caused
them to be burnt alive in their own homesteads.²
Peter, meanwhile, was fortifying Barcelona
with the greatest care; he armed eleven galleys
in her port, and began to give some indication
of his intentions, by summoning Aragon to the
performance of its military service. His demand
being, however, refused for the reasons stated
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 147-155. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc.
cit. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 92. Montaner, ch. 123-127.
It was, perhaps, from this period, that Charles began to use the
seal of the Kings of Aragon, which is to be found in many of his
diplomas, up to the time of his renunciation to Boniface VIII.
On one side is the figure of the king fully armed, mounted on
a prancing charger, covered with housings adorned with lilies.
The king holds a sword on high and the shield to his breast, as
if in the act of fighting. On the other side the king is repre-
sented seated on a stool, with the royal robe and mantle, the
crown decorated with lilies, a lily in his left hand, and a sceptre,
also headed with the fleur de lys, in his right. The legend upon
it runs thus :-"Karolus Dei gracia Rex Aragonie et Valencie,
comes Barchinonie, filius regis Francie."-Archives of the King-
dom of France, J, 587, &c.
2 Montaner, ch. 127. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
199
above, he assumed the appearance of complete
indifference both to this contumacy, to the ad-
vance of the French, and even to the preservation
of his crown and life, and gave himself recklessly
up to the pursuit of pleasure, passing his time in
banqueting and hunting, scorning to come to
terms with his subjects, and awaiting from foreign
insult that which his own commands were unable
to effect. And, in fact, it was not long before
the Catalan knights, tractable at all times, and
more so than ever, now that their own homes
were in danger, came to him to Barcelona, to
urge the desperate prayer, that he would lead
them forth against the enemy; to which Peter
firmly replied, that in this war he stood alone on
one side, against the whole world arrayed on the
other; but nevertheless, from the present peril and
suffering might spring the greater glory if his fol-
lowers showed themselves but men. It was not
Peter of Aragon, added he, who was to be re-
proached with the hostile ravages inflicted on
Catalonia. He, so long as he had a war-horse and
a sword, could lead as happy a life as any knight
alive; the crown was nought to him, but a foreign
yoke was much to the Catalans; he therefore issued
200
THE WAR OF THE
no command, exerted no authority; if it was
their pleasure they might arm themselves, and
he would show them how to carry on the war.
They placed themselves under his orders, and he
posted them in two strong bodies at Besalu and
Hostalrich, on the enemy's flank. Indignant at
the outrages committed by the French, and allured
by the prospect of booty, the Catalans began to
infest the whole country around the hostile army.
Even the league of Aragon was induced to fur-
nish some slight assistance, and Peter, gradually
rousing himself from his apparent inactivity,
and turning his attention also towards the sea,
encouraged by the daring feats of his corsairs,
gave orders for his small fleet to sail from Bar-
celona, under the command of Raymond Mar-
quet and Berenger Mallol."
But in the vast designs of Peter, naval opera-
tions, far from being confined to mere privateering,
were destined to play a principal part in the
struggle, which would be rendered more equal at
sea by the Sicilian fleet, in which he had great
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 157. Montaner, ch. 128, 129. Bart. de Neo-
castro, ch. 92. Nangis, loc. cit. p. 546. Chron. Mon. S. Bertini,
in Martene and Durand, Thes. Anecd. vol. iii. p. 766. Zurita,
Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 61–63.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
201
confidence, owing to the recent victories of
Naples and Malta, the daring, experience, and
activity of the men, and the extraordinary skill
and valour of the admiral. The king, moreover,
knew the French fleet to be divided into several
squadrons to guard the ports or convoy the ships
which came from Provence laden with provisions
for the army; so that the Sicilian galleys might
be able to strike a decisive blow when least
expected, and, by intercepting the supplies, reduce
the French army to starvation, in a country which
had been laid waste and was everywhere infested
by native bands. Peter, therefore, sent letters
and messengers to hasten the Infant Don James
and the admiral, that the latter might bring the
fleet to his assistance with all speed. On one
occasion he sent three despatches by a galley and
two other smaller vessels separately, in order that
if one should fail of its destination another might
supply its place; for in all Peter's undertakings,
and especially in this last war, he was remarkable
for the care and diligence with which he himself
regulated every matter, both small and great.
He moreover commanded his son to send him the
captive Prince of Salerno, as a hostage for his own
K 3
202
THE WAR OF THE
It
safety in the extremity of his fortunes. James
however, who now affected the dignity of King of
Sicily, delayed obedience, being unwilling to de-
prive himself either of the fleet or of his captive,
for the convenience of his father in Aragon; and
it was only upon the more urgent commands of
the king, or perhaps by the desire of the admiral
himself, that the fleet at length departed.
consisted of about forty galleys, for the most part
Sicilian, which, cruising in the Adriatic, had taken
Taranto and some other cities, and hoped to effect
still more important conquests, when they were
compelled to sail for Catalonia. Concerning this
voyage, Speciale relates that, on the eve of the
Assumption of the Virgin, as they were sailing
past the Goletta of Tunis, our vessels were cele-
brating the festival by illuminations, as was then,
and is still the custom in Sicily. In the midst of
these rejoicings they were met by another mes-
senger from the king; and regarding this as a
good omen, the crews, encouraged by the admiral,
hastened the more willingly to these foreign
wars.
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 92. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 2. Mon-
taner, ch. 112, 129, 135. See also D'Esclot, ch. 158, 165.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
203
The viscount resolutely defended Gerona the
whole summer long. Philip assaulted it every
day, battered the walls with his cats, threw stones
into the city from the catapults, caused the walls
to be scaled and the curtains to be mined, without
producing any effect upon the garrison, who
opposed artifice to artifice and force to force, and
in their sallies burned the enemy's machines,
while the Saracen archers with marvellous skill
struck down not only those who were exposed,
but those who sought shelter behind machines or
buildings, the sick through the loopholes of the
windows, in short, any one within the length of a
bow-shot wherever there was sufficient space for
an arrow to penetrate.' Already the French host
was falling into disorder and wasting away. A
fierce mortality raged in the camp, the result
either of hardships or unwholesome air, and
aggravated by the putrid carcases of the horses
which perished by thousands from the stings of
venomous horse-flies that infested the country
in clouds, and which, according to the fabulous
tradition of the people, adopted by one or
two historians, issued for the first time from
1 D'Esclot, ch. 160-154.
204
THE WAR OF THE
the sepulchre of the Blessed Narcissus, profaned
by the fury of the enemy.' The pestilence
attacked the fleet with such severity, that within
a few weeks the crews were reduced to one half,
and afterwards dwindled to a third or even less.2
Meanwhile the Catalans scoured the whole country
from the posts of Besalu and Hostalrich, carrying
off the convoys of victuals which, to mitigate the
scarcity, were brought by sea to Rosas and
thence in carts to Gerona; they surprised the
detached bands of the French, cut to pieces all
who strayed from the ranks, enriched themselves
with spoil, sold their prisoners and satiated them-
selves with blood, indefatigable, expert, daring,
and unrelenting. The sea itself was no longer
safe for the enemy, for the eleven galleys of
Barcelona having attacked a squadron of twenty-
five French ones with desperate energy, defeated
and captured them, and the privateers thus en-
couraged came forth in greater numbers to try
their fortune.³
1 Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 1. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 92, 97.
D'Esclot, ch. 160. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit. Mon-
taner, ch. 128. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 102. Nangis, loc. cit.
p. 546.
Chron. Mon. S. Bert. loc. cit. p. 766.
2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 92.
3 D'Esclot, ch. 157, 158. Montaner, ch. 128-133. Geste de'
SICILIAN VESPERS.
205
Thereupon Peter spread abroad the report of
the deplorable condition of the invading army, and
that one strong effort would suffice to destroy it.
He made Alfonso summon Aragon to arms, him-
self called upon the Catalans, and was now obeyed
by all with alacrity-the natural consequence of
his reviving fortunes. He rode to the sanctuary
of St. Mary of Monserrat, famous through-
out the whole of Spain, passed the entire night
there in prayer before the altar of the Virgin,
and on the following day, going forth openly at
the head of his troops for the first time, as if
strengthened by Heaven, he led five hundred
horse and five thousand foot straight upon
Gerona, manœuvred in the face of the enemy
with no other defence than the waters of the Tar,
and then ascended the neighbouring hill of Tudela.
Not deeming this an advantageous position, how-
ever, he abandoned it, and moved in the direction
of Besalu, when he suddenly found himself, with
only a slender force, involved in a terrific con-
flict.¹
Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit. Nangis, loc. cit. p. 546. Zurita,
Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 63, 64.
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 159. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 92. Zurita, Ann.
of Aragon, book iv. ch. 65.
A
206
THE WAR OF THE
On the night of the 14th of August, Peter,
accompanied by only twelve horsemen, having
strayed from the main body of his forces and
from the road, was about to ride into the midst
of a troop of five hundred French horse, but that
some of his men-at-arms, and a few hundred
"almugaveri," who had come in search of him,
became aware of the enemy. The king was riding
without his armour, but when he beheld the con-
fusion and that the fight was commencing, he
dashed into the midst of the combat, and distin-
guished himself by prodigies of valour. It is
recorded that, his horse's reins having been cut
through and finding himself surrounded by horse-
men, he boldly disengaged himself from them
slaying several of them with his truncheon, and
that a javelin aimed at him from a short distance,
stuck in his saddle-bow, d'Esclot having with his
own eyes beheld the saddle-bow and the broken
point of the weapon. Meanwhile, the struggle
was carried on fiercely between the other com-
batants, light "almugaveri" against men-at-arms,
and horse against horse. Distinguished above all
those famed for their valour on the side of the
Catalans, was the Sicilian Palmiero Abate, a youth
SICILIAN VESPERS.
207
who had never yet seen a battle, taken from his
beloved country by the artifice of the king, in
whose defence he now signalized himself to such
a degree, that the Catalan Montaner, carried
away by the enthusiasm of chivalry, compares the
other gallants to Lancelot and Tristram, but
Abate to Orlando himself. Wearied at length
with the desperate struggle, both French and
Spaniards retired from the field, and the victory
was afterwards claimed by both parties. It has
been erroneously stated by some historians that
Peter was wounded in the affray; but so far from
it, he proceeded on his progress, visiting Besalu
and his other posts; he continued to elude his
pursuers, to lay ambuscades, and to harass on all
sides the extenuated host of France; and he was
meditating some stratagem by which to throw
supplies into Gerona, when, on the 24th of August
in consequence of most welcome tidings, aban-
doning every other design, he rode without draw-
ing rein to Barcelona.'
1 D'Esclot, ch. 159, 165. Montaner, ch. 134. Bart. de Neo-
castro, ch. 92. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit. It is here
stated that Peter was worsted in this engagement. Zurita, Ann.
of Aragon, book iv. ch. 65. This skirmish is also mentioned by
Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 103; Nangis, loc. cit. p. 547; Chron.
S. Bert. loc. cit. p. 766; Ricobaldo Ferrarese; Francesco Pipino;
208
THE WAR OF THE
The tidings were those of the arrival of the
Sicilian fleet; and Peter's eyes flashed with de-
light at beholding in the port of Barcelona thirty
galleys drawn up in perfect order, painted round
with the arms of Aragon and Sicily, glittering
with shields and crossbows, and decorated with
banners, pennons, and tents of scarlet silk upon
the stern; for, continues d'Esclot, a fleet better
equipped never was beheld. The Sicilian crews
set up a joyous shout on beholding the king, who
went on board the galleys, examined everything,
and took counsel with Roger Loria. After three
days of rest, the admiral again set sail for the
Gulf of Rosas,¹ sending notice of his movements.
to the small Catalan squadron, which had put to
sea some time previously in search of adventures
in those waters, and which was now pursued by
the French fleet.
the Chronicle of Parma; Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist. Eccl. book xxiv.
ch. 15, 16; in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi.; and Anonymi Chron.
Sic. briefly relating the Aragonese war in the places quoted
above. According to them Peter received a wound, of which he
afterwards died; but this wound is not mentioned by the con-
temporary Catalan or Sicilian historians, who had the best oppor-
tunities of knowing particulars and had no reason falsely to
conceal the fact had the warlike monarch died from the effects of
a wound, three months after the battle.
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 165.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
209
The latter, weakened by the mortality amongst
the crews, and ignorant of the arrival of the
Sicilian galleys, fell in with them near the rocks
of the Formiche, under Cape St. Sebastian, and
was discovered, without his own approach being
detected, by Loria, who immediately detaching
a few of his galleys to interpose between the
enemy and the land, attacked them from the sea
with the body of the fleet, having previously
directed that several torches should be provided
on board each galley, both to prevent them from
falling foul of one another, and to terrify the
enemy by the semblance of greater numbers.
When within a bow-shot of the hostile vessels,
the Sicilians suddenly lighted their torches, raising
the shout of "Sicily, Aragon, Maria delle Scale
of Messina!" and the prow of the admiral's ship
struck a Provençal galley so violently amidships
as to capsize it, so that the whole crew, with the
exception of five or six, were flung into the sea.
The enemy, taken by surprise, offered only a
feeble resistance to this impetuous assault. Twelve
galleys escaped by imitating the fiery signals of
the Sicilians, and their watchword, "Aragon and
Sicily;" of the rest, some were taken, and some
210
THE WAR OF THE
ran aground, and the victory of Loria was com-
plete. The historians of the time agree almost
entirely as to these facts, with some little dis-
crepancy as to the number of vessels and the order
of battle. But the express statement of some, the
silence of others, and the events that followed,
attest beyond a doubt that the sinews of the naval
force of France were that night destroyed by the
Sicilians. More than five thousand French and
natives of Provence fell in the battle at the rocks
of the Formiche; but these were more fortunate
than the prisoners, owing to the savage ferocity
fostered by the events of the times and the exas-
peration of the Spaniards against the French.
Roger Loria, dividing his prisoners after the
battle, selected fifty knights of noble blood from
whom a large ransom might be obtained; and
sent the rest to Barcelona, to Peter, who caused
three hundred of the wounded to be bound to a
cable, the end of which was fastened to a galley;
the galley put to sea, trailing the string of pri-
soners after it; and the fearful execution was con-
summated in the sight of all who chose to see, as
d'Esclot coolly describes it. Two hundred and
sixty, who had not been wounded, had their eyes
SICILIAN VESPERS.
211
put out, with the exception of one, who, by Peter's
orders, had one eye spared that he might recon-
duct the band to Philip, himself attacked by the
prevailing epidemic, and cut to the heart at the
havoc that death, in such varied and fearful forms,
was making amongst his people.¹
Within a few days Roger Loria dispersed the
last remnants of the hostile fleet, having despatched
the Catalan galleys to secure whatever relics were
to be found of it at Palamos and at San Felipe;
while he himself, entering the Gulf of Rosas,
burned and took twenty-five more vessels; and
landing his forces, stormed the castle in order to
possess himself of the supplies there laid up.
An instance, rare in that age, of infantry unpro-
tected by armour sustaining the shock of heavy
cavalry, occurred at the disembarkation; for the
2
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 93-95. Nic. Speciale, book ii.
ch. 3, and book iv. ch. 13. D'Esclot, ch. 166. Montaner,
ch. 131, 135. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 104. Anon. Chron. Sic.
ch. 45. Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist. Eccl. book xxiv. ch. 17, in
Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit.
Zurita, Annals of Aragon, book iv. ch. 68, who quotes a diploma
of Peter touching the numbers of the enemy slain in this battle.
These writers differ considerably in their statement of the num-
ber of vessels engaged on both sides. It should appear that the
Sicilian fleet was rather the most numerous.
2 Montaner, ch. 136.
212
THE WAR OF THE
;
Count of Saint Pol, advancing from one of the
neighbouring towns with a troop of horse, against
Loria's crews, they entrenched themselves behind.
concealed ditches, pitfalls, and ropes stretched
upon stakes, and awaited the charge javelin in
hand. The French rushed upon them at full
speed; part of them fell headlong into the ditches;
others, checked by the defences, were thrown into
confusion; and the Sicilians, breaking forth upon
them, completed the rout. The count's horse
having fallen, he was slain and his hand cut off,
which was afterwards redeemed by the enemy with
seven thousand marks of silver. The admiral
reembarking, made other rich prizes at sea, and
cut off all supplies of provisions from the French
army.' It was then that the Count of Foix having
come to Loria to demand an armistice in the name
of King Philip, the latter haughtily refused it;
saying that, even were it granted by the King of
Aragon, he would never observe it towards the
French and Provençaux; and the count admo-
nishing him not to speak so proudly, as France
1 Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 4. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 95.
