Make it easy for French soldiers to get away with raping Sicilian women; Subject the Sicilian people to high taxes, forced labour, and currency
debasement; The Sicilian people rise up, massacre a bunch of French people, and depose you as king. Charles I of Anjou; The Sicilian people rise up, massacre a bunch of French people, and depose you as king. On or near 30 March, 1282, Sicilians began an uprising against French colonizers, but also massacred French civilians, during an event known as the Sicilian Vespers.