Mediterranean, broadly characterized by nationalistic features. The 1282 antiangevin insurrection,
in fact, from its first beginnings was clearly signed by the desire for independence of a "sicilian
nation", justified both by dynastic reasons and by a not better specified sicilian character. A desire
strenghtened during the kingdom of Frederick III of Aragon. The sicilian historiographical tradition,
then, masterfully established by Michele Amari, has strengthened the Vespers’ nationalistic
interpretation. Nevertheless, the most recent historiography cannot avoid showing its perplexities
towards concepts like sicilian or, even, sicilian race, even more so that in 1282 Sicily was coming
out from an ethnic earthquake that totally removed from the isle the islamic people, replacing them
by emigrants coming from the most different areas of the italian peninsula. So, if a nationalistic
interpretation of the Vespers is no longer possible, it's however essential to understand what
Sicilians meant speaking of themselves as a nation, under the light of the medieval culture. This
new interpretation is also imposed by the following ages of sicilian history, marked by the hostility
against the iberian conquerors and rulers, and by the objective fact that Sicily, being an isle, is
facilitated in restraining exclusive self representations.