History of Sardinia
Encyclopedia
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[],...
island is present in the form of the nuraghe
Nuraghe
The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...
which dot the land. The recorded history of Sardinia begins with its contacts with the various people who sought to dominate western Mediterranean trade in Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
: the Egyptians
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Phoenicians, and Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Initially under the political and economic alliance with the Phoenician cities, it was colonised and then conquered by Rome during the First Punic War
First Punic War
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
(238 BC) but strong Punic cultural influences remained until the 1st century AD.
In the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, through barbarian movements
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
and the waning of Roman (by this time Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
) authority, the island fell out of the sphere of influence of any higher government. Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
raids provided an impetus for the creation of independent, quasi-royal giudicati
Giudicati
The giudicati were the indigenous kingdoms of Sardinia from about 900 until 1410, when the last fell to the Aragonese. The rulers of the giudicati were giudici , from the Latin iudice , often translates as "judge". The Latin for giudicato was iudicatus The giudicati (singular giudicato) were the...
in the 8th through 10th centuries. Falling under papal influence, Sardinia becomes the focus of the rivalry of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
and 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...
and finally of the local population and the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
, which subsumed the island as the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
in (1324), which was to last until 1720 when it was acquired by the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
, which later, in 1861, became the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
and finally the Republic of Italy.
Prehistory
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
of an Oreopithecus bambolii
Oreopithecus bambolii
Oreopithecus is an extinct primate from the Miocene epoch whose fossils have been found in today's Tuscany and Sardinia in Italy. Oreopithecus existed in the Tusco-Sardinian area when this territory was an isolated island in an arc of islands stretching from central Europe to northern Africa.In...
, a prehistoric anthropomorphic primate, dated 8.5 million years ago. In 1979 human remains were found that were dated to 150,000 BC. In 2004, in a cave in Logudoro
Logudoro
The Logudoro is a large traditional region in central-northern Sardinia, Italy. The local dialect is known as Logudorese.Mostly composed of soft volcanic terrains, it is the most fertile area of the island. For this reason it was settled since early Prehistoric times, as shown by the presence of...
a human finger bone was found that was dated up to 250,000 BC.
Prehistoric arrowheads (3rd millennium BC
3rd millennium BC
The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age.It represents a period of time in which imperialism, or the desire to conquer, grew to prominence, in the city states of the Middle East, but also throughout Eurasia, with Indo-European expansion to Anatolia, Europe and Central Asia. The...
) and figurines demonstrate a well-developed industry of stone carving.
Already in the Stone Age, Monte Arci played an important role. The old volcano was one of the central places where obsidian
Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...
was found and worked for cutting tools and arrowheads. Even now the volcanic glass can be found on the sides of the mountain. The Archeological Museum of Sassari
Sassari
Sassari is an Italian city. It is the second-largest city of Sardinia in terms of population with about 130,000 inhabitants, or about 300,000 including the greater metropolitan area...
displays ceramics from the Copper or Aneolithic Age (2600 BC).
Pre-historic and Pre-nuragic constructions that characterise the Sardinian landscapes are the Domus de Janas
Domus de Janas
Domus de Janas are a type of pre-historic chamber tombs found in the Mediterranean area, but typically in Sardinia. They consist of several chambers quarried out by the Ozieri and Beaker cultures, resembling houses in their layout.Built between 3400 and 2700 BC, more than 1000 of the rock-cut...
(Sardinian:House of the Fairies or of the Witches), the Giants' grave
Giants' grave
thumb|300px|sa Ena 'e Thomes Giants' grave in [[Dorgali]].thumb|300px|Interior of the sa Ena 'e Thomes tomb.Giants' grave is the name given by local people and archaeologists to a type of Sardinian megalithic gallery grave built during the Bronze Age by the Nuragic civilization...
s, the Betili
Menhir
A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...
(Sardinian: Menhir
Menhir
A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...
), Dolmens and Holy wells.
Nuragic Era
Prehistoric Sardinia is characterised by stone structures called nuragheNuraghe
The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...
