Editing History of Sardinia (section)

==Middle Ages==
===Vandals, Goths and Byzantines===
{{Further|Vandal Sardinia|Byzantine Sardinia}}
After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], Sardinia was subject to several conquests. In 456, the [[Vandals]], an [[East Germanic tribe]], coming from North Africa, occupied the coastal cities of the island; they imposed garrisons guarded by African auxiliaries, like the [[Mauri (people)|Mauri]]. The Vandals followed [[Arianism]] and deported a number of African [[Bishop]]s in the island such as [[Fulgentius of Ruspe]].{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=128}} In 533, Sardinia rebelled under the Vandal governor [[Godas]], a [[Goths|Goth]], who proclaimed himself ''rex'' of Sardinia, asking the Byzantines for aid.{{sfn|Casula|1994|pp=131–133}}
[[File:San Giovanni di Sinis abside.jpg|thumb|220px|Byzantine era church of San Giovanni di Sinis]]
In the summer of 533 Vandal forces (5,000 men and 120 ships), led by [[Tzazo]], arrived in Sardinia to stifle Godas' rebellion and conquered Caralis, killing Godas and his followers.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=134}} In early 534, the Vandals of Sardinia surrendered immediately to the Byzantines when faced with news of the [[Vandalic War|Vandal collapse in Africa]];{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=135}} thenceforth the island was part of the [[Byzantine Empire]], included as a province in the [[Praetorian prefecture of Africa]]. The local governor sat in Caralis. During the [[Gothic Wars (6th century)|Gothic Wars]], much of the island fell easily to the [[Ostrogoths]], but the final fall of the Germanic resistance in [[mainland Italy]] reassured [[Byzantine]] control.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=142}} Sardinia was subsequently included in the [[Exarchate of Africa]] until its end by the [[Arabs]] in 698 AD, when the island was likely aggregated to the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]].{{sfn|Casula|1994|pp=146–151}} In 599 and during the 7th century, the [[Longobard]] fleet tried to attack Caralis and Turris Libissonis ([[Porto Torres]]), but in vain.{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=148}}

One of the few ethnic Sardinians known from this period was [[Ospitone]], a leader of the ''Barbaricinos'' (people of [[Barbagia]]). According to the [[Pope Gregory I]]'s letters, a Romanized and Christianized area existed on the island (that of the ''provinciales'') that co-existed with, in the interior, pagan or semi-pagan cultures (''Gens Barbaricina''). The ruler of one of the latter, [[Ospitone]], converted to Christianity in 594 after a diplomatic exchange. Christianization however remained long influenced by eastern and Byzantine culture.
Other known religious figures of Sardinian origin of that period (5th–6th centuries) are [[Pope Hilarius]] and [[Pope Symmachus]].

===Iberian invasions===
{{Further|Pisan–Genoese expeditions to Sardinia}}
Starting from the 8th century, the [[Taifa of Zaragoza|Iberians]] from Denia and Zaragoza (recently conquered by Muslims) harassed the population of the coastal cities. Details about the political situation of Sardinia in the following centuries are scarce. Due to Saracen attacks, in the 9th century [[Tharros]] was abandoned in favor of [[Oristano]], after more than 1,800 years of human occupation while [[Cagliari|Caralis]] was abandoned in favor of [[Santa Igia]]; numerous other coastal centres suffered the same fate (Nora, Sulci, Bithia, Cornus, Bosa, Olbia etc.).{{sfn|Casula|1994|p=160}} There was another [[Taifa of Denia|Denia invasion]] in 1015−16 from [[Balearics]], led by [[Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī]] (Latinized as ''Museto''), the [[Sharq_al-Andalus|Denians]] attempt of invasion of the island was stopped by Sardinian Judicates with the support of the Fleets of the [[Maritime Republics]] of [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], called by Pope [[Benedict VIII]].

[[File:Giudicati sardi 2.svg|right|thumb|The main four Judicates.]]

===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]].