The defeat of the French horse at Rosas, is related also by Mon-
taner, ch. 136.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
213
would be able to put three hundred galleys to sea;
"Let three hundred come," replied Loria, "or
two thousand if they will; with a hundred of
mine I would engage to hold the seas so that no
vessel should traverse them without a safe-con-
duct from King Peter, nor any fish raise its head
in them without the shield of the arms of
Aragon."
1
Meanwhile Raymond Folch, who had performed
such prodigies in the defence of Gerona, and had
long defied not only the threats and promises of
the enemy, but hunger itself, now reduced to the
last extremity, began to show willingness to come
to terms, by the consent of Peter, who was neither
in a position to compel the enemy to raise the
siege by giving battle, nor saw any sufficient
reason for exposing himself to so great a risk.²
A French chronicler relates that, during the
progress of the negotiations, the Archbishop of
Saragossa having gone to the camp of the be-
siegers, the legate interrupted his discourse, fiercely
exclaiming, "No mercy! no
no terms!" when
Philip the Fair sharply interrogated him as to
1 D'Esclot, ch. 166.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 165. Nangis, loc. cit. p. 546
2
214
THE WAR OF THE
what he would do with the infants and maidens if
he took Gerona by assault? "Perish all!" re-
plied the cardinal. "Let none perish but those
who can defend themselves with the sword,"
retorted the young prince.
He then secretly
informed the archbishop that the besiegers were
reduced to greater straits than the besieged, and
counselled him therefore to adhere firmly to the
conditions demanded:¹ and who can say how far
the indignation thus early conceived against the
Court of Rome, may have worked on his young
mind, to predispose him for the scenes of violence
subsequently enacted at Anagni. The viscount
agreed to surrender the town in twenty days if no
relief appeared within that time; and not receiving
any, on the 7th of September he marched out
of Gerona with arms and baggage and all the
honours of war, accompanied by the admiration
of the enemy.²
But this tardy success brought neither joy nor
relief to the French; for, being no longer masters
of the sea, hunger was completing the work of
destruction on their arms already thinned by
1 Chron. Mon. S. Bert. loc. cit. p. 766.
2 D'Esclot, ch. 167. Geste de' Conti di Barcellona, loc. cit.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
215
pestilence and by the sword; while the camp was
thrown into still greater anxiety by the dangerous
state of King Philip himself, who, attacked by
the epidemic in the camp before Gerona, derived
no benefit from change of air, while the news of
the disaster of the fleet seemed to poison the
blood in his veins. Amid all this suffering Philip
gave orders for a retreat, leaving a garrison in
Gerona. Meanwhile Aragon, Catalonia, and every
part of the kingdom emulated each other in pour-
ing in armed warriors to join the banner of Peter,
who further inflamed the general zeal by doing
of his own accord what his pride had obstinately
refused to consent to when reduced to the
greatest straits, and which now, in his reviving
fortunes, did him the more honour. In a public
harangue to the assembled barons, he admitted
that these calamities had been the result of his
own acts, and of the adverse fate which had led
him to close his ears to the loyal counsels of his
barons; that God had punished his pride, and now
withheld the scourge raised above his head; and
that therefore he, perceiving the hand of the Lord,
had repented, and now asked pardon of his sub-
jects; he counselled them to moderate their
216
THE WAR OF THE
vengeance upon their routed and fugitive enemies,
on whom the Spaniards ought to have mercy, as
God had had mercy upon them; such was his
opinion, and he invited the barons to pronounce
their decision. With the same judgment he
exerted himself to conciliate the Aragonese more
than all the rest, and melted those haughty and
intractable spirits even to tears, says d'Esclot, by
the humility and gentleness of his words.
Having assembled a sufficient force, and ad-
vancing on the flank of the shattered French
army, he reached the pass of Paniças, but did not
dispute it, from pity, say the historians of his
own party, for the king, who was suffering from
mortal illness, and regard to the prayers of Philip
the Fair perhaps also he might not wish to drive
to desperation an enemy even now more powerful
than himself. On the 30th of September, four
thousand horsemen, all that still remained mounted,
and a useless crowd of foot soldiers, with a con-
fused mass of baggage, leaving behind them, for
want of means of conveyance, a far greater quan-
tity of equipments, plate, goods, and spoil of all
1
This was in 1285, the first Sunday after the feast of St.
Michael.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
217
descriptions, once more traversed the pass in mourn-
ful haste. The knights rode in serried ranks.
round the oriflamme and the litter of the dying
king, with the princes of the blood, the legate,
and the leaders of the army. The "almugaveri,"
panting to attack them, were restrained by Peter
until the men-at-arms were passed, when they
broke loose upon the infantry and the baggage.
Beyond the mountains, in Roussillon, Loria dis-
embarking with his ferocious crews, made equal
havoc of the blood and spoil of the fugitives; so
that throughout a considerable tract of country
nothing was to be seen or heard of but men slain,
or dying of wounds, pestilence, or hunger, assaults
and robberies. Even the strong squadron of
horse hardly escaped. On the 6th of October
King Philip died at Perpignan, and the relics of
the army brought nothing back with them to
France but woe, pestilence, wounds, and an im-
mense increase of public debt.'
Peter, who was not slack in following up his
Bart. de
1 D'Esclot, ch. 166, 167. Montaner, ch. 137-139.
Neocastro, ch. 97. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 5. Gio. Villani,
book vii. ch. 105. Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist. Eccl. book xxiv.
ch. 15, 17, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. Nangis, loc. cit. p. 548.
Chronicle of Parma, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi. p. 807. Rico-
VOL. II.
L
218
THE WAR OF THE
1
success, proceeded to assault Gerona, and turned
his attention also towards the island of Majorca ;
not, he declared, from revenge against his brother,
but to be in a better position for concluding a
peace with France and Rome. The way was pre-
pared by negotiations with the inhabitants of the
island; and five hundred horse, under the command
of Alfonso, were placed in readiness with Loria's
fleet. They were on the point of putting to sea,
when the king, leaving Barcelona for Saragossa, on
the 26th of October, was chilled by the cold morn-
ing air and seized with a violent fever at San Cle-
mente, but obstinately insisted on remounting his
horse after a short halt. His energy was, however,
conquered by illness, and he was carried in a litter
to Villafranca di Panadès,' whither, fears being
already entertained for his life, Alfonso hastened,
full of anxiety, to see him. The king, who thought
less of his own life than of the expedition against
Majorca, reproached him, saying: "Wherefore
did you leave the fleet? Are you a physician,
baldo Ferrarese, ibid. p. 142. Francesco Pipino, ibid. p. 693.
Zurita, Annals of Aragon, book iv. ch. 69. Geste de' Conti di
Barcellona, loc. cit.
1 D'Esclot, ch. 168. Montaner, ch. 140-142. Bart. de Neo-
castro, ch. 97, 100. Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 71.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
219
that you should linger by my bedside? Let
what God will become of me, but so much the
more important is it to occupy Majorca without
loss of time." ¹
2
The Infant therefore proceeded thither, and
between negotiation and the force of arms suc-
ceeded with little difficulty in making himself
master of the island. The valour of the Sicilians
was signally displayed on this occasion; for those
most faithful to the King of Majorca, with the
French and the Provençaux, had fortified them-
selves in a church situated on a height outside
the town, where they had repulsed the repeated
assaults of the Catalans and the inhabitants of
the island; but when Alfonso, at the suggestion
of the admiral, called in the aid of the Sicilians
of the fleet, they raised the cry of "Viva Sicilia!”
sounded the trumpets, and scaling the walls by
the aid of ladders and oars, carried the strong-
hold at the first impetuous onset, and ended the
war.
3
It was about the same time that Charles II. of
1 Montaner, ch. 143.
2 Ibid, ch. 144. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 97.
* Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 6.
L2
220
THE WAR OF THE
Anjou traversed these seas, being sent from Sicily
by the Infant; in obedience, says Neocastro, to
the absolute commands of Peter, and to the
counsels of Procida, who admonished him to make
every consideration of his own advantage or that
of the island give way before his duty to his
father; but perhaps in reality because James,
who had disputed the will of the king during his
reverses, now hastened to obey the conqueror.¹
Therefore, probably after some negotiations, and
perhaps also with the consent of Rome, (for we
find a permission granted in April, 1285, by the
Roman Court to two English monks, Hugh of
St. Edmond and Walter of Seggefelt, to proceed
to Sicily from King Edward, to visit and comfort
the prisoner,2) James hastened to act for himself
before his captive should be withdrawn from his
jurisdiction. He went in person to see him at
Cefalù; and, either from Charles's weariness of
confinement, or his knowledge of the events in
Aragon, obtained from him a promise that he
would give up to him all claim upon the island,
and bestow his daughter Blanche upon him in mar-
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 99.
2 Diploma to be found in Rymer's Fœdera, vol. ii. p. 296.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
221
riage; while the two houses of Aragon and Anjou
should moreover be connected by other inter-
marriages. The less these conditions were in
reality valid and binding, owing to the captivity
of Charles and the questionable right of James
to conclude them, the more pains the Infant took
to add weight to them, by oaths on the Gospels
and double copies, the one for himself, the other
to be sent to his father. Then selecting three
trusty knights, Raymond Alamanno, Simon de
Lauro, and William de' Ponti, he made them
swear solemnly to consign the person of Charles
of Anjou to King Peter; and if during the
voyage they should encounter hostile forces, to
defend themselves as long as they were able, but,
if overpowered, to cut off the head of their
prisoner, and throw him overboard; so that not
even his corpse should remain in the hands of the
enemy. From Cefalù they went to Palermo,
whence Charles with the three knights embarked
for Barcelona, arriving there just before the death
of Peter.¹
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 99. In ch. 112, he makes Charles
repeat these conditions on his first interview with the Pope after
his liberation. Zurita, Annals of Aragon, book iv. ch. 72, affirms
that the preliminaries of Cefalù were recorded in public docu-
222
THE WAR OF THE
After Alfonso had left him, the king, conscious
that his illness was mortal, and anxious solemnly
to exculpate himself from the guilt of the war
carried on against the Pope, as Charles of Anjou
had done on his death-bed from that of the war
kindled by the Pope, summoned the Archbishop
of Tarragona, with the Bishops of Valencia,
Huesca, and other prelates and barons; and in
their presence declared that it was not in hostility
to the Holy See, but in pursuance of his rights.
that he had taken possession of the kingdom of
Sicily; that he had not merited the excommuni-
cations of Martin, but had submitted to their
observance as became a Christian; and now
being about to appear before the judgment-seat
of God, he asked absolution from the archbishop,
promising that should he recover, (and here he
again had recourse to equivocal expressions,) he
would render obedience to the supreme Pontiff,
according to right, and present himself before
ments. In Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1287, § 6, there is a brief of
Honorius IV. given the 4th of March, 1287, in which we read
that Charles the Lame, when a prisoner in Sicily, had negotiated
the cession of that island, with those adjacent to it, and the
diocese of Reggio. See also Rymer's Foedera, vol. ii. bull of
Nicholas IV. given March 15th, 1288.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
223
him either in person or by ambassadors. This he
confirmed by an oath, and the archbishop granted
him absolution. Having been admonished to for-
give his enemies, he gave orders for the liberation
of his prisoners, not including, however, those of
high degree. He left unaltered the will which he
had made in 1282, at Port Fangos. He con-
fessed himself aloud to two monks, then with
great difficulty he rose from his bed, trembling
and scarce able to stand, dressed himself, and
kneeling down, weeping and inwardly praying,
received the eucharist. He was informed of the
surrender of Gerona and of the arrival of Charles
from Sicily when only a glimmering of conscious-
ness yet remained to him, and was unable to
utter a word in reply; but he folded his arms in
the form of a cross, raised his eyes to heaven,
and expired on the 10th of November, 1285.¹
¹ D'Esclot, ch. 168. Montaner, ch. 145, 146. Geste de' Conti
di Barcellona, loc. cit. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 7. Bart. de
Neocastro, ch. 100. Chronicle of Parma, Ricobaldo Ferrarese,
Francesco Pipino, loc. cit. Bofaruli, vol. ii. p. 245, who mentions
no other will left by Peter than that made at Port Fangos.
Zurita, Annals of Aragon, book iv. ch. 71, who, in contradiction
to the statement of Montaner, proves that Peter made no other
will. He thus made no ultimate disposal of the kingdom of
Sicily, thereby avoiding a step which would have deprived him
of absolution, and leaving James none the less firmly seated on
224
THE WAR OF THE
Such was the end of Peter of Aragon. He
died at the age of forty-six, in the prime of mental
and bodily vigour, and at the summit of his
fortune; for he beheld the host of France dis-
persed; the King of Majorca humbled; Charles
of Anjou, Philip the Bold, and Pope Martin
departed this life; the new King of Naples in his
power; that kingdom in confusion; Sicily sub-
missive and secure; his fleet mistress of the
Mediterranean; and his own power so much
increased by the fame of victory, that he was able
everywhere to keep in check even his own rebel-
lious subjects. In person tall, well-formed and
powerful; in temper daring and persevering; with
an intellect capable of conceiving great designs,
without overlooking minute details; astute, secret,
and indefatigable; he had all the qualities of a
great captain, which, exercised in matters of state,
became in him sometimes virtues and sometimes
faults, according to the justice or injustice of the
end in view, which he never regarded. Hence
his imprudent dissensions with the Cortes of
the Sicilian throne, as he had been already recognised by the
parliament of Messina. In the event of the death of Alfonso
without children, he bequeathed the throne of Aragon succes-
sively to James, Frederick, and Peter.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
225
!..
Aragon; his questionable conduct towards the
Sicilian barons; the frauds and artifices which he
contrived with deep cunning; the ruthless ven-
geance against his enemies, to which he was
impelled by the ferocity of the times; the fierce-
ness of his own disposition indifferent to suffering
or death whether for himself or others; and the
sternness of his mind constantly absorbed in
political considerations, blinded to the knowledge
of his own good and that of others, incredulous of
the rights of man, and steeled against the breath
of charity. Sicily was fortunate in that she
found him at her need, and was speedily freed
from him, for he was of a nature always to be
involved in contentions either at home or abroad.
The evils of this oppressive energy and vigour
were afterwards forgotten, and men bestowed
upon Peter the well-merited surname of the
Great.¹
1 These particulars are derived from all the historians of the
time, whom it would be useless to quote; some are derived from
Zurita, book iv. ch. 71.
Quel che par sì membruto, e che s' accorda
Cantando con colui dal maschio naso,
D'ogni valor portò cinta la corda.
*
*
*
*
Tant
L 3
226
THE WAR OF THE
..
For this same cause contemporary writers, not
excepting those of Sicily, and even the Father of
Italian poetry,' whose greatness so far outshone
that of the contending sovereigns, exalt, together
with that of the King of Aragon, the fame of his
rival Charles of Anjou, who was distinguished for
equal valour, and still more celebrated victories,
and similarly accused of treachery, but being less
skilful in the exercise of both fraud and violence,
was outwitted and conquered by Peter, whose
capacity was greater. The tyranny of Charles
was more oppressive; in private he was envious
and suspicious, in his government avaricious
and rapacious; conniving at the excesses of his
followers, cruel, despising the Italian people ;²
trampling under foot every right; hostile to every
privilege, even from the time of his first domi-
Tant è del seme suo miglior la pianta,
Quanto, più che Beatrice e Margherita,
Costanza di marito ancor di vanta."
Dante, Purg. c. 7.
Carbonell, Op. cit. p. 70, writes that Peter was also called
"il Francese;" but this appears too boastful, and the surname
has with reason been forgotten,
1 Purgatorio, c. 7.
2 This peculiarity is recorded by Francesco Pipino, in Mura-
tori, R. I. S. vol. ix. ch. 19.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
227
nation in Anjou; hating even his own subjects;
and he was punished with the cruellest martyrdom
that Heaven could inflict upon him, a lingering
death embittered by the torment of beholding
the strength and prosperity of that Sicily which
had cursed him during her sufferings, and which
gave him back shame for shame, and blood for
blood; which shivered his sceptre, barred the
path of his ambition, and combated his race for
two centuries.
It was in vain that all the influence and power
of the papacy was exerted in aid of Charles by
Martin, whose life and death would have filled
but a brief space in history, if, absorbed by national
and party prejudices, and retaining under the
pontifical mantle his ancient spirit of vassalage,
he had not given rise to the scandals recorded
above, deluging the two peninsulas in blood,
despoiling all the churches of Europe, and pro-
faning the weapons of the cross.
