ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

Type a location (e.g. Barcelona), or a year (e.g. 1638) or a category of event (e.g. uprising) to filter the corresponding results.

Palermo riots 1708

Synopsis
The conflict broke out as a protest, led by urban guilds, to an alleged viceroy’s plan to place Palermo under the control of soldiers arrived from Spain which threatened traditional guilds´ privilege. It was then a crucial phase in the war of the Spanish succession in the Mediterranean area, and an allied invasion of the island was feared. Popular dissatisfaction was fueled by the slow process of coin replacement ordered by the viceroy, the low quality and high price of grain, and the viceroy’s strong demands –backed by the urban government– on the city and the citizens´ resources. On 29 May there were assaults, looting and deaths attributed to a shapeless mob by authorities. Violence was against people and places linked to the troops billeted in Palermo and to the municipal government –the crowd forced the change of praetor. Unrest went on until 20 June when the viceroy granted guilds´ demands on defense, food supply and tax revenues, and also a blanket pardon. Just a man was executed under the accusation of a crime of lèse-majesté, but repression continued. A ‘junta’ that investigated those who had stood out as agitators or adopted a radical stance in the negotiations, dismantled a plot in Palermo and Trapani led by members of guilds, local officials, clergy and lower nobility, who aimed to take advantage of the popular agitation in Palermo to propitiate an Imperial invasion. The conflict wasn´t just on local matters, but also linked to the international context.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1 month. Name in sources: Tumulto de Palermo. Location: Palermo Country (current): Italy. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Artisans, Undifferentiated. Number of participants: unknown. Main reasons & motivations: Multiple. Leadership: Unknown . Relevance: medium.

Further reading
LIGRESTI, Domenico (2008). “Viceré, Senato, Nobiltà, Maestranze, popolo e plebe nella sommossa di Palermo del 1708”, in F. Sciacca (ed), Studi in memoria di Enzo Sciacca. Milan: D. A. Giuffrè, pp. 317-330. MARCHESE DI VILLABIANCA (1872). Diario e narrazione istorica de´tumulti successi nella città di Palermo nel 1708 da´manoscritti della Biblioteca Comunale, in G. di Marzo (ed), Diari della città di Palermo dal secolo XVI al XIX. Palermo: Luigi Pedone Lauriel, vol. X, pp. 153-223. TORRES ARCE, Marina (forthcoming). “Political Conflict and Pacification in the War of the Spanish Succession: The Palermo revolt of 1708”, in V. Soen, Y. Junot (eds), Revolt, Pacification and Reconciliation in the Spanish Habsburg Worlds. Turnhout: Brepols.
Cite this entry

Arce, Marina Torres (2020). "Palermo riots 1708", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. http://atlas.cidehusdigital.uevora.pt/revolt/palermo-riots-1708/ (accessed on 22 Junho 2020).