The ''Vendicatori'' ('Avengers'), were a secret society of rebel-

vigilantes Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

formed about 1186 in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

to avenge popular wrongs. The society was finally suppressed by William II of Sicily (1155–1189), who hanged the grand master and branded the members with hot irons. The ''vindicosi'', or vindicators, are described as a historical sect by Francesco Maria Emanuele Gaetani (1720–1802) in his ''Diari palermitani'' (Palermo diaries). According to this author, they may date back to 1185.

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