, of which there are more than 8,000. The most famous is the complex of Barumini
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
Su Nuraxi is a nuragic archaeological site in Barumini, Sardinia, Italy. It was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997 as Su Nuraxi di Barumini.Su Nuraxi simply means "the nuraghe" in Sardinian....
in the province of Medio Campidano
Province of Medio Campidano
Medio Campidano is a province in the autonomous region of Sardinia, Italy.It was created in 2005 from part of the province of Cagliari. It contains 28 communities, the largest of which by population are :-Politics:...
. The nuraghe were mainly built in the period from about 1800 to 1200 BC, though many were used until the Roman period. Next to these were built holy water-places (for example Santa Cristina, Sardara) and dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
s.
It is known that the Sardinians had contact with the Mycenean
Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
s, who traded with the western Mediterranean. Contact with powerful cities of Crete, such as Kydonia, is clear from pottery recovered in archaeological excavations in Sardinia. The alleged connection with the Sherden, one of the sea peoples who invaded Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and other areas of eastern Mediterranean, has been supported by professor Giovanni Ugas from the University of Cagliari
University of Cagliari
The University of Cagliari is a university located in Cagliari, Italy. It was founded in 1620 and is organized in 11 Faculties.-History:The Studium Generalis Kalaritanum was founded in 1606 along the lines of the old Spanish Universities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Lérida...
; this hypothesis has been however opposed by other archaeologists and historians
The name Sardinia derives from that of Sardus (known amongst the Roman as Sardus Pater), a mythological hero of the Iolei, one of the Nuragic tribes.
Phoenician settlement
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...
). The Phoenicians came originally from what is now Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and founded a vast trading network in the Mediterranean. They settled along the south western coasts. Sardinia had a special position because it was central in the Western Mediterranean between Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, Spain, the Rhone river
Rhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
and the Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
area. The mining area around Iglesias was important for the metals lead and zinc. The cities were founded on strategic points, often peninsulas or islands near estuaries, easy to defend and natural harbours. After the Phoenicians, the Carthagianians took over control in that part of the Mediterranean, around 550 BC. They expanded their influence to the eastern and southern coast from Bosa to Karalis, consolidating a large number of Phoenician colonies all over the western Mediterranean under one empire for the first time. The cities were administered by plenipotentiaries called Sufetes, which stressed the growing of grain and cereals.
Roman Empire
In 240, in the course of the First Punic WarFirst Punic War
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
, the Carthaginian mercenaries on the island revolted and gave the Romans, who some years earlier had defeated the Carthaginians in the sea off Olbia and had occupied Sulci, the opportunity to land on Sardinia and occupy it. In 238 BC the Romans took over the whole island, without meeting any resistance. They took over an existing developed infrastructure and urbanized culture (at least in the plains). Along with Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
it formed a province under a praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
. Together with Sicily it formed one of the main granaries of Rome until the Romans conquered Egypt in the 1st century BC.
Cannae
Cannae is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Barletta.-Geography:It is situated near the river Aufidus , on a hill on the right Cannae (mod. Canne della Battaglia) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a...
(216 BC). A Roman army of 23,000 men, under Titus Manlius Torquatus
Titus Manlius Torquatus
Titus Manlius Torquatus may refer to three Roman Republic consuls of the gens Manlia:* Titus Manlius Torquatus , son of Lucius, consul in 347, 344, and 340 BC...
, met the Carthagianian-Sardinian allied forces in the south of the island, defeating them and killing 12,000 men. The so-called Sardi Pelliti ("Fur-covered Sardinians") living in the impervious mountains of the interior resisted the Roman colonization for more than a century, Marcus Caecilius Metellus
Marcus Caecilius Metellus
Marcus Caecilius Metellus may refer to:* Marcus Caecilius Metellus I, Roman quaestor, tribune, aedile, 3rd century BC* Marcus Caecilius Metellus II, Roman consul in 115 BC...
subduing them only in 127 BC.
Under Roman domination, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
became the speech of the majority of the inahbitants, ultimately developing in to the modern Sardinian language
Sardinian language
Sardinian is a Romance language spoken and written on most of the island of Sardinia . It is considered the most conservative of the Romance languages in terms of phonology and is noted for its Paleosardinian substratum....
. The Punic culture remained very strong under the Romans until the 1st centuries AD. Tharros, Nora, Bithia, Antas and Monte Sirai are now important archaeological monuments where architecture and city planning can be studied.