Urged on by the authority of the Pope as well
as by vanity and covetousness, Philip the Third
crossed the Pyrenees to rush into an unjust and
unprofitable war, which cost him the life of
seventy thousand of his followers as well as his
228
THE WAR OF THE
own, and caused his surname of "the Bold" to be
called in question,' as his enormous preparations
led only to the most deplorable result unmarked
by any deed worthy of note, unless it be the
massacres of Elna and of San Felipe.
Under these four sovereigns the half of Europe
was convulsed by the act of vengeance known as
the Sicilian Vespers, which was triumphantly
defended by the weakest amongst them, against
the united forces of the three more powerful.
They all died in the same year, 1285, and from
the ashes of their ambition sprung up new ambi-
tions and new evils. But Sicily, released from
the tie of common vassalage which bound her to
Aragon, remained alone to maintain the struggle
against the kingdom of Naples and the Pope,
regulated her internal constitution by wiser laws,
and rendered her name illustrious by more
splendid feats of arms.
1 "Morì fuggendo e disfiorando 'l giglio.”—Purg, c. 7.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
229
CHAPTER XIII.
WRECK OF THE FLEET ON ITS RETURN FROM SICILY.-JAMES CROWNED
KING.-ACTS OF THE PARLIAMENT OF PALERMO.-PRIVILEGES
ENTERPRISES. EXECU-
GRANTED TO THE CATALANS.—WARLIKE ENTERPRISES.
TION OF ALAIMO OF LENTINI.—AGOSTA OCCUPIED BY THE ENEMY,
AND RETAKEN BY THE SICILIANS.—SECOND NAVAL VICTORY IN
THE BAY OF NAPLES.-TREATY FOR THE LIBERATION OF CHARLES
THE LAME.-INVASION OF THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES BY KING
JAMES. TRUCE OF GAETA.-NEGOTIATIONS FOR A GENERAL PEACE
AND FOR A CRUSADE CONCLUDED TO THE DISADVANTAGE OF SICILY.
-DEATH OF ALFONSO KING OF ARAGON, WHO IS SUCCEEDED BY
JAMES.—NOVEMBER, 1285, TO JUNE, 1291.
WHEN the news of the death of Peter, as announced
to Alfonso at Majorca, spread through the Sicilian
fleet, the crews, with the quick perception of our
lower orders, were seized with an eager desire
to return to their own country. And, in fact, no
tie but that of friendship now remained to unite
us with Aragon; it was to be feared, that the
enemy might renew their attempts upon Sicily on
the death of her valiant sovereign; and possibly
minds so sharpened to mistrust might entertain
a suspicion that the Catalans would desire to
230
THE WAR OF THE
retain the fleet. Hence the cry arose," To Sicily!
to Sicily!" and when the admiral returned a
doubtful reply, representing the perils of naviga-
tion at this stormy season, when winter was about
to set in, the crews encouraged by the vice-admiral,
Frederick Falcone of Messina, became only the
more obstinate, mutinously retorting, "To Sicily!
and death to him who refuses!" This impulse of
no blind or vulgar patriotism, blamed on account of
its results by our historians, who consider only the
evils which it brought upon the fleet and not
those from which it saved Sicily, compelled the
captains to set sail on the 23d of November,
when there was every appearance of calm. The
wind freshening, they were driven to Minorca
They again set forth, but on the 3d of December
the gale became so violent, that for three days they
were tossed about in the utmost peril between
Sardinia and the Balearic Islands, and in the Gulf
of Lyons. The admiral gave orders to stand out
to sea, to hoist lights that they might not fall foul
of each other, to recaulk the seams, and then
to run before the wind, giving themselves up to
their fate. But in spite of all that skill and
courage could do, two galleys from Messina, two
SICILIAN VESPERS.
231
from Agosta, one from Catania, and one from
Sciacca, foundered and were lost, Falcone perish-
ing with them. The other forty flung overboard
the booty taken from the French, and, after beat-
ing about for a long time, at length one by one
in miserable plight reached the port of Trapani.
No sooner had the admiral landed than he rode to
Palermo, where arriving on the 12th of December,
he first communicated the heavy tidings to the
queen, and then sent to announce them to James
at Messina. The death of the king caused great
and general grief throughout the whole of Sicily;
and it was noted that all the women put on
mourning, made a public display of grief, and
those who went to court, with unaccustomed sin-
cerity, like mothers and sisters condoled with and
comforted the deeply afflicted queen.'
1
The notables of the kingdom next directed
their thoughts to the solemn inauguration of
James, who had been recognised by the parlia-
ment of Messina in 1283, and had proclaimed
himself king on receiving the news of his father's
death on the 18th of December. Summoning,
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 101. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 8.
2 Neocastro and Speciale, loc. cit. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 47.
232
THE WAR OF THE
therefore, the prelates, barons, and syndics of the
cities and townships throughout the island, they
assembled in parliament at Palermo on the 2d of
February, 1286. Thither James repaired, with
the Queen, and the Infant Don Frederick, and
was crowned in the name of God, and of the
Virgin, by the Bishop of Cefalù, the Archiman-
drite of Messina, and many other Sicilian pre-
lates, as well as the Bishops of Nicastro and
Squillaci. During the subsequent days of fes-
tivity, rendered magnificent by the opulence and
luxury of the numerous powerful barons, James
at his own cost conferred the honour of knight-
hood upon four hundred Sicilian nobles: dis-
tributed numerous favours, and granted many
fiefs which had lapsed to the exchequer on
the expulsion of the French barons, both to do
honour to this joyful occasion and to increase the
number of his supporters within the realm,
beyond the confines of which he beheld only
feeble friends and wrathful adversaries. For the
same reason, during the sitting of this parliament
on the 5th of February, he promulgated the
constitutions and immunities as they were then
called, incorporated with the laws of the kingdom
+ SICILIAN VESPERS.
233
of Sicily under the head of acts of King James,
and written in the language of concession, though
dictated perhaps by the notables, and certainly by
the will of the nation. For in the parliament
of Catania Peter had promised rather than carried
out reforms, and in that of Messina he had only
regulated the number and the powers of the
ministers of the crown; while the acts of the
parliament of Santo Martino, and those still
more recent of Pope Honorius, both of them the
manifest consequences of the Sicilian revolution,
had granted to the kingdom of Naples securities
much greater than Sicily had retained as the
immediate effect of the Vespers. It was, there-
fore, necessary to make equal concessions in the
island kingdom, and to remove the causes of the
discontent which was already breaking forth in
various forms.¹
These reforms were in great part copied from
those of Honorius, which in some points they
exceeded. They commenced with a brief state-
ment of the social compact, which according to all
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 102, in which we read that James
wished to relieve the people from all oppression, if any existed.
Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 9. Montaner, ch. 148. Geste de' Conti
di Barcellona, ch. 28, loc. cit. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 47.
234
THE WAR OF THE
civil right, unites the ruler with the subject. The
king went on to promise effectual protection to all
persons and property belonging to the Church,
without those disproportionate privileges however
which the Court of Rome exacted in Apulia. As
to the public revenue, the oppressive burdens of
the times of Charles being carefully removed, the
collections were restricted to the four well-known
feudal occasions, and the sum to fifteen thousand
ounces of gold on those of hostile occupation of
the country, and rebellion or captivity of the sove-
reign; and to five thousand on the other two.
It was added, that in no case could more than one
collection be made within a year. The alienation
of crown lands, tending to the increase of public
burdens, was forbidden,' and the abolition of the
right of naval service, already proclaimed by Peter,
was confirmed. The administration of civil and
criminal justice was regulated with a view to
increased expedition and mildness, and freed
from many encroachments of the exchequer,
amongst which was the fine upon communes for
non-apprehension of murderers; it was decreed
that every law-suit should be concluded within
¹ Capitoli del Regno di Sicilia: Jacobus, ch. 1-7, 9, 44.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
235
two months, or should be referred to the superior
court, and that bail should be accepted; a restraint
was placed upon accusers, special guarantees were
provided in cases of civil suits against the ex-
chequer, and still more effectual ones in those of
impeachment for high treason.' Various harsh
statutes, or abuses which had crept into the
public administration, were also abrogated, such
as change of coinage, forced loans to the govern-
ment, compulsory farming of public offices, trans-
port of specie, seizure of shipwrecked goods,
royal preserves, custody of prisoners, inquisitions,
and prohibition of marriages; and an attempt
was made to put an end to the extortions and acts
of violence of the officials, castellans, retainers of
the crown, and other burdensome classes.³ For
the benefit of the feudataries, military service was
regulated and moderated; the obligation to fur-
nish vessels of war abolished; the ability of
brothers, and their descendants as far as the third
generation, to inherit fiefs, decreed; and various
other beneficial statutes promulgated. In their
2
4
1 Capitoli del Regno di Sicilia: Jacobus, ch. 15—18, 23, 27,
42, 43, 45.
2 Ibid. ch. 8, 10-13, 22, 24—26, 28-30.
3 Ibid. ch. 14, 19--21.
4 Ibid. ch. 31-37, 39.
236
THE WAR OF THE
favour it was
moreover forbidden that their
retainers, whether enrolled or otherwise, should
become burgesses of towns, although those who
were only connected with the baron by the tenure
of landed property were free to depart on re-
signing it into his hands; an unjust regulation,
though rendered necessary by the usages of the
times, which yet gives evidence of the develop-
ment subsequently to the Vespers of popular
principles in the municipalities, which not only
invited but even compelled the vassals of the
barons to unite themselves with them.¹
the personal property of Charles and his followers,
appropriated during the revolution, was confirmed
to its present possessors, with the addition that no
one should be called to account for the ad-
ministration of any public office in the time of the
Angevins.2 These laws, and others of less im-
portance,³ were proclaimed amidst the rejoicings
incident to the coronation. Those imposing re-
straints upon the power of magistrates and
officials were afterwards but carelessly observed,
so that, in consequence of the remonstrances of
1 Capitoli del Regno di Sicilia: Jacobus, ch. 38.
2 Ibid. ch. 46, 47.
Lastly,
3 Ibid. ch. 40, 41.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
237
the cities, James renewed them not long after
in an altered form, decreeing penalties on the
transgressors; thus forming twenty-seven more
acts, which I mention here, because it is not
exactly known in what year they were published,
nor is it of much importance to inquire.¹
Another measure of the new sovereignty was
to bind itself by a treaty. of friendship and
commerce with Aragon, from whence alone it
could hope for succour. A league offensive and
defensive, which should embrace the whole of
their forces, was therefore concluded between the
two kings. It appears certain that Roger Loria
conducted the negotiations, and accepted the
conditions in Aragon in the name of James, in
presence of Conrad Lancia, and other nobles; in
Sicily in that of Alfonso; in proof of which we
have the diploma given by James in Palermo,
on the 12th of February, and subscribed, to-
gether with him, by several witnesses-bishops,
counts, and other persons of note, amongst
whom we find the names of Mastrangelo, Pal-
miero Abate now returned from Catalonia, and
¹ Capitoli del Regno di Sicilia: Jacobus, ch. 48-64.
2 Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 75.
2
238
THE WAR OF THE
the historian Bartholomew de Neocastro, of
the court of exchequer. A few days after a
permission was granted to all Catalans to take
in cargoes of grain in the Sicilian ports, on
payment of a moderate tax; to those resident in
the island to elect a consul, with however only
civil jurisdiction, saving the right of appeal to the
king; and to reclaim their property in cases of
shipwreck. With these franchises, which were
stated to be what in fact they were, rewards for
past services rendered, and encouragement for
others yet to come, James sought to tempt the
Catalans to trade in the island, as Manfred had
formerly done with regard to the Genoese; whose
privilege, reducing the customs dues to one-
third, was extended two years afterwards by
James, with others of great moment, to the citi-
zens of Barcelona. Lastly, he attempted to
soften the wrath of the Pope, by a message of
obedience and devotion, sent by Gilbert Cas-
telletto, a Catalan knight, and Bartholomew de
Neocastro, who records the answer of Honorius,
to the effect, that the words of the Sicilians were
good and eloquent, but their actions infamous,
and that consequently their requests could not be
SICILIAN VESPERS.
239
listened to. This was the third repulse given by
Rome to proffers of peace from Sicily.'
Honorius did more; he renewed the excommu-
nications of Pope Martin, appointed a new term
for submission, and angrily summoned the
Bishops of Cefalù and Nicastro to exculpate
themselves for the part they had taken in the
coronation. They however obeyed no more than
the rest of the Sicilians, whose arms in the
meantime were not without effect. At the com-
mencement of the year 1286, Taranto, Castro-
villari, and Morano, went over to the enemy,
being unable longer to endure the rapacity of the
66
وو
2
almugaveri ;” but another better disciplined, and
still more daring band of the latter, advancing
into Principato, took possession of Castell' Abate,
near Salerno. Not long after, William Calce-
rando, being sent to govern the Calabrias, re-
took and again lost Castrovillari and Morano,"
and carried on the war with such vigour, that
towards the end of the summer the Angevin
rulers called out all the feudal militias to
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 105, 106.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1286, §§ 6—9.
3
3 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 101. Montaner, ch. 116, who erro-
neously states that James himself took part in this expedition.
240
THE WAR OF THE
oppose him. But the success at sea was more
decisive. While Loria, who had gone with two
galleys to Catalonia, taking with him in addition
six Catalan ones, swept the coasts of Provence,
James fitted out two small squadrons, one in the
port of Palermo, of twelve galleys, commanded
by Bernard Sarriano, a Sicilian knight,' and
manned by Palermitans and men of Val di
Mazzara; the other in the port of Messina, of
twenty galleys, manned probably by Messinese
and men of the east coast, and commanded by
Berenger Villaraut. The first of these, on the
8th of June, made sail for the Gulf of Naples,
where at the first assault it obtained possession
of Capri and Procida, causing so much alarm in
Naples, that Cardinal Gherardo hastened to have
the chain and other defences of the port put into
repair. Sarriano remained amongst the islands
the whole summer, in order to capture the vessels
trading in the Bay, and at the beginning of Sep-
tember, advancing as far as the Roman shores, he
invested the Castle of Astura, rendered infamous
by the capture of Conradin. Burning for re-
venge, the Sicilians mounted to the assault,
¹ Montaner, ch. 149.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
241
thrust through with a lance the lord of the
castle, son of that Frangipane who sold Conradin
to King Charles; massacred his followers; and
would not be content without setting fire to the
town. On their return they ravaged the shores of
Castellamare, Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi; and
sailed back to Palermo. The other squadron
returned at the same time with equal gain and
glory, to pass the winter in Messina, whence it
had sailed on the 22d of June in the direction of
Capo delle Colonne; from thence it scoured the
seas of Cotrone, Taranto, and Gallipoli, capturing
all hostile vessels, but not molesting those en-
gaged in trade with Venice. It offered battle at
Brindisi, and having waited three days for the
enemy's galleys, which would not quit the port
on any provocation, it sailed upon Corfù, to seek
a remnant of Charles's armament against Greece.
Here our crews disembarked, encountered a band
of French mercenaries, defeated them, sacked
the town, and again burst unexpectedly upon the
Apulian coasts, before taking port at Messina.
Thus, both in the Mediterranean and the Adri-
atic the Sicilian fleets vexed the kingdom whose
bondage they had so lately shared, and whose
VOL. II.
M
242
THE WAR OF THE
galleys were forced to seek shelter in her ports,
while the trade of her merchant vessels was
interrupted, and the towns and villages of the
coast deplored the ravages of the war.'
James sullied the laurels thus acquired by an
act of cruel vengeance. He perceived that, here
and there, feelings of discontent still rankled; he
learnt that Alaimo of Lentini was on the point of
obtaining from King Alfonso his own liberty, and
that of his nephews, and he hastened to compass
his destruction. For this purpose he despatched
to Catalonia, Bertram de Cannellis, a Catalan,
who, in Majorca, fell in with Adenulf of Mineo,
who had been lately released from prison, because
Alaimo, by the offer of ten thousand ounces of
gold, had convinced Alfonso of his innocence;
whereupon he and one of his nephews were set at
liberty, while the other was sent to Sicily to fetch
the money. But Bertram spoiled the bargain, by
bringing back Adenulf in chains to the Court of
Aragon, and confounding the king by his ener-
getic remonstrances, pleading that the three
should be given up to the sovereign power of the
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 102-104. Montaner, ch. 109, 113,
116, 148, 149, 152, with some anachronisms.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
243
King of Sicily, as his subjects; instigators of
treason in the island; men of power and influ-
ence, who could, at any moment, raise the whole
of Sicily in rebellion, and cause the destruction of
James, his brothers, the mother of both the kings,
and every man who spoke the Catalan tongue.
