The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century (Canto)

Runciman's writing is absolutely amazing in this volume which treats of Europe in the mid-to-late thirteenth century. I devoured this book in a matter of days, fascinated as I am with Sicilian history and culture. Runciman gives a fantastic view of the Kingdom of Sicily after the fall of "The Kingdom in the Sun", or the Norman Kingdom based in Palermo. From the benevolent king William the Good to the villanous Charles of Anjou, Runciman presents all of those occurances which led up to the Sicilian Vespers, or the systematic destruction of French power over the Sicilians on Easter Monday, 1282. A must-read for all those interested in the history of Europe in this era.

In the early spring of 1282 a great fleet lay at anchor in the harbor of Palermo, Sicily. The commander of the fleet, Charles of Anjou, brother of King (and later Saint) Louis of France, and by the blessing of the Pope and his own political machinations, King of the Two Sicilies, planned to attack the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and re-establish the Latin Empire, with himself as Emperor. For Charles, a man of formidable military and administrative talent, and considerable political ruthlessness, the possibility of being an emperor, of dominating the Mediterranean world, must have seemed so close that he could not fail to grasp the opportunity. And then everything changed.The Sicilian Vespers, by the late Sir Steven Runciman, is the story of the late 13th century European world that created Charles of Anjou. Runciman describes in considerable, and very interesting detail, the interplay of politics and religion at that time, especially the bare knuckle politicking of the Popes, whose attempts at creating a universal Christendom ruled by the papacy eventually lessened respect not only for the individual popes involved, but for the papacy as an institution as well. The interweaving lines of narrative come together on the evening of March 29th, Easter Monday, of 1282, when a group of drunken Frenchmen arrived outside the Church of the Holy Spirit in Palermo just as the crowd of worshippers was going in for the Vespers service. One of the Frenchmen made advances, or actually tried to rape, a young Sicilian woman. Her husband killed the Frenchman, and when the Frenchmen's friends drew their swords, the crowd jumped them and killed them as well. The oppressed Sicilians then went on a rampage through the streets of Palermo, screaming Moranu il Franchkisi [Death to the French!] and slaughtering every Frenchman they could find, including French priests, nuns, and monks, as well as Sicilian women who had married Frenchmen. The rebellion rapidly spread to other cities across Sicily. Runciman expertly weaves together the story of what happened and why it happened and what the consequences of the great rebellion were for Charles and the Sicilians and for a papacy more interested in politics than religion. There might be a better book on this subject somewhere, but I tend to doubt it; Runciman writes in clear and understandable English, a talent not usually cultivated by academic historians in the United States, and he knows his subject backwards and forwards. I would recommend this book highly to anyone interested in the Middle Ages, and to anyone interested in how history ought to be written.

I am a fan of Sir Steven Runciman's books. This one must rank together with the same author's account on the "Fall of Constantinople" and the "History of the Crusades". In this case, Sir Steven provides an ample spectrum of separate developments, along the whole Mediterranean, from Spain to Constantinople, that drove, first to Charles of Anjou's accesion to the Sicilian throne, and later on to his downfall, with the due assistence of the Eastern Roman emperor. The origins of the now famous uprising are not simple, and are extremely well explained by Sir Steven, in an easy to understand language. But, considering the very good comments provided by other readers, there is not so much I can add on the great virtues of this work.If you are interested in the historical background of Sicily, together with this wonderful book I also recomend the very interesting book "The Normans in Sicily", by Lord Norwich, that itself is a two volume book with the narrative of the settlement of French Normans in Southern Italy, their reconquest of Sicily, and the establishment of a Sicilian-based multicultural kingdom. The end of that mighty kingdom, and the coming resentment of all Sicilians against foreign intruders, provoked the Sicilian Vespers.

Sir Steven Runciman was one of the leading scholars of the Middle Ages. He also had a profound understanding of diplomacy and warfare. He is not only the author of this book, but also several books on the Crusades and Byzantium. However, this I feel is his best book. First of all it is a wonderful story. This is how the Byzantine empire managed with no army, no navy, very little money, but with a great deal of diplomacy and intelligence to prevent a planned invasion from the mightiest power in 100 years. This book should be required reading for all statesmen, would be statesmen, and military planners. Runciman describes here how things can go wrong regardless of ability, manpower, and money when one is faced with a very clever foe.

On March 29, 1282, the celebration of Vespers in Palermo, Sicily was marred by a massacre of European importance - the townspeople rose up and slaughtered their French occupiers. The uprising spread from one town to another and soon the entire island was in rebellion against its ruler, Charles of Anjou. Steven Runciman, one of the last stalwarts of the great Oxbridge school of history writing places this violent but seemingly local event in it proper context - as part of the struggle between the rising tide of the new force known as nationalism and the aspirations of the Popes and their religious establishment to create a universal Papacy ruling all of western Christendom. Toss in the age-old struggle between the spiritual authority of the Pope and the temporal authority of powerful rulers, and the result is an explosive mixture. The Sicilan Vespers marked the watershed in the fate of the medieval Papacy - as Runciman shows, the credibility and spiritual authority lost during the course of the last half of the 13th Century set the Church on the slippery slope that led to Avignon and eventually the Reformation. It is a stirring tale, and who better to tell it than the distinguished historian of Byzantium and the Crusades? New readers will soon discover why this book has become a classic.