Dina and Clarenza are two women connected in legend with the historical siege of

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

Charles I of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

during the

Sicilian Vespers The Sicilian Vespers (; ) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou. Since taking control of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1266, the Capetian House ...

in August 1282.

The legend

Dina and Clarenza, two Messinese women, were heroines who, in legend, opposed the assaults of the Angevin forces.

Historical background

The Vespers rebellion, begun in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Easter Monday Easter Monday is the second day of Eastertide and a public holiday in more than 50 predominantly Christian countries. In Western Christianity it marks the second day of the Octave of Easter; in Eastern Christianity it marks the second day of Br ...

, 30 March 1282, outside the Church of the Holy Spirit, spread quickly all over the island.

tried in vain to put down the uprising with the promise of many reforms. Finally he decided to intervene militarily. With 75,000 men and two hundred ships, in late May 1282 he landed between

Catona Catona (in the local dialect ''A Catùna'') is an urban district (independent municipality until 1927) of Reggio Calabria, Italy, as part of the 8th district with neighborhoods Salice, Villa San Giuseppe and Rosalì. With about 15,000 inhabit ...

and Gallico (north of Reggio), on the coast of

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

opposite Messina, to begin the siege of Messina and to block the flow of support from Reggio to the Sicilian city. The city of the

Strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

was being governed by . He was made Captain of the People and organized the resistance in the city. Charles laid

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

to Messina in vain until September, and in his attempt to conquer and occupy the city he spared no civilians, not old people, nor women, nor children. The city, although in its turn exhausted by the siege, repelled the continual attacks with the participation of the whole population.

The heroines

During the night of 8 August there was a sneak attack by a combined Italian-French

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

force on the city. Charles's troops tried to invade the city from the hills. The two women were standing guard on the wall. As soon as they saw the enemies, they did all they could to repel the attack. While Dina continually hurled rocks down on the enemy soldiers, Clarenza rang the bells in the

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

of the

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. The Duomo of Monza, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definitio ...

, from which she awakened the whole city. Thus the Messinese rushed to the defense of their city and repelled the attack.

Legacy

The heroines have become symbols of courage and of the Messinese civilians' devotion to their city. Today, Dina and Clarenza are found portrayed in Messina at Palazzo Zanca (the city hall) and on the campanile of the Duomo. The 4th

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

(formerly the 8th Quarter) of Messina, the oldest and central part of the city, is named for them.

The legend

Historical background

The heroines

Legacy

References

Further reading

See also