Editing Sardinia (section)

== History ==
[[File:Monted'accoddisardegna.png|thumb|The prehistoric megalithic temple of [[Monte d'Accoddi]]]]
{{Main|History of Sardinia}}
{{See also|History of mining in Sardinia}}
Sardinia has been inhabited by humans since the end of the [[Paleolithic]] era, around 20–10,000 years ago. The island's most notable civilization is the indigenous [[Nuragic civilization|Nuragic]], which flourished from the 18th century BC to either 238 BC or the 2nd century AD in some parts of the island,<ref name="Ugas 2016">{{cite book |first=Giovanni |last=Ugas |contribution=Shardana e Sardegna. I popoli del mare, gli alleati del Nordafrica e la fine dei Grandi Regni |title=Cagliari, Edizioni Della Torre |year=2016}}</ref> and to the 6th century AD in that part of the island known as [[Barbagia]].<ref>Rowland, R. J. "When Did the Nuragic Period in Sardinia End." Sardinia Antiqua. Studi in Onore Di Piero Meloni in Occasione Del Suo Settantesimo Compleanno, 1992, 165–175.</ref><ref><<Da parte imperiale era dunque implicito il riconoscimento di una Sardegna barbaricina indomita se non libera e già in qualche modo statualmente conformata, dove continuava a esistere una civiltà o almeno una cultura d'origine nuragica, certo mutata ed evoluta per influenze esterne romane e vandaliche di cui nulla conosciamo tranne alcuni tardi effetti politici.>> [[Francesco Cesare Casula|Casula, Francesco Cèsare]] (2017). ''La storia di Sardegna, I, Evo Antico Sardo : Dalla Sardegna Medio-Nuragica (100 a.C. c.) alla Sardegna Bizantina'' (900 d.C. c.), p.281</ref><ref>[[Gregory the Great]], ''Epistula ad [[Hospito]]nem''</ref>

After a period in which the island was ruled by a political and economic alliance between the Nuragic Sardinians and the [[Phoenicia]]ns, parts of it were conquered by [[Carthage]] in the late 6th century BC, and by [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] in 238 BC. The Roman occupation lasted for 700 years.

Beginning in the [[Early Middle Ages]], the island was ruled by the [[Vandals]] and the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]]. In practice, the island was disconnected from Byzantium's territorial influence, which allowed the Sardinians to provide themselves with a self-ruling political organization, the four kingdoms known as [[Sardinian medieval kingdoms|Judicates]]. The [[Italian maritime republics]] of [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] struggled to impose political control over these indigenous kingdoms, but it was the Iberian [[Crown of Aragon]] which, in 1324, succeeded in bringing the island under its control, consolidating it into the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]].
[[File:MapSardine1779-2523.jpg|alt=Map of Sardinia, 1779|thumb|Map of Sardinia, 1779]]
This Iberian kingdom endured until 1718, when it was ceded to the [[Alps|Alpine]] [[House of Savoy]]; the Savoyards would [[Perfect Fusion|politically merge]] their insular possession with their domains on the [[Italian peninsula|Italian Mainland]] which, during the period of [[Italian unification]], they would go on to expand to include the whole Italian peninsula; their territory was so renamed into the [[Kingdom of Italy]] in 1861, and it was reconstituted as the present-day [[Italy|Italian Republic]] in 1946.

=== Prehistory ===
{{See also|Pre-Nuragic Sardinia}}

[[File:Menhir Monte Corru Tundu Sardinia.png|thumb|Monte Corru Tundu Menhir in [[Villa Sant'Antonio]] (5.75 meters high)]]

Sardinia is one of the most geologically ancient bodies of land in Europe. The island was populated in various waves of immigration from prehistory until recent times.

Remains from [[Corbeddu Cave]] in eastern Sardinia have been suggested by some authors to represent the earliest evidence of human presence on Sardinia, around 20,000 years ago, during the [[Last Glacial Maximum]]. However, other authors contend that there is no solid evidence for the occupation of the island until the early [[Mesolithic]], around 10,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Palombo |first1=M.R. |last2=Antonioli |first2=F. |last3=Lo Presti |first3=V. |last4=Mannino |first4=M.A. |last5=Melis |first5=R.T. |last6=Orru |first6=P. |last7=Stocchi |first7=P. |last8=Talamo |first8=S. |last9=Quarta |first9=G. |last10=Calcagnile |first10=L. |last11=Deiana |first11=G. |last12=Altamura |first12=S. |date=May 2017 |title=The late Pleistocene to Holocene palaeogeographic evolution of the Porto Conte area: Clues for a better understanding of human colonization of Sardinia and faunal dynamics during the last 30 ka |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618216301781 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=439 |pages=117–140 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2016.06.014|bibcode=2017QuInt.439..117P |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The [[Neolithic]] began on Sardinia during the [[6th millennium BC]] resulting from the migration of [[Early European Farmers]], replacing the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations, with a material culture including the widespread [[Cardium pottery]] style.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lugliè |first=Carlo |date=March 2018 |title=Your path led through the sea … The emergence of Neolithic in Sardinia and Corsica |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217305426 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=470 |pages=285–300 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.032|bibcode=2018QuInt.470..285L |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marcus |first1=Joseph H. |last2=Posth |first2=Cosimo |last3=Ringbauer |first3=Harald |last4=Lai |first4=Luca |last5=Skeates |first5=Robin |last6=Sidore |first6=Carlo |last7=Beckett |first7=Jessica |last8=Furtwängler |first8=Anja |last9=Olivieri |first9=Anna |last10=Chiang |first10=Charleston W. K. |last11=Al-Asadi |first11=Hussein |last12=Dey |first12=Kushal |last13=Joseph |first13=Tyler A. |last14=Liu |first14=Chi-Chun |last15=Der Sarkissian |first15=Clio |date=2020-02-24 |title=Genetic history from the Middle Neolithic to present on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=939 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-14523-6 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7039977 |pmid=32094358|bibcode=2020NatCo..11..939M }}</ref> In the mid-Neolithic period, the [[Ozieri culture]], probably of [[Aegean Islands|Aegean origin]], flourished on the island spreading the [[hypogeum]] tombs known as [[domus de Janas]], while the [[Arzachena culture]] of [[Gallura]] built the first [[megalith]]s: circular tombs. In the early 3rd millennium BC, the [[metallurgy]] of [[copper]] and [[silver]] began to develop.

During the late [[Chalcolithic]] the so-called [[Beaker culture]], coming from various parts of [[Continental Europe]], appeared in Sardinia. These new people predominantly settled on the west coast, where the majority of the sites attributed to them had been found.<ref>Giovanni Ugas, ''L'alba dei Nuraghi'' p.22-23-24-25-29-30-31-32</ref> The Beaker culture was followed in the early [[Bronze Age]] by the [[Bonnanaro culture]] which showed both reminiscences of the Beaker and influences by the [[Polada culture]].

As time passed the different Sardinian populations appear to have become united in customs, yet remained politically divided into various small, tribal groupings, at times banding together against invading forces from the sea, and at others waging war against each other. Habitations consisted of round thatched stone huts.
[[File:Nuraghe Losa.jpg|thumb|[[Nuraghe Losa]]]]

==== Nuragic civilization ====
{{Main|Nuragic civilization}}
From about 1500 BC onwards, villages were built around a kind of round tower-fortress called ''[[nuraghe]]''<ref>''Nuraghes'' in [[Logudorese dialect|North-central Sardinian]], ''nuraxis'' in [[Campidanese dialect|South-central Sardinian]], the plural forms being ''[[nuraghe]]'' and ''nuraxi'' respectively.</ref> (usually pluralized as ''nuraghes'' in English and as {{Lang|it|nuraghi}} in Italian). These towers were often reinforced and enlarged with battlements. Tribal boundaries were guarded by smaller lookout Nuraghes erected on strategic hills commanding a view of other territories.