During the Roman period
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, the geographer Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
noted that Sardinia was inhabited by the following peoples, from north to south: the Tibulati
Tibulati
The Tibulati , also called Tibulates and Tibulatii, were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt at the extreme north of the island, about the ancient city of Tibula, near the Corsi and immediately north of the Coracenses.-References:*...
and the Corsi
Corsi
The Corsi were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt at the extreme north of the island, near the Tibulati and immediately north of the Coracenses. The Corsi gave their name to the island of Corsica.-References:*...
, the Coracenses
Coracenses
The Coracenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Tibulati and the Corsi and north of the Carenses and the Cunusitani.-References:*...
, the Carenses
Carenses
The Carenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Coracenses and north of the Salcitani and the Lucuidonenses.-References:*...
and the Cunusitani
Cunusitani
The Cunusitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Coracenses and north of the Salcitani and the Lucuidonenses.-References:*...
, the Salcitani
Salcitani
The Salcitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Carenses and the Cunusitani and north of the Æsaronenses.-References:*...
and the Lucuidonenses
Lucuidonenses
The Lucuidonenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Carenses and the Cunusitani and north of the Æsaronenses.-References:*...
, the Æsaronenses
Æsaronenses
The Æsaronenses or Aesaronenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Salcitani and the Lucuidonenses and north of the Æchilenenses or Cornenses.-References:*...
, the Æchilenenses
Æchilenenses
The Æchilenenses also called the Cornenses and Æchilenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Æsaronenses and north of the Rucensi.-References:*...
(also called Cornenses), the Rucensi
Rucensi
The Rucensi were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Æchilenenses and north of the Celsitani and the Corpicenses.-References:*...
, the Celsitani
Celsitani
The Celsitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Rucensi and north of the Scapitani and the Siculensi.-References:*...
and the Corpicenses
Corpicenses
The Corpicenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Rucensi and north of the Scapitani and the Siculensi.-References:*...
, the Scapitani
Scapitani
The Scapitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Celsitani and the Corpicenses and north of the Neapolitani and the Valentini.-References:*...
and the Siculensi
Siculensi
The Siculensi were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Celsitani and the Corpicenses and north of the Neapolitani and the Valentini.-References:*...
, the Neapolitani
Neapolitani
The Neapolitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt south of the Scapitani and the Siculensi and north of the Solcitani and the Noritani. Their chief city was Neapolis, located approximately 20 km north of modern Guspini....
and the Valentini
Valentini
-Surname:* Andrea Valentini , American designer* Andrea Valentini, drummer for Blood, Sweat & Tears since 2001* Andrea Valentini, athlete* Antonio Valentini, president of Central Bank of San Marino* Antony Valentini, theoretical physicist...
, the Solcitani
Solcitani
The Solcitani also called the Sulcitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt at the extreme south part of the island, immediately south of the Neapolitani and the Valentini. Their chief city was Sulci, adjacent to the modern Sant'Antioco.-References:*...
and the Noritani
Noritani
The Noritani also called Norenses were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy . They dwelt at the extreme south part of the island, immediately south of the Neapolitani and the Valentini. Their chief town was Nora ....
.
Vandals, Goths and Byzantines
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, Sardinia was subject to several conquests. In 456, the Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, an East Germanic tribe, coming from North Africa, occupied the coastal cities of the island. A brief Eastern Roman reconquest did not last long, and the Vandals imposed garrisons guarded by African auxiliaries, like the Mauri
Mauri
Mauri may refer to:*Mauri meaning the life force which all objects contain, in the Māori language of New Zealand and the Rotuman language of Rotuma*Mauri, or Maurya Empire, an ancient caste in India which built its greatest empire...
. In 533, Sardinia rebelled under Goddas
Goddas
Goddas or Godas was a Gothic nobleman of the Vandal kingdom in Africa. King Gelimer of the Vandals made him governor of the Vandalic province of Sardinia, but Goddas stopped forwarding the taxes he collected and declared himself ruler of Sardinia.In 533, he began communicating with Justinian I,...
, a Goth.
In 534 the small Vandal forces surrendered immediately to the Byzantines when news of the Vandal collapse; thenceforth the island was part of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, included in the African prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
ure. The local governor sat in Caralis. During the Gothic Wars much of the island fell easily to the Ostrogoths, but an army sent from Carthage and the final fall of German resistance in the mainland reassured the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
control.
