sagacious Michael, despairing of his arms, depended on the effects of a conspiracy; on the secret workings of a rat who gnawed the bowstring 39 of the Sicilian tyrant. Palæologus instigates the revolt of Sicily, Among the proscribed adherents of the house of Swabia, John of Procida forfeited a small island of that name in the bay of Naples. His birth was noble, but his education was learned; and in the poverty of exile he was relieved by the practice of physic, which he had studied in the school of Salerno. Fortune had left him nothing to lose, except life; and to despise life is the first qualification of a rebel. Procida was endowed with the art of negociation to enforce his reasons and disguise his motives; and in his various transactions with nations and men, he could persuade each party that he laboured solely for their interest. The new kingdoms of Charles were afflicted by every species of fiscal and military oppression; 40 and the lives and fortunes of his Italian subjects were sacrificed to the greatness of their master and the licentiousness of his followers. The hatred of Naples was repressed by his presence; but the looser government of his vicegerents excited the contempt, as well as the aversion, of the Sicilians : the island was roused to a sense of freedom by the eloquence of Procida; and he displayed to every baron his private interest in the common cause. In the confidence of foreign aid, he successively visited the courts of the Greek emperor, and of Peter king of Arragon, who possessed the maritime countries of Valentia and Catalonia. To the ambitious Peter a crown was presented, which he might justly claim by his marriage with the sister of Mainfroy, and by the dying voice of Conradin, who from the scaffold had cast a ring to his heir and avenger. Palæologus was easily persuaded to divert his enemy from a foreign war by a rebellion at home; and a Greek subsidy of twenty-five thousand ounces of gold was most profitably applied to arm a Catalan fleet, which sailed under an holy banner to the specious attack of the Saracens of Africa. In the disguise of a monk or beggar, the indefatigable missionary of revolt flew from 41 a 39 The reader of Herodotus will recollect how miraculously the Assyrian host of Sennacherib was disarmed and destroyed (1. ii. c. 141). 40 According to Sabas Malaspina (Hist. Sicula, 1. iii. c. 16, in Muratori, tom. viii. p. 832), a zealous Guelph, the subjects of Charles, who had reviled Mainfroy as a wolf, began to regret him as a lamb; and he justifies their discontent by the oppressions of the French government (1. vi. c. 2, 7). See the Sicilian manifesto in Nicholas Specialis (1. i. c. 11, in Muratori, tom. x. p. 930). 41 See the character and counsels of Peter king of Arragon, in Mariana (Hist. Hispan. 1. xiv. c. 6, tom. ii. p. 133). The reader forgives the Jesuit's defects, in favour, always of his style, and often of his sense. a Daughter. See Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 483, 10th ed.-M. Constantinople to Rome, and from Sicily to Saragossa: the treaty was sealed with the signet of pope Nicholas himself, the enemy of Charles; and his deed of gift transferred the fiefs of St. Peter from the house of Anjou to that of Arragon. So widely diffused and so freely circulated, the secret was preserved above two years with impenetrable discretion; and each of the conspirators imbibed the maxim of Peter, who declared that he would cut off his left hand if it were conscious of the intentions of his right. The mine was prepared with deep and dangerous artifice; but it may be questioned whether the instant explosion of Palermo were the effect of accident or design. A.D. On the vigil of Easter a procession of the disarmed citizens visited a church without the walls, and a noble damsel was rudely The Sicilian insulted by a French soldier.42 The ravisher was instantly .. 122. punished with death; and if the people was at first scat- March 30. tered by a military force, their numbers and fury prevailed: the conspirators seized the opportunity; the flame spread over the island, and eight thousand French were exterminated in a promiscuous massacre, which has obtained the name of the SICILIAN VESPERS.43 From every city the banners of freedom and the church were displayed: the revolt was inspired by the presence or the soul of Procida; and Peter of Arragon, who sailed from the African coast to Palermo, was saluted as the king and saviour of the isle. By the rebellion of a people on whom he had so long trampled with impunity, Charles was astonished and confounded; and in the first agony of grief and devotion he was heard to exclaim, "O God! if thou hast decreed to "humble me, grant me at least a gentle and gradual descent from "the pinnacle of greatness!" His fleet and His fleet and army, which already filled the seaports of Italy, were hastily recalled from the service of the Grecian war; and the situation of Messina exposed that town to the first storm of his revenge. Feeble in themselves, and yet hopeless of foreign succour, the citizens would have repented and submitted on the assurance of full pardon and their ancient privileges. But the pride of the monarch was already rekindled; and the most fervent entreaties of the legate could extort no more than a promise that he would forgive the remainder after a chosen list of eight hundred rebels had 42 After enumerating the sufferings of his country, Nicholas Specialis adds, in the true spirit of Italian jealousy, Quæ omnia et graviora quidem, ut arbitror, patienti animo Siculi tolerassent, nisi (quod primum cunctis dominantibus cavendum est) alienas feminas invasissent (l. i. c. 2, p. 924). 