At first Alfonso resisted, but the ambassador
persisting, and almost accusing the king of
Aragon of complicity with the traitors, at length
carried his point. The prisoners having been
given up to him, he embarked them under a
strong escort, and caused them to confess them-
selves to a Minorite friar, before, as he said,
encountering the perils of so long a voyage, beset
with enemies and pirates. They set sail from
Catalonia on the 16th of May, 1287, and on the 2d
of June, at the distance of fifty miles from Maret-
timo, the crews gladly hailed the shores of Sicily,
when Bertram summoned the prisoners on deck.
Turning to Alaimo, he bade him gaze his fill
on the welcome sight of his country; whereupon
the noble old man exclaimed, "Oh, Sicily! oh,
my country! how have I longed for thee, and yet
happy would it have been for me, if from the time
of my first infant wailings I had never beheld
M 2
244
THE WAR OF THE
thee more!"
The Catalan hesitated a few
moments, perhaps from pity, and then replied:
"Hitherto you have heard only my mind, noble
Alaimo; now that of the king must be heard
and obeyed;" and he unfolded a written scroll,
which Adenulf read. It was a mandate of the
king, stating, that whereas Alaimo of Lentini,
Adenulf of Mineo, and John of Mazarino, had
aforetime planned a vast and iniquitous con-
spiracy against the island and the Royal House of
Sicily, and were guilty of sundry other misdeeds;
and whereas their living on in confinement was
judged to be of great peril to the state, the peace
of which it was incumbent on him to preserve
even by the utmost rigours of justice, the king
committed to Bertram the charge of seizing them
in Catalonia, and flinging them overboard on the
first sight of the shores of Sicily.
Alaimo showed neither surprise, nor fear of
death; nor did he utter word of complaint, or
dwell vainly on the past; only he resented the
refinement of cruelty which had selected such a
scene for such a punishment, and denied him
sepulture in the land of his fathers. Yet with
Christian resignation he prayed for the king, and
SICILIAN VESPERS.
245
even for his executioners.
((
"I have lived," said
he, a life of sorrow and suffering even to my
old age, and now I close it without honour. I
lived not for myself, but for others, and for others
I must die. My misdeeds (and here, perchance,
he thought of the exaltation of Peter, and the
death of Walter)-my misdeeds have been greater
than they are deemed by man, and I have deserved
a more cruel death than this; let it, at least, bring
peace to my country, and put an end to suspicion."
He then himself asked for the piece of linen cloth
which was to be the instrument of death as well
as the bier and shroud of the hero of Messina.
The executioners swathed and fastened it round
him, and flung him into the sea; the two young
men shared his fate. The guilty vessel cast
anchor at Trapani, and the news of the death of
Alaimo spread horror throughout Sicily. All
remembered his noble birth, his lofty intellect and
courage in matters both of war and policy, the
power to which he attained, and the insane
arrogance of Macalda, which caused his ruin; his
friends trembled, and the cautious whispered that
the king must surely have had weighty cause for
what he had done. These rumours are mentioned
246
THE WAR OF THE
in somewhat obscure language by Neocastro, who
records with sympathising grief the execution and
the memorable words of Alaimo, perhaps the best,
and certainly the greatest man, of whom Sicily
had to boast in the revolution of the Vespers.¹
The war was, meantime, being carried on
against the enemy on the eastern coast. Upon
the death of Peter, and in the spring which
followed, they meditated an assault upon the island,
but our fleet attacking them in both the Medi-
terranean and Adriatic, they had enough to do to
defend themselves. At the new year, however,
they sought to assume the initiative in the attack,
in order, at least, to remove the seat of the war
from their own country. They knew, moreover,
that the admiral was absent, and the fleet
disarmed, and were further incited by the two
monks, Perrone and del Monte, arrested two
years before as conspirators at Messina, and
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 107-109. That John of Mazarino
was declared guilty of treason is confirmed by a diploma of King
James, given at Messina the 5th of August, 1288, by which a
tower and farm near Trapani, being part of his confiscated
estates, are granted to a noble named Bernard Milo; and by
another diploma, of the 30th July of the same year, granting to
one Villanuova the hamlet of Mazarino. Both are to be found
in the MSS. of the public library of Palermo.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
247
released by James, not from clemency, but weak-
ness; in return for which they now stirred up fresh
disturbances from the mainland, by declaring that
the threads of the conspiracy, which the king had
failed effectually to eradicate, still existed in
Sicily, especially at Agosta, Lentini, Catania, and
other towns in those regions; and that with a
small force, sufficient to make head against the
first attacks, round which the partisans might
rally, they would answer for the success of the
enterprise. These arguments they tried first upon
Pope Honorius, but he heeded them not; where-
upon they turned to Cardinal Gherardo and the
Count of Artois, who heard them gladly.' The
two regents, therefore, called out the militias,
took other Italians and French into their pay,
procured money by collections and so-called
benevolences from the cities; and collected and
equipped at Brindisi, observing the strictest
secresy as to their destination, forty galleys, five
2
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110. The Guelfs found Pope Honorius
so lukewarm in this enterprise, that he is openly blamed for it
by Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 113. Yet we find him dealing very
harshly with the House of Aragon, in the negotiations for the
liberation of Charles the Lame.
2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110, and various diplomas.
248
THE WAR OF THE
hundred horse, and five thousand foot, under the
command of Rainald d'Avella, a Neapolitan
knight, of renowned valour. The Holy See was
represented in the army by the Bishop of Mar-
torano, as legate, and Richard Morrone, as
captain, with the proclamation of the crusade and
the banners of the Church, Honorius not being
able to refuse these demonstrations when the
forces were furnished by others. At the same
time forty-three galleys and other vessels, and a
still larger military array, assembled at Sorrento,
with all the principal feudataries of the kingdom,
to attempt another enterprise, and to keep the foe
in suspense.
The fleet sailed from Brindisi on the 15th of
April, touched at Malta, and on the first of May
suddenly appeared at Agosta, taking advantage
of the time when the inhabitants, going to the
fair at Lentini, had left the town deserted, and
the castle carelessly guarded. Thus the landing
was effected without a blow being struck; but
when they sought a friendly parley within those
walls which, twenty years before, their countrymen
had defiled with so hideous a massacre, the infirm
citizens who had alone remained in Agosta returned
SICILIAN VESPERS.
249
a dignified answer, admonishing them never to
expect amity from them, or to look for aught but
war from every Sicilian city. The strangers, re-
torting that they came by the will of the Pope, a
feeble old man, Paccio by name, thus replied:-
"We regard the Church as our mother, but he
who now rules her as our enemy, since he sends
weapons and combatants to fight against us. In-
quire now of the legate whether God ever com-
manded Christian blood to be shed in order to
reduce Christians to servitude. If he tells you that
He has so enjoined, he misbelieves the Gospel; and
let him learn from us that the only weapons given
to the Church by the Christian faith, are humility,
the cross, and words of meekness." Such were in
those days the sentiments of Sicily! The town
and castle being occupied by the enemy, the
citizens did not return to Agosta, and the alarm
having spread throughout the neighbourhood,
the herds were driven off, the open country aban-
doned, and the inhabitants sought refuge in the
strongholds, resolved on an obstinate defence.¹
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 10.
Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 117, who states Rainald d'Avella's
ships to have amounted to fifty. Montaner, ch. 106, with many
errors as to time and proper names.
M 3
250
THE WAR OF THE
James learnt the tidings in Messina, whither
he had repaired for the greater facility of carrying
on the war, but where he now lay inactive, de-
ceived perhaps by representations of the supine-
ness of the enemy. But for this he amply atoned.
Instantly summoning the neighbouring towns
and feudataries to arms, and commanding all the
galleys of the island to put to sea, he in person
harangued the Messinese, calling them his people,
his, he repeated, only by the rights of friendship
and citizenship; and commended himself to Loria
as a son to a father. The latter, who had lately
returned from cruising with the Catalans on the
coasts of France, and doing homage to Alfonso
on his coronation at Saragossa, now recovering
his former greatness in the hour of peril, hastened
to Messina to arm the vessels, followed by the
valiant people, who with emulous zeal aided him
in the work, taking even their scanty food and
rest within the arsenal, and urged on by the praises,
caresses, and example of the admiral, who with
his own hands took part in the labour.
He was
thus toiling one night, soiled with smoke, his
arms bare, and in his doublet, when some familiar
of the court whispered to him that the king hold-
SICILIAN VESPERS.
251
ing counsel with his most trusty adherents con-
cerning the conduct of the war, the latter had
suggested to him to give the slip to the admiral,
whose zeal, despite all this bravado, was cooled,
even if his fidelity were not shaken. Thereupon
Roger hastened just as he was to the palace, and
in presence of the king broke forth into reproaches
against his adversaries, who lingered in slothful
luxury in the royal halls, while he was scouring
the seas, braving foes and tempests and securing
their indolent repose by his victories; then turn-
ing to James he resigned the command. Discom-
fited by this abrupt address, the courtiers hung
their heads; the king, who had warmly defended
the admiral during his absence, entreated him to
do what he himself desired, namely, to retain the
command; and he resumed with redoubled ardour
the equipment of the fleet, which was in readiness
in six days. James, leaving his mother in the
Castle of Matagrifone, and Messina loyal and well
supplied, proceeded on the 4th of May with only
ten companions to Taormina. On the 6th he
advanced to Aci and Catania, where were assem-
bled a thousand horse and many thousand foot,
composed of feudal, civic, and mercenary bands.
252
THE WAR OF THE
That very day an attempt had been made upon
Catania by the enemy, confiding in the machi-
nations of the two friars. They had gained over
many young men eager for innovation, who
secretly introduced into the city and concealed in
a house twelve French men-at-arms.
These were
to open the water-gate at night, and give admit-
tance to a strong detachment, which, leaving
Agosta, posted itself in ambush two miles from
Catania, while a division of the fleet showed itself
off the town. But the people on beholding the
ships rushed to arms, and stopped the traitors
within and the enemies without the walls; the
king arriving with the forces, and having cogni-
zance of the former, caused them to be secretly
watched, while the latter retired in the night.
They were, however, severely handled in a sharp
skirmish by only ten horse and fifty crossbowmen
of Catania who had sallied forth without the
knowledge of the king, under Martin Lopez, a
Catalan, and Messer Forte Tedeschi of Catania,
whom James rewarded with the post of Governor
of Aci. In the darkness they routed the rear-
guard as it repassed the Simeto, and cutting the
ropes of the raft, they slew or made prisoners
SICILIAN VESPERS.
253
many of the French, while the greater number
perished in the river. Catania presented in the
succeeding days a joyful spectacle to a Sicilian
heart. The admiral anchored there with twenty-
seven galleys, followed soon after by thirteen
others; the feudal militia assembled in great
force; and while the king was proposing to call a
parliament to ask for funds, they were liberally
supplied to him by the citizens of Catania,
amongst whom a widow, Agatha Seminara by
name, presented him with two hundred ounces of
gold, and all her jewels, for the defence of her
country. Amongst the leaders of the host we
find the Catalan William Calcerando, and the
Sicilians, Richard Passaneto of Lentini, Richard
of Santa Sofia, Raymond Alamanno the king's
marshal, Conrad Lancia, Matthew of Termini,
Antonio Papé of Piazza; and amongst the war-
like youths on board the Catalan galleys is espe-
cially noted one Niccolò la Currula, who could
wrestle with a bull and bring him to the ground.
These forces were immediately directed against
Agosta. The night before the thirteenth of May
the fleet sailed, and at day-break the king went
forth with the troops, twelve days after the occu-
254
THE WAR OF THE
pation by the enemy; in which time forty galleys
had been armed, as well as considerably more
than a thousand horse, and many thousand foot.¹
Such was the energy of James, the readiness of
his subjects, and the strength of the covenant
which bound king and people to each other!
We read, indeed, that at that time all hearts beat.
anxiously, the events of Agosta having increased
the suspicions of revolutionary humours. But
these were only the faint vestiges of the national
discontent, removed by the reforms of James, and
of some individual rancour occasioned by his acts
of severity, a blot on his character which at this
crisis did not prevent the interests of the nation
from being identical with those of the king.
Loria was the first to arrive at Agosta with the
fleet, and not finding that of the enemy, he
landed at once and began the attack; so that a
sharp conflict was engaged in the streets of the
deserted city between our crews and the enemy's
Atanasio d'Aci, in di Gregorio,
Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 10.
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110.
Bibl. Arag. vol. i. p. 279, &c.
None of these writers give the exact number of James's forces
except the naval ones. But Neocastro gives him 1,000 horse the
first day that he came to Catania, and says, that the number of
horse in the army had much increased, and that of the foot still
more. Montaner, ch. 107, puts the horse at 700, the foot at 3,000.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
255
horse, which at first had the advantage. But when
Roger, in order to make victory a matter of vital
necessity to his followers, caused the ladders of
the galleys to be withdrawn, the Sicilians rallied,
and barricading the street with barrels and other
wood-work, did such execution with their arrows,
that they drove back Rainald's forces into the
castle, and made themselves masters of the town.
Great scandal was given on this occasion by the
Preaching Friars, who, instigated by the unhallowed
rage of their brethren Perrone and del Monte,
appeared on the roof of their convent to insult
the Sicilians engaged with the enemy; in conse-
quence of which some of them were slain, others
shut themselves up in the fortress with the enemy,
and two fell into the hands of the admiral. One
of these, a Capuan, gave information of the forces
assembling at Sorrento against Val di Mazzara,
and that the fleet having quitted Agosta was
making sail towards Marsala with Henry de' Mari,
a citizen of that town and partisan of the French.
James, arriving the same day, beheld the standard
of Sicily displayed upon the walls of Agosta, so
that now the united forces could encamp to
north, south, and west against the castle, which,
256
THE WAR OF THE
though situated in the plain, was of great strength,
but ill supplied with water, and scantily provi-
sioned by Rainald, who dreaming only of conquest,
was far from expecting to find himself so soon
overtaken by the foe.'
But before commencing the siege of the castle,
the king, warned by the disclosures of the friar,
committed the command of Marsala to Berardo
di Ferro, the personal enemy of de' Mari, giving
orders likewise that the garrison should be aug-
mented by Boniface and Oberto di Camerana, of
Corleone, (of Lombard origin,) with the men
of that city, who had showed themselves so keen
in the first outbreak of the revolution; that the
condottieri and warriors of greatest repute from
the mountains should go down to reinforce the
2
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 10.
2 Diploma of the Emperor Frederick, given at Cremona, the
20th February, 1248. From this we learn that Oddone di Came-
rana, with many other Lombards, leaving their country for the
cause of the Emperor, came to Sicily, where first Scopello, and,
that not sufficing, afterwards the town of Corleone was given in
fief to Oddone. But that being rich, populous, and strong, was
resumed as a part of his own domain by the Emperor, who gave
in exchange for it Militello, in Val di Noto, which had reverted
to him on the extinction of the family of Lentini (a collateral
branch, perhaps, of that of Alaimo), which held it in fief. MSS.
of the public library of Palermo, Q. q. G. 12.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
207
maritime cities; that their walls and bastions
should be repaired; and that patrols should be
established everywhere along the coast to detect
the hostile fleet. It put to shore near Marsala,
attempted to storm the city, and was repulsed.
Henry de' Mari, having joined with twelve galleys
more, they again disembarked, but being beaten
back in this second attempt with greater loss,
they made sail for Naples, without attempting
further molestation to the island.'
All the arts of war in use at that time were
employed at the siege of Agosta, after the king,
through Conrad Lancia, had repeatedly offered
terms of surrender. We read that the approaches
were made in a species of parallel, a wall being
raised to protect the workmen; that the smiths
of the fleet constructed movable turrets on wheels,
cranes and a cat to batter the walls, which was
afterwards burnt in a sortie by the besieged;
that from catapults and other engines, stones
were showered into the castle, which were the
more destructive that they were aimed so as to
rebound; and Neocastro affirms, that one Cas-
tiglione, an engineer of the fleet, directed the
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 48.
258
THE WAR OF THE
catapult with such nicety, as at each discharge
to hit the only well within the castle. Thus,
although the enemy firmly repulsed all assaults,
owing to the advantages of the situation and
their own numbers, yet the latter served to in-
crease the slaughter, as but few discharges of
the assailants failed to tell; and they suffered still
more from the stench of the corpses, the scan-
tiness and foulness of the water, and the ex-
tremity of hunger which reduced them to the
necessity of devouring horses, and sucking their
blood. On the thirty-fourth day, disappointed in
the prospect of rain, and seeing no hope of
succour, the Apulians of the garrison rose in
resistance under John Boccatorsola, a young
Neapolitan knight, who remonstrated sharply
with the legate; but they were overpowered by
artifice, Boccatorsola taken and beheaded, and
the unarmed mutineers expelled from the castle,
the French flinging amongst them from their
engines the body of their leader and driving
them away with showers of stones. They came
to the Sicilian lines, and were repulsed for fear
of treachery, and for three days the ill-fated
band, placed between two enemies and tortured
SICILIAN VESPERS.