One of the few ethnic Sardinians known from this period was one Ospitone
Ospitone
Ospitone was a Christian chief of Barbagia in Sardinia in the late sixth century. Gregory the Great, in a letter dated to 594, commended Ospitone for his Christianity at a time when most Barbaricini were still pagans "living, all like irrational animals, ignorant of the truth of God and worshiping...
, a leader of the Barbaricinos (people of Barbagia
Barbagia
Barbagia is a mountain area of inner Sardinia. It is mostly comprised in the province of Nuoro and located alongside the Gennargentu massif....
). According to the Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
's letters, in the island co-existed a Romanized and Christianized area (that of the provinciales) with, in the interior, pagan or semi-pagan cultures (Gens Barbaricina). The ruler of one of the latter, Ospitone
Ospitone
Ospitone was a Christian chief of Barbagia in Sardinia in the late sixth century. Gregory the Great, in a letter dated to 594, commended Ospitone for his Christianity at a time when most Barbaricini were still pagans "living, all like irrational animals, ignorant of the truth of God and worshiping...
, converted to Christianity in 594 after a diplomatic exchange. Christianization however remained for long influenced by eastern and Byzantine culture.
Saracens raids
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
from North Africa (recently conquered by the Arab armies) harassed the population of the coastal cities. News about the political situation of Sardinia in the following centuries is scarce. Due to Saracen attacks, in the 9th century Tharros
Tharros
Tharros was an ancient city on the west coast of Sardinia, Italy, and is currently an archaeological site near the village of San Giovanni di Sinis, municipality of Cabras, in the Province of Oristano...
was abandoned in favor of Oristano
Oristano
Oristano is a town and comune, capital of the Province of Oristano, on the island of Sardinia, Italy. It has approximately 32,500 inhabitants.Its economy is mainly based on fishing, agriculture and, to a certain extent, tourism.-History:...
, after more than 1800 years of occupation; Caralis
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...
, Porto Torres
Porto Torres
Porto Torres is a comune and city in northern Sardinia, in the Province of Sassari.It is situated on the north coast about 25 km east of the Gorditanian promontory , and on the spacious bay of the Gulf of Asinara.-History:...
and numerous other coastal centres suffered the same fate. There was news of another massive Saracen sea attack in 1015-16 from Balearics, led by Mujahid (Latinized in Museto), the saracen's attempt of invasion of the island was stopped by Sardinian Giudicati
Giudicati
The giudicati were the indigenous kingdoms of Sardinia from about 900 until 1410, when the last fell to the Aragonese. The rulers of the giudicati were giudici , from the Latin iudice , often translates as "judge". The Latin for giudicato was iudicatus The giudicati (singular giudicato) were the...
with the support of the Fleets of Maritime Republics of Pisa and Genoa. Pope Benedict VIII asked the aid of the maritime republics
Repubbliche Marinare
The maritime republics were a number of city-states which flourished in Italy in the Middle Ages. The best known are the Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice. These states competed with each other both militarily and commercially...
of Pisa and Genoa in the struggle against the Arabs.
Giudicati
Giudicati
The giudicati were the indigenous kingdoms of Sardinia from about 900 until 1410, when the last fell to the Aragonese. The rulers of the giudicati were giudici , from the Latin iudice , often translates as "judge". The Latin for giudicato was iudicatus The giudicati (singular giudicato) were the...
("held by judges") appeared. The title of "iudike" (judge) was an heir of that of the Byzantine governor after the creation of the Exarchate of Africa
Exarchate of Africa
The Exarchate of Africa or of Carthage, after its capital, was the name of an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire encompassing its possessions on the Western Mediterranean, ruled by an exarch, or viceroy...
in 582 (Prases or Judex Provinciae). In the 8th–9th centuries the four partes depending from Caralis grew increasingly independent, the Byzantines being totally cut off from the Tyrrhenian Sea by the Muslim conquest of Sicily in 827. A letter from Pope Nicholas I
Pope Nicholas I
Pope Nicholas I, , or Saint Nicholas the Great, reigned from April 24, 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority and power, exerting decisive influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe.He...
in 864 mentions for the first time the "Sardinian judges", their autonomy now clear in a later letter by Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII was pope from December 13, 872 to December 16, 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the ninth century and the last bright spot on the papacy until Leo IX two centuries later....
