Sicilian Vespers, 1282. Massacre of the French in Sicily. Tradition establishes the origin of the rebellion on 30 March 1282 in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Palermo, where Easter Monday was being celebrated. Many of the citys inhabitants had gathered there the sunset prayer marking the beginning of the night vigil. In the square next to the church, the faithful were waiting for Vespers to begin when a group of drunken Frenchmen, one of them a sergeant, approached a young married woman and began to harass her. Her husband stabbed him in response. The rest of the Frenchmen came to his aid and avenged him, but the more numerous Palermitans surrounded them and killing them all just as the church bells, and those of the whole town, began to ring. Engraving depicting French soldiers outraging a young Sicilian noblewoman. "Glorias Espanolas" (Glories of Spain). Volume II. Published in Barcelona, 1890.