ABSTRACT
Frenchmen’s throats rather than bear with their treat ment of them. And amongst other misdeeds this happened at Easter-time : There is a church in Palermo, in the direction of the Admiral’s bridge, to which, at Easter, all the city goes to gain indulgences, and especially the ladies of Palermo all go there. And on that day, 1282 amongst others, some gentlewomen who were very beautiful went there; and the French sergeants1 had gone out and met these ladies, who were accompanied by some youths of good birth who were kinsmen of theirs. And in order to have a pretext for laying their hands on the ladies where they wished, the Frenchmen searched the young men for arms, and when they saw that they carried none, they said they had entrusted them to the ladies, and under this pretext they thrust their hands into their bosoms and pinched them.2 Then, other men who were walking with ladies and saw this, and saw also that they were beating, with ox-whips, men and ladies who were trying to get away, exclaimed : “ Ah God, Our Father, who can bear so much arrogance ? ” And then this clamour rose to God in such wise that He willed that these insults and many others which had been inflicted, should be avenged and He inflamed with anger the hearts of those who, in this place, saw the outrage. And they cried : " Kill them, kill them I ” As this cry was raised, they stoned all these sergeants
to death. And when they had killed them they went about the city of Palermo, men and women, shouting : “ Death to the French! ” And at once they seized arms and killed all the French they found in Palermo. And they immediately elected Micer Aleynep, one of the respected and wealthy men of Sicily, their commander and chief. And when this was done, they formed a host and went where they knew there were Frenchmen ; and their cry went through every place in Sicily, and wherever their cry was raised, there they killed all the French. What shall I tell you ? All Sicily rebelled against King Charles and they killed all the Frenchmen they could find, so that not one who was in Sicily escaped.1 And this happened by the mercy of God. Our Lord the true God suffers the sinner, but, when He sees that he will not amend his evil ways, He sends down upon him the sword of justice. And thus He sent it down upon these wicked, insolent men who were devouring the country and the people of Sicily, a people good and virtuous in all their duty towards God and towards their lord. And so they are to this day, for there is not in the world to-day a more loyal people than they have been and are and will be, if it be God’s pleasure, to the lords they have had afterwards, as you shall hear further on. And when this was done, and King Charles knew this damage he had received, he was moved by a great anger and collected great hosts and came to besiege the city of Messina by land and by sea. And he came with a great power, with fifteen thousand horsemen and with countless men afoot and with a hundred galleys against the city which was not then walled and which, it seemed, he would take at once. But all this power was nothing compared with the power of God Who, in His justice, guarded and defended the Sicilians.
