Facing mounting casualties and supply issues, the Angevin army lifted the siege and made a costly withdraw back across the strait to Calabria.

In the late 13th century, the island of Sicily was under the control of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples, ruled by Charles of Anjou.

Charles hoped to offset Palermo's traditional influence over Sicilian politics, and planned to militarily expand his kingdom into Byzantium via ships built in Messinese shipyards.

Messina had a number of reasons for refraining from rebelling; the city housed a large Angevin garrison and was the home port of an Angevin crusader fleet, was geographically close to Charles' capital at Naples, and the city had benefitted economically from a large military buildup started by Charles in the 1270s.

[1] Despite conflicting Messinese views on the rebellion, with weeks of the Versperan revolt rebel sentiment in the city had begun to rise.

Led initially by Captain of the People Bartolomeo Maniscalco, the citizens of Messina declared the city a free commune, independent of Angevin rule.

Drawing on the resource of his feudal holdings in Provence, Greece, and southern Italy, Charles amassed an army and fleet in Calabria.

While Charles gathered his forces, representatives from the major cities on Sicily convened a parliament, hoping to discuss what the future of the island would be.

The Angevin army of 31,000 men, while large, was partially made up of feudal levies, who possessed limited combat experience and motivation.

Lentini ordered the Messinese militias back behind the walls of the city, not wanted to risk further field battles with the Angevins.

[1] In late July, Charles led the bulk of the Angevin army across the strait, making an uncontested landing four miles south of Messina.

Charles was also aware that Messina had traditionally been a bastion of pro-Angevin support on Sicily, and so may have hoped to take the city without costly military action against the Messinese.

Charles' forces burned the farmland on the outskirts of the city, hoping to starve Messina into submission, while his fleet blockaded the harbor.

He first attacked the Braccio di San Raineri, a sandy sliver of land that commanded Messina's harbor, but was unable to take a monastery the Messinese had fortified on the point.

In early summer, a papal envoy, Cardinal Gerardo da Parma, was allowed into the besieged city to negotiate with the Messinese.

Peter of Aragon wanted to gain the Sicilian throne, and so in the summer of 1282 had sailed an army to the port of Collo in North Africa, using the prospect of a crusade as political cover.

On the night of 5 September, the advance Aragonese force of 2,500 men arrived outside Messina, and successfully established themselves in the foothills of the city, undetected by the Angevin army.

Some of the Aragonese advanced even further and made it inside the city walls, a huge boost to the Messinese defender's morale.

Angevin morale was low; Feudal levies that Charles had called into armed service were starting to see their contracts elapse, while the stockpiles of food brought to sustain the siege were depleted.

In addition, news of the approach of the main Aragonese army bolstered the morale of the Messinese defenders, who now knew that the city was likely to be relieved.

Acting on the advice of his war council, Charles decided to end the siege and evacuate his army across the straits of Messina.