Judicate of Cagliari

Judicate of Cagliari
Iudicatus Karalitanus
Càlaris
Judicate of Cagliari Iudicatus Karalitanus; Càlaris
1020–1258
	Coat of arms
	Latin
Religion	Roman Catholic
Government	Judicate (kingdom)
Judge
• 1089 – 1102	Constantine I of Cagliari
• 1214–1232	Benedetta of Cagliari
• 1256 – 1258	William III of Cagliari
History
• Established	1020
• Disestablished	1258
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Byzantine Empire
Republic of Pisa
Judicate of Arborea

The Judicate of Cagliari (Sardinian: Judicadu de Càralis / Càlaris, Italian: Giudicato di Cagliari) was one of the four kingdoms or judicates (iudicati, literally "judgeship") into which Sardinia was divided during the Middle Ages.

The Judicate of Cagliari occupied the entire southern portion of the island and was composed of thirteen subdivisions called curatoriae. It bordered the judicates of Arborea to the northwest and Logudoro and Gallura to the northeast.

Origins and extent

The exact date of founding of the Judicate of Cagliari is unknown. After the Byzantine Empire's conquest of Sardinia in 534, the island became one of the provinces of the Exarchate of Africa and was governed by a magistrate of the empire said Iudex Provinciae, resident in Cagliari.

Sardinia remained a

Arab and Berber expansionism and piracy on the Mediterranean began to make communications with Byzantium very difficult. The Arabs conquered Sicily in 827, and Sardinia itself endured several Saracen raids. As the empire found it increasingly difficult to supply and defend its westernmost provinces, the Byzantine iudici (judges) heading the local administration in Sardinia were forced to govern autonomously and thus gradually became de facto

independent.

pirates. Apparently many inhabitants left Cagliari and founded a new town named Santa Igia

in an area close to the Santa Gilla swamp to the west of Cagliari, but distant from the sea. Santa Igia then became the capital of the Judicate of Cagliari, one of the four kingdoms that evolved when imperial power receded in the West.

The Judicate of Cagliari comprised a large area of the

Ogliastra

.

The first judges

The first giudice well known to history is

Pisan authority. Torchitorio was a sponsor of the monks of Monte Cassino who were arriving on the island to bring economic, technological, and religious renewal. Torchitorio succeeded in having his son succeed him around 1089, when Constantine I

appeared with the title of rex et iudex Caralitanus: "King and Judge of Cagliari."

Among the traditions of these early giudici was that of confirming one of one's predecessor's acts, usually donations of land or grants of privileges.

archbishop of Pisa

. All this suggests strong allegiance to the reformed papacy despite the still near-autonomous status of Cagliari at the time.

House of Massa and Pisan domination

Constantine II's daughter succeeded him with her husband

Peter. The Pisans tried to remove him after her death and they sent Obert, Margrave of Massa, to conquer the giudicato. The son of Obert and one of the daughter of Constantine II of Cagliari, William I

became then the new judge of Cagliari.

William spent his reign (1188 – 1214) in constant wars with Arborea, Gallura, and Logudoro. He arrested and imprisoned the judge of Arborea,

Castel di Castro

.

References

^ Solmi A., Studi storici sulle istituzioni della Sardegna nel Medioevo, Cagliari 1917.

Sources

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Rome, 1963 – Present.
Nowé, Laura Sannia. Dai "lumi" dalla patria Italiana: Cultura letteraria sarda. Mucchi Editore: Modena, 1996.
Casula, Francesco. "The History of Sardinia." Sardinia Tourist Board. 1989.
Solmi A., Studi storici sulle istituzioni della Sardegna nel Medioevo, Cagliari 1917.

[1] Solmi A., Studi storici sulle istituzioni della Sardegna nel Medioevo, Cagliari 1917.

Origins and extent

The first judges

House of Massa and Pisan domination

See also

References

Sources