Today, some 7,000 Nuraghes dot the Sardinian landscape. While initially these Nuraghes had a relatively simple structure, with time they became extremely complex and monumental (see for example the ''[[Nuraghe Santu Antine]]'', ''[[Su Nuraxi (Barumini)|Su Nuraxi]]'', or ''[[Nuraghe Arrubiu]]''). The scale, complexity and territorial spread of these buildings attest to the level of wealth accumulated by the Nuragic Sardinians, their advances in technology and the complexity of their society, which was able to coordinate large numbers of people with different roles for the purpose of building the monumental Nuraghes.
[[File:Sa ena e thomes 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Giants' grave]] in [[Dorgali]] ([[Bronze Age]])]]
The Nuraghes are not the only Nuragic buildings that stand in place, as there are several sacred wells around Sardinia and other buildings with religious purposes such as the [[Giants' grave]] (monumental collective tombs) and collections of religious buildings that probably served as destinations for pilgrimage and mass religious rites (e.g. ''[[Su Romanzesu]]'' near [[Bitti]]).
[[File:Età nuragica, giganti di monte prama, xiii-ix secolo ac ca., da cabras, guerriero 05, 01.jpg|thumb|One of the so-called [[Giants of Mont'e Prama]]]]
At the time, Sardinia was at the centre of several commercial routes and it was an important provider of raw materials such as [[copper]] and lead, which were pivotal for the manufacture of the time. By controlling the extraction of these raw materials and by trading them with other countries, the ancient Sardinians were able to accumulate wealth and reach a level of sophistication that is not only reflected in the complexity of its surviving buildings, but also in its artworks (e.g. the votive [[bronze]] statuettes found across Sardinia or the statues of Mont'e Prama).

According to some scholars, the Nuragic people(s) are identifiable with the [[Sherden]], a tribe of the [[Sea Peoples]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sardiniapoint.it/5085.html|title=SP INTERVISTA>GIOVANNI UGAS: SHARDANA|website=www.sardiniapoint.it|access-date=17 June 2010|archive-date=5 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405144452/http://www.sardiniapoint.it/5085.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Ugas 2016"/>

The Nuragic civilization was linked with other contemporaneous megalithic civilization of the western Mediterranean, such as the [[Talaiotic culture]] of the [[Balearic Islands]] and the [[Torrean civilization]] of [[Corse-du-Sud|Southern Corsica]]. Evidence of trade with the other civilizations of the time is attested by several artefacts (e.g. pots), coming from as far as [[Cyprus]], [[Crete]], [[Geography of Greece#Mainland|Mainland Greece]], Spain and Italy, that have been found in Nuragic sites, bearing witness to the scope of commercial relations between the Nuragic people and other peoples in Europe and beyond.

=== Ancient history ===
{{See also|Sardinia and Corsica}}
[[File:Colonne a tharros.jpg|thumb|left|The Phoenician and subsequently Roman town of [[Tharros]]]]
[[File:Necropoli di Tuvixeddu.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tuvixeddu necropolis|Necropolis of Tuvixeddu]], Cagliari]]
Around the 9th century BC the [[Phoenicia]]ns began visiting Sardinia with increasing frequency, presumably initially needing safe overnight and all-weather anchorages along their trade routes from the coast of modern-day Lebanon as far afield as the African and European Atlantic coasts and beyond. The most common ports of call were [[Cagliari|Caralis]], [[Nora, Italy|Nora]], [[Bithia, Italy|Bithia]], [[Sulci]], and [[Tharros]]. [[Claudius Claudianus|Claudian]], a 4th-century Latin poet, in his poem ''De bello Gildonico'', stated that Caralis was founded by people from [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], probably in the same time of the foundation of [[Carthage]], in the 9th or 8th century BC.<ref>Claudian, De Bello Gildonico, IV A.D.: city located in front of Libya (Africa), founded by the powerful Tyro, Karalis extends in length, between the waves, with a small bumpy hill, disperses headwinds. It follows a port in the mid of the sea, and all strong winds are softened in the shelter of the pond.(521.Urbs Lybiam contra Tyrio fundata potenti 521. Tenditur in longum Caralis, tenuemque per undas 522. Obvia dimittit fracturum flamina collem. 523. Efficitur portus medium mare: tutaque ventis 524. Omnibus, ingenti mansuescunt stagna recessu)</ref>
In the 6th century BC, after the conquest of western Sicily, the [[Punics|Carthaginians]] planned to annex Sardinia.{{sfn|Brigaglia|Mastino|Ortu|2006|p=27}} A first invasion attempt led by [[Malchus (general)|Malchus]] was foiled by the victorious Nuraghic resistance. However, from 510 BC, the southern and west-central part of the island were invaded a second time and came under Carthaginian rule.{{sfn|Brigaglia|Mastino|Ortu|2006|p=27}}<ref>Piero Meloni, La Sardegna romana, Sassari, Chiarella, 1975, p. 4.</ref>

[[File:- Fordongianus Thermes+.JPG|thumb|Roman [[thermae]] of ''Forum Traiani'', in what is now [[Fordongianus]]]]
In 238 BC, taking advantage of Carthage having to face a rebellion of her mercenaries (the [[Mercenary War]]) after the [[First Punic War]] (264–241 BC), the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] annexed Corsica and Sardinia from the Carthaginians. The two islands became the province of [[Corsica and Sardinia]]. They were not given a provincial governor until 227 BC. The Romans faced many rebellions, and it took them many years to pacify both islands. The existing coastal cities were enlarged and embellished, and Roman [[Colonia (Roman)|colonies]] such as [[Porto Torres|Turris Lybissonis]] and [[Posada, Sardinia|Feronia]] were founded. These were populated by Roman immigrants. The Roman military occupation brought the Nuragic civilization to an end, except for the mountainous interior of the island, which the Romans called ''[[Barbagia|Barbaria]]'', meaning '[[Barbarian]] land'. Roman rule in Sardinia lasted 694 years, during which time the province was an important source of grain for the capital. [[Latin]] came to be the dominant spoken language during this period, though Roman culture was slower to take hold, and Roman rule was often contested by the Sardinian tribes from the mountainous regions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unrv.com/provinces/sardinia.php|title=Sardinia - Province of the Roman Empire|website=www.unrv.com|access-date=18 July 2017}}</ref>

=== Vandal conquest ===
{{See also|Vandal Sardinia}}
[[File:Vandal coin.png|thumb|right|A Vandal-period coin found in Sardinia depicting Godas. Latin legend: REX CVDA.]]

