Popular uprisings succeed only when elite allies coordinate with mass discontent
Evidence
On 31 March 1282, the population of Palermo rose against the government of Charles of Anjou. The uprising, which came to be known as the Sicilian Vespers, spread rapidly throughout the island, and the French were expelled in less than a month. The throne was subsequently given to Frederick of Aragon. The rising had been the result of a combination of popular discontent and the plans of pro-Aragonese elements among the nobility, e.g. Giovanni da Procida (1210 approx. 1282), who became chancellor of the Kingdom after the rising had succeeded. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2227
Categorization
- ADDENDUM: The Vespers as a mass revolt requiring noble coordination parallels how the Lindow Man and other ritual consolidations needed elite sanction — here the historical mechanism of revolution is the focus.
- XREF: This connects to Gramsci’s broader theme of the role of intellectuals/organizers in mass movements, which carries into how leadership shapes subaltern revolts. — connects to: Excluded masses may revolt violently against acceleration society — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 850; Widespread discontent stays apolitical without an organized agent to mediate it