Torchitorio of Gallura
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[],...
was entering the wider Western European scene for the first time in centuries. Like his contemporary judges, he patronised Western monasticism.
His most enduring work was the building of a new church in Civita
Olbia
Olbia is a town and comune of 56,231 inhabitants in northeastern Sardinia , in the Gallura sub-region. Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the town after the period of Fascism.-Geography:It is the...
(modern Olbia), where he made his capital, in honour of Saint Simplicius, a sixth-century bishop and martyr of the city. Torchitorio also invited monks from Saint-Victor at Marseilles to come to Gallura in 1089, in imitation of his contemporary Torchitorio I of Cagliari
Torchitorio I of Cagliari
Orzocorre Torchitorio I was the Judge of Cagliari from about 1058 to his death. At his time, the throne was customarily alternated between the Torchitorio de Ugunale and Salusio de Lacon families...
. He granted the new monks four churches and they in turn opened up new lines of intellectual and economic interchange with 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...
.
Sometime after 1092, however, Torchitorio fell out with the church. Dagobert
Dagobert of Pisa
Dagobert was the first Archbishop of Pisa and the second Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem after it was captured in the First Crusade.-Early life:...
, Archbishop of Pisa and papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
to the island, convoked a provincial synod at 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 declared Torthictorio excommunicate. The purpose of the anathema may have been less the result of the judge's vices, but more of his political support for the Emperor Henry IV and the Antipope Guibert. Evidence for this is suggested by the anathema pronounced on the entire province. Torchitorio's retainers reportedly denied him the kiss of peace and the brotherly salute.
He was dead by 1113, when his widow, Paulesa (Padulesa) de Gunale, made a donation to S. Maria di Pisa. The evidence after his death is that Ittocorre de Gunale
Ittocorre of Gallura
Ittocorre or Ottocorre was the Judge of Gallura early in the 12th century. He is first mentioned in a donation charter of Padules de Gunale, the widow of Torchitorio de Zori in 1112, from which it is inferred that he succeeded Torchitorio as judge around the turn of the century.By a Pisan charter...
usurped the throne from his son Saltaro
Saltaro of Gallura
Saltaro was the Judge of Gallura, but the dates of his reign are unknown, as are his familial ties.He made a donation of Vitithe to the Church of Pisa which was confirmed in 1116 by Ittocorre. The charter calls him encus mortuus est, idest sine haeredibus . He may have been a son and successor of...
. The Gunale and Thori families were ancient enemies only kept at peace during the marriage of Torchitorio and Padulesa. He probably also left a daughter who married Constantine Spanu.
Sources
- Manno, Giuseppe. Storia di Sardegna. 2005.