259
with hunger and thirst, cried despairingly for
mercy. They obtained it at length from James,
escaping only with their lives. Rainald d'Avella,
with the legate and the remains of the garrison,
surrendered on the same terms, after a siege of
forty days, on the 23d of June, 1287, and at
the same moment, Fra Perrone of Aidone, the
original author of this deplorable sacrifice of
human life, either in order to escape from punish-
ment, or from the mortification of the failure of
the expedition, ran his head violenly against a
wall, and ended his stormy life by suicide.¹
On the same day the Sicilian flag obtained a
glorious victory in the Bay of Naples. The
engines of war having been perfected at the
siege of Agosta, the admiral sailed to Marsala,
where, not finding the foe, he returned to the
king, and they together decided to attack with-
out delay the other armament equipped on the
Mediterranean. The admiral accordingly directed
his course to Sorrento, reinforced by five Paler-
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 10,
12, with fewer details. Giovanni Villani, book vii. ch. 117.
Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 48. Montaner, ch. 107, with an error
as to date, and the addtion of some not yery credible circum-
stances.
260
THE WAR OF THE
mitan galleys, under the command of Palmiero
Abate, and having, says Speciale, promised a
largess to his followers, or rather, that all the
spoil taken in the expedition should be the pro-
perty of the individual captor, as stated by Mon-
taner, who understood these matters better, and
who attributes to this custom the marvellous
achievements of these wars. Here, on the 16th
of June, Loria learnt that the fleet lay almost
in readiness at Castellamare; he went himself to
reconnoitre, and, resolved to hasten the battle,
he wrote a challenge to the hostile admiral, a
noble, named Narzone. The fleet of the latter
consisted of eighty-four large vessels, between
galleys and others, in which he embarked the
bulk of the forces, with many knights and nobles,
and those great feudataries who were but little in-
ferior to the king himself, the Counts of Montfort,
Joinville, Flanders, Brienne, Aquila, and Mono-
poli, with the eldest son of the Count of Avellino ;
so that this was afterwards called the Battle of
the Counts. In the centre of the fleet, drawn
up in battle array, the Angevin admiral took his
post, filling his galley with the flower of the
youth, surrounded in front, in flank, and in rear,
SICILIAN VESPERS.
261
by eight others, and causing the banners of the
Church, and of the Princes of Anjou, to be un-
folded on board two huge vessels. The Sicilian
eagles, on the other hand, were displayed by forty
galleys, drawn up by Loria, in what order we
know not, but only that he apportioned their
several duties to all on board, some of whom
were to discharge stones and arrows, others to
grapple with, and board the hostile vessels. At
break of day, on the 23d of June, a loud whistle
was heard from our capitana,' the fleet got under
weigh, and on the animated exhortation of Loria,
shouting aloud the sacred name of Christ, and of
Nostra Donna delle Scale, it bore down upon the
Papal flag.
William Trara was the first to strike the ene-
my's line, from which four galleys immediately
detached themselves to envelop him, and others
were following them, when the galleys of Mi-
lazzo, Lipari, and Trapani, then those of Syra-
cuse, Catania, Agosta, and Taormina, and, lastly,
those of Cefalù, Eraclea, Licata, and Sciacca,
rushed to the rescue; so that Trara was disen-
gaged, and the conflict became general. Our
The galley of the admiral, or commander; flag-ship.—Trans.
262
THE WAR OF THE
vessels were in numbers as one against two; but
they had greater naval experience, and the confi-
dence of victory, and were encouraged by the
admiral, who, clad in glittering armour, stood in
the sight of all on the lofty stern of his galley,
issuing his commands. Thus the day was long
and murderously contested, until the enemy being
weary and the Genoese galleys remaining inactive
beside them, the Sicilians advanced impetuously
to board, and the flight towards Naples began.
This decided the victory,--the fourth gained by
Sicily in pitched battle on the seas during the
war; and the noblest of all, owing to the in-
equality of forces, the obstinacy of the conflict,
and the number of captured vessels. It had as
much effect in changing the fortune of the
struggle as the first one in the Bay of Naples,
three years before, or as that off Cape St. Sebas-
tian; but these acquired greater celebrity; the
former owing to the capture of Prince Charles,
the latter by the liberation of Catalonia from the
arms of France. Many thousands, both of friends
and foes, fell on this bloody day; and the splen-
dour of the triumph was augmented by the cap-
ture of forty-four galleys, with the standards, the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
263
hostile admiral, all the counts, thirty-two nobles,
and four or five thousand men. Loria sent them
to Messina, under an escort of ten Sicilian galleys;
having, in savage requital of the barbarities of
the enemy, or in compliance with the atrocious
custom of the times and of those wars, blinded
several of his prisoners. With the remaining
thirty galleys, he hastened to present himself
before the port of Naples.¹
Here the people, according to custom, accused
their rulers of the late calamity, and clamoured,
and would have risen in rebellion, if the admiral
had done anything to follow up his success, or
if Cardinal Gherardo and the Count d'Artois,
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 110, 111. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch.11.
Montaner, ch. 105, with some errors in date and circumstances.
Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 117. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 48.
Chronicle of Parma, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. p. 812. Tolomeo
da Lucca, Hist. Eccl. book xxiv. ch. 22, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xi.
Chronicle of Rouen, in Labbe, Bibl. manuscripta, vol. i. p. 381:
and several diplomas attesting the blinding of prisoners after
this battle. Until we find documents relating to earlier periods,
similar to these (which, painful as they are, I have not the less
faithfully recorded,) we may believe with Montaner, ch. 118, that
such cruelties were an act of reprisal on the part of Roger Loria,
and only exercised by him long after he had seen the enemy put
out the eyes and cut off the hands of the prisoners taken from him
in battle; and this, though far from justifying such proceedings,
may at least serve as some extenuation of them. Montaner
adds, that these reprisals caused the enemy to desist from such
unhallowed practices.
264
THE WAR OF THE
hastening to the spot while it was yet time, had not
restrained them by their influence. Roger turned
his victory to account by concluding a bargain
with the regents for a truce of two years upon the
seas, in consideration of a large sum of money.
This he did without authority from the king, and
without benefit to Sicily; thus giving the enemy
time to repair their loss and to arrest the course
of their ill-fortune. Hence, in the counsels of
James, the rivals of the admiral redoubled their
accusations, and whispered of treason; but John
of Procida, who was foremost in the king's favour,
obtained pardon for his fault in consideration of
his glory, deeming it dangerous to provoke such a
man, or desiring to retain him for the support of
his own influence at court.
Thus, when Loria returned to Messina with
the fleet, the triumph, though undisturbed, was
marked by no great exultation. It is worthy of
record, that on the surrender of Agosta, James
forbade all public rejoicings (excepting psalms of
thanksgiving) for this victory over the banners of
the Church. He carefully repaired the fortifica-
tions of the Castle of Agosta, strengthened both
it and the town and castle by surrounding them
SICILIAN VESPERS.
265
with a wall; and as it had been well-nigh depopu-
lated by the massacre of 1268, and by the late
siege, he repeopled it, by the promise of pro-
perty and immunities to all Catalans and Si-
cilians who should take up their abode there. Of
the prisoners, Rainald d'Avella and the Bishop of
Martorano were ransomed by the cession of the
Castle of Ischia; so faithfully did the regents act
towards them; but the citizens of Naples held it
a disgrace, that, for the space of twelve years, the
Sicilians, thus holding the mouth of the bay, ex-
acted a tribute of a golden florin upon every
barrel of wine exported, twice as much upon oil,
and a proportionate sum upon other articles of
The other counts and nobles re-
deemed themselves with gold, except Guy de
Montfort, he who feared not to assassinate the
innocent Henry of England in the temple of
the Lord, who died of illness in the prisons of
Messina.¹
commerce.
Strong in these victories and in her internal
prosperity, Sicily remained quiet about the space
of two years, notwithstanding the invectives
1 Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 12. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 111.
Montaner, ch. 108, 113, with an error as to date.
VOL. II.
N
266
THE WAR OF THE
launched against her by Pope Nicholas IV. imme-
diately upon his inauguration, on Holy Thursday
of the year 1288. During the truce negotiations
for peace were also carried on, but by foreign
powers, and therefore to her disadvantage. For
the peace between England and France being
doubtful and insecure, Edward, who had much
prudent foresight in state affairs, feared the
aggrandizement of the latter kingdom by the war
against Aragon; and in order to remove the cause
of it, he strove, under the appearance of friend-
ship, to procure the liberation of Charles the
Lame, and the conclusion of peace. Such was
the object of his negotiation, of which mention
has already been made in the time of King
Peter;² and with the same intent, moved, as he
said, by the prayers of the sons of Charles, and
of the notables of Provence, he devised a congress
at Bordeaux of the orators of Aragon, France,
Castile, Majorca, and the legates of the Holy
See; and going to Paris on the 25th July,
1286, he concluded a truce between France and
3
1 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1288, §§ 10, 11.
2 See Chapter XII.
3 Rymer's Fœdera, vol. ii. diplomas of the 5th February, 2d
and 13th May, and 29th June, 1286, pp. 315, 317-319.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
267
Aragon,' being unable to effect a peace, as the
knot was one very difficult to unloose. James,
entrenching himself behind the preliminaries
granted him in Cefalù, by Charles himself, de-
manded, besides the matrimonial alliance, Sicily,
the diocese of Reggio, and the tribute of Tunis.
Rome, doing battle for the Princes of Anjou more
obstinately than they themselves desired, insisted
peremptorily on the restitution of Sicily; Alfonso,
urged on by family and national interest, supported
his brother; the King of France, restrained by
the Court of Rome and Charles of Valois, would
make no concessions. Edward, unable to shake
the determination of the Pope, who feared nothing,
turned himself to Alfonso, who was kept under
considerable restraint by the Cortes of Aragon
and Catalonia, impatient of such accumulated
evils incurred in the support of interests foreign
to themselves, and further disturbed by the
reappearance of French arms in Roussillon.
Alfonso hesitated, then persuaded by Edward,
began to detach himself from the cause of his
1 Rymer, loc. cit. pp. 326, 328-333, two diplomas of the 15th
July, 1286, and others of the 22d, 24th, and 25th of the same
month. Another of the 15th July, in Martene and Durand,
Thes. Nov. Anecd. vol. i. p. 1217.
N 2
268
THE WAR OF THE
brother by a convention concluded at Oléron in
Béarn. This treaty appeared unsatisfactory to
the Court of Rome, which disavowed it, and
therefore it was remodelled by the patient princes
the following year at Campofranco; where the
guarantees of Oléron having been diminished, and
such portions of the treaty left in doubt as could
not be agreed upon, Alfonso liberated the prisoner,
without concluding express stipulations either for
James or for Sicily, thereby postponing to his own
interests the incontestable rights of Sicily, by
whose arms, and not by those of Aragon, the
prince had been captured in the Bay of Naples.
Thereupon Charles II., leaving three of his sons
prisoners in his room, and having paid to Alfonso
thirty thousand marks of silver, went forth from
confinement at the beginning of November, 1288.
He swore that he would return to captivity if
within a year he did not procure peace for
Aragon; but the Pope absolved him from his
oath, as well as Edward and the Barons who
were sureties, tore in pieces and annulled, as
exorbitant in its pretensions, the treaty of
Campofranco penned by an official of the Court
of Rome, and continued to grant the ecclesiastical
SICILIAN VESPERS.
269
tithes to the King of France, and to make a
display of favouring the enterprise of Valois, in
order effectually to separate Alfonso from his
brother, and to obtain, without any further equi-
valent, the liberation of the sons of Charles the
Lame, as he had succeeded in obtaining that of
their father. This prince, though himself an
upright and honourable man, was wrought upon
the following year by similar arguments, to fill
up the measure of the mockery by presenting
himself with a powerful array of armed men
before the hill of Paniças, as if ready to return
to prison; then declaring that he had not found
any one to receive him back into custody, he
protested that for his part he had fulfilled every
engagement, and even demanded the restitution
of the hostages, and of the ransom.
Such was the first result of the negotiations of
these foreign sovereigns on the subject of the
events of the Revolution of the Vespers. They in-
clined, as I have already said, to our disadvantage,
owing to the power of the Court of Rome, and be-
cause the interests of Sicily were confided to the
guardianship of the King of Aragon, who was
compelled to abandon them, if he would retain
270
THE WAR OF THE
his throne. James therefore instantly resumed
arms, trusting to the Sicilian nation, which would
have to combat for life and liberty as well as
for the crown. Charles II. meanwhile, passing
from Provence into Italy, did homage to the Pope
for his kingdom, and was crowned at Rieti the
19th of June, 1289, to the great joy of the whole
Guelf party in Italy, which thus beheld its leader
restored to it. The new king immediately took
horse and proceeded to his own kingdom, already
torn by the fierce energy of Sicilian warfare.'
1 The particulars of the negotiations were as follows:-
Honorius urged Philip the Fair to resume the enterprise
attempted by his father, and to this end gave authority to the
Papal Legate in France to suspend and excommunicate all
ecclesiastics who should take part with Alfonso in Aragon. (Arch.
of France, J, 714, 9.)
Edward had no sooner concluded the truce, in July, 1286, than
he earnestly solicited its ratification by the Pope (Rymer's
Fœdera, vol. ii. pp. 334, 345), who despatched the Archbishops of
Ravenna and Morreale to treat of peace, without, however, con-
cluding it on their own authority, so Honorius added, in so
delicate and important a matter. (Ibid. pp. 340, 341. Raynald,
Ann. Eccl. 1286, §§ 13, 14. Chron. of Parma, in Muratori, R. I.S.
vol. ix. p. 810.)
Alfonso insisting on the preliminaries of Cefalù, the Pope
indignantly broke off the negotiations (Raynald, Ann. Eccl.
1287, § 6; Rymer, loc. cit. p. 358), and granted subsidies to
Philip the Fair and Charles of Valois, that they might make a show
of renewing the war, which they did by some slight demonstra-
tions in Roussillon. (Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1286, § 28; Montaner,
ch. 158, 160.)
Meanwhile, the Cortes of Aragon and Catalonia had, from the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
271
In the spring of 1289 it was resolutely attacked
by James, who was further encouraged by an in-
trigue with the citizens of Gaeta. He crossed to
Reggio, on the 15th of April, with forty galleys
commencement of Alfonso's reign, assumed the sovereign power
(Zurita, Ann. of Arag. book iv. ch. 77, 78), the nation still openly
disapproved the Sicilian enterprise and only supported Alfonso
from dread of French domination. Hence Alfonso was induced
to enter into terms, at Oléron, in Béarn, the 15th of July, 1287,
in the presence of the two pontifical Legates, for the liberation of
Charles. It was agreed that he should pay a ransom of 50,000
marks of silver; that the truce being proclaimed between France
and Aragon, and Sicily included therein, Charles should exert
himself to obtain the adhesion of the Pope and of Charles of
Valois; that within this time he should bring about a peace
which should be satisfactory to the Kings of Aragon and Sicily,
and should be ratified by the Church; that Charles should give
his three sons as hostages, with sixty nobles and burgesses of
Provence; and that the governors of the fortresses of Provence
should swear to give themselves up to Aragon, if within three
years he neither effected the peace nor returned to captivity.
(Rymer, loc. cit. pp. 346, 350-352; Lünig, Cod. Ital. Dipl. vol. ii.
pp. 1035-1040.) Moreover, the marriage was confirmed between
Alfonso and the daughter of Edward I. which had for so many
years been prevented by the Pope. (Rymer, loc. cit. pp. 320—349.)
The inflexible policy of Rome annulled the treaty of Oléron, in
spite of the death of Honorius. First the College of Cardinals,
and then Nicholas IV. exhorted Edward to devise some other
means for the liberation of the prisoner; admonished Alfonso,
forbidding him to aid his brother; and renewed the grant of the
tithes to France for the purpose of carrying on the war. (Rymer,
loc. cit. pp. 353, 358, &c. 362, 365, 366; Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1288,
§§ 11-15.)
Hence arose the treaty of Campofranco, penned by a notary of
the Pope, in accordance with the terms of which Charles paid
20,000 marks, borrowing 10,000 of them from Edward, and
272
THE WAR OF THE
,
and lighter vessels, four hundred horse, and ten
thousand foot. On the 15th of May he began to
move northwards along the western coast of Cal a
bria, himself advancing by land with the troops,
giving security for 7,000 more; gave only English hostages
and pledged his word that within a year he would procure a
truce between France and Aragon, or would return to prison.