, which defined them as "Princes".
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
. The late 11th century arrival of Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
, Camaldolese
Camaldolese
The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...
and other monks from the Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...
, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, and Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, especially the monasteries Montecassino, Saint-Victor de Marseille, Vallombrosa, boosted the agriculture in a land which was extremely underdeveloped. The Condaghi (catalogues, cartularies) of the monasteries, which record property transactions, are an important source for the study of the island in the 11th and 12th centuries. Evidence from the Condaghi of San Pietro di Silki, in Sassari, and Santa Maria di Bonarcado concerning the children of slaves has been adduced to show that differences in agricultural lifestyles between regions may affect the survival rate of females, hypothetically through increased infanticide of baby girls. The abbacy of Santa Maria di Bonarcado contained more central, upland regions where a pastoral economy dominated and women were less economically useful; among children in that region, sex ratios are highly skewed in favour of men. On the other hand, in the region of San Pietro di Silki, less pastoral, child sex ratios are not skewed abnormally.
There were five (historically known) Giudicati: Agugliastra
Giudicato of Agugliastra
The Giudicato of Agugliastra or Ogliastra was a small and short-lived giudicato in Sardinia probably in the tenth and eleventh centuries. It lay south of Gallura, east of Arborea, and north of Cagliari along the Tyrrhenian Sea on the east of the island. Its capital was Ogliastra.Agugliastra is the...
, Logudoro, 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...
, Arborea and 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...
. Agugliastra was early on absorbed by Cagliari and Arborea and Logudoro (and perhaps Gallura) were united for a time in the 11th century.
The initiatives of the Gregorian reform
Gregorian Reform
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy...
ers led to greater contact between Sardinia and the continent, especially through the desires of the judges to establish monasteries with monks from continental monasteries at Montecassino and Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. By the 12th century, the Sardinian Giudicati, though obscure, are visible through the mists of time. They professed allegiance to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, which put them under the authority of the Archdiocese of Pisa, superseding the ancient primacy of the Archdiocese of Cagliari on the island. Some historians have even hypothesised that Sardinia was more or less a theocracy under the Cagliaritan diocese until their power was replaced by the Pisan.
Often warring between one another, the Giudicati made a great number of commercial concessions to the Pisans and the Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. The Repubbliche Marinare
Repubbliche Marinare
The maritime republics were a number of city-states which flourished in Italy in the Middle Ages. The best known are the Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice. These states competed with each other both militarily and commercially...
soon became the true masters of the Sardinian economy.
In the late 12th century and early 13th century, all four Giudicati passed to foreign dynasties and the local families were relegated to minor positions. Arborea passed to the Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
House of Cervera (Cervera-Bas) in 1185, though this was contested for the next few decades. In 1188, Cagliari was conquered by the House of Massa from 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...
. Gallura became by marriage — it had been inherited by a woman, Elena
Elena of Gallura
Elena was the daughter and successor of Barisone II of Gallura and was named after her mother of the Lacon family. She ruled Gallura from the death of her father until her own death, though she was eclipsed by her husband after 1207....
— a possession of 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 Pisan family, in 1207. Only Logudoro survived to the end under local Sardinian rulers. However, its end was early. It passed to Genoa in 1259 after the death of its last judge (Giudicessa), Adelasia
Adelasia of Torres
Adelasia , 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....
, only a year after the Pisans deposed the last ruler of Cagliari. Gallura survived longer, but the enemies of the Visconti in Pisa soon removed the last judge, Nino
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...
, a friend of Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
, in 1288.
About the same time, Sassari
Sassari
Sassari is an Italian city. It is the second-largest city of Sardinia in terms of population with about 130,000 inhabitants, or about 300,000 including the greater metropolitan area...
declared itself a free commune allied to Genoa. In the early 14th century, much of Eastern Sardinia was under Pisan authority. Arborea, however, survived until 1420. The most remarkable Sardinian figure of the Middle Ages, Eleanor of Arborea
Eleanor of Arborea
Eleanor ; 1347 – 1404) was the giudicessa of Arborea from 1383 to her death. She was one of the last — and most powerful and significant — Sardinian judges; as well as the island's most renowned heroine....
