ABSTRACT
The Sicilian Vespers has been the subject of much historiography. Guillaume de Nangis forces attacked the Romagna and the Papal States when the news of the Vespers filtered north. The Sicilian Vespers has been called the first up-rising against modern state taxation. The number of acts of mercy or individual goodwill he performed for ordinary Sicilians was therefore far less than for those on the mainland. Among the Sicilian knights who were the leaders in the revolt, resentment simmered against the land settlement of the early years of Angevin rule. The de Risi of Messina, loyal to the Angevins, suffered a worse fate at the hands of their own countrymen than most of the so-called French. The descendants of Norman settlers were as likely to consider themselves French as those who came with the Angevins. ‘Death to the French’ was the rallying cry of the rebels. There were far fewer French or ProvenCal barons settled in Sicily than on the mainland.