Saragossa, and other cities and barons on both sides, guaranteed
the observance of the terms. Charles swore to them, and after
leaving Catalonia renewed his oath, from which the Pope after-
wards absolved him. (Rymer, loc. cit. p. 368, &c.; Lünig, loc. cit
pp. 1035–1040; Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1288, §§ 16, 17.)
The doubt in which the treaty of Campofranco was involved is
shown moreover by a letter of Alfonso, dated the 4th January,
1290, in which he declares that of Oléron not to be annulled,
and that Charles had bound himself to procure peace for James
of Sicily likewise. Charles was aided with funds for the pay-
ment of his ransom, no less by his subjects than by other Italian
cities. He sojourned at first in Provence, then in the spring of
1289 passed into Italy, visited his kingdom when he concluded
the truce of Gaeta, and immediately returned to France, to con-
tinue the negotiations, and go through the farce of presenting
himself in Spain, as the other exasperated potentates would not
hear of peace, which he sought to advance, in accordance rather
with his disposition, than with his interests. (Rymer, loc. cit.
pp. 429, 430, 435, 438, 441; Papon, Hist. Gén. de Provence,
vol. iii. docum. 20; Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1289, §§ 1-11, 13-15;
Chron. of Jacopo Malvecio, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. xiv. ch. 103,
104, 106, 108.) The Pope's persistance in menacing Alfonso after
the liberation of King Charles, to obtain that of his sons, and the
absolute abandonment by him of King James of Sicily, is proved
by several briefs treating of a renewal of the grant of ecclesias-
tical tithes to the King of France, and a bull of the 31st May,
1289, by which he gave authority to the Bishop of Orleans and
to the Abbot of Cluny to re-admit into the bosom of the Church
those who had been excommunicated for adherence to Peter and
SICILIAN VESPERS.
273
the admiral by sea with the fleet, and keeping
within sight of one another in order to act in
concert. They occupied Sinopoli, Santa Cristina,
Bubalino, Seminara, and, after several severe as-
saults, Monteleone also, where they disembarked
the crews; Rocca, Castel Mainardo Maida, Ferolito,
and Aiello. Artois wished to make head against
them, but was compelled to retreat hastily into the
upper provinces, first escaping with difficulty from
an ambuscade, then not venturing to invest the
Sicilian camp, and lastly, astounded at the daring
of Calcerando and the brothers Sarriano, who,
with a handful of men, attacking the centre of
his camp before Squillaci, entered to reinforce the
town and maintain it in its allegiance to James.
Amantea, Fiume Freddo, Castel di Paola, Fus-
caldo, surrendered to our arms; but a resolute
resistance was offered by the castles of Belvedere
and San Gineto, both held by Roger San Gineto,
and strong in their position and in the valour of
Alfonso of Aragon. (Arch. of France, J, 714-18, 12, 11, 12, 12,
13, 13, 14, 15, 18, 15.)
See also for all these negotiations-Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 111,
112; Niccolò Speciale, book ii. ch. 15; Tolomeo da Lucca, Hist.
Eccl. book xxiv. ch. 23, in Mur. R. I. S. vol. xi.; Gio. Villani,
book vii. ch. 125-130; Montaner, ch. 162, 166-169, who all
give the account more or less correctly.
N 3
274
THE WAR OF THE
their lord and also of his wife, a woman of mas-
culine spirit, who was seen on the battlements
of San Gineto encouraging the garrison and with
her own hand hurling down stones upon the
heads of the assailants, who, emboldened by so
many previous successes, advanced to storm the
castle. James, leaving Belvedere, pressed the
siege of this fortress with the utmost vigour, im-
patient to follow up his victorious course; and
incensed against Roger, who, having already once
fallen into the hands of the Sicilians, in the fre-
quent skirmishes in Calabria, had promised to
yield up the castle, giving two of his sons as
hostages, and now denied the agreement, and de-
fended himself valiantly.
Here a fearful tragedy struck horror even into
the hearts envenomed by the obstinate con-
flict betwixt besiegers and besieged. The castle
was on the point of surrendering for want of
water, when, an unexpected prospect of rain so
inspirited the garrison, that, resuming the offen-
sive, they took aim with their catapults at the
very tent of King James. The admiral thereupon
giving way to one of his accustomed bursts of
blind and ruthless fury, ordered a scaffold to be
SICILIAN VESPERS.
275
erected with oars in front of the tent, upon which
he caused the two sons of Roger to be bound, in
the sight and with the knowledge of their father.
The mother became aware of it; in an agony of
despair she rushed to the walls, imploring the
mercy of the enemy-that of her own followers—
adjuring now the King of Sicily, now her fierce
consort; while the combatants stayed their blows,
and all turned their tearful eyes upon Roger of
San Gineto. Some say that he caused the use of
the engines to be suspended; others, that with
inhuman virtue he commanded the discharges to
be continued. But amid this fearful struggle of
human passion, the heavens had become black
with clouds, a fearful tempest broke forth; the
roar of the hurricane and whirlwinds of dust con-
founded every object of sight and sound; when a
momentary respite showed the scaffolding falling
to the ground in a heap, (whether overthrown by
a gust of wind, or by a discharge from the castle,
is unknown,) and a sharp stake entering the
temple of the elder of the youths, killed him
on the spot. James restored the body, with
funeral honours, to the unhappy parents, freely
restored to them their remaining son, and raised
276
THE WAR OF THE
དེ་
the siege; for, aware that the tempest had sup-
plied the castle with water, and that his own fleet
had narrowly escaped destruction on the coast,
and being moreover anxious to carry out a nego-
tiation that was pending between him and the
citizens of Gaeta, he again put to sea with all his
forces to prosecute the plan of the campaign.'
He touched at Scalea, Castell' Abate, Capri
and Procida, which were held for him; lay off
Ischia; and disembarked on the 30th of June at
Gaeta, putting to flight without difficulty the
Count of Avellino, whose former imprisonment in
Sicily returned somewhat too vividly to his recol-
lection in this encounter. But the faction which
had invited James, presuming much upon its own
strength, found itself greatly reduced at that
period, when Charles II., backed by all the
assistance of Rome, reentering the kingdom by
Solmona and Venafro, directed his steps towards
Naples. The Pope granted him the ecclesiastical
tithes for three years, and proclaimed the cross
throughout the whole of Italy, which was followed
2
3
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 112. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 13.
2 Ibid, loc. cit.; Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 14.
3 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1289, § 13.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
277
in troops by the Guelfs of Lombardy and Tus-
cany, by the men of the Abbruzzi, of Campania,
and of other provinces of the kingdom, besides
the feudal militias, summoned to the performance
of their military service. The Saracens of Lucera
likewise advanced under the banner of the Church
and the command of the pontifical legate. And
Neocastro with his own eyes saw women bearing
arms amongst these bands, and huge mastiffs led
in leashes to feast on the flesh of the excommu-
nicated Sicilians. This countless host, com-
pounded of such singular and various materials,
was commanded by the Count of Artois,' in the
stead of the unwarlike king, who was at Naples,
intent upon calling a parliament, and seeking
milder methods of reconciliation with the Sicilians,
promising them pardon and reform, and that the
government of Sicily should not be entrusted to
the French, but to a legate of the Pope.'
The fame of these immense forces going before
them to Gaeta, gained over all hearts to the
Angevin interest; so that those who had been
intriguing with James were the first to lift up
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 112. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 14.
2 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1289, § 15.
278
THE WAR OF THE
their voices against him. The city was there-
fore carefully fortified and supplied; and the
king, having in vain attempted negotiations, after
a few days began to menace force. He himself,
with the horse and the flower of his host, en-
camped upon a height, while the rest of the
infantry pitched their tents in the plain, and
both camps were defended with entrenchments in
anticipation of coming danger. This siege con-
tinued long, amid vigorous assaults as vigorously
repulsed, and mutual discharges from the engines;
while our forces occupied and sacked Mola di
Gaeta, and swept the country from the Garigliano
on the one side, to Fondi on the other, wasting
and plundering the lordships of Nola, Maranola,
and Tragetto. But meanwhile, Gaeta, though
severely injured, was unsubdued.
Before long the crusading host made its appear-
ance, rushed in impetuous masses to storm the
Sicilian entrenchments; and, being repulsed with
much bloodshed, proceeded likewise to encamp at
a short distance. Thus, both Gaeta and King
James's forces were placed in a state of siege; the
former between the fleet and the army of the
Sicilians, the latter between the town and the
SICILIAN VESPERS.
279
hostile camp, all mutually injuring each other by
the discharges of their engines. In the open
country the struggle was fiercer, skirmishes taking
place daily between our people and the Saracens,
the French, or the Tuscan crusaders; while it
frequently happened that the mastiffs let loose
against the Sicilians appeased their hunger with
the flesh of those who had brought them as
auxiliaries to the war. Leucio, whose name was
rendered glorious by his achievements in 1282,
and Bonfiglio, both Messinese, signalised them-
selves in these encounters, and in a more serious
engagement, Matthew di Termini one day broke
the serried phalanx of the enemy by the discharges
of his engines. It seemed impossible, that ten
thousand men should hold out so resolutely,
between a hostile town and an army of such
strength. The valour of the Sicilian host won for
it the admiration, and even the hearts of its
enemies; while astonished and perplexed, all
Italy awaited the catastrophe.
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 112. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 14.
Montaner, ch. 164, 165, 169. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 134.
The extent of the damage suffered by the city of Gaeta may be
inferred from the immunity from royal taxes, and even from
ecclesiastical tithes, granted to it soon after in compensation and
reward. Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1290, §§ 24, 25; and Villani, loc. cit.
280
THE WAR OF THE
But, meanwhile, the violation of the treaties
of Oléron and Campofranco, obviously in con-
sequence of the commands of the Pope, gave
umbrage to Edward of England; and for the
further discomfiture of Nicholas, lamentable
tidings arrived from the East of the expulsion of
the Christians from Syria, and the taking of
Tripoli by the Sultan, accompanied by fearful
acts of cruelty, while the scanty remnant of the
faithful besieged in Acre implored succour from
the West. Edward, therefore, unable longer to
endure the sight of the cross displayed against
Christians in Europe, while it was trampled under
foot by the Infidels in Asia, despatched Odo de
Grandisson to convey to the Pope a message of
bitter reproach, enjoining him to put an end to so
great a scandal, on pain of the indignation of all
Christian princes. Nicholas humbled himself be-
fore the force of truth; he sent, together with the
English ambassador, a messenger to King Charles,
who had repaired to the camp at Gaeta on the 18th
of August. Charles was not a man to refuse the
cessation of hostilities which he had so repeatedly
promised, and these negotiations, added to the
difficulty, which appeared equally great on either
SICILIAN VESPERS.
281
side, of bringing the struggle to a successful termi-
nation, speedily led to the conclusion of a truce.
Orators went backwards and forwards between
the camps to treat of peace; and Neocastro re-
lates on this occasion, that the French knights
entering the tents of the Sicilian king, and be-
holding them glittering with swords, lances, and
warlike adornments of every description, and
seeing the well-constructed engines, and the stra-
tegic art displayed in the entrenchment of the camp,
recalled with chagrin the apartments of their own
Charles II., rather resembling the cell of a priest,
and filled with books of prophecy, mosaics, and
dalmaticas, in the stead of coats of mail. With
regard to the main point of the treaty, the Angevin
orators harping on their favourite string of the
cession of Sicily, Loria, in the presence of King
James, roughly replied, that he would not give up
the island though all the world were to join in a
crusade against it. At length, in August, 1289, in
place of the peace, which could not be brought about,
a truce was concluded between Sicily and Naples,
to continue until All Saints day, of the year 1291,
upon the following conditions: that both parties
should lay down their arms, both by sea and land,
282
THE WAR OF THE
excepting in the Calabrias, in the neighbourhood
of Castell' Abate, and in a few other places; that
James might furnish provisions and supplies by
sea to all the towns occupied by him, but not
bring his fleet before those which retained their
allegiance to Charles; that in cases of infraction
of the truce, the damage should be proved before.
the magistrates of the injured party, or before
John de Montfort on the side of King Charles,
and Roger Loria on that of King James, and that
restitution should be made by the sovereign of
the offending party within forty days. Amongst
these articles it is worthy of remark, as showing
with what undisciplined bands Sicily gained such
numerous victories, that the "almugaveri" were
excepted from the truce, King James declining to
be answerable for them; he, however, promised
not to favour their incursions, nor to send with
them any of his own officers and mercenaries.
This truce excited the extreme indignation of King
Charles's barons; who, finding themselves now in
the proportion of ten to one, hoped at length to
make themselves amends for the defeats they had
experienced in the Sicilian war. According to
the terms agreed upon, Charles was the first to
SICILIAN VESPERS.
283
raise his camp; James did so three days later,
and embarking with all his forces, on the 30th of
August, took port at Messina on the 7th of Sep-
tember, after having suffered great stress of
weather off Cape Palinuro. Imitating the brag-
gadocio of Charles's barons, some Neapolitan
historians have since asserted that, had hostilities
been continued, the small Sicilian force must
inevitably have been overwhelmed; but the Guelf
Villani acknowledges the treaty to have been of
great service to the kingdom of Naples; and
Charles himself, less given to vaunting than his
followers, a few months later, gloried only in the
fact, that James had in vain attempted the con-
quest of Gaeta. The same inference may be
drawn from the warlike attitude maintained by
the Sicilian captains during the negotiations ;
from the fact, that James remained master of
the greater part of the Calabrias, besides several
towns, occupied here and there throughout the
mainland provinces; and from the other honour-
able terms, the conclusion of which closed this
daring expedition against the furthest extremity
of the enemy's territory.'
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 112. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 14.
Montaner, ch. 169. Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1289, §§ 65, 67. Gio.
284
THE WAR OF THE
In the two succeeding years, during which
regular warfare with Naples was interrupted, the
truce was badly observed; for men were accus-
tomed to have arms constantly in their hands,
and to injure and plunder each other mutually ;
so that, sometimes from covetousness, sometimes
by way of reprisals, or from the impossibility of
restraining the "almugaveri," captures by sea and
assaults by land continued on both sides, and,
as it appears on the whole, to the advantage of
the Sicilians, who made a traffic of their prisoners,
and sometimes threatened, and even effected,
important enterprises by sea.¹ For these, the
admiral himself paved the way, by complaining,
on one occasion, of the infraction of the treaty,
Villani, book vii. ch. 134, who states our army to have been
driven back from Calabria by the Count of Artois.
A diploma of the 27th Dec. 1290, in the Royal Archives of
Naples, Register of Charles II. marked 1291, A, pp. 183, 184,
gives the conditions of the truce, concerning which historians are
silent, recording only its duration.
Pope Boniface afterwards reproached Charles for the conclusion
of this hasty truce, without his knowledge or that of Gherardo.
Both of these were then with the Angevin host as papal legates,
and it is strange that one of them would have opposed that
which the Pope desired. Brief of the 9th Jan. 1300, in Raynald
Ann. Eccl. 1300, § 15.
1 See numerous diplomas in the Archives of Naples, Register
of Charles II.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
285
and adding, that these were not words spoken at
random; that his speech did not belie his inten-
tions; and that, therefore, his adversaries might
be warned that he would regulate his observance
of the truce upon their own. At the same time
the Sicilian arms reaped glory in the East also.
Loria went with the fleet to escort back to his
own country the Arab Prince Margano, who pro-
mised a ransom, but had no sooner disembarked
on Mahometan soil, than, riding to Tolometa with
a band of Sicilians, he sought to ensnare them;
but they, extricating themselves with signal
valour from the hands of the barbarians, and
compelling the king to deliver the money, re-
turned with it to Messina. About the same time
this city was visited by John de Greilly, the
Seneschal of Edward I., who had dealt so honour-
ably with King Peter at Bordeaux, and who now
came from Acre to solicit the aid of the Church.
James received him with distinguished honours,
and gave him seven Sicilian galleys to do battle
in those parts for the faith.'
At this period the negotiations for peace be-
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 113. Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 14.
Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1290, § 7.
f
286
THE WAR OF THE
came more important as proceeding from him
who alone could bring them to a conclusion,
namely, Pope Nicholas, whom fear of the sultan's
arms had suddenly converted to milder views.
