Brancaleone Doria was the husband of Eleanor of Arborea, regent of the Giudicato of Arborea on the island of Sardinia in the late 14th century. He was a scion of the influential Doria family of the Republic of Genoa, the son of the elder Brancaleone and a woman named Giacomina. On 16 March 1357, he became a vassal of Peter IV of Aragon, the nominal King of Sardinia, to legitimate the possessions of his father on the island.
When Hugh III of Arborea, Eleanor's brother, sought out a matrimonial alliance with Genoa, his choice for a brother-in-law fell on Brancaleone. The marriage took place in 1376, a political alliance only, for the Bas-Serra family of Eleanor was opposed to the royal pretensions of the House of Barcelona, to which Brancaleone was affiliated. Already at the time of his marriage, he had illegitimate children, Giannettino and Nicholas, by an anonymous woman.
When Hugh was assassinated in 1383, Eleanor and Brancaleone's young son Frederick succeeded to the Giudicato of Arborea. At that time, Brancaleone was in Catalonia to receive the honorific title of "Count of Monteleone and Baron of Lower Marmilla". As soon as Peter IV heard of the election of Frederick, he arrested Brancaleone and sent him to Cagliari to be imprisoned first in the tower of Pancrazio and then in that of Elefante. Arborea was governed in the meantime by Eleanor.
Frederick, later seized and imprisoned by Peter himself, died young and in captivity. He was succeeded by Brancaleone's second son, Marianus V. Brancaleone was finally liberated on 1 January 1390, by which time his loyalty to the Aragonese crown was broken.
On 1 April 1391, Brancaleone marched on Castel di Cagliari and, on 16 August, occupied Sassari and Osilo with his son Marianus. In September, he conquered the castles of Fava, Galtellì, Bonvehì, and Pedreso. Only Alghero and Longosardo remained in Aragonese hands. On 3 October, he entered Villa di Chiesa. In a letter written at Sanluri on 3 February 1392, he announced having repossessed all the territories lost to the Aragonese in 1388. On 16 March, a fleet under Martin of Aragon appeared off Capo San Marco, conducted from Sicily for the purpose of putting down Brancaleone's "rebellion". The attempt failed.
Following Marianus' death, Arborea passed to William III of Narbonne. Brancaleone retired to his estates at Monteleone. He disappears from the record mysteriously before the Battle of Sanluri in 1409.
Martin I of Sicily, called "The Younger", was King of Sicily from his marriage to Queen Maria in 1390 until his death.
Martin the Humane, also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409. He failed to secure the accession of his illegitimate grandson, Frederic, Count of Luna, and with him the rule of the House of Barcelona came to an end.
Eleanor of Arborea or Eleanor De Serra Bas was one of the most powerful and important, and one of the last, judges of the Judgedom of Arborea in Sardinia, and Sardinia's most famous heroine. She is also known for updating of the Carta de Logu, promulgated by her father Marianus IV and revisited by her brother Hugh III.
The Judicates, in English also referred to as Sardinian Kingdoms, Sardinian Judgedoms or Judicatures, were independent states that took power in Sardinia in the Middle Ages, between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. They were sovereign states with summa potestas, each with a ruler called judge, with the powers of a king.
The Judicate of Arborea or the Kingdom of Arborea was one of the four independent judicates into which the island of Sardinia was divided in the Middle Ages. It occupied the central-west portion of the island, wedged between Logudoro to the north and east, Cagliari to the south and east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. To the northeast and beyond Logudoro was Gallura, with which Arborea had far less interaction. Arborea outlasted her neighbours, surviving well into the 15th century. At its greatest territorial extent it occupied the entire island except the cities of Alghero and Cagliari. The earliest known judicial seat was Tharros, though Oristano served as capital for most of its existence.
William I, royal name Salusio IV, was the judike of Cagliari, meaning "King", from 1188 to his death. His descendants and those of his immediate competitors intermarried to form the backbone of the Italian Aristocracy, and ultimately their descendants in the Medici clan are precursors to, and definers of later royalty and claims thereto.
Marianus IV, called the Great, was the Judge (king) of Arborea, kingdom in the island of Sardinia, from 1347 to his death. He was, as his nickname indicates, the greatest sovereign of Arborea. He was a legislator and a warrior whose reign saw the commencement of massive codification of the laws of his realm and incessant warfare with the Crown of Aragon. He was also a religious man, who had connections to Catherine of Siena. He was, in short, an "wise legislator, able politician, and valiant warrior."
Adelasia (1207–1259), was the Judge of Logudoro from 1236 and the titular Judge of Gallura from 1238.
Benedetta was the daughter and heiress of William I of Cagliari and Adelasia, daughter of Moroello Malaspina. She succeeded her father in January or February 1214.
William of Capraia was the regent for Marianus II of Arborea from 1241 until his death, being entitled "Judge" from 1250 on.
Frederick (1377–1387) was the Judge of Arborea from 1383 until his death. His surname was Doria, but since he belonged to the ruling house of Arborea he is often dynastically called Bas-Serra, or Doria-Bas. Nephew and successor of Hugh III, he was a minor upon his succession and was under the tutelage of his mother Eleanor.
Marianus V was the Judge of Arborea from 1387 until his death. His surname was Doria, but since he belonged to the ruling house of Arborea he is often dynastically called Bas-Serra, or Doria-Bas. Younger brother and successor of Frederick, he was a minor upon his succession and was under the tutelage of his mother Eleanor.
William II was Viscount of Narbonne (1397-1424) and the nominal Judge of Arborea (1407-1420).
The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom ofSardinia-Piedmont or Piedmont-Sardinia as a composite state during the Savoyard period, was a country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid 19th century.
The Aragonese conquest of Sardinia took place between 1323 and 1326. The island of Sardinia was at the time subject to the influence of the Republic of Pisa, the Pisan della Gherardesca family, Genoa and of the Genoese families of Doria and the Malaspina; the only native political entity survived was the Judicate of Arborea, allied with the Crown of Aragon. The financial difficulties due to the wars in Sicily, the conflict with the Crown of Castile in the land of Murcia and Alicante (1296-1304) and the failed attempt to conquer Almeria (1309) explain the delay of James II of Aragon in bringing the conquest of Sardinia, enfeoffed to him by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297.
The Castle of Gioiosa Guardia is a medieval castle in Villamassargia, province of South Sardinia, Italy.
Leonardo Alagon, even Alagón or de Alagón,, was the last marquis of Oristano (1470–1478).
The Marquisate of Oristano was a marquisate of Sardinia that lasted from 1410 until 1478
The Sardinian–Aragonese war was a late medieval conflict lasting from 1353 to 1420. The fight was over supremacy of the land and took place between the Judicate of Arborea -- allied with the Sardinian branch of the Doria family and Genoa -- and the Kingdom of Sardinia, the latter of which had been part of the Crown of Aragon since 1324.
The Kingdom of Sardinia was a feudal state in Southern Europe created in the early 14 century and a possession of the Crown of Aragon first and then of the Spanish Empire until 1708, then of the Habsburgs until 1717, and then of the Spanish Empire again until 1720.
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