Say “ciciri.” Can you pronounce it? In 1282 Palermo, getting it wrong could cost you your life. This innocent Sicilian word for “chickpea” became a deadly verbal test during the infamous Sicilian Vespers—a rebellion bathed in blood and born of desperation. It began on Easter Monday, as the bells tolled for evening vespers. Decades of oppressive Angevin rule—marked by crushing taxes and unrelenting cruelty—had left Sicilians simmering with rage. When a French soldier insulted a Sicilian woman, it

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