, was co-ruler of that region in the late 14th century; she laid the foundations for the laws that remained valid until 1827, the Carta de Logu
Carta de Logu
The Carta de Logu was legal code of the Giudicato of Arborea promulgated by the giudicessa Eleanor in 1392. It was in force in Sardinia until it was superseded by the code of Charles Felix in April 1827....
.
Kingdom of the Crown of Aragon
James II of Aragon
James II , called the Just was the King of Sicily from 1285 to 1296 and King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. In 1297 he was granted the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica...
, disembarked near Iglesias
Iglesias
Iglesias is a comune of Carbonia-Iglesias province in Sardinia, Italy.-Overview:Situated at 190 m in the hills in the southwest of Sardinia, it was a centre of a mining district, with lead, zinc, and silver being extracted, as well as for the distillation of sulfuric acid.Iglesias'...
, in Southern Sardinia. The Pisane intervened but were defeated both by sea and land, and were forced to leave the Cagliari area as well as Gallura, maintaining only their castle in Carali. In 1353 Marianus IV of Arborea
Marianus IV of Arborea
Marianus IV , called the Great, was the Giudice of Arborea 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...
, allied with the Doria
Doria
Doria, originally de Auria , meaning "the sons of Auria", and then de Oria or d'Oria, is the name of an old and extremely wealthy Genoese family who played a major role in the history of the Republic of Genoa and in Italy, from the 12th century to the 16th century.-Origins:According to legend, a...
family, waged war against the Catalan, defeating them at Decimum and besieging Sassari, but unable to capture Cagliari. The Peace of Sanluri (1355) ushered in a period of tranquillity, but hostilities were resumed in 1395, with Arborea initially able to capture much of the Island. However, in 1409 the Aragonese crushed a Genoese fleet coming in support the Sardinians, and destroyed the Giudicato army at the Battle of Sanluri
Battle of Sanluri
The Battle of Sanluri was fought on June 30, 1409 between the armies of the Giudicato of Arborea and the Catalan-Sicilian army of King Martin I of Sicily....
. Oristano
Oristano
Oristano is a town and comune, capital of the Province of Oristano, on the island of Sardinia, Italy. It has approximately 32,500 inhabitants.Its economy is mainly based on fishing, agriculture and, to a certain extent, tourism.-History:...
, the Arborean capital, fell on March 29, 1410. The last Giudice of Arborea sold his remaining territories in 1420, in exchange for 100,000 florins
Italian coin florin
The Italian florin was a coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard. It had 54 grains of nominally pure gold worth approximately 200 modern US Dollars...
.
The watchtowers all along the coast are called Catalan Towers and served to protect the island against the Arab incursions. Some of these towers were built with the stones of the Phoenician cities because they lay on strategic sites. A nice example of re-use for secular and ecclesiastical architecture can also be found in the church of Santa Giusta where the old city of Othoca had been.
The loss of the independence, the firm Catalan (later Spanish) rule, with the introduction of a sterile feudalism, as well as the discovery of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, provoked an unstoppable decline of Sardinia. A short period of resurgence occurred under the local noble Leonardo Alagon, marquess of Oristano, who managed to defeat the viceroyal army in the 1470s but was later crushed at the Battle of Macomer (1478), ending any further hope of independence for the island. The unceasing attacks from North African pirates and a series of plagues (from 1582, 1652 and 1655) further worsened the situation. In 1637 a French fleet sacked Oristano.
Sardinia was disputed between 1700 and 1720
Kingdom of Sardinia (1700–1720)
From 1700 to 1720, the Kingdom of Sardinia, as a part of the Spanish empire, was disputed between two dynasties, the Habsburgs and the Bourbons. With the death of Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs, on 1 November 1700, the throne passed to Duke Philip of Anjou , although the Emperor...
. After it was assigned to Emperor Charles VI in 1714, Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
briefly recovered the island in 1717, but in 1720 the European powers assigned Sicily to Charles VI and Sardinia to the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
, so Vittorio Amedeo II became the King of Sardinia.
