Editing History of Sardinia (section)

===Judicates (Judicados)===
{{Main|Giudicati}}
From the mid-11th century the [[Giudicati|Judicates]] ("held by judges") appeared. The title of ''Judex'' (judge, ''judike'' in medieval Sardinian) was an heir of that of the Byzantine governor after the creation of the [[Exarchate of Africa]] in 582 (''Prases'' or ''Judex Provinciae''). In the 8th and 9th centuries the four ''partes'' depending from Caralis grew increasingly independent, after that [[Byzantium]] was totally cut off from the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] by the [[Muslim conquest of Sicily]] in 827. A letter from [[Pope Nicholas I]] in 864 mentions for the first time the Sardinian judges,{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=163}} and their autonomy is clear in a later letter by [[Pope John VIII]], which defined them as "Princes". A letter by [[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko I]] to [[Pope John XV]] proves that the Judicates were known even in [[Poland]], and that they played a prestigious role in medieval Europe.<ref>Almanacco scolastico della Sardegna, p. 101</ref>

During the judicial era Sardinia had some 300.000 inhabitants, of which slightly more than 1/3 were free.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=177}} These were subjected to the authority of local ''curators'' (administrators), in turn subjected to the judge (who also administered justice and was the commander of the army). The church was also powerful, and at this time it had completely abandoned the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Rite]]. The late 11th-century arrival of [[Benedictine]], [[Camaldolese]] and other monks from the [[Southern Italy|Italian Mezzogiorno]], [[Lombardy]] and [[Provence]], especially the monasteries of [[Montecassino]], [[Saint-Victor de Marseille]] and [[Vallombrosa Abbey|Vallombrosa]], boosted the agriculture in a land which was extremely underdeveloped. The ''[[condaghe]]s'' (catalogues, cartularies) of the monasteries, which record property transactions, are an important source for the study of the island and its language in the 11th and 12th centuries. Evidence from the ''condaghes'' of San Pietro di Silki, in Sassari, and Santa Maria di Bonarcado concerning the children of slaves has been adduced to show that differences in agricultural lifestyles between regions may affect the survival rate of females, hypothetically through increased infanticide of baby girls.<ref>R.J.Rowland, 1982.</ref> The abbacy of Santa Maria di Bonarcado contained more central, upland regions where a pastoral economy dominated and women were less economically useful; among children in that region, sex ratios are highly skewed in favour of men. On the other hand, in the region of San Pietro di Silki, less pastoral, child sex ratios are not skewed abnormally.

There were four (historically known) Judicates: [[Giudicato of Logudoro|Logudoro]] (or Torres), [[Giudicato of Cagliari|Cagliari]] (or Pluminos), [[Giudicato of Arborea|Arborea]] and [[Giudicato of Gallura|Gallura]]. Cagliari and Arborea and Logudoro (and perhaps Gallura) were united for a time in the 11th century.
[[File:Eleonora_di_Arborea.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Eleanor of Arborea]]]]
[[File:Bas.saccargiasardegna.png|thumb|[[Basilica di Saccargia]], the major example of [[Pisan Romanesque]] in Sardinia]]
The initiatives of the [[Gregorian reform]]ers led to greater contact between Sardinia and the Italian peninsula, especially through the desires of the judges to establish monasteries with monks from continental monasteries at [[Montecassino]] and [[Marseille]]. By the 12th century, the Sardinian Judicates, though obscure, are visible through the mists of time. They professed allegiance to the [[Holy See]], which put them under the authority of the [[Archdiocese of Pisa]], superseding the ancient primacy of the [[Archdiocese of Cagliari]] on the island.

Often quarreling between one another, the Judicates made a great number of commercial concessions to the Pisans and the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]]. The [[Repubbliche Marinare]] soon became the true masters of the Sardinian economy.

In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, all four Judicates passed to foreign dynasties and the local families were relegated to minor positions. Arborea passed to the [[Catalan people|Catalan]] [[House of Cervera]] (Cervera-Bas) in 1185, though this was contested for the next few decades. In 1188, Cagliari was conquered by the [[House of Massa]] from the [[Republic of Pisa]]. Gallura became by marriage – it had been inherited by a woman, [[Elena of Gallura|Elena]] – a possession of the [[Visconti of Pisa|House of Visconti]], another Pisan family, in 1207. Only Logudoro survived to the end under local Sardinian rulers. However, its end was early. It passed to Genoa and to the [[Doria (family)|Doria]] and [[Malaspina family|Malaspina]] families in 1259 after the death of its last judge, [[Adelasia of Torres|Adelasia]]. Only a year before the others Judicates and the Pisans besieged [[Santa Igia]] and deposed the last ruler of Cagliari [[William III of Cagliari|William III]]. Gallura survived longer, but the enemies of the Visconti in Pisa soon removed the last judge, [[Nino Visconti|Nino]], a friend of [[Dante Alighieri]], in 1288.

About the same time, [[Sassari]] declared itself a free commune allied to Genoa. In the early 14th century, much of Eastern and Southern Sardinia, including Castel di Castro (Cagliari), was under the authority of Pisa and of the [[della Gherardesca]] family, who founded the important mining town of [[Villa di Chiesa]] (now Iglesias). Arborea, however, survived as the only indigenous kingdom until 1420. One of the most remarkable Sardinian figure of the Middle Ages, [[Eleanor of Arborea]], was co-ruler of that region in the late 14th century; she laid the foundations for the laws that remained valid until 1827, the [[Carta de Logu]].