Neocastro does not attribute the change to so
simple a cause, but relates that, soon after the
proclamation of the truce, one Geronimo, a decre-
pid hermit from Mount Etna, presented himself
before the Pontiff, to reveal to him the admoni-
tions of Heaven in favour of Sicily, and won him
over by the force of his apostolic words, which
are powerfully rendered in the pages of the Sici-
lian chronicler. Whatever may have been his
reasons, Nicholas despatched a Catalan friar, Ray-
mond by name, to the King of Sicily, to hold out
hopes to him of the favour of the Holy See, if he
would hasten to the assistance of Acre with the
Sicilian fleet. James replied, that if he were
recognised King of Sicily, and a truce for five
years granted, with supplies of money, he would
proceed to the Holy Land with three hundred
horse, ten thousand foot, and thirty galleys.
Loria (to such power had he attained!) promised
at the same time that he would add, at his own
expense, ten galleys, a hundred horse, and two
SICILIAN VESPERS.
287
thousand foot. But this unwonted benignity on
the part of the Pope was otherwise interpreted in
Sicily. Pandolf di Falcone, and other Sicilians,
experienced in state affairs, rose up to dissuade
the king, reminding him that Pope Innocent had
spread a similar snare for the Emperor Frederick;
and that, by carrying the arms of Sicily into the
East, he would leave the island a defenceless prey
in the hands of the enemy. James, thus admo-
nished, sent to the Pope John of Procida, a fit
match for the politicians of Rome; who, assigning
plausible reasons for this change of purpose,
obtained the consent of Nicholas that the expe-
dition to the Holy Land should be deferred until
the conclusion of a stable peace between the
Church and King James. The Pope, however,
chose to refer the question to the negotiations for
a general peace, which were to be carried on in
Provence, between Aragon, France, the Church,
Naples, Majorca, and Charles of Valois, by the
mediation of Edward of England;' and which
were actively urged, in order to obtain the libera-
tion of his sons by Charles the Lame, who, after
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 112.
288
THE WAR OF THE
the conclusion of the truce at Gaeta, had quitted
his insulted kingdom to procure by negotiation
what he had been unable to accomplish by the
sword, and remained long in France in the guise
of a distressed supplicant, bargaining with Charles
of Valois, importuning Philip the Fair, and fre-
quently requesting loans of money from the
latter.
Thus all hopes of reconciliation vanished; for
this general peace ended just as the treaties of
Oléron and Campofranco had indicated. The
Court of Rome, either finding itself unable to
outwit King James, or reverting with greater
interest to the affairs of Italy than to those of
Syria, would not listen to the expedient devised
by James, who offered to pay tribute for Sicily; '
and renewed the preparations for war against
Aragon,' of which the Cortes, ill pleased to find
themselves constantly exposed to danger for the
sake of foreign interests, in September, 1289, had
sent ambassadors to Sicily to come to an under-
standing with Procida, Loria, Alamanno, and
Calcerando, who guided the counsels of King James,
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 114.
Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1290, § 21.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
289
and to ask for twenty Sicilian galleys to be sent to
Catalonia, since it was for the sake of Sicily that
that kingdom was to be again plunged into the
miseries of strife. On the renewed rumours of
war therefore, discord broke out between the king
and the cortes; the latter forbidding Alfonso to
enter into any negotiations for peace on his own
sole authority, and insisting that it should be
treated for by twelve commissioners of the
nation;' and Alfonso yielding to necessity and
weariness of contention, the slender thread was
broken on which depended the interests of James.
A congress was called in Provence, to which the
Pope sent the cardinals Gherardo of Parma, and
Benedict Gaetani,³ in order that, between the
authority of the purple and the ability of the
individuals, everything might be regulated accord-
ing to their pleasure. At first James was either
enjoined to send his orators, or a hope was held
out to him that they would be admitted; but when,
1 Diplomas of the 5th and 7th Sept. 1289, in Rymer's Fœdera,
vol. ii. pp. 429, 430. Zurita, Annals of Aragon, book iv. ch. 117.
2 Rymer's Fœdera, p. 455, diplomas of the 4th and 19th
January, 1290; confirmed by Montaner, ch. 172, and Zurita, Ann.
of Arag. book iv. ch. 120, &c.
3 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 112. Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1290, §§
18-20.
VOL. II.
290
THE WAR OF THE
in June 1290, he despatched Gilbert of Castel-
letto and Bertram de Cannellis, the King of
Aragon sent word to them to refrain from coming
to disturb his prospects of peace, which, once
concluded by him, would be more easily obtained
by James also.' Meanwhile the cardinal legates
on the 19th of August, 1290, had come to an
agreement with Charles II. and Philip the Fair,
that peace being established with Aragon, if Sicily
should still remain contumacious, the King of
France should continue in the enjoyment of the
ecclesiastical tithes granted him for three years,
and should have them for two years longer, on
condition of paying the Pope four hundred thou-
sand livres tournoises for the expenses of the war
with Sicily, to be reduced to three hundred
thousand if the island were reconquered within
the space of a year and two months. Failing the
conclusion of peace with Alfonso, the King of
France was to give only two hundred thousand
livres, and was to receive assistance against
Aragon from the Pope, and also from Charles II.,
should the latter succeed in recovering Sicily, in
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 114.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
291
which quarter the war was to commence.
It is
thus manifest what sort of peace was reserved for
James, nor even at that time was any one ignorant
of it. King Charles proceeded to hold a congress
with the twelve commissioners of King Alfonso
and of the Cortes of Aragon, two legates from the
Pope being present, and four orators from Eng-
land. They assembled at Tarascon, and the
treaty was signed at Brignolles, the 19th of
February, 1291.
By it Alfonso humbled himself so far as to
promise that he would implore the pardon of the
Pope, first by ambassadors, and within ten months,
in person also; that he would go to the wars in
the Holy Land; restore to Charles hostages,
money, and prisoners of war; recall all his
subjects from Sicily, and withdraw all assistance
from James. In return, Charles bound himself to
procure the assent of Philip the Fair and Charles
of Valois; the Pope engaging to revoke the con-
cession of the kingdom of Aragon to the latter,
and readmit it to the bosom of the Church; and a
door was left open for the speedy adhesion to the
peace of the Kings of Majorca and Castile, if such
0 2
292
THE WAR OF THE
an event could be brought about.' On the follow-
ing day the cardinals intimated the conclusion of
the treaty to the Courts of France and Rome.'
Thus much is to be found in the diplomas.
Neocastro mentions in addition to the above
stipulations: the recognition of the suzerainty of
Alfonso over Majorca; the agreement for an
annual tribute of thirty ounces of gold to be
paid by Aragon to the Court of Rome; and the
regulation of the amount of forces with which
Alfonso was to proceed to Rome, and afterwards.
to the Holy Land, and to Sicily to bring about
the submission of James even by force of arms if
need be. Every obstacle was then removed to his
marriage with the daughter of Edward I., and in
order to obtain the renunciation of Valois, another
nuptial alliance was soon after concluded by
King Charles, who bestowed upon him his own
daughter Margaret, with the counties of Anjou
and Maine for her dower.³
¹ Rymer's Fœdera, vol. ii. p. 501, &c. diplomas of the 19th
Feb. and 12th April, 1291. The original treaty of the 13th
Feb. is to be found in the Archives of France, J, 587, 16.
2 Rymer, loc. cit. p. 504, diploma of the 20th Feb. 1291.
3 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 114. Montaner, ch. 173, with nume-
SICILIAN VESPERS.
293
Alfonso reaped nothing but the disgrace of this
treaty, which he increased by furnishing naval
supplies to Genoa for the armament of sixty
galleys in the pay of King Charles, who having
gained courage to renew the attack upon Sicily,
went to Genoa in March, with the two cardinal
legates, to solicit the assistance of her merchant
warriors.¹ At the moment when the prospects of
Alfonso appeared the most brilliant, himself at
the age of twenty-seven, strong and robust, his
kingdom firmly secured, his marriage at hand
with the beautiful daughter of Edward I., he was
carried off by an illness of three days' duration
on the 18th of June of the same year, before any
one article of the treaty had been carried into
effect. By his death without issue, the crown
devolved upon James, King of Sicily, so that
fortune at one blow dissipated the plans of those
rous errors. Two diplomas in the Archives of France, J, 511, 7,
given the
December, 1289, and the 18th August, 1290, contain
the conditions of the marriage; the principal of which is that
the two counties should be made over to Charles of Valois, even
in the event of the death of Margaret, on condition of his giving
up his claim upon Aragon. In case of the death of Valois before
that of his wife, she was to enjoy the usufruct, and Philip the
Fair the possession of the counties.
1 Annali Genovesi, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. vi. p. 600.
294
THE WAR OF THE
by whom the peace had been so artfully devised,
and smiled upon Sicily in order eventually to
prepare for her more troublous times and greater
glory. James, on the first intimation of the
tidings, hastily convoked a parliament at Messina,
which he addressed in loving terms, and as is
wont to be the case at parting, swore eternal
affection when he took leave of the people at
Messina, Palermo, and Trapani, whence he em-
barked on the 12th of July. He left his brother
Frederick as his vicegerent, a powerful fleet,
important conquests in Calabria, and a glorious
reputation. For during the eight years that he
had governed the state in person, first as viceroy
and then as king, if on some occasions he had
shown himself treacherous and cruel, he had
atoned for it by the general mildness of his
rule, the liberality of his legislation, his warlike
valour, and adventurous enterprises against the
enemies of Sicily. Moreover, under his govern-
ment the nation had recovered both wealth and
prosperity, being relieved from the pressure of
taxation and of the tyranny which, crushing all
energy, induces hopeless lethargy; while confi-
dence had been restored by the security afforded
SICILIAN VESPERS.
295
by efficacious laws, and by the spirit of the revo-
lution animating every branch of the state. Such
were the reasons for which the Sicilians affection-
ately bade good speed to the prince, who but a
few years later was to merit their bitterest male-
dictions.¹
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 114-117. Nic. Speciale, book ii.
ch. 17. Montaner, ch. 174-176. Anon. Chron. Sic. ch. 48,
where we find written: "Sub cujus regis Jacobi dominio, omnes
existentes in Sicilia de bono in melius multiplicantes dilati
sunt," &c.
The reputation in which King James was held for his defence
of Sicily, is gracefully touched upon by Amanieu des Escas, in
a Provençal poem, in which the troubadour exalts the fame of his
love above that of the lady of
•
Rey Jacme d'Arago,
Que reys es dels Cecilias
Ses grat de Frans' e de Romas."
Raynouard, Choix, &c. t. v. p. 24.
The title of Frederick, Infant of the illustrious King of Aragon,
Lieutenant-General of the kingdom of Sicily, is to be read in
several diplomas. One for the Church of Cefalù given at Palermo
the 30th Dec. 7th Ind. (1294)—of which the MS. is in the library
of Palermo-is published by Testa, Vita di Federigo, docum. 11,
as well as another of the 24th Jan. 5th Ind. (1292,) ibid.
docum. 15.
296
THE WAR OF THE
CHAPTER XIV.
BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF JAMES IN ARAGON.-CONFIRMATION OF
THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN SICILY AND GENOA.—REASONS OF THE
SLACKENING OF THE WAR.-FEATS OF ARMS OF ROGER LORIA IN
THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES AND IN GREECE.-
GREECE.JAMES INCLINES TO
PUBLIC OPINION IN SICILY; PATRIOTS; FREDERICK OF
ARAGON; SERVILE FACTION.-SEPTEMBER, 1291, TO JANUARY, 1292.
PEACE.-PUBLIC
PETER desired the separation of the two kingdoms
of Aragon and Sicily, which both on account of
the wide expanse of sea which divided them, of
the liberal temper of the inhabitants, and their
civil institutions, could with difficulty be governed
conjointly, nor would either have submitted to
the dominion of the other. For this reason, he
called Alfonso to succeed him on the throne of
Aragon, James on that of Sicily; the former by
his will made at Port Fangos before the occu-
pation of the island; the latter in the parliament
of Messina.' When on his death-bed, in order to
avoid giving any fresh pretext for excommuni-
1 See vol. i. ch. 8, vol. ii. ch. 9.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
297
cation, he did not reiterate his bequest of the two
crowns, which had been so fiercely disputed by
the Pope; but it seems probable that he may
have given some solemn injunction by word of
mouth that they should always remain separate.'
For on the 10th of March, 1286, Alfonso, then
in the flower of youth, and at the commencement
of his reign, and therefore rather for the purpose
of carrying out the political arrangements of his
father, than from any probable anticipation of his
own death, declared James his heir on condition
that he should leave Sicily to Frederick, and placed
Frederick next in order of succession to the throne
of Aragon, in case James should prefer to retain
the island kingdom, or should die without issue, in
which contingency Frederick was similarly bound
to resign Sicily to Peter, the youngest of the bro-
thers. But James, who when dominion was in
¹ We are led to this supposition by the wills both of Alfonso
and of James, to be quoted hereafter, as well as by the varying
language of historians concerning the final dispositions of Peter.
See Montaner, ch. 185; Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 124: "Non enim
quod pater decrevit in ultimis," &c.; and Niccolò Speciale,
book ii. ch. 7, 17: " Quod si testamentum patris in suis viribus
consistebat ex tunc regnare debuisset in Sicilia Fridericus.”
2 Diploma in Testa, Vita di Federigo II. di Sicilia, docum. 3.
Zurita, Ann. of Aragon, book iv. ch. 120.
03
298
THE WAR OF THE
1
question set all bounds of moderation at defiance,
deferred the separation of the two crowns to the
event of his own death without issue; and having
quitted Sicily, refused obedience yet more openly
to these conditions, which, he argued, had not
been handed down to them as written law by
their father, and which Alfonso had no authority
to impose. Thus retaining the sovereignty of the
island, he protested at his coronation at Sara-
gossa, the 24th September, 1291, that he suc-
ceeded to the throne of Aragon by right of birth,
not in accordance with the testament of Alfonso.²
He secured himself upon it by granting franchises
and guarantees the most liberal and extensive
that the cortes could require; by betrothing him-
self to the daughter of Sancho, king of Castile,
a child of nine years of age; and by concluding,
in November of the same year, a truce with this
powerful neighbour, who had been a chief insti-
gator of the civil disturbances of Aragon.³ He
¹ Will of King James, given at Messina the 15th July, 1291,
in Bofarull, vol. ii. p. 251, quoted by Buchon, edition of Mon-
taner, 1840, p. 388.
2 Zurita, Ann. of Arag. book iv. ch. 123.
3 Ibid. book iv. ch. 124. Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 118. Mariana,
History of Spain, book xiv. ch. 15.
į
SICILIAN VESPERS.
299
moreover checked private feuds, and destroyed
the robbers that infested the country.' He carried
his political intrigues so far as to ask assistance in
money from the Soldan of Egypt, to whom he
sent Romeo di Maramondo and Raymond Ala-
manno to vaunt his victories and his power, exceed-
ing that of all the Christian princes of Spain.2
And thus far he derided the efforts of the Court
of Rome, which opposed itself by words rather
than deeds to his assumption of the kingdom of
Aragon.3
Equally fruitless were the efforts to stir up
Genoa to take an active part against Sicily, which
had been made, as recorded above, from the very
commencement of the war, resumed by Charles
the Lame after the conclusion of peace with Al-
fonso, and were now more pressingly urged by
the Pope himself. But Genoa at that time cared
4
¹ Zurita, Ann. of Arag. book iv. ch. 125. Montaner, ch. 177,
178.
2 Diploma of the 10th August, 1292, in Capmany, Memorias,
&c. vol. iv. docum, 8.
3
Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1291, §§ 53, 55. Another bull of Nicholas,
given the 13th Dec. 1291, gave power to the Bishop of Carcassonne,
and to the abbot of St. Germains, to readmit the excommuni-
cated Aragonese to the bosom of the Church, in order to further
the cause of Charles of Valois.
4 Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1291, § 59; and 1293, §§ 15, 16.
300
THE WAR OF THE
nothing for the authority of Rome in things tem-
poral; and as for France, if she desired to be on
friendly terms with her for the advantage of com-
merce, the same interests urged her to preserve
peace with Aragon and Sicily; nor did she like
the prospect of a struggle with their united and
victorious fleets, while she had, at the same time,
to contend with the rival maritime republics of
Italy. The Guelfs of Genoa, indeed, postponing,
as is the wont of all factions, public interests to
the passions of party, had leagued themselves with
the Angevin king; and privateers, under colour of
attacking the Pisans, extended their depredations
to the Catalans, who sailed in company with
them;' while the interruption of the trade between
Genoa and Sicily, which occurred at that time,
gave evidence of the peril of impending war, which
mercantile penetration is so swift to foresee. But
when, after the awakening of these suspicions,
vague rumours reached Messina of a fleet equipped
at Genoa, corsairs issuing from her port, and
prizes captured in the waters of Lilibeo; all Sicily
was troubled by them, and deplored the absence
of the admiral, who remained in Catalonia with
1 Annals of Genoa, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. ix. p. 601.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
301
the king,' gratifying his arrogance by assuming
the foremost rank at Court, riding accompanied
by a numerous band of followers, and overcoming
in the tournaments the noblest swords of Spain."