Piedmont-Sardinia
The 28 of April 1794, two Piedmontese officials were killed in Cagliari during an uprising. It was the first act of a revolt (later referred to as "Anti-Feudal Movement" or "Sardinian Revolutionary Movement") all over the island that culminated in the expulsion of the tyrants. The 28 of December 1795, a group of insurgents, mainly coming from the region called LogudoroLogudoro
The Logudoro is a large traditional region in central-northern Sardinia, Italy. The local dialect is known as Logudorese.Mostly composed of soft volcanic terrains, it is the most fertile area of the island. For this reason it was settled since early Prehistoric times, as shown by the presence of...
to demonstrate against feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, occupied the city of Sassari.
The 13 of February 1796, in order to suppress a riot, the viceroy Filippo Vivalda gave to the Sardinian magistrate Giovanni Maria Angioy
Giovanni Maria Angioy
Giovanni Maria Angioy was a Sardinian politician and patriot and to this day he is considered a national hero in Sardinia....
the title of Alternos and the role of a substitute of the viceroy himself. Angioy moved from Cagliari to Sassari and, during the journey, almost all the villages started an uprising, asking for the end of feudalism and the independence of Sardinian people.
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, and moved his court to Cagliari (the King returned to Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
only in 1814).
At the end of 18th century, the Universities of Sassari
University of Sassari
The University of Sassari is a university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 11 Faculties.The University of Sassari gains the first place in the ranking for the best “medium- sized” italian university, in 2009, by the Censis Research Institute.-History and...
and Cagliari
University of Cagliari
The University of Cagliari is a university located in Cagliari, Italy. It was founded in 1620 and is organized in 11 Faculties.-History:The Studium Generalis Kalaritanum was founded in 1606 along the lines of the old Spanish Universities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Lérida...
were restored.
In 1823, Victor Emmanuel I issued the "Editto delle Chiudende", a legislative act that abolished all community latifundias, introducing the public property
Public property
Public property is property, which is dedicated to the use of the public. It is a subset of state property. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership...
.
In 1847, under King Charles Albert, the Perfect fusion
Perfect fusion
The Perfect Fusion was the 1847 act of King Charles Albert of Savoy which abolished the administrative differences between the constituent countries of the Kingdom of Sardinia, especially the governmental division between Sardinia and the mainland....
between Sardinia and Piedmont was supposed to grant equal rights to the inhabitants of the two regions of the Kingdom.
New infrastructures were built under King Carlo Felice. The main road from the south (Cagliari) to the north (Sassari) was enhanced (the road still exists today and it still bears the name of Carlo Felice). Also, the first ferry route between the island and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
was established, using steamboats such as the Gulnara. The first railway was inaugurated in 1871. By the end of the century the Royal Railways had received 30 locomotives, 106 passenger cars, and 436 cargo cars.
New urban plans and new villages (for example Santa Teresa di Gallura) were realised. They often followed the urban model of Turin, which now was the capital of the Reign of Italy.
The economy was focused mainly on the primary sector (agriculture and sheep husbandry) and on mining. The majority of mining societies operating in Sardinia depended on non-Sardinian capital money. However, in 1848 the Sardinian entrepreneur Giovanni Antonio Sanna achieved the property of the mine of Montevecchio
Montevecchio
Montevecchio is one of the most ancient mining sites in Italy. The site is located in the south west of Sardinia, in the Province of Medio Campidano...
, thus becoming the 3rd richest man of the Kingdom.
Kingdom of Italy
With the Unification of Italy in 1861, the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of ItalyKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
.
In 1883 the first train travelled between Cagliari and Sassari.
During the first world war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the Sardinian soldiers of the Brigata Sassari distinguished themselves, with several being decorated with gold medals and other honours. Following the war, Italian Parliament passed a bill (called la legge del milione) to establish a budget of one million lire to develop infrastructure in order to encourage economic development. However, only a portion of the designated funds were ever distributed.
The writer Grazia Deledda
Grazia Deledda
Grazia Deledda was an Italian writer whose works won her the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1926.-Biography:...
won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.
During the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
period, and implementation of the policy of autarky
Autarky
Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...
, several swamps were reclaimed around the island and agrarian communities founded. The main communities were in the area of Oristano, where the village of Mussolinia (now called Arborea
Arborea
Arborea is a town and comune in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture, with production of vegetables and fruit.- History :...
) was located, and in the area adjacent the city of Alghero, within the region of Nurra
Nurra
The Nurra is a geographical region in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. It is the second largest plain of the island, located between the towns of Sassari, Porto Torres and Alghero...
