Editing Sardinia (section)

=== 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.