43 The French were long taught to remember this bloody lesson: "If I am pro"voked (said Henry the Fourth), I will breakfast at Milan, and dine at Naples." "Your majesty (replied the Spanish ambassador) may perhaps arrive in Sicily for 66 vespers." Defeat of been yielded to his discretion. The despair of the Messinese renewed their courage: Peter of Arragon approached to their relief," and his rival was driven back by the failure of provision and the terrors of the equinox to the Calabrian shore. At the same moment the Catalan admiral, the famous Roger de Loria, swept the channel with an invincible squadron: the French fleet, more numerous in transports than in galleys, was either burnt or destroyed; Oct. 2. and the same blow assured the independence of Sicily and the safety of the Greek empire. A few days before his death the emperor Michael rejoiced in the fall of an enemy whom he hated and esteemed; and perhaps he might be content with the popular judgment, that, had they not been matched with each other, Constantinople and Italy must speedily have obeyed the same master. From this disastrous moment the life of Charles was a series of misfortunes: his capital was insulted, his son was made prisoner, and he sunk into the grave without recovering the isle of Sicily, which, after a war of twenty years, was finally severed from the throne of Naples, and transferred, as an independent kingdom, to a younger branch of the house of Arragon.46 The service and war of the Catalans empire, A.D. 1303-1307. 45 I shall not, I trust, be accused of superstition; but I must remark that, even in this world, the natural order of events will sometimes afford the strong appearances of moral retribuin the Greek tion. The first Palæologus had saved his empire by involving the kingdoms of the West in rebellion and blood; and from these seeds of discord uprose a generation of iron men, who assaulted and endangered the empire of his son. In modern times our debts and taxes are the secret poison which still corrodes the bosom of peace; but in the weak and disorderly government of the middle ages it was agitated by the present evil of the disbanded armies. Too idle to work, too proud to beg, the mercenaries were accustomed to a life of rapine: they could rob with more dignity and effect under a banner and a chief; and the sovereign, to whom their service was useless and their presence importunate, endeavoured to discharge the torrent on some neighbouring countries. 44 This revolt, with the subsequent victory, are related by two national writers, Bartholemy à Neocastro (in Muratori, tom. xiii.) and Nicholas Specialis (in Muratori, tom. x.), the one a contemporary, the other of the next century. The patriot Specialis disclaims the name of rebellion, and all previous correspondence with Peter of Arragon (nullo communicato consilio), who happened to be with a fleet and army on the African coast (1. i. c. 4, 9). 45 Nicephorus Gregoras (1. v. c. 6) admires the wisdom of Providence in this equal balance of states and princes. For the honour of Palæologus I had rather this balance had been observed by an Italian writer. 46 See the Chronicle of Villani, the xith volume of the Annali d' Italia of Muratori, and the xxth and xxist books of the Istoria Civile of Giannone. After the peace of Sicily many thousands of Genoese, Catalans,17 &c., who had fought by sea and land under the standard of Anjou or Arragon, were blended into one nation by the resemblance of their manners and interest. They heard that the Greek provinces of Asia were invaded by the Turks: they resolved to share the harvest of pay and plunder; and Frederic king of Sicily most liberally contributed the means of their departure. In a warfare of twenty years a ship or a camp was become their country; arms were their sole profession and property; valour was the only virtue which they knew; their women had imbibed the fearless temper of their lovers and husbands: it was reported that with a stroke of their broad-sword the Catalans could cleave a horseman and a horse; and the report itself was a powerful weapon. Roger de Florb was the most popular of their chiefs; and his personal merit overshadowed the dignity of his prouder rivals of Arragon. The offspring of a marriage between a German gentleman of the court of Frederic the Second and a