, Fertilia
Fertilia
Fertilia [fer-tì-lia] is a village on the municipality of Alghero in the province of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy.-History:Fertilia was built by the Fascist government of Italy in the 1930s, after the draining of the marshes which covered the area....
was founded. Also established during that time was the city of Carbonia, which became the main centre of mining activity. Works to dry the numerous waste lands and the reprise of mining activities favoured the arrival of settlers and immigrants, from Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, and after the World War II Istrians and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
ns, from Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
The repression by the fascist regime of its opponents within the region was ruthless. Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Gramsci was an Italian writer, politician, political philosopher, and linguist. He was a founding member and onetime leader of the Communist Party of Italy and was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime...
, one of the founders of Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
, was arrested and died in prison. The anarchist Michele Schirru was executed after a failed assassination plot against Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
During World War II Sardinia was a theater of bombing; the city of Cagliari was almost totally destroyed.
Italian Republic and Sardinian autonomy
In 1948 Sardinia was declared an autonomous region. The first regional elections were held on May 8, 1949.
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
was successfully eliminated with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, which facilitated the commencement of the Sardinian tourist boom, mainly focused on beach holidays and elite tourism. Today about ten million people visit the island every year.
With the increase in tourism, coal decreased in importance. However, shortly after the second World War a ponderous industrialization effort was commenced, the so-called "Piani di Rinascita" (Rebirth Plans), with the initiation of major infrastructure projects on the island. This included the realization of new dams and roads, reforestation, agricultural zones on reclaimed marsh land, and large industrial complexes (primarily oil refineries and related petrochemical operations). These efforts to create jobs have largely failed due to the high costs of transportation that could not compensate the cheap labor.
In the 1950s and 1960s the first great Sardinian migration began. In the early 1960s with the creation of petrochemical industries, thousands of ex-farmers became specialised workers, and some others work in the new military bases, created primarily for the NATO, that still occupying large areas of the island. Nevertheless since 1973 the international oil crisis caused the firing of thousands of workers employed in the petrochemical industry.
.jpg)
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
aggravated the crime rate, as evidenced by the increasing frequency of phenomena such as kidnappings and political subversion: between the 1970s and the early 1980s, some communist groups, the most famous were Barbagia Rossa, and the Sardinian Fighting Movement (MAS), claimed several terrorist attempts.
In the 1983 for the once a militant of an autonomist party, the Sardinian Action Party
Sardinian Action Party
The Sardinian Action Party is a regionalist social-democratic political party in Sardinia, which has recently sided with The People of Freedom, the largest centre-right party in Italy.-History:...
(Partito Sardo d'Azione), was elected president of the regional parliament. Neverteless in the 1980s several independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
movements were born, evolving into parties in the 1990s. In 2006, the first independentist was elected to public office in the Province of Sassari.
In 1999 the local languages was granted co-official status alongside the Italian language.
Sardinia's history is still visible in language and culture. Also noticeable is the difference between coastal regions and the inland. Coastal regions have always been more open to outside influences. Nowadays Sardinia is most known for its coasts (La Maddalena, Costa Smeralda), the north-western coast near Sassari (Alghero, Stintino, Castelsardo) and Cagliari, because these are easily reachable by ship and by plane.
Today Sardinia is a phasing-in EU region, featured by a diversified economy, mainly focused on tourism and the tertiary, the economic efforts of last twenty years have reduced the handicap of insularity, for example with low cost air companies and information and informatic technologies, thanks to the CRS4
CRS4
CRS4, also known as Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia , is an interdisciplinary research center, founded by the Sardinia Autonomous Region on November 30, 1990. Since 2003, the center is located in the Technology Park of Sardinia, in the commune of Pula...
(Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia), which developed the first Italian website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, and invented the webmail, in 1995, that brought to the birth of several telecommunication companies and internet service providers based on the island, as Video On Line, in 1993, Tiscali
Tiscali
Tiscali may refer to:*Tiscali, an archaeological village of Nuragici people, in Sardinia, Italy, notable because it was completely inside a huge cavern*Tiscali SpA, a telecom company based in Italy*Tiscali TV , multiple uses...
, in 1998 and Andala UMTS, in 1999.