The [[Germanic peoples|East Germanic tribe]] of the [[Vandals]] conquered Sardinia in 456. Their rule lasted for 78 years until 534, when, in the [[Vandalic War]] 400 [[East Roman army|Eastern Roman]] troops led by Cyril, one of the officers of the ''[[foederati]]'', retook the island. It is known that the Vandal government continued the forms of the existing Roman Imperial structure. The governor of Sardinia continued to be called the ''[[praeses]]'' and apparently continued to manage military, judicial, and civil governmental functions via imperial procedures. The only Vandal governor of Sardinia about whom there is substantial record is the last, [[Godas]], a [[Visigoth]] noble. In AD 530, a [[coup d'état]] in [[Carthage]] removed King [[Hilderic]], a convert to [[Nicene Christianity]], in favor of his cousin [[Gelimer]], an [[Arian]] Christian like most of the elite in his kingdom. Godas was sent to take charge and ensure the loyalty of Sardinia. He did the exact opposite, declaring the island's independence from Carthage{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=133}} and opening negotiations with Emperor [[Justinian I]], who had declared war on Hilderic's behalf. In AD 533, Gelimer sent the bulk of his army and navy (120 vessels and 5,000 men) to Sardinia to subdue Godas, with the catastrophic result that the Vandal Kingdom was overwhelmed when Justinian's own army under [[Belisarius]] arrived at Carthage in their absence. The Vandal Kingdom ended and Sardinia was returned to Roman rule.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Merrills|first1=Andrew|last2=Miles|first2=Richard|title=The Vandals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTIHPoyMOFYC&pg=PA136|year=2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-1808-1|page=136}}</ref>

=== Byzantine era and the rise of the Judicates ===
{{See also|Byzantine Sardinia|Sardinian medieval kingdoms}}
In 533, Sardinia returned to the rule of the [[Byzantine Empire]] when the [[Vandals]] were defeated by the armies of [[Justinian I]] under the General [[Belisarius]] in the [[Battle of Tricamarum]], in their African kingdom Belisarius sent his general Cyril to Sardinia to retake the island. Sardinia remained in Byzantine hands for the next 300 years<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.provinciadelsole.it/eng/bizantina.html|title=The Byzantine Age|website=www.provinciadelsole.it |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123211229/http://www.provinciadelsole.it/eng/bizantina.html |archive-date=23 January 2008 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> aside from a short period in which it was invaded by the [[Ostrogoths]] in 551.

Under Byzantine rule, the island was divided into districts called ''mereíai'' (μερείαι) in [[Byzantine Greek]], which were governed by a judge residing in Caralis and garrisoned by an army stationed in ''Forum Traiani'' (today [[Fordongianus]]) under the command of a ''[[dux]]''.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=137–138}} During this time, [[Christianity]] took deeper root on the island, supplanting the [[Paganism]] which had survived into the early [[Middle Ages]] in the culturally conservative hinterlands. Along with lay Christianity, the followers of monastic figures such as [[Basil of Caesarea]] became established in Sardinia. While Christianity penetrated the majority of the population, the region of [[Barbagia]] remained largely pagan and, probably, partially non-Latin speaking. They re-established a short-lived independent domain with Sardinian-heathen lay and religious traditions, one of its kings being [[Hospito]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sardegna.net/docs/cultura/storia_en.html|title=Sardinia - History of Sardinia|last=Italia|first=Stephan Hützen & MT Publisher|website=www.sardegna.net|language=EN|access-date=18 July 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924054020/http://www.sardegna.net/docs/cultura/storia_en.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Wolf Heinz J., 1998, Toponomastica barbaricina. Microtoponomastica dei comuni di Fonni, Gavoi, Lodine, Mamoiada, Oliena, Ollolai, Olzai, Orgósolo, Ovodda, Insula Edizioni</ref> [[Pope Gregory I]] wrote a letter to Hospito defining him "Dux Barbaricinorum" and, being Christian, the leader and best of his people.<ref>Gregorius I, Epistolae, Liber Quartus, Epistola XXIII: "Ad Hospitonem ducem barbaricinorum: Gregorius Hospitoni duci Barbaricinorum.
Cum de gente vestra nemo Christianus sit,  in hoc scio quia omni gente tua es melior,  quia tu in ea Christianus inveniris.  Dum enim Barbaricini omnes,  ut insensata animalia vivant,  Deum verum nesciant,  ligna autem et lapides adorent,  in eo ipso quod Deum verum colis,  quantum omnes antecedas ostendis.  Sed fidem quam percepisti etiam bonis actibus exsequere et verbis,  et Christo,  cui credis,  offer quod praevales,  ut ad eum quoscunque potueris adducas,  eosque baptizari facias,  et aeternam vitam diligere admoneas.  Quod si fortasse ipse agere non potes,  quia ad aliud occuparis,  salutans peto ut hominibus  (0692C) nostris,  quos illuc transmisimus,  fratri scilicet et coepiscopo meo Felici,  filioque meo Cyriaco servo Dei,  solatiari in omnibus debeas,  ut dum eorum labores adiuvas,  devotionem tuam omnipotenti Domino ostendas;  et ipse tibi in bonis actibus adiutor sit,  cuius tu in bono opere famulis solatiaris.  Benedictionem vero sancti Petri apostoli per eos vobis transmisimus,  quam peto ut debeatis benigne suscipere.  Mense Iunio,  indictione 12"
</ref> In this unique letter about Hospito, the Pope prompts him to convert his people who "living all like irrational animals, ignore the true God and worship wood and stone" ({{Lang|la|Barbaricini omnes, ut insensata animalia vivant, Deum verum nesciant, ligna autem et lapides adorent}}).<ref name="Sardes">{{cite book|title=Sardinia and the Sardes |first=Charles |last=Edwardes|publisher=R. Bentley and Son|location= London|year=1889|page= 249}}</ref>
[[File:Silanus santa sabina2.jpg#filelinks|thumb|Santa Sabina Byzantine church and nuraghe in [[Silanus, Sardinia|Silanus]]]]

The dates and circumstances of the end of Byzantine rule in Sardinia are not known. Direct central control was maintained at least through {{Circa|650}}, after which local legates were empowered in the face of the rebellion of [[Gregory the Patrician]], [[Exarchate of Africa|Exarch of Africa]] and the first invasion of the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]]. There is some evidence that senior Byzantine administration in the Exarchate of Africa retreated to Caralis following the final fall of [[Carthage]] to the [[Arabs]] in 697.<ref name="P. Grierson 1998, p. 287">P. Grierson & L.Travaini, Medieval European Coinage, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 287.</ref> The loss of imperial control in Africa led to escalating raids by [[Arabs]] on the island, the first of which is documented in 703, forcing increased military self-reliance in the province.<ref name="Consentino2004">{{cite journal |last1=Consentino |first1=Salvatore |title=Byzantine Sardinia between West and East: Features of a Regional Culture |journal=Millennium – Jahrbuch (2004) |date=16 December 2004 |volume=1 |issue=2004 |page=351 |doi=10.1515/9783110180350.329 |s2cid=201121903 |quote=... Walter Kaegi has convincingly argued that an Arab raid against Sardinia took place in the second half of the seventh century. This is an important contribution, because until now scholars commonly believe the first Arab raids against Sardinia to have taken place in 703. The majority of Muslim raids against the island, according to Muslims sources, is concentrated in the first half of the eighth century (703–704, 705–706, 707–708, 710–711, 732, 735, 752), at the same time of one of the most enduring period of Arab pressure against Anatolia and Constantinople.}}</ref>

