Sicilian Vespers. A massacre of 3,000–4,000 French in Sicily, 30 Mar. 1282, initiated when the bell for vespers was rung. It marked the end of the plans of Pope Martin IV and Charles of Anjou to reconquer Constantinople, and led indirectly to the decline of papal power. The theme supplied (remotely) the libretto for Verdi's I vespri siciliani.

Sicilian Vespers a massacre of French inhabitants of Sicily, which began near Palermo at the time of vespers on Easter Monday in 1282. The ensuing war resulted in the replacement of the unpopular French Angevin dynasty by the Spanish House of Aragon.