The Gherardeschi or della Gherardesca were a family of the Republic of Pisa

Republic of Pisa

The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...

, dating back as early as the 11th century. They were one of the most prominent in Pisa by the middle of the 13th century. They were of Ghibelline

Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...

 sympathies and held the county of Donoratico

Castagneto Carducci

Castagneto Carducci is a comune in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 90 km southwest of Florence and about 50 km southeast of Livorno...

.

Constantine I of Gallura

Constantine I of Gallura

Constantine I was the Giudice of Gallura from probably before 1065 to sometime before 1100. He was probably a member of the Gherardeschi family of Pisa and governed Gallura on behalf of the Republic....

 may have been a member of the family, ruling Gallura

Giudicato of Gallura

The Giudicato of Gallura was one of four Sardinian giudicati of the Middle Ages. These were de facto independent states ruled by judges bearing the title iudex . Gallura, a name which comes from gallus, meaning rooster , was subdivided into ten curatoriae governed by curatores under the judge...

 on behalf of the Archdiocese of Pisa.

The Gherardeschi
had a rivalry with the House of Visconti

House of Visconti

Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...

, another Ghibelline family of Pisa. In 1237, the Archbishop and the Emperor Frederick II intervened in Pisa to reconcile the two rivals, but failed. In 1254, the citizenry rebelled and imposed twelve Anziani del Popolo ("Elders of the People") as their political representatives.

Early on in the century, the Gherardeschi took an interest in the affairs of Pisa in Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

. In 1230, Ubaldo of Gallura

Ubaldo of Gallura

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....

, a Visconti, invaded the Giudicato of Cagliari

Giudicato of Cagliari

The Giudicato of Cagliari was one of the four Sardinian giudicati of the Middle Ages. It covered the entire south and central east portion of the island and was composed of thirteen subdivisions called curatoriae. To its north and west lay Arborea and north and on the east lay Gallura and Logudoro...

, but the Gherardeschi repulsed him in the name of Benedetta

Benedetta 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....

 and the young William II

William II of Cagliari

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...

. In 1258, they received a third of Cagliari after its dismemberment. Their third was the southern third, including the city of Cagliari

Cagliari

Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...

 itself. A Gherardesca woman also married John Visconti, the Judge of Gallura, who had received the northeastern third of Cagliari. This marriage brought final reconciliation between the Visconti and Gherardeschi.

The Gherardeschi reached their height in Pisa in the person of Ugolino della Gherardesca

Ugolino della Gherardesca

Count Ugolino della Gherardesca , count of Donoratico, was an Italian nobleman, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante's Divine Comedy.-Biography:...

 in the 1270s and 1280s. He was forced to share power with his nephew Nino Visconti

Nino Visconti

Ugolino Visconti , better known as Nino, was the Giudice of Gallura from 1275 or 1276 to his death. He was a son of Giovanni Visconti and nephew of Ugolino della Gherardesca. He was the first husband of Beatrice, daughter of Obizzo II d'Este...

, but they soon quarrelled. The fed-up Pisans arrested Ugolino and deposed Nino from Gallura.

There is a Gherardesca Chapel in the church of Saint Francis in Pisa.