Elsewhere in the central Mediterranean, the [[Aghlabids]] [[Siege of Melite (870)|conquered]] the island of [[Malta]] in 870.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Nef |first=Annliese |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qo8cEAAAQBAJ&dq=amantea+aghlabid&pg=PA208 |title=A Companion to Byzantine Italy |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-30770-4 |pages=200–225 |language=en |chapter=Byzantium and Islam in Southern Italy (7th-11th Century)}}</ref>{{Rp|page=208}} They also attacked or raided Sardinia and [[Corsica]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKpz_2CkoWEC&q=new+islamic+dynasties |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780748696482 |location= |pages=31 |chapter=The Aghlabids}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Metcalfe |first=Alex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8lAEAAAQBAJ |title=The Making of Medieval Sardinia |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-46754-5 |editor-last=Metcalfe |editor-first=Alex |pages=126–159 |language=en |chapter=Early Muslim Raids on Byzantine Sardinia |editor2-last=Fernández- Aceves |editor2-first=Hervin |editor3-last=Muresu |editor3-first=Marco}}</ref>{{Rp|page=153, 244}} Some modern references state that Sardinia came under Aghlabid control around 810 or after the beginning of the conquest of Sicily in 827.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Setton |first=Kenneth Meyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfO1J6hjcdgC&dq=aghlabid+sardinia&pg=PA43 |title=A History of the Crusades |date=1969 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-04834-1 |pages=43 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Agius |first1=Dionisius A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVLAF4b_62oC&dq=aghlabid+central+Mediterranean+island+sardinia&pg=PA27 |title=Siculo Arabic |last2=Agius |date=1996 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7103-0497-1 |pages=27 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Stefan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up9Fy-NBiLAC&dq=sardinia+aghlabid&pg=PA16 |title=Malta, Mediterranean Bridge |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-89789-820-1 |pages=16 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lea |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROR1xreEJTsC&dq=A+Political+Chronology+of+Africa+aghlabid+sardinia&pg=PA437 |title=A Political Chronology of Africa |last2=Rowe |first2=Annamarie |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-85743-116-2 |pages=437 |language=en}}</ref> Historian Corrado Zedda argues that the island hosted a Muslim presence during the Aghlabid period, possibly a limited foothold along the coasts that forcibly coexisted with the local Byzantine government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zedda |first=Corrado |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuEzDwAAQBAJ&dq=sardinia+aghlabid&pg=PA119 |title=A Companion to Sardinian History, 500–1500 |publisher=Brill |year=2017 |isbn=978-90-04-34124-1 |editor-last=Hobart |editor-first=Michelle |pages=119 |language=en |chapter=A Revision of Sardinian History between the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries}}</ref> Historian Alex Metcalfe argues that the available evidence for any Muslim occupation or colonisation of the island during this period is limited and inconclusive, and that Muslim attacks were limited to raids.<ref name=":42" />

Communication with the central government became daunting if not impossible during and after the [[Muslim conquest of Sicily]] between 827 and 902. A letter by [[Pope Nicholas I]] as early as 864 mentions the "Sardinian judges",{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=163}} without reference to the empire and a letter by [[Pope John VIII]] ({{Reigned|872|882}}) refers to them as ''principes'' ("princes"). By the time of ''[[De Administrando Imperio]]'', completed in 952, the Byzantine authorities no longer listed Sardinia as an imperial province, suggesting they considered it lost.<ref name="P. Grierson 1998, p. 287"/>
In all likelihood a local noble family, the [[Lacon-Gunale]], acceded to the power of [[Archon]], still identifying themselves as vassals of the Byzantines, but ''[[de facto]]'' independent as communications with Constantinople were very difficult. Only two names of those rulers are known: Salousios ({{Lang|grc|Σαλούσιος}}) and the {{Transliteration|grc|[[protospatharios]]}} Tourkotourios ({{Lang|grc|Tουρκοτούριος}}) from two inscriptions),<ref>{{lang|grc|Κύριε βοήθε τοῦ δοῦλου σου Tουρκοτουρίου ἅρχωντος Σαρδινίας καί τής δούλης σου Γετιτ 2) Tουρκοτουρίου βασιλικου πρωτοσπαθαρίου και Σαλουσίου των ευγενεστάτων αρχόντων.}} R. CORONEO, Scultura mediobizantina in Sardegna, Nuoro, Poliedro, 2000</ref><ref>Antiquitas nostra primum Calarense iudicatum, quod tunc erat caput tocius Sardinie, armis subiugavit, et regem Sardinie Musaitum nomine civitati Ianue captum adduxerunt, quem per episcopum qui tunc Ianue erat, aule sacri palatii in Alamanniam mandaverunt, intimantes regnum illius nuper esse additum ditioni Romani imperii." – Oberti Cancellarii, Annales p 71, Georg Heinrich (a cura di) MGH, Scriptores, Hannoverae, 1863, XVIII, pp. 56–96</ref><ref>Crónica del califa 'Abd ar-Rahmân III an-Nâsir entre los años 912–942,(al-Muqtabis V), édicion. a cura de P. CHALMETA – F. CORRIENTE, Madrid,1979, p. 365 Tuesday, 24 August 942 (A.D.), a messenger of the Lord of the island of Sardinia appeared at the gate of al-Nasir (...) asking for a treaty of peace and friendship. With him were the merchants, people Malfat, known in al-Andalus as from Amalfi, with the whole range of their precious goods, ingots of pure silver, brocades etc. ... transactions which drew gain and great benefits</ref> who probably reigned between the 10th and the 11th century. These rulers were still closely linked to the Byzantines, both for a pact of ancient vassalage,<ref>To the Archont of Sardinia: a bulla worth two gold [[solidus (coin)|solidi]] with this written: from the very Christian Lords to the Archont of Sardinia. ({{lang|grc|εὶς τὸν ἄρχοντα Σαρδανίας. βούλλα κρυσῆ δισολδία. "κέλευσις ὲκ τῶν φιλοχρίστων δεσποτῶν πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα Σαρδανίας."}}) Reiske, Johann Jakob: Leich, Johannes Heinrich, eds. (1829). Constantini Porphyrogeniti Imperatoris De Ceremoniis Aulae Byzantinae libri duo graece et latini e recensione Io. Iac. Reiskii cum eiusdem commentariis integris. Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 1 (Leipzig (1751–54) ed.). Bonn: Weber. pag. 690</ref> and from the ideological point of view, with the use of the [[Byzantine Greek]] language (in a [[Romance languages|Romance]] country), and the use of art of Byzantine inspiration.

[[File:San Gavino Aussenansicht.JPG|thumb|The medieval [[Basilica of San Gavino]] in [[Porto Torres]]]]
[[File:Saccargia,_interno,_ciclo_del_xiii_sec._02.JPG|thumb|12th century frescoes in the [[Basilica di Saccargia]] in [[Codrongianos]]]]
In the early 11th century, an [[Mujahid's invasion of Sardinia|attempt to conquer the island]] was made by [[Mujahid al-Amiri]] al-Ṣaqlabī, the [[Taifa of Dénia|ruler of Dénia and the Balearic Islands]] based in the [[Iberian Peninsula]].<ref>F. CODERA, Mochéid, conquistador de Cerdeña, in Centenario della nascita di Michele Amari. Scritti di filologia e storia araba; geografia, storia, diritto della Sicilia medioevale; studi bizantini e giudaici relativi all'Italia meridionale nel medio evo; documenti sulle relazioni fra gli Stati italiani e il Levante, vol. II, Palermo 1910, pp. 115–33, p. 124</ref> The only records of that war are from Pisan and Genoese chronicles.<ref>B. Maragonis, ''Annales pisani'' a. 1004–1175, ed. K. PERTZ, in MGH, Scriptores, 19, Hannoverae, 1861/1963, pp. 236–2 and ''Gli Annales Pisani'' di Bernardo Maragone, a cura di M. L. Gentile, in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, n.e., VI/2, Bologna 1930, pp. 4–7. 1017. «Fuit Mugietus reversus in Sardineam, et cepit civitatem edificare ibi atque homines Sardos vivos in cruce murare. Et tunc Pisani et Ianuenses illuc venere, et ille propter pavorem eorum fugit in Africam. Pisani vero et Ianuenses reversi sunt Turrim, in quo insurrexerunt Ianuenses in Pisanos, et Pisani vicerunt illos et eiecerunt eos de Sardinea».</ref> The Christians won but, after that, the previous Sardinian kingdom was undermined and subsequently divided into four smaller states: Cagliari (''Calari''), Arborea (''Arbaree''), Gallura, and Torres or Logudoro.

