User:SamHolt6/sandbox 3.5

The Siege of Messina was a 13th century military engagement. Fought during the opening months of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, the engagement began when an Angevin army laid siege to the city of Messina, which was controlled by pro-independence rebels. The siege was lifted by an Aragonese relief force, resulting in an early defeat for the Angevin Kingdom of Naples.

Background

Main article: Sicilian Vespers

In the late 13th century, the island of Sicily was under the control of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples, ruled by Charles of Anjou. Messina was key to the control of the island; In addition to being a hub of Sicilian commerce, it lay on the northeast corner of the island, was a center of Sicilian shipbuilding, and controlled the vital Strait of Messina. Having conquered Sicily in 1268, Charles established a large Angevin garrison in Messina and transformed the city's port into a major naval base; Charles intended to expand his growing kingdom into Byzantium, and as such needed a large navy.

In March 1268, Sicily erupted into revolt against Angevin Naples with the outbreak of the Sicilian Vespers. Starting in Palermo, the rebellion spread eastward, resulting in the collapse of Angevin rule over the island. Of the major cities of Sicily, only Messina did not join the revolt. Messina had a number of reasons for refraining from rebelling; the city housed a large Angevin garrison and was the home port of an Angevin crusader fleet, was geographically close to Charles' capital at Naples, and the city had benefitted economically from a large military buildup started by Charles in the 1270s. During a rebellion in Sicily in 1268, Messina had been a stronghold of Angevin loyalist support, and have even contributed troops to assist Charles in crushing the rebellion.

Within weeks of the Versperan revolt, rebel sentiment in Messina had begun to rise. The success of the revolt in other Sicilian cities, coupled with a slow Angevin response the the rebellion, eroded Charles' control over the city and emboldened the rebels. On 13 April, emissaries from Palermo arrived in Messina, urging the city to join the rebellion.

Inside Messina, the Angevin vicar Herbert of Orleans tried to secure Angevin authority inside the city; Hebert believed that the main threat to Angevin-controlled Messina was rebels infiltrating the city from the west and south. As such, he reinforced Angevins forts guarding the mountainous hills to the west of Messina and dispatched a contingent of 500 Messinese crossbowmen south to Taormina. However, the withdraw of these troops from the city caused rebel sentiment to flare up. In mid-April, Herbert sent a force of Angevin cavalry to relive the Messinese garrison in Taormina, questioning their loyalty. Angered by this action, the Messinese commander took the Angevin force prisoner. On 28 April, the city erupted into full-scale revolt, and Herbert and the Angevin garrison withdrew to the city's citadel, the formidable Mategriffon, leaving the rest of the city to the rebels. Led initially by Captain of the People Bartolomeo Maniscalco, the citizens of Messina declared the city a free commune, independent of Angevin rule. After several days' negotiations, Herbert was allowed to leave the city peacefully. In chaos that followed the Angevin withdraw, rioters seized the city's shipyards and burned the Angevin fleet stationed there, a major blow to Charles' navy.

Despite the loss of Sicily, Charles of Anjou and the Angevin kingdom remained a potent military force. Drawing on the resource of his feudal holdings in Provence, Greece, and southern Italy, Charles amassed an army and fleet in Calabria. While Charles gathered his forces, the representatives from the major cities on Sicily convened a parliament, hoping to discuss what the future of the island would be. A former magistrate, Baldwin Mussone, and an elected council of four judges were named as the leaders Messina. Having chosen a leader, Messina sent delegates to the new Sicilian parliament.

Siege

Early Days

In the summer of 1282, Charles of Anjou began to muster an Angevin army in southern Italy, hoping to cross the straits of Messina, take the city, and then use Messina as a beachhead to invade the rest of Sicily. While the Messinese organized their city's defenses, by June Charles had amassed 31,000 men and 80 ships in Catona, less than five miles away. The first Angevin attempt to land on Sicily came on 2 June, when a force of 40 Angevin galleys attempted to make a landing north of the city before being forced to withdraw.

On 24 June a second Angevin landing attempt was made, and succeeded in landing 5,500 Angevin troops near Milazzo, some twenty miles northwest of Messina. A force of Messinese militia was sent to counter this landing, but was engaged in battle and defeated. The Angevins cut the coastal road running from Messina to Palermo via Milazzo, and Mussone was replaced as Captain of the People by Alaimo da Lentini. Lentini ordered the Messinese militias back behind the walls of the city, not wanted to risk further field battles with the Angevins.

In late July, Charles led the bulk of the Angevin army across the strait, making an uncontested landing four miles south of Messina. Charles held a council of war to determine whether the city should be taken by storm or siege, ultimately deciding on the latter approach. The Angevin army of 31,000 men greatly outnumbered the Messinese garrison (which had at most 8,000 men), but Charles likely wanted to take the city and its vital port facilities intact. Charles forces burned the farmland on the outskirts of the city, hoping to starve Messina into submission, while his fleet blockaded the harbor.

With the Angevin encirclement of the city complete, both sides settled in for a siege. Charles began probing the Messinese defenses for weaknesses. He first attacked the Braccio di San Raineri, a sandy sliver of land that commanded Messina's harbor, but was unable to take a monastery the Messinese had fortified on the point. He then tried to take the Monte della Caperrina, a prominent hill on the city's outskirts from which the Angevins could bombard the city with siege engines, but was repelled after fierce fighting with the Messinese defenders.

Papal Censure and Aragonese Intervention

While the siege of Messina progressed, the political situation on Sicily remained uncertain. The new Sicilian parliament was divided on what the political future of the island should be; one faction called for the island to seek the protection of the papacy, one wanted full Sicilian independence, while a third wanted to give the throne of Sicily to King Peter III of Aragon, whose wife Constance of Sicily was considered by many to be the lawful heir to the Sicilian throne.

A papal envoy, Cardinal Gerardo da Parma, was allowed into the besieged city to negotiate with the Messinese. The defenders hoped he could be convinced to extend papal protection to the city; instead, Parma demanded the city surrender to Charles and delivered a papal censure of the Sicilian rebels, threatening further consequences if the city did not capitulate. The papal rebuke convinced many Sicilians to join the pro-Aragonese faction of the parliament, seeking the protection of Peter III of Aragon.

By June the island was under the control of the Sicilian Rebels. Charles landed north of Messina on 24 July, stayed 5 weeks, withdrew (24) September.

• Fleet leader, Henri de Girard