William I was the giudice 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...

 from 1188 to his death.

William was one of the greatest of medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 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[],...

n giudici

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...

("judges"). He was a military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 man, assisting his father in the conquest 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...

, accompanying his archbishop (Ubaldo Lanfranchi archbishop of Pisa) on the Third Crusade

Third Crusade

The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...

, and defeating the 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...

 in a civil war

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

. He was also a man of the Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 who maitained close relations with the papacy

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 until his death. Finally, he was a man of culture, who was in contact with the Provençal

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...

 troubadour

Troubadour

A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....

s Peire de la Caravana

Peire de la Caravana

Peire de la Caravana was an Italian troubadour in Lombardy in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He was one of the earliest Occitan troubadours in Italy...

 and Peire Vidal

Peire Vidal

Peire Vidal was a troubadour. According to his biography, he was born in Toulouse, the son of a furrier, and the greatest of singers....

.

Rise to power in Cagliari

He was the son of Giorgia, daughter of Constantine II of Cagliari

Constantine II of Cagliari

Constantine II was the giudice of Cagliari . He was called de Pluminus after his capital city....

, and Obert, Margrave of Massa. He was a brother of William, Margrave of Massa. His paternal relatives were a branch of the Obertenghi

Obertenghi

The Obertenghi were a family of Italian nobility descended from Count Obert I of Luni, the first margrave of Milan and Eastern Liguria, a march called the marca Januensis, marca Obertenga or march of Genoa....

 who ruled Massa Lunense from the 11th century. Constantine II's eldest daughter married a younger son of Gonario II of Logudoro

Gonario II of Torres

Gonario II was the giudice of Logudoro from the death of his father to 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...

. This man, Peter, ruled the giudicato on her behalf (as Torchitorio III) following the death of Constantine. While Constantine, like the Massa, had been a vassal 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...

, Peter transferred his allegiance to the Republic 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....

. In 1187, open conflict raged over the whole island of Sardinia between the Genoese and their factions and the Pisans and theirs. The Pisans mercilessly assaulted Genoese merchants in Cagliari and despoiled their landed possessions, evicting them from the giudicato. In 1188, Peter was captured and imprisoned, never to be heard of again. By 1190, William was judge in his place. Because of the interval between Peter's known arrest and William's first appearance as judge, some scholars have alleged that William's father, Obert, ruled the giudicato as judge in the intervening period, but this is unsupported by any documentary evidence and is based on arguments from silence. The period of silence may be explained by William's accompaniment on the Third Crusade with Ubaldo, Archbishop of Pisa, a pilgrimage which is referenced in a papal letter of early 1200.

William established his court at Santa Igia

Santa Igia

Santa Igia was a city in Sardinia, in what is now Italy, which existed from the 9th century AD to 1258, when it was destroyed by the Pisane troops...

 and took the regnal name Salusio IV, continuing a tradition of alternation between the two regnal names (Torchitorio and Salusio) and also demolishing the theory that he had had any other predecessor than Torchitorio III. On 7 July 1188, the emissaries (cardinals) of Pope Clement III

Pope Clement III

Pope Clement III , born Paulino Scolari, was elected Pope on December 19, 1187 and reigned until his death.-Cardinal:...

 declared a general peace to be observed on the island. They affirmed Pisan supremacy over Genoese estates and over the giudici. Nevertheless, in June 1191, Constantine II of Logudoro

Constantine II of Torres

Constantine II , 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...

 signed a treaty with Genoa. The treaty explicitly called for the maintenance of peace with William.

War with Logudoro

In 1194, William was at war with Constantine over Arborea. He invaded the Giudicato of Logudoro and occupied the frontier castle of Goceano

Goceano

The Goceano is a historical and geographical region of center-north of Sardinia island, Italy.It covers a surface of 480 km² and has a population of 13,000 inhabitants...

. There he imprisoned Prunisinda, Constantine's 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...

 wife, and her entourage. She died the subsequent year at Santa Igia

Santa Igia

Santa Igia was a city in Sardinia, in what is now Italy, which existed from the 9th century AD to 1258, when it was destroyed by the Pisane troops...

 of malnourishment and mistreatment. William received a strong reproof from Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....

 for "dishonouring" Prunisinda.

In 1195, Constantine attacked Santa Igia without success. In March, Constantine induced a peace with William through Pisan mediation. A treaty was signed whereby Prunisinda was to be released and Constantine was reserved the right to pay for the return of Goceano or any castle of equal value. He then requested Pisan intervention to obtain a peace between himself and Peter I of Arborea

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...

, William's protegé. The war between the two rulers actually continued until Constantine's death in battle in December 1198. William meanwhile forced Constantine's ally, Hugh I of Arborea

Hugh I of Arborea

Hugh I Giudici of Arborea from 1185 CE until his death in 1211 CE. Hugh was the son of Ispella di Serra and Hugh I of Bas. He was a grandson -through his mother- of Barisone II of Arborea...

, Peter's co-judge, to accept terms and agree to marry Preciosa, his daughter and a relative through of Peter's through her mother.

The Archbishop Ubaldo arrived on the island soon after William's accord with Hugh. Ubaldo confirmed William in his possession of Goceano and had to excommunicate Constantine when he subsequently retook it. William and archbishop intervened forcibly to remove Giusto, Archbishop of Arborea, from his see (because he was Genoese) and send him to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. In 1196, Ubaldo extracted an oath of fealty to Pisa out of William.

In 1198, William attacked Arborea again and forced Peter to flee to Hugh. William advanced on 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:...

, Arborea's chief port city, and demanded the cession of several frontier castles, including Marmilla

Marmilla

Marmilla is a natural region of southern-central Sardinia, Italy.It is delimited from east and south by the Campidano, from north-west by Monte Arci, from north by the Giara di Gesturi and the Giara di Serri, and from east by the Flumini Mannu....

, which he obtained. William then captured Peter and his son Barison and imprisoned them in order to control Arborea more directly. He entrusted the government of the giudicato to the bishops, the canons of Oristano, and the majores (major laymen).

Constantine died not too long after his excommunication and was succeeