"All Sicily is stained with the blood of the strangers. She is strong in the courage of her sons, in the ruggedness of her mountains, in the protection of the seas, which are her bulwarks. Who then shall set foot upon her soil, except to find in it a yawning grave? Christ, who preached liberty to mankind, who inspired you to effect this blessed deliverance, now extends to you his almighty hand—if you will but act like men in your own defence. Citizens, captains of the people, it is my counsel that messengers be sent to all the other towns inviting them to unite with us for the maintenance of the commonwealth, that by force of arms, by daring, and by rapidity of action we should aid the weak, determine the doubtful, and combat the froward. For this purpose, let us divide into three bands which may simultaneously traverse the whole island, then let a general parliament mature our counsels, unite our views, and regulate the form of government; for I call God to witness that Palermo aspires, not to dominion, but seeks only liberty for all, and for herself the glory of being foremost in peril."
"And the people of Corleone," replied Boniface, "will follow the fortunes of this noble city—the fortress and ornament of Sicily. Corleone sends hither three thousand of her warriors to conquer or to die with you. But if our fate be to perish, let all those perish with us who would take part with the stranger in the day of the deliverance of Sicily. Thou, Roger, valiant in fight and sage in counsel, thou hast spoken words of safety. Henceforward he who lingers is a traitor to his country; let us arm ourselves and go forth."
"Forward, forward!" thundered the voice of the people in answer to his words, and with marvellous celerity the messengers were despatched; the forces assembled and sent forth in three divisions—one to the left toward Cefalu, one to the right upon Calatafimi, and the third toward the centre of the island, through Castro Giovanni. They displayed the banner of the commonwealth with the keys of St. Peter depicted around them, and their fame went before them, awakening hope and desire in all hearts. Hence every city and town unhesitatingly renounced its allegiance to Charles with a degree of unity which was admirable—except in regard to the slaughter of the French.
They were hunted down in the mountains and forests, assaulted and vanquished in the castles, and pursued with such fury that even to those who had escaped from the hands of the Sicilians life became a burden; and from the most impregnable fortresses, from the remotest hiding-places, they gave themselves up into the hands of the people who summoned them to die. Some even precipitated themselves from the towers of their strongholds. A very few, aided either by fortune or by their own valor, escaped with their lives, but were despoiled of everything, and these sought refuge in Messina. But the fate of William Porcelet merits especial remembrance. He was Lord or Governor of Calatafimi, and, amid the unbridled iniquity of his countrymen, was distinguished for justice and humanity. On the day of vengeance, in the full flush of its triumph and fury, the Palermitan host appeared at Calatafimi, and not only spared the life of William and of his family, but treated him with distinguished honor and sent him back to Provence—a fact which goes to prove, that for the excesses committed by the people, ample provocation had not been wanting.
Meanwhile the great object toward which every effort was directed was to gain over Messina to the cause of the revolution, for all comprehended the importance of her situation, of her seaport, and of the powerful and wealthy city herself—obviously marked out as the key-stone of the war—as well as the pressing necessity of obtaining her alliance or of making a desperate effort to subdue her by force of arms. Negotiations were therefore commenced. Of those which were private and the most efficacious no record has been handed down to us; but of those publicly conducted, a letter is still extant, dated from Palermo, the 13th of April, and despatched by messengers to Messina, which begins thus: "The Palermitans to the noble citizens of the illustrious city of Messina, bondsmen under Pharaoh in dust and mire—greeting, and deliverance from the servile yoke by the arm of liberty.
"Rise!" continues the epistle. "Rise, O daughter of Zion, and reassert thy former strength; … cease thy lamentations, which only awaken contempt; take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and unbind the fetters from thy neck." It proceeds to speak of Charles as a Nero, a wolf, a lion, and a ferocious dragon; then reverting to Messina, it exclaims: "The voice of God says to thee, 'Take up thy bed and walk!' for thou art whole." And again it exhorts her citizens "to struggle with the old serpent, and, being regenerate, like new-born babes to suck the milk of liberty, to seek justice, and to fly from calamity and ignominy."
