Понсе де Леон
Misgovernment and fiscal oppression during the Thirty Years' War aroused much discontent throughout the Kingdom of Naples. A revolt broke out at Palermo in May 1647, and the people of Naples followed the example of the Sicilians. The immediate occasion of the latter rising was a new tax on fruit and the other ordinary food of the poor, and the chief instigator of the movement was Masaniello, who took command of the malcontents. The outbreak began on 7 July 1647 with a riot at the city gates between the fruit-vendors of the environs and the customs officers; the latter were forced to flee, and the customs office was burnt. The rioters then poured into Naples and forced their way into the palace of the viceroy, Rodrigo Ponce de León, the hated Duke of Arcos, who had to take refuge first in a neighbouring convent, then in Castel Sant'Elmo, and finally in Castel Nuovo.