Constantine II[1] (died December 1198), called de Martis, was the giudice of Logudoro. He succeeded to the giudicato sometime between 1181 and 1191. He was the son of Barisone II and Preziosa de Orrubu. His father associated him with the government in 1170 and abdicated the throne to him around 1186. His reign was generally characterised by contemporary chroniclers as "tyrannical."
In the year before Constantine's succession, Logudoro and Arborea owed allegiance to the Republic of Genoa and Gallura and Cagliari to that of Pisa. When Barisone II of Arborea died in 1185, Pisa installed Peter of Serra, Barisone's eldest son, on the Arborean throne, while Genoa installed Hugh of Bas, a grandson. However, at the same time, Peter of Torres, the giudice of Cagliari and a brother of Constantine, revolted against the Pisans and expelled them, allying with Genoa against them and against Peter of Arborea. In 1189, a Pisan fleet under Obert, Margrave of Massa, invaded Cagliari and forced Peter to take flight to the court of his brother in Porto Torres. Obert's son William was installed as giudice in Cagliari. Hugh and Peter came to terms in Arborea, agreeing to rule it jointly.
On 10 June 1191, Constantine signed a treaty with Genoa and made peace with Cagliari. The treaty stipulated that Genoese merchants be guaranteed their property, citizenship, tax-free commerce, markets, and rights to justice in Logudoro. He further agreed to assist Genoa in its war against Pisa and Arborea. Together, William and Constantine invaded the condominium of Arborea. Hugh fled and Peter was captured by William. The two triumphant allies divided up Arborea between themselves. Genoa, not content with an alliance between Constantine and the neutral (neither Pisan- nor Genoese-supporting) William, coerced the former to make war on his erstwhile ally. Defeated, the giudice of Logudoro made peace and offered a strong alliance. William, not quick to forgive, instead invaded Logudoro and took the castle of Goceano, where Constantine's wife Prunisinda was residing. The archbishop of Pisa mediated an accord between the dueling princes, but Constantine broke the peace and recaptured Goceano, thus the archbishop excommunicated him (1194). In March 1196, Constantine was in Pisa to propose: William's return of Prunisinda and his own return of Goceano or Montiverro unless he paid 50,000 gold bezants. This plea failed.
On his deathbed, Constantine called for the archbishop of Torres to recommunicate him, but he died before the archbishop arrived. He was consequently buried outside of the giudical cemetery in Ardara until his brother Comita III of Torres had him reburied with a Christian ceremony.
Constantine's first wife was one Druda, a Catalan who died soon after arriving on the isle. His aforementioned second wife, Prunisinda, was also a Catalan and died still in prison in 1195. Constantine had no children, however, and was succeeded by his brother Comita.[2]
Notes
↑ Also Costantino, Gosantine, Goantine, or Gantine.
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.
Barison II or Barisone II was the "Judge" of Arborea, one of the four Judicates of Sardinia, from 1146 to 1186. He was the son of Comita II and Elena de Orrubu. His reign was groundbreaking in Sardinian history. It saw the birth of Catalan influence, the escalation of the Genoese-Pisan conflict, and the first royal investiture over the entire island when Barisone was briefly recognised as King of Sardinia by the Holy Roman Emperor from 1164 to 1165.
Barison II or Barisone II was the giudice of the Judicate of Logudoro from 1153 to 1186. He was the son and successor of Gonario II, who abdicated the throne and retired to the monastery of Clairvaux to live out his days.
Comita III was the giudice of Logudoro, with its capital at Torres, from 1198 until 1218. He was the youngest of four sons of Barisone II of Torres and Preziosa de Orrubu. He ruled at a time when the great families, usually foreign, were superseding the giudici in power and influence on Sardinia.
Comita II or III was the giudice (judge) of the Judicate of Arborea from 1131 until his death. He was the son of Constantine I of Arborea, the first ruler of Arborea of the Lacon dynasty. He married Elena de Orrubu, mother of Barison II of Arborea. The dating and chronology of his reign are obscure.
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.
Gonario II was the giudice of the Sardinian kingdom of Logudoro from the death of his father in 1128 until his own abdication in 1154. He was a son of Constantine I and Marcusa de Gunale. He was born between 1113 and 1114 according to later sources and the Camaldolese church of S. Trinità di Saccargia was founded in his name by his parents on 16 December 1112, though it was not consecrated until 5 October 1116.
Comita Spanu was the giudice of Gallura, in Sardinia, from 1133 to 1146. He was the son and successor of Constantine II.
Constantine II was the giudice of Cagliari. He was called de Pluminus after his capital city.
The Judicate of Cagliari was one of the four kingdoms or judicates into which Sardinia was divided during the Middle Ages.
The Judicate of Gallura was one of four Sardinian judicates in the Middle Ages. These were independent states whose rulers bore the title iudex, judge. Gallura, a name which comes from gallus, meaning rooster (cock), was subdivided into ten curatoriae governed by curatores under the judge. In the 13th century, the arms of Gallura contained a rooster.
Elena was the daughter and successor of Barisone II of Gallura and was named after her mother Odolina of the Lacon family. First queen regnant in Sardinia, she ruled Gallura from the death of her father until her own death, though she was eclipsed by her husband after 1207.
Biagio was the Archbishop of Torres from 1 December 1202 to his death late 1214 or early 1215.
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.
Marianus II was the Judge of Logudoro from 1218 until his death. He was an ally of the Republic of Genoa and enemy of Pisa.
Peter I, of the Serra family, was the eldest son and successor of Barisone II of Arborea, reigning from 1186 to his death. His mother was Barisone's first wife, Pellegrina de Lacon. He was crowned King of Sardinia, the title his father had used, with the support of a majority of the Arborean nobility.
Torchitorio III, born Peter, was the Judge of Cagliari from October 1163 to his deposition and arrest in 1188, after which he was never heard of again.
William of Capraia was the regent for Marianus II of Arborea from 1241 until his death, being entitled "Judge" from 1250 on.
Marianus II was the Judge of Arborea from 1241 to his death. With skilled military action, he came to control more than half of the island of Sardinia. By his control of the vast central plains and the rich deposits of precious metals, he increased the riches of his Judicate and staved off the general economic decline affecting the rest of Europe at the time.
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