War of the Sicilian Vespers | |||||||||
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![]() A scene of the Sicilian Vesper by Francesco Hayez | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Hafsid dynasty (Tunis) Ghibellines |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Guelphs | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Crown of Aragon: ![]() ![]() ![]() Kingdom of Sicily: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Angevin Naples: ![]() ![]() ![]() Kingdom of France: ![]() ![]() Independent French Princes: ![]() Kingdom of Majorca: ![]() |
The War of the Sicilian Vespers, also shortened to the War of the Vespers, was a conflict waged by several medieval European kingdoms over control of Sicily from 1282 to 1302. The war, which started with the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers, was fought over competing dynastic claims to the throne of Sicily and grew to involve the Crown of Aragon, Angevin Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of France, and the papacy.
Initially fought between Sicilian rebels and Charles of Anjou in Sicily and Southern Italy, the war expanded when Aragon intervened in Sicily to support the rebels and claim the throne. After Aragonese successes, the war grew into the concurrent Aragonese Crusade as the Kingdom of France intervened against Aragon in Iberia. The crusade ended in defeat, but efforts to end the war failed despite several peace treaties. Aragon gave up the crown of Sicily in exchange for papal concessions in 1297, entering into an alliance with Angevin Naples and the papacy against Sicily, but the new alliance's campaign to invade Sicily saw no success. The war ended in 1302 in the Peace of Caltabellotta, by which Sicily became an independent kingdom ruled by the House of Barcelona.
Marked by intermittent land engagements, decisive battles at sea, siege warfare and political maneuvering, the war resulted in the division of the old Kingdom of Sicily; the island of Sicily came to be ruled as the Kingdom of Sicily, while the mainland territories of the old kingdom became the Kingdom of Naples. The Vesperan conflict led to an era of Aragonese expansion in the Western Mediterranean, as the kingdom gained suzerainty over the Kingdom of Majorca and Sardinia. Outlasting four kings and four popes, the twenty-year war showcased the decline of papal power in southern Europe and the rise of increasingly powerful kings in the late 13th century.