Whether this final transformation from imperial civil servant to independent sovereign bodies resulted from imperial abandonment or local assertion, by the 10th century, the so-called "Judges" ({{langx|sc|judikes}} / {{langx|la|iudices}}, a Byzantine administrative title) had emerged as the autonomous rulers of Sardinia. The title of {{Lang|la|iudice}} changed with the language and local understanding of the position, becoming the Sardinian {{lang|sc|judike}}, essentially a king or sovereign, while ''[[Sardinian medieval kingdoms|Judicate]]'' ({{langx|sc|logu}}) came to mean 'state'.<ref>Almanacco scolastico della Sardegna, p. 101</ref>

Early medieval Sardinian political institutions evolved from the millennium-old Roman imperial structures with relatively little Germanic influence.

Although the [[Sardinian medieval kingdoms|Judicates]] were hereditary lordships, the old Byzantine imperial notion that personal title or honor was separate from the state still remained, so the Judicate was not regarded as the personal property of the monarch as was common in later European [[feudalism]]. Like the imperial systems, the new order also preserved "semi-democratic" forms, with national assemblies called the [[Crown of the Realm]]. Each Judicate saw to its own defense, maintained its own laws and administration, and looked after its own foreign and trading affairs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Birocchi|first1=I. |first2=A. |last2=Mattone |title=La carta de logu d'Arborea nella storia del diritto medievale e moderno|publisher=Laterza|year= 2004}}</ref>

The history of the four Judicates would be defined by the contest for influence between the two Italian [[maritime republics|maritime powers]] of [[Genoa]] and [[Pisa]], and later the ambitions of the [[Kingdom of Aragon]].
[[File:Giudicati sardi 2.svg|thumb|left|The Sardinian Judicates]]
The [[Giudicato of Cagliari|Judicate of Cagliari]] or ''Pluminos'', during the regency of [[Torchitorio V of Cagliari]] and his successor, [[William III of Cagliari|William III]], was allied with the [[Republic of Genoa]]. Because of this it was brought to an end in 1258, when its capital, [[Santa Igia]], was stormed and destroyed by an alliance of Sardinian and Pisan forces. The territory then was divided between the [[Republic of Pisa]], the [[Della Gherardesca family]] from Italy, and the Sardinian Judicates of Arborea and Gallura. Pisa maintained the control over the fortress of Castel di Cagliari founded by Pisan merchants in 1216–1217 east of Santa Igia;{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=209-210-212}} in the south-west the count [[Ugolino della Gherardesca]] promoted the birth of the town of ''Villa di Chiesa'' (today [[Iglesias, Sardinia|Iglesias]]) to exploit the nearby rich [[silver]] deposits.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=293–294}}

The [[Giudicato of Logudoro|Judicate of Logudoro]] (also called ''Torres'') was also allied to the [[Republic of Genoa]] and came to an end in 1259 after the death of the {{lang|sc|judikessa}} (queen) [[Adelasia of Torres|Adelasia]]. The territory was divided up between the [[Doria (family)|Doria]] and Malaspina families of [[Genoa]] and the Bas-Serra family of [[Giudicato of Arborea|Arborea]], while the city of [[Sassari]] became [[Republic of Sassari|a small republic]], along the lines of the [[Italian city-states]] (''comuni''), [[Confederation|confederated]] firstly with Pisa and then with Genoa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sardegnacultura.it/j/v/258?s=20317&v=2&c=2695&t=7|title=Sardegna Cultura - Lingua sarda - Letteratura - Dalle origini al '700|website=www.sardegnacultura.it|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-date=3 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203005816/http://www.sardegnacultura.it/j/v/258?s=20317&v=2&c=2695&t=7|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Giudicato of Gallura|Judicate of Gallura]] ended in the year 1288, when the last giudice, [[Nino Visconti]] (a friend of [[Dante Alighieri]]), was driven out by the Pisans, who occupied the territory.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=297}}

The [[Giudicato of Arborea|Judicate of Arborea]], having [[Oristano]] as its capital, had the longest life compared to the other kingdoms. Its later history is entwined with the attempt to unify the island into a single Sardinian state ({{Lang|sc|Republica sardisca}} 'Sardinian Republic' in Sardinian, {{Lang|ca|Nació sarda}} or {{Lang|ca|sardesca}} 'Sardinian Nation' in Catalan) against their relatives and former [[Crown of Aragon|Aragonese]] allies.

=== Aragonese period ===
In 1297, [[Pope Boniface VIII]] established on his own initiative (''[[motu proprio]]'') a hypothetical ''regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae'' ("[[Kingdom of Sardinia|Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica]]") in order to settle the [[War of the Sicilian Vespers]] diplomatically. This had broken out in 1282 between the [[Capetian House of Anjou]] and [[Aragon]] over the possession of Sicily. Despite the existence of the indigenous states, the Pope offered this newly created crown to [[James II of Aragon]], promising him support should he wish to conquer Pisan Sardinia in exchange for Sicily.
[[File:Proclamazione della Repubblica sassarese - Giuseppe Sciuti, 1880 - Sassari, Palazzo della Provincia.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The proclamation of the Republic of [[Sassari]]. The Sassarese republic lasted from 1272 until 1323, when it sided with the new born Kingdom of Sardinia.]]

In 1324, in alliance with the Kingdom of Arborea{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=342}} and following a [[Aragonese conquest of Sardinia|military campaign]] that lasted a year or so, the Aragon Crown Prince [[Alfonso IV of Aragon|Alfonso]] led an Aragonese army that occupied the Pisan territories of Cagliari and Gallura along with the allied city of Sassari, naming them "The Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica". The kingdom was to remain a dominion of the Crown of Aragon (under the 16th-century kings of Spain) until the [[Peace of Utrecht]].

During this period, the Judicate of Arborea promulgated the legal code of the kingdom in the ''[[Carta de Logu]]'' ('Charter of the Land'). The Carta de Logu was originally compiled by [[Marianus IV of Arborea]], and was amended and updated by Mariano's daughter, Female Judge ({{lang|sc|judikessa}} or {{lang|sc|juighissa}}) [[Eleanor of Arborea]]. The legal code was written in [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and established a whole range of citizens' rights. Among the revolutionary concepts in this Carta de Logu was the right of women to refuse marriage and to own property. In terms of civil liberties, the code made provincial 14th century Sardinia one of the most developed societies in all of Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/2009/09/drives/italy-emerald-coast-text |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815145033/http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/2009/09/drives/italy-emerald-coast-text |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 August 2009 |title=Sardinia, Italy, Drive – National Geographic Traveler |publisher=Traveler.nationalgeographic.com |access-date=23 April 2010}}</ref>

In 1353, [[Peter IV of Aragon]], following Aragonese customs, granted a parliament to the kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica, which was followed by some degree of self-government under a viceroy and judicial independence. This parliament, however, had limited powers. It consisted of high-ranking military commanders, the clergy and the nobility. The kingdom of Aragon also introduced the [[feudalism|feudal]] system into the areas of Sardinia that it ruled.