damsel of Brindisi, Roger was successively a templar, an apostate, a pirate, and at length the richest and most powerful admiral of the Mediterranean. He sailed from Messina to Constantinople with eighteen galleys, four great ships, and eight thousand adventurers; and his previous treaty was faithfully accomplished by Andronicus the Elder, who accepted with joy and terror this formidable succour. A palace was allotted for his reception, and a niece of the emperor was given in marriage to the valiant stranger, who was immediately created great duke or admiral of Romania. After a decent repose he transported his troops over the Propontis, and boldly led them against the Turks in two bloody battles thirty thousand of the Moslems were slain: he raised the siege of Philadelphia, and deserved the name of the deliverer of Asia. But after a short season of prosperity the cloud of slavery and ruin again burst on that unhappy province. The inhabitants escaped (says a Greek historian) from the smoke into the flames; and the hostility of the Turks was less per 47 In this motley multitude the Catalans and Spaniards, the bravest of the soldiery, were styled by themselves and the Greeks Amogavares. Moncada derives their origin from the Goths, and Pachymer (1. xi. c. 22 [tom. ii. p. 416, ed. Bonn]) from the Arabs, and, in spite of national and religious pride, I am afraid the latter is in the right. * Pachymer says i 'Aßágy, that is, the Avars.-S. On Roger de Flor and his companions see an historical fragment, detailed and interesting, entitled 'The Spaniards of the Fourteenth Century,' and inserted in 'L'Espagne en 1808,' a work translated from the German, vol. ii. p. 167. This narrative enables us to detect some slight errors which have crept into that of Gibbon.-G. The troops of Roger de Flor, according to his companion Ramon de Montaner, were 1500 men at arms, 4000 Amogavares, and 1000 other foot, besides the 137. M. sailors and mariners: vol. ii. p. с Defeat of been yielded to his discretion. The despair of the Messinese renewed their courage: Peter of Arragon approached to their relief, and his rival was driven back by the failure of provision and the terrors of the equinox to the Calabrian shore. At the same moment the Catalan admiral, the famous Roger de Loria, swept the channel with an invincible squadron: the French fleet, more numerous in transports than in galleys, was either burnt or destroyed; Oct. 2. and the same blow assured the independence of Sicily and the safety of the Greek empire. A few days before his death the emperor Michael rejoiced in the fall of an enemy whom he hated and esteemed; and perhaps he might be content with the popular judgment, that, had they not been matched with each other, Constantinople and Italy must speedily have obeyed the same master. 45 From this disastrous moment the life of Charles was a series of misfortunes: his capital was insulted, his son was made prisoner, and he sunk into the grave without recovering the isle of Sicily, which, after a war of twenty years, was finally severed from the throne of Naples, and transferred, as an independent kingdom, to a younger branch of the house of Arragon. 46 The service and war of the Catalans empire, A.D. 1303-1307. I shall not, I trust, be accused of superstition; but I must remark that, even in this world, the natural order of events will sometimes afford the strong appearances of moral retribuin the Greek tion. The first Palæologus had saved his empire by involving the kingdoms of the West in rebellion and blood; and from these seeds of discord uprose a generation of iron men, who assaulted and endangered the empire of his son. In modern times our debts and taxes are the secret poison which still corrodes the bosom of peace; but in the weak and disorderly government of the middle ages it was agitated by the present evil of the disbanded armies. Too idle to work, too proud to beg, the mercenaries were accustomed to a life of rapine: they could rob with more dignity and effect under a banner and a chief; and the sovereign, to whom their service was useless and their presence importunate, endeavoured to discharge the torrent on some neighbouring countries. 44 This revolt, with the subsequent victory, are related by two national writers, Bartholemy à Neocastro (in Muratori, tom. xiii.) and Nicholas Specialis (in Muratori, tom. x.), the one a contemporary, the other of the next century. The patriot Specialis disclaims the name of rebellion, and all previous correspondence with Peter of Arragon (nullo communicato consilio), who happened to be with a fleet and army on the African coast (1. i. c. 4, 9). 45 Nicephorus Gregoras (1. v. c. 6) admires the wisdom of Providence in this equal balance of states and princes. For the honour of Palæologus I had rather this balance had been observed by an Italian writer. 46 See the Chronicle of Villani, the xith volume of the Annali d' Italia of Muratori, and the xxth and xxist books of the Istoria Civile of Giannone. |