Frederick, or those experienced counsellors who
had remained with him at the Sicilian Court, suc-
ceeded in preventing the war from breaking out.
They sent an orator to Genoa, accredited publicly
by sound arguments, but privately by the influ-
ence of the Dorias, Spinolas, and the entire
Ghibeline party, who in the municipal councils
recalled the ancient friendship between Genoa,
Aragon, and Sicily, and the offences committed
against the Republic by the ambition and avarice
of the House of Anjou; admonishing them not to
imagine that, exchanging friends and enemies,
they could conquer the island at a blow, or pro-
voke a war without the ruin of their commerce;
and to think on the hostile flags of Pisa and
Venice, which might now find new allies. The
obvious interests of the Republic outweighed all
the intrigues of the Pope; and other orators
having been despatched with the same object by
the King of Aragon, it was resolved, that, the
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 119.
2 Montaner, ch. 179.
302
THE WAR OF THE
friendship with James being confirmed, the mu-
nicipality should abstain from every act of hos-
tility against Sicily, and that private individuals
should be prohibited from taking up arms against
her under any pretext whatsoever.¹
To prove
their sincerity, and also from respect to the ad-
miral of Sicily, whose prompt vengeance they
dreaded, in the following year a vessel laden
with grain for Pisa, which had been captured by
some Genoese merchants, on the old plea of
searching for Pisan merchandise, was forthwith
restored to him, the municipality adding to it an
indemnity of 2,200 livres, and sending, moreover,
ambassadors to Frederick, to assure him and
Loria of the good faith of Genoa, which was after-
wards maintained, notwithstanding the seductions
of liberal promises, and the influence of an em-
bassy of many knights sent by King Charles,
with the Count of Artois and the papal legates,
towards the close of the same year, 1292; for the
citizens, although divided by factions so fierce as
within two years to come to open violence and
bloodshed, now with one accord refused to enter
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 119. Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1292,
§§ 14-16. Capmany, Memorias, &c. tom. iv. docum. 6.

SICILIAN VESPERS.
303
into any league with the King of Naples, promis-
ing only to observe a strict neutrality; whereupon
the ambassadors, having failed of their object,
departed in displeasure."
2
In the East, meanwhile, the interests of Chris-
tianity were menaced with utter ruin. In the
spring of 1291, Acre fell before the arms of the
Soldan of Egypt; the slaughter of the Chris-
tians and savage triumph of the Infidels excited
the lamentations and wrath of all Christendom ;
and universal were the reflections cast upon the
Court of Rome, for the blood and treasure ex-
pended against Sicily in the sacred name of the
cross. For this cause the Pope was compelled to
raise his voice against the Mahometans, and to
be silent for a while concerning the Sicilians.
was restrained, moreover, by a secret inclination
towards the Ghibeline party, and by his desire for
the aggrandizement of the House of Colonna, an
object to him of far more immediate interest than
the remote restoration of Sicily and of the Holy
Land.
He
Moreover, the Guelf party had much
¹ Ann. of Genoa, in Muratori, R. I. S. vol. vi. pp. 603-605.
2 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 120. Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 145.
Raynald, Ann. Eccl. 1291, §§ 56, 58, 59.
304
THE WAR OF THE
declined in Italy, owing to the victories of James
and of the Sicilians; and the kingdom of Naples,
deserted by fortune, drained of its monetary
resources, restricted in territory by the occupa-
tion of the Calabrias, governed by an unwarlike
monarch, and exhausted by such protracted efforts,
could ill maintain the war on its own account.
Sicily had no inducement to prosecute it, for she
beheld herself internally secure, and had no desire
further to extend her dominions on the mainland.
Hence, during these two years, although the truce
of Gaeta had expired, little was attempted or
effected in the way of warlike achievements. The
turbulent passions of the Calabrian feudataries
occasionally caused the loss of one town, or the
acquisition of another. Blasco Alagona, James's
captain, who having occupied Montalto, and de-
feated and taken prisoner Guidone of Primerano,
a celebrated warrior, was about to attempt some
more important enterprise, returned suddenly to
Catalonia, upon an accusation of fraud upon the
treasury. And even the admiral himself, having
2
1 Gio. Villani, book vii. ch. 119, 121, 151.
2 Nic. Speciale, book ii. ch. 18.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
305
returned to Sicily, and going forth openly to war,
failed to conduct it with his usual energy.
Per-
Thirty galleys having been equipped in the port
of Messina, Loria, informed by his spies that no
armaments were being carried on in those of
Naples and Brindisi, sailed in June 1292 for
Cotrone, whence William l'Estendard, with several
hundred horse, was on the point of directing an
attack against our conquests in Calabria.
ceiving the Sicilian fleet, he hastened to place him-
self with his horsemen in ambush at Le Castella,
under Cape Rizzuto; but the admiral, taking with
him a small band of horse, sent the mass of his
followers round by another road, and thus the
French ambuscade was attacked by them suddenly
on both flanks. L'Estendard, marked out for
death by the covetousness of the Sicilians, received
three wounds, but was saved by the fleetness of
his horse. That of the admiral falling with him
at the passage of a bridge in the pursuit, gave the
enemy so much breathing space, that they suc-
ceeded in retiring from the field with no great
slaughter; but many fell into the hands of the
victors, and amongst them one Richard of Santa
Sofia, who, having been placed in charge of
306
THE WAR OF THE
Cotrone by King James, had delivered it over to
the Angevins, on which account he was now put
to death.
Loria, having by this skirmish secured the
honour of the fleet equipped by Sicily against
her enemies, steered for the Archipelago under
pretext of combating the French feudataries of
the Morea and the mercenaries maintained there
by the Court of Naples, but in reality to satiate
himself with his accustomed depredations,¹ lead-
ing the way for those adventurers, who, after the
close of the Sicilian war, were destined by their
valour and rapacity to be the scourge of Greece.
He wasted, or exacted tribute from, Corfù, Candia,
Scio, and Malvasia, under pretence that they had
afforded aid to the French; from Scio he carried
off a large quantity of mastic, and from Malvasia,
besides much booty, also the archbishop, from
whom he afterwards obtained a considerable
ransom; then coasting the Morea, he visited
Coron and Chiarenza, having first, at Modon,
gallantly combated the Greeks, who had sought
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 121-123. Nic. Speciale, book ii.
ch. 19. Montaner, ch. 159, 180, with some variations and ana-
chronisms.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
307
to ensnare him. Returning to Messina, with more
of booty than of real glory, he learnt that our mer-
chant vessels were harassed by the corsairs of Posi-
tano and Amalfi; whereupon he concerted with
Don Frederick to visit their coasts in the spring
with forty galleys and two thousand light infantry,
to burn the towns and shipping, and entrenching
themselves on some height, to waste and sack the
whole province; but the design transpired at
Naples, and was completely set aside by the
negotiations for peace.¹
James now found himself in Aragon subjected
to the same influences that had controlled
Alfonso; and Sicily had for the second time to
experience the bitterness of foreign domination.
Ten years of disastrous warfare had given proof
to the enemy, that if Sicily could be conquered,
she could only be so in Spain. They therefore
resumed the negotiations broken off by the death
of Alfonso, and to which the King of Aragon was
still compelled to listen by the privileged position
of Charles of Valois, by the arms of France and
the arts of Rome; to all of which were added
the intrigues of Sancho, King of Castile, who, to
1 Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 123, 124.
308
THE WAR OF THE
avoid being placed between the two hostile powers
of France and Aragon, endeavoured to bring
about a treaty of peace, both openly and secretly
by means of his partisans in the latter kingdom.
James, warned by the resolute expression of the
will of the cortes and of the whole nation,' that
he would not be permitted to retain both king-
doms, meditated resigning Sicily, the cause of
so many troubles, and which was not more cal-
culated than Aragon to yield him either obedience
or revenue, owing to the limits imposed upon
the royal authority, those within which the
imposts and exactions were restricted, and the
labour and cost involved in its defence. The
death of Pope Nicholas in 1292, the war which
broke forth in the following year between France.
and England, and the length of time during
which the papal throne was vacant, deferred, but
did not prevent the conclusion of peace, which
was rendered compulsory by internal influence in
the kingdom of Aragon; and James acceded to it
This may be gathered from all the authors quoted in this
chapter, and more expressly from the surname of "Queen of the
Holy Peace," bestowed by the Aragonese and Catalans upon
Blanche, daughter of Charles II., when, in accordance with the
terms of this long-desired peace, she became the wife of James.
See Montaner, ch. 182.
SICILIAN VESPERS.
309
the more willingly owing to the promises held
out to him of money and territory, and above all
to the hope of retaining the conquests he had
wrested from his uncle, James, King of Majorca.
He conducted the treaty with the secresy, self-
interestedness, and dissimulation which belonged
to his character; so that some deemed he
had outwitted the Angevins by transferring the
crown of Sicily from his own head to that of his
brother Frederick; but the contrary was perhaps
the case; and certain it is, that as frequently
happens, he came forth from the crooked paths
in which he had involved himself, with much
shame and little profit.
This time treachery had to struggle against the
fortitude of a nation, which derived from its new
liberty not anarchy and discord, but pride and
energy; and thus treachery lost the day. Sicily,
after her deed of successful daring, was conscious
of her powers. Amongst her people were many
lofty spirits, owing to the civil franchises she had
The secret reasons which induced James, after he became
King of Aragon, to betray or abandon Sicily by leaguing himself
with her enemies, may be gathered from all the authorities
quoted in the present chapter; and especially from Zurita, Ann.
of Aragon, book v. ch. 1—10.
310
THE WAR OF THE
obtained, to her unwonted material prosperity, to
the force of her arms of which so many proofs
had been given, and to the various talents and
powers called into exercise in state affairs when
they become the common property of all. These
elements of political vigour existed rather in the
cities than in the baronage, on account of the part
taken by them in 1282, of the amount of forces
furnished by them for ten long years to the army
and to the fleet, and of the activity and ability of
the municipal councils. The cities, accordingly,
were foremost in the change of government which
was now maturing itself; they were joined by the
greater part of the barons, who were not as yet
turned away from the cause of Sicily by the pre-
judices of class; and thus the bulk of the nation,
clinging to the liberties conquered at the time of
the Vespers, and abhorring the dominion of the
House of Anjou, and of the Court of Rome, pre-
sented a powerful obstacle to the plans of James,
who found another equally insurmountable, in his
own brother, the Infant Don Frederick.
Frederick came to Sicily when scarcely beyond
the age of childhood; here he learnt to excel not
only in the use of arms and in every warlike
SICILIAN VESPERS.
311
exercise, but also in the study of letters, then held
in high esteem amongst the Sicilians, and for
which his taste was such, that he himself wrote
verses in the Provençal language, and was the
friend of Dante Alighieri, before the indignant
spirit of the proud Ghibeline contemptuously
accused him of poltroonery. Full of the fire of
youth, handsome and vigorous in person, of quick
intelligence, and courteous manners, gracious and
kind to all, and the brother of a king, he was
adored by the people, whose passions are excitable
as those of a woman; and even the most sober
judgment might have augured well of him on
beholding the moderation and justice with which
he filled the place of the sovereign, and the zeal
with which he sought to advance the prosperity
of the country, which under his rule enjoyed peace
and abundance.¹ Political necessity, of which a
species of instinctive presentiment is frequently
¹ Bart. de Neocastro, ch. 118. I give full credence to the
words of this historian concerning the admirable government of
Frederick during his lieutenancy, for it was for his own interest
to show himself just and zealous for the public weal; and that
he was so, is proved by the conduct of the people in raising him
to the throne, and by his own acts at the commencement of his
reign. For the verses of Frederick of Aragon, see Quadrio,
312
THE WAR OF THE
felt even before it is clearly comprehended by the
understanding, caused Frederick assiduously to
cultivate these advantages, and rendered him so
much the dearer to the people, leading them
mutually to hope in each other, and bringing
them gradually to such a relative position as
perhaps neither had at first dreamed of. Thus
the patriotic party in Sicily gathered itself around
Frederick, hoping to maintain the intent of the
revolution of the Vespers without putting down
either the monarchy or the Aragonese dynasty,
and by this means itself acquired greater strength
and consistency.
There was only one faction from which James
could hope for support against this inclination of
the bulk of the people. On the breaking forth of
the war of the Vespers, the exiles from the main-
and assembled under our banners, especially after
the accession of King Peter, seeking fortune for
themselves, a vent for their hatred against the
House of Anjou, and if possible a termination to
"Storia e Ragione d'ogni Poesia ;" who is, however, in error in
attributing the verses to Frederick III. of Sicily, called "The
Simple," and not to Frederick II. See also Docum. III. at the
end of this work.
الات مردم
SICILIAN VESPERS.
313
their painful banishment. These exiles effected
much by their intrigues in the wars in Calabria,
and contributed greatly to excite the Sicilians
themselves (as in the massacre of the prisoners of
Messina in 1284), from fear that the revolution
should slacken in its course. But they clung less
to Sicily than to the king, who they hoped would
obtain possession of their native land, and who in
the meantime bestowed upon them fiefs and em-
ployments. Similar advantages were enjoyed in
Sicily by a still greater number of Catalans and
Aragonese, creatures of the court, who equally
with the Apulians were odious to the islanders,
from jealousy of the prizes usurped by both. As
renegades are never wanting, however, a few
Sicilians joined them; and it was with this servil
faction that James hoped to negotiate the betrayal
of Sicily; holding out promises to some of reinte-
gration in their Apulian possessions without the
loss of those newly acquired in Sicily; to others,
threats of spoliation of their revenues in Spain ;
and alluring all with promises, caresses, and
guilty hopes under the mask of pious words
Those to whom the name of John of Procida is
VOL. II.
P
314
THE WAR OF THE
familiar from the historical romances which re-
present him as the author of the Vespers, will be
astonished to find him at the head of this faction,
and even intriguing with the King of Naples
himself, whether with or without the knowledge
and consent of James, is not known. But besides
the statements of our historians, which exhibit
him a few years after in open opposition to Fre-
derick and the Sicilian patriots, and the documents
concerning the restitution of his property in the
kingdom of Naples, which was expressly stipulated
for between James and Charles II.,' there exists,
as a lasting record of his shame, a despatch of
Charles to the Seneschal of Provence, given the
20th of March, 1293, commanding him to release
and forward to the Neapolitan court the Sicilian
¹ See a diploma of Charles II. given at Naples the 29th of
September, 1300; published by Buscemi, Vita di Giovanni di
Procida, docum. viii. taken from the Royal Archives of Naples,
where we read concerning John of Procida:-"Sane per conven-
tiones inhitas super reformatione pacis inter nos et magnificum
Principem dominum Jacobum Aragonum regem illustrem, nunc
filium nostrum carissimum, tunc hostem publicum, nobisque
molestum tamquam per duces belli inter alia fuit conventum :
Quod Joannes de Procita rebus tunc humanis perfruens ad certa
bona stabilia in regno Sicilie que per culpe contagium contra
niajestatem, &c. . . . . perdiderat restitueretur in integrum ex
nostro beneficio principali, &c."
SICILIAN VESPERS.
315
Peter of Salerno, sent to Charles by Procida, and
taken prisoner at Marseilles. Thus this cele-
brated name tested by the evidence of history, in
these days so strong and copious, is stripped of
the vaunted glory of the first conspiracy, and
retains only the disgrace of this second one under-
taken against Sicily.
¹ Diploma of the 20th of March, 1293, quoted in the Discorsi
di D. Ferrante della Marra, Naples, 1641, p. 155. The accuracy
of Marra leaves us no room to doubt the exactness of the quota-
tion, but the original diploma exists no longer, the registe
which contained it having been destroyed in one of the insur-
rections which have caused such injury to the Archives of Naples.
It may be suspected that it was for this purpose that (as we learn
from other diplomas quoted by Marra in the same place) Walter
Caracciolo and Manfred Tomacello were despatched to Sicily,
under pretext of consulting John of Procida for serious illnesses
under which they were labouring, as if physicians were entirely
wanting in the kingdom of Naples. From some other diplomas
besides, similar practices in Sicily may be inferred.
END OF VOL. II.
R. CLAY, PRINTER, RREAD STREET HILL.

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