The Sardinian Judicates never adopted feudalism, and Arborea maintained its parliament, called the ''[[Corona de Logu]]'' 'Crown of the Realm'. In this parliament, apart from the nobles and military commanders, also sat the representatives of each township and village. The Corona de Logu exercised some control over the king: under the rule of the ''bannus consensus'' the king could be deposed or even executed if he did not follow the rules of the kingdom.
[[File:Eleanor statue Oristano.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of the ''Juighissa'' [[Eleanor of Arborea]] in [[Oristano]]]]
Having broken the alliance with the Crown of Aragon, from 1353{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=349}} to 1409, the Arborean giudici [[Marianus IV of Arborea|Marianus IV]], [[Hugh III of Arborea|Hugh III]] and [[Brancaleone Doria]] (husband of [[Eleanor of Arborea]]), succeeded in occupying all of Sardinia except the heavily fortified towns of the Castle of [[Cagliari]] and [[Alghero]], which for years remained as the only Aragonese dominions in Sardinia ([[Sardinian–Aragonese war]]).

In 1409, [[Martin I of Sicily]], king of Sicily and heir to the crown of Aragon, defeated the Sardinians at the [[Battle of Sanluri]]. The battle was fought by about 20,000 Sardinian, Genoese and French knights, enrolled from their kingdom at a time when the population of Sardinia had been greatly depleted by the plague. Despite the Sardinian army outnumbering the Aragonese army, they were defeated.

The Judicate of Arborea disappeared in 1420, when its rights were sold by the last king for 100,000 [[Florin (Italian coin)|gold florins]],{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=372}} and after some of its most notable men switched sides in exchange for privileges. For example, Leonardo Cubello, with some claim to the crown being from a family related to the Kings of Arborea, was granted the title of [[Marquisate of Oristano|Marquis of Oristano]] and feudal rights on a territory that partly overlapped with the original extension of the Kingdom of Arborea in exchange for his subjection to the [[List of Aragonese monarchs|Aragonese monarchs]].

The conquest of Sardinia by the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] meant the introduction of the feudal system throughout Sardinia. Thus Sardinia is probably the only European country where feudalism was introduced in the transition period from the Middle Ages to the [[early modern period]], at a time when feudalism had already been abandoned by many other European countries.

=== Spanish period ===
[[File:Bandiera del Regno di Sardegna nel corte funebre dell'Imperatore Carlo V.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia (center) at the funeral of Charles I of Spain]]
[[File:Torre della Pelosa.jpg|thumb|Spanish era coastal tower in [[Stintino]] called ''Torre della Pelosa'']]
In 1469, the heir to Sardinia, [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]], married [[Isabel of Castile]], and the "[[Kingdom of Sardinia]]" (which was separated from Corsica) was to be inherited by their Habsburg grandson, [[Charles I of Spain]], with the state symbol of the [[Maure|Four Moors]]. The successors of [[Charles I of Spain]], in order to defend their Mediterranean territories from raids of the [[Barbary pirates]], fortified the Sardinian shores with a system of coastal lookout towers, allowing the gradual resettlement of some coastal areas.

The Kingdom of Sardinia remained Aragonese-Spanish for about 400 years, from 1323 to 1708, assimilating a number of Spanish traditions, customs and linguistic expressions, nowadays vividly portrayed in the folklore parades of Saint Efisio in Cagliari (1 May), the Cavalcade on Sassari (last but one Sunday in May), and the Redeemer in Nuoro (28 August). To this day Catalan is still spoken in the north-western city of [[Alghero]] ([[l'Alguer]]).

Many [[famine]]s have been reported in Sardinia. According to Stephen L. Dyson and Robert J. Rowland, "The [[Jesuits]] of [[Cagliari]] recorded years during the late 16th century "of such hunger and so sterile that the majority of the people could sustain life only with wild ferns and other weeds" ... During the terrible famine of 1680, some 80,000 people, out of a total population of 250,000, are said to have died, and entire villages were devastated ... "<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dyson|first1=Stephen L|last2=Rowland|first2=Robert J.|title=Archaeology and history in Sardinia from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages: shepherds, sailors & conquerors|publisher=UPenn Museum of Archaeology, 2007|location=Philadelphia|year=2007|isbn=978-1-934536-02-5|page=136}}</ref>

=== Savoyard period ===
In 1708, as a consequence of the [[Spanish War of Succession]], the rule of the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] passed from [[King Philip V of Spain]] into the hands of the [[Empire of Austria|Austrians]], who occupied the island. The [[Treaty of Utrecht]] granted Sardinia to the [[Empire of Austria|Austrians]], but in 1717, Cardinal [[Giulio Alberoni]], minister of [[Philip V of Spain]], [[Spanish conquest of Sardinia|reoccupied Sardinia]].

In 1718, with the Treaty of London, Sardinia was eventually handed over to the [[House of Savoy]]; this Alpine dynasty would go on to introduce the [[Italian language]] on the island forty years later in 1760, thereby starting a process of [[Italianization]] amongst the islanders.<ref>''The phonology of Campidanian Sardinian : a unitary account of a self-organizing structure'', Roberto Bolognesi, The Hague : Holland Academic Graphics</ref><ref>'' S'italianu in Sardìnnia '', Amos Cardia, Iskra</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.meilogunotizie.net/focus/storia/161/la-limba-proibita-nella-sardegna-del-700|title=La limba proibita nella Sardegna del '700|website=www.meilogunotizie.net|date=11 July 2013 }}</ref>

In 1793, Sardinians repelled the French ''[[Expédition de Sardaigne]]'' during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. On 23 February 1793, [[Domenico Millelire]], commanding the Sardinian fleet, defeated the fleets of the French Republic near the [[Maddalena archipelago]], of which then-lieutenant [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] was a leader.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/battles/1793/c_maddalena.html|title=La Maddalena, February 1793|website=www.napoleon-series.org}}</ref> Millelire became the first recipient of the [[Gold Medal of Military Valor]] of the [[Italian Armed Forces]]. In the same month, Sardinians stopped the attempted French landing on the beach of [[Quartu Sant'Elena]], near the Capital of [[Cagliari]]. Because of these successes, the representatives of the nobility and clergy (''Stamenti'') formulated five requests addressed to the King [[Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia]], but they were all met with rejection. Because of this discontent, on 28 April 1794, during an uprising in [[Cagliari]], two Savoyard officials were killed; that was the spark that ignited a revolt (called the "Sardinian Vespers") throughout the island, which started on 28 April 1794 (commemorated today as ''[[sa die de sa Sardigna]]'') with the expulsion and execution of the Piedmontese officers for a few days from the Capital [[Cagliari]]. 
[[File:Ingresso a Sassari.jpg|thumb|left|G.M. Angioy entry into Sassari]]
On 28 December 1795 [[Sassari]] insurgents demonstrating against feudalism, mainly from the region of [[Logudoro]], occupied the city. On 13 February 1796, in order to prevent the spread of the revolt, the viceroy Filippo Vivalda gave the Sardinian magistrate [[Giovanni Maria Angioy]] the role of Alternos, which meant a substitute of the viceroy himself. Angioy moved from Cagliari to Sassari, and during his journey almost all the villages joined the uprising, demanding an end to feudalism and aiming to declare the island to be an independent republic,<ref>''Sardinia'', Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls, 2003</ref><ref>''Idee di Sardegna'', Carlo Pala, Carocci Editore, 2016, pp.77</ref> but once he was outnumbered by [[Loyalism|loyalist]] forces he fled to Paris and sought support for a French annexation of the island.

