Sicilian Vespers - 1282

This was a successful anti-French rebellion that occurred on the island of Sicily. The hostilities broke out on Easter Monday, 1282 and ran for about six weeks. In the end, roughly 13,000 French men and women were killed.

It started with the French soldiers in Palermo harassing the local Sicilian women, in particular, a sergeant called Drouet. Eventually, he harassed a young, married woman and was killed by her husband. When the other Frenchmen tried to avenge their comrade, the Sicilians attacked - first with rocks and anything else at hand, then later with weapons. Once the French were dead, messengers spread the word and the mob began. By morning, 2,000 French were dead. It only escalated from there, with attacks on convents and monasteries, where the priests were forced to pronounce the word ‘ciciri’, which French cannot. Any who failed, were killed.

The conflict ended with King Peter III of Aragon being invited to take charge of the island, and he was crowned king on the 4th of September, 1282.