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If you mispronounced it in Sicily in 1282, you'd have been in serious trouble! Why, you may be asking. Well, it's a long and complicated part of Sicilian history, but to cut a long story short, Cicero was the word Sicilians used to unmask their French (Angevin) enemies during the Sicilian Vespers, one of the island's most well-known historical events. It all started on Easter Monday as the bells were ringing out, calling the faithful to Vespers. An insult from a French soldier directed at a Sicilian lady was the straw that broke the camel's back. Since 1266, in fact, the Angevin French had been ruling Sicily with an iron rod, imposing high taxes and generally insulting and mistreating the local population at will.
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