In 1798, the islet near Sardinia was attacked by the [[Tunisia]]ns and over 900 inhabitants were taken away as [[slave]]s.<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5q9zcB3JS40C&pg=PA45 Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800]''". Robert Davis (2004). p.45. {{ISBN|1-4039-4551-9}}.</ref> The final Muslim attack on the island was on [[Sant'Antioco]] on 16 October 1815, over a millennium since the first.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ricerca.gelocal.it/lanuovasardegna/archivio/lanuovasardegna/2003/02/02/SW203.html|title=Nel 1815 difese l'isola dagli assalti barbareschi Sant'Antioco, una targa in ricordo dell'eroe Efisio Melis Alagna|work=Archivio – La Nuova Sardegna|access-date=29 November 2013|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203065736/http://ricerca.gelocal.it/lanuovasardegna/archivio/lanuovasardegna/2003/02/02/SW203.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1799, as a consequence of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in Italy, the Savoy royal family left [[Turin]] and took refuge in Cagliari for some fifteen years.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=472–475}} In 1847, the Sardinian parliaments (''Stamenti''), in order to get the Piedmontese liberal reforms they could not afford due to their separated legal system, renounced their state autonomy and agreed to [[Perfect Fusion|form a union]] with the Italian Mainland States (''Stati di Terraferma''), ending up with a single parliament, a single magistracy and a single government in Turin; this move aggravated the island's peripheral condition<ref>Onnis, Omar. ''La Sardegna e i sardi nel tempo'', Arkadia, pp.172</ref> and most of the pro-union supporters, including its leader Giovanni Siotto Pintor, would later regret it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.libero.it/07061944/12535085.html|title=29 novembre 1847: la Fusione perfetta, una data infausta per i Sardi e la Sardegna su Truncare sas cadenas|work=07061944}}</ref>

[[File:Costumes of Sardinia 1880s 01.jpg|thumb|Sardinians wearing [[Folk costume|traditional ethnic garments]], 1880s]]
In 1820, the Savoyards imposed the Enclosures Act (''Editto delle Chiudende'') on the island, aimed at turning the land's traditional collective ownership, a cultural and economic cornerstone of Sardinia since the Nuragic times,<ref name="chiudende">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sardegnaforeste.it/notizia/editto-delle-chiudende-1820-una-pagina-di-conflittualit%C3%A0-nella-storia-sarda|title=Editto delle chiudende 1820: una pagina di conflittualità nella storia sarda. &#124; SardegnaForeste|website=www.sardegnaforeste.it}}</ref> to private property. This gave rise to many abuses, as the reform ended up favouring the landholders while excluding the poor Sardinian farmers and shepherds, who witnessed the abolition of the communal rights and the sale of their lands. Many local rebellions like the [[Nuoro|Nuorese]] {{Lang|sc|Su Connottu}} ('The Already Known' in Sardinian) riot in 1868,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.contusu.it/a-su-connottu-la-ribellione-del-1868/|title=A su connottu: la ribellione del 1868 – Contus Antigus|date=7 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://love.sardegne.com/sardegna-info/citta-e-paesi/nuoro/226-su-connottu-la-rivolta-nuorese-contro-i-savoia/|title=Su Connottu, la rivolta nuorese contro i Savoia – I love Sardinia|date=14 November 2005}}</ref> all repressed by the King's army, resulted in an attempt to return to the past and reaffirm the right to use the once common land. However the [[common lands]] (called ''ademprivios'') were never completely abolished, and they are still present in large number to this day (500,000 hectares of common lands were counted in 1956, of which 345,000 constituted by woods).<ref>{{cite web |title=Storia delle foreste demaniali |publisher=Sardegna Foreste |url=http://www.sardegnaambiente.it/foreste/enteforeste/compiti/storia.html |language=it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824041554/http://www.sardegnaforeste.it:80/enteforeste/compiti/storia.html |archive-date=24 August 2006 |access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Italy===

With the [[Perfect Fusion]] in 1848, the confederation of states powered by the Savoyard kings of Sardinia became a unitary and constitutional state and moved to the [[First Italian War of Independence|Italian Wars of Independence]] for the [[Unification of Italy]], that were led for thirteen years. In 1861, being Italy united by a debated war campaign, the parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia decided by law to change its name and the title of its king to [[Kingdom of Italy]] and [[King of Italy]]. Most Sardinian forests were cut down at this time, in order to provide the Piedmontese with raw materials, like wood, used to make railway sleepers on the mainland. The primary natural forests, praised by every{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} traveller visiting Sardinia, would in fact be reduced to one-fifth of their original number, being little more than 100,000 hectares at the end of the century.<ref>''Colpi di scure e sensi di colpa. Storia del disboscamento della Sardegna dalle origini a oggi'', Fiorenzo Caterini, Carlo Delfino editore, {{ISBN|978-88-7138-704-8}}</ref> From 1850 onward, taxes more than doubled in Sardinia, which compounded the already severe financial hardships facing the islanders, due to the Italo-French tariff war: between 1885 and 1897, the Sardinians saw their land being confiscated more than the rest of Italy combined as a result of tax evasion.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roy Domenico|title=The Regions of Italy. A Reference Guide to History and Culture|place=London|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2002|page=258}}</ref>

During the [[World War I|First World War]], the Sardinian soldiers of the [[Sassari Mechanized Brigade|Brigata Sassari]] distinguished themselves. It was the first and only regional military unit in Italy, since the people enrolled were only Sardinians. The brigade suffered heavy losses and earned four [[Gold Medal of Military Valor|Gold Medals of Military Valor]]. Sardinia lost more young people than any other Italian region on the front, with 138 casualties per 1000 soldiers compared to the Italian average of 100 casualties.

During the [[Italian Fascism|Fascist]] period, with the implementation of the policy of [[autarky]], several swamps around the island were reclaimed and agrarian communities founded. The main communities were the village of Mussolinia (now called [[Arborea]]), populated by farmers from [[Veneto]] and [[Friuli]], in the area of Oristano and [[Fertilia]], populated at first by settlers from the [[Ferrara]] area, followed, after [[World War II]], by a notable number of [[Istrian Italians]] and [[Dalmatian Italians]] hailing from territories lost to [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], in the area adjacent the city of [[Alghero]], within the region of [[Nurra]]. Also established during that time (1938) was the city of [[Carbonia, Italy|Carbonia]], which became the main centre of [[coal mining]] activity, that attracted thousand of workers from the rest of the Island and the Italian mainland. The Sardinian writer [[Grazia Deledda]] won the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 1926.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-468-1415-35, Süditalien, Häuserruinen.jpg|thumb|left|Effect of Allied bombing on [[Cagliari]] during the [[Second World War]]]]
During the [[Second World War]], Sardinia was an important air and naval base and was heavily bombed by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], especially the city of Cagliari. German troops left the island on 8 September 1943, a few days after the [[Armistice of Cassibile]], and retired to Corsica without fighting and bloodshed, after a bilateral agreement between the general Antonio Basso (Commander of the Armed Forces of Sardinia) and the German [[Karl Hans Lungerhausen]], general of the [[90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|90th Panzergrenadier Division]].<ref>Antonio Basso, Generale Antonio Basso, L'armistizio del settembre 1943 in Sardegna, Napoli, Rispoli, 1947. no ISBN, page 57</ref>

