Judge of Cagliari

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The Judicates of Sardinia.

The kings or judges (iudices or judikes) of Cagliari were the local rulers of the south of Sardinia during the Middle Ages. Theirs was the largest kingdom and for the eleventh through twelfth centuries contested the supremacy on the island with that of Logudoro. It was often an ally of the Republic of Pisa and an early supporter of Western monasticism.

The first, native dynasty originated from two clans, the Salusio de Lacon (Salusius, rarely Salucio) and the Torchitorio de Ugunale (Torcotorius). In honour of those two names, dynasts and later their successors, the houses of Torres (1163) and Massa (1188) traditionally adopted a regnal name, alternating between Salusio and Torchitorio.

Since the 9th century, the capital was Santa Igia.

List of kings

Partitioned between Pisa, the Gherardeschi, Arborea, and Gallura.

Notes

  1. His brother Torbeno may have laid claim to and temporarily ruled the giudicato following his death.
  2. From Constantine's death to the next year, Barisone II of Arborea (Barisone I) controlled Cagliari in opposition to Torchitorio III.
  3. During the reign of Benedetta, after the death of her first husband, Torchitorio IV, Cagliari fell under the control of Pisa. She was dominated by the two Ubaldos of the House of Visconti though she married three times more.

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William I of Cagliari

William I, regnal name Salusio IV, was the Giudice of Cagliari, or high Judge, 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.

Constantine I was the giudice of Cagliari. He was the son of the giudice Orzocco Torchitorio and giudicessa Vera. In the eleventh century, the throne of Cagliari traditionally passed between the houses of Torchitorio de Ugunale and Salusio de Lacon. Constantine took the name Salusio II upon his succession, in an attempt to unite the families. He appears in contemporary charters as rex et iudex Caralitanus: "King and Judge of Cagliari."

Judicate of Cagliari

The Judicate of Cagliari was one of the four Sardinian judicates of the Middle Ages, kingdoms of Byzantine origins.

Judicate of Gallura

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.

Peter II was the Giudice ("Judge") of Arborea from 1221 to his death. He was also Peter IV, Viscount of Bas. He was "pious and submissive to the church" and his extensive "donations of privileges and judicial lands impoverished his state of glory."

Barisone II Torchitorio IV de Serra was the Judike (Judge) of Arborea and Cagliari.

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.

Lamberto Visconti di Eldizio was the Judge of Gallura from 1206, when he married the heiress Elena, to his own death. He was a member of the Visconti family of Pisa and the first of that dynasty to rule in Sardinia, where they lasted in Gallura for almost another century.

Ubaldo II Visconti, son of Lamberto di Eldizio and Elena de Lacon, was the Judge of Gallura from 1225 to his death in 1238. He ruled every giudicato on the island of Sardinia at one point or another save Arborea.

Adelasia of Torres


Adelasia (1207–1259), eldest child of Marianus II of Logudoro by Agnes of Massa, daughter of William I of Cagliari, and successor of her brother, Barisone III, in 1236, was the Judge of Logudoro from 1236 and Judge of Gallura from 1238.

Benedetta of Cagliari Judge of Cagliari

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 II Salusio V was the Judge of Cagliari from 1232 to his death. His Christian name was William, but his regnal name was Salusio, based on ancient Cagliaritan traditions which alternated their rulers between the forenames Torchitorio and Salusio. He would have been called Salusio in official documents, though he is known historically as William, after his grandfather, William I.

Marianus II of Torres

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 Arborea

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.

Ubaldo I Visconti was the de jure overlord of the Giudicato of Cagliari from 1217. He was a member of the Visconti family of Pisa, controlling Cagliari on behalf of his brother, who was judge jure uxoris from 1218.

William III, of the House of Massa, was the last Judge of Cagliari, ruling under the name Salusio VI from 1256 to his deposition in 1258. He is known also known as Guglielmo Cepolla or Cipolla.

Torchitorio III of Cagliari

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.

Torchitorio II, also known by his birth name as Marianus II and surnamed de Unali, was the Judge of Cagliari from circa 1102 to his death, but initially with opposition.

Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia Italian noble dynasty

The Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia were an Italian noble dynasty of the Middle Ages. They achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia, where they became rulers of Gallura.