In July 1647, one of the most important political events in the life of old regime Naples took place. There was a massive revolt led by Masaniello, a plebeian Neapolitan fisherman. In response to an increase in taxes, he led a mob, which ransacked the armories and opened the prisons. But after a few days, when this sudden success turned his head, the people, in turn, rebelled against his leadership. He was murdered, and his would-be revolution brutally crushed. In the seventeenth century, viceroys sent by the ruling Bourbon kings governed Naples. These over-extended rulers administered a vast empire in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Naples, the largest city in Italy, was heavily populated, largely by the very poor, who came from Southern Italy. The taxation was burdensome, and so not surprisingly there were revolts, in which reformers tried to employ the discontents of the populace.