=== Post-Second World War period ===
In 1946, by popular referendum, Italy became a republic, with Sardinia being administered since 1948 by a special statute of autonomy. By 1951, [[malaria]] was successfully eliminated by the ERLAAS, Anti-malaric Regional Authority, and the support of the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], which facilitated the commencement of the Sardinian tourist boom.<ref>Simonis, Damien. ''Lonely Planet Sardinia'', Lonely Planet Publications (June 2003), pp.17</ref> With the increase in [[Tourism in Sardinia|tourism]], coal decreased in importance but Sardinia followed the [[Italian economic miracle]].
[[File:Three luxury yachts - Lady Anne, Lady Moura and Pelorus.jpg|thumb|Super yachts anchored at [[Porto Cervo]] port, [[Costa Smeralda]]]]
In the early 1960s, an [[industrialisation]] effort was commenced, the so-called ''Piani di Rinascita'' (rebirth plans), with the initiation of major infrastructure projects on the island. These included the construction of new dams and roads, reforestation, agricultural zones on reclaimed marshland, and large industrial complexes (primarily oil refineries and related petrochemical operations). With the creation of [[petrochemical]] [[Industry (economics)|industries]], thousands of ex-farmers became industrial workers. The [[1973 oil crisis]] caused the termination of employment for thousands of workers employed in the petrochemical industries, which aggravated the emigration already present in the 1950s and 1960s.

Sardinia faced the creation of [[military base]]s on the island,<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Military pollution in no war zone: The military representation in the local media|first1=Aide|last1=Esu|first2=Simone|last2=Maddanu|date=4 April 2017|journal=Journalism|volume = 19|issue = 3|pages = 420–438|doi=10.1177/1464884917700914|hdl = 11584/212085|s2cid=152134134|url=https://iris.unica.it/bitstream/11584/212085/1/PISQ.pdf}}</ref><ref name="news.com.au">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/dark-truth-behind-sardinias-holiday-oasis/news-story/8a372818be6d3d0d2c969ab24914df05|title=Dark truth behind Sardinia's sun tans|date=6 November 2015}}</ref> like [[Decimomannu Air Base]] and [[Salto di Quirra]] (the biggest scientific military base in Europe) in the same decades.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://warisacrime.org/downloads/sardinia.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626131218/http://warisacrime.org/downloads/sardinia.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Sardinia: Militarization, Contamination and Cancer in Paradise|archive-date=26 June 2016}}</ref> Even now, around 60% of all Italian and NATO military installations in Italy are on Sardinia, whose area is less than one-tenth of all the Italian territory and whose population is little more than the 2.5%;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.neweurope.eu/article/bc-us-stock-prices-us-214/|title=BC-US—Stock Prices, US|date=8 October 2014|access-date=18 July 2016|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404174657/https://www.neweurope.eu/article/bc-us-stock-prices-us-214/|url-status=dead}}</ref> furthermore, they comprise over 35,000 hectares used for experimental weapons testing,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.regione.sardegna.it/argomenti/ambiente_territorio/servitumilitari/|title=Ambiente e territorio |website=www.regione.sardegna.it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enricolobina.org/wp/2014/07/25/sardinia-and-the-right-to-self-determination-of-peoples-document-to-be-presented-to-the-european-left-university-berlin-2014/|title=Sardinia and the right to self-determination of peoples Document to be presented to the European Left University, Berlin 2014|work=Enrico Lobina}}</ref> where 80% of the military explosives in Italy are used.<ref name="repubblica.it">{{cite web|url=http://espresso.repubblica.it/attualita/2016/02/29/news/silenzio-di-piombo-le-basi-militari-in-sardegna-e-quelle-morti-senza-risposte-1.252237|title=Silenzio di piombo: le basi militari in Sardegna e quelle morti senza risposte|date=1 March 2016}}</ref>

[[Sardinian nationalism]] and local [[protest movement]]s became stronger in the 1970s, and a number of [[Sardinian banditry|bandits]] (''[[anonima sarda]]'') started a long series of [[kidnappings]], which ended only in the 1990s.<ref>Arnold P. Goldstein, Marshall H. Segall. ''Aggression in Global Perspective'', 2013, pg. 301; pg. 304</ref> This also gave rise to various militant groups that blended separatist and [[communist]] ideas, the most famous being ''Barbagia Rossa'' and the [[Sardinian Armed Movement]],<ref>Giovanni Ricci, ''Sardegna Criminale'', Newton Compton, 2008</ref> which perpetrated several bombings and terrorist actions between the 1970s and the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sisde.it/gnosis/Rivista3.nsf/ServNavigE/7 |title=Sardinia, a political laboratory |publisher=GNOSIS, Italian Intelligence Magazine |access-date=9 December 2011 |archive-date=18 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218082352/http://www.sisde.it/gnosis/Rivista3.nsf/ServNavigE/7 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>''The Dynamics of Subversion and Violence in Contemporary Italy'' – Vittorfranco Pisano, Hoover Institution Press (1987)</ref><ref>''Il codice barbaricino'' – Paola Sirigu, Davide Zedda Editore</ref> In the span of just two years (1987–1988), 224 bombing attacks were reported.<ref>Il codice barbaricino – Paola Sirigu, Davide Zedda Editore, pp. 225</ref>

[[File:US Navy 040114-N-8197M-002 The sun rises behind the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39). Emory S. Land is the only forward deployed submarine tender in the Western hemisphere.jpg|thumb|[[Santo Stefano (island)|Santo Stefano]]'s former NATO naval base]]

In 1983 a prominent activist of a separatist party, the [[Sardinian Action Party]] (''Partidu Sardu – Partito Sardo d'Azione''), was elected president of the regional parliament, and in the 1980s several other movements calling for independence from Italy were born; in the 1990s some of them became political parties, even if in a rather disjointed manner. It was not until 1999 that the island's languages ([[Sardinian language|Sardinian]], [[Sassarese language|Sassarese]], [[Gallurese]], [[Algherese dialect|Algherese]] and [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Tabarchino]]) were recognised, even if just formally, together with [[Italian language|Italian]]. The [[35th G8 summit]] was planned by [[Prodi II Cabinet]] to be held in Sardinia, on the island of [[La Maddalena]], in July 2009; however, in April 2009, the Italian Prime Minister, [[Silvio Berlusconi]], decided, without convoking the Italian parliament or consulting the Sardinian governor of [[The People of Freedom|his own party]], to move the summit, even though the works were almost completed, to [[L'Aquila]], provoking heavy protests.

Today Sardinia is phasing in as an [[European Union|EU]] region, with a diversified economy focused on tourism and the tertiary sector. The economic efforts of the last twenty years have reduced the handicap of insularity, especially in the fields of [[Low-cost carrier|low-cost air travel]] and advanced [[information technology]]. For example, the [[CRS4]] (Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia) developed the second European [[website]] and 1st in Italy in 1991<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1999/dicembre/28/Soru_incontro_con_Rubbia_cosi_co_0_99122810441.shtml|title=Archivio Corriere della Sera|author=QuestIT s.r.l.}}</ref> and [[webmail]] in 1995. CRS4 allowed several telecommunication companies and internet service providers based on the island to flourish, such as Videonline in 1994, [[Tiscali]] in 1998 and [[3 Italy|Andala Umts]] in 1999.