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Peter III of Aragon, 1239 – 2 November 1285, was the King of Aragon (as Peter III) of Valencia and of Majorca (as Peter I), and Sovereign Count of Barcelona (as Peter II) from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.

Learn about the life and achievements of Peter III of Aragon, the King of Sicily from 1276 to 1285, who fought against Charles, Duke of Anjou and the French, and was a hero in the Sicilian Vespers. Find out how he was portrayed by Dante and Villani, and his family tree and sources.

Peter III is that rarity in history: the greater son of a great father. Faced with two dangerous challenges — rebellious aristocracies in Aragon and Catalonia and the collapse of Angevin rule in Sicily — Peter accepted both, and prevailed.

Peter III of Aragon, Charles’s rival for the Neapolitan throne, conspired to raise a rebellion against him in Sicily. The rising broke out prematurely when Sicilians, incensed by Charles’s oppressive regime, killed some insulting French soldiers at vespers in the church of Santo Spirito.