While the Palermitans sought to gain over the citizens by these Biblical metaphors, Herbert of Orleans strengthened himself with foreign arms and with the support of the Messinese nobles—who by abuses and oppression had exalted themselves above their fellow-citizens, and therefore now resolutely sided with the Vicar. But first he sent seven Messinese galleys to attack Palermo under the command of Richard de Riso, who in 1268 had dared with a few vessels to confront the whole Pisan fleet, and who was now to lose in civil war his honor as a citizen and his reputation as a leader; for uniting with four galleys from Amalfi, under the command of Matthew del Giudice and Roger of Salerno, he proceeded to blockade the port of Palermo, and, as he was unable to effect anything else, approached the walls and caused the name of Charles to be shouted aloud, together with insults and menaces to the citizens. They, however, with the long-suffering of conscious strength, replied that "they would neither return the insults nor his blows; the Messinese and Palermitans were brothers; the French oppressors their only enemies, and they would do better to turn their arms against the tyrants." With these words they hoisted the standard of the cross of Messina upon the walls beside the eagle of Palermo.
The city of Messina—or rather those who wielded the municipal authority—in order to prove their loyalty, on the 15th of April sent five hundred cross-bowmen, under the command of Chiriolo, a knight of Messina, to garrison Taormina and prevent its occupation by the insurgents. The people, on the other hand, felt their Sicilian blood boil as they received the news of the rising in Palermo and in the other cities, of the progress of the insurgents through the island, and of the slaughter and flight of the French, heightened by many false or exaggerated reports; and when they beheld the fugitives enter Messina, destitute and terror-stricken, they began to murmur and show animosity against the soldiers of Herbert. These, feeling themselves no longer safe in the city, withdrew—some to the castle of Matagrifone, some to the royal palace where Herbert resided. The latter, in an evil hour, decided on a display of energy. He sent ninety horsemen under Micheletto Gatta to occupy the defences of Taormina, as if unable to repose confidence in the Messinese garrison, and the latter, seeing them approach in such arrogant and almost hostile guise, and incited by a citizen named Bartholomew, received them with a cry of insulting defiance and a shower of arrows. The contest being thus engaged, forty of the French remained on the field. The rest fled precipitately for refuge to the castle of Scaletta; and the Sicilians, tearing down the banners of Charles, marched upon Messina to compel her to join the rebellion. In the city thousands were willing, but none had courage, for the work, till a man of the people—Bartholomew Maniscalco by name—conspired with several others to give the signal of action. Meanwhile, forces were preparing to repulse the insurgents from Taormina, and the more prudent of the citizens deplored the impending effusion of the blood of their brethren. The people were on the alert, nor did the conspirators hold back.
Perhaps the entrance into the port of a Palermitan galley, and the slaughter by her crew of a few French who had fallen into their hands, hastened the event. It was the 28th of April when, from the midst of the tumultuous crowd, broke forth the cries of "Death to the French! Death to those who side with them!" and the massacre commenced. The victims, however, were but few, as the previous threatening aspect of the people had cleared the city of the greater number of the French. Maniscalco meanwhile, with his confederates, hoisted the cross of Messina in the place of the detested banner of Anjou; for a brief space he was captain of the people, but owing either to his own modesty or to the influence of the more powerful citizens, which always prevailed in the industrial city of Messina, that same night, by their advice, he resigned the government to Baldwin Mussone, a noble returned but a few hours before, with Matthew and Baldwin de Riso, from the court of King Charles. On the following day, the municipal council having been assembled in form, Mussone was hailed captain by the entire people; and calling on the sacred name of Christ, the republic was proclaimed, under the protection of the Church. The gonfalon, or great banner of the city, was displayed with the utmost pomp. The judges Raynald de Limogi and Nicoloso Saporito, the historian Bartholomew of Neocastro, and Peter Ansalone were elected as counsellors of the new government; and all the public officers, even to the executioners, were likewise elected—as if to show that henceforward the sword of justice was to rule in place of disorder and violence. But it was yet too soon for so complete a revolution.
On the 30th of April the galleys were recalled from Palermo, whither messengers of friendship and alliance were despatched in their stead. Herbert, feeling himself no longer secure in the castle, had recourse to the old manoeuvre of fomenting divisions, but with no better success. He despatched Matthew, a member of the family of Riso—which from consciousness of guilt had allied itself with him—to endeavor to gain over Baldwin Mussone. Matthew accordingly sought him and in presence of all the other counsellors admonished him, using the arguments of a crooked policy, to reflect on the great power of the King, and that this insane tumult would deprive Messina of the advantages that would naturally accrue to her from the rebellion of Palermo. What were the Palermitans to him that he should share their madness? In what had Charles injured him or his city? "How is it possible," continued he, "that thou who wast but yesterday loyal to the King, a friend to us, and the companion of our journey, shouldst have secretly nourished such hatred in thy heart? and now, far from restraining the people from rushing to their ruin, shouldst spur them wildly on? For thy own sake, for that of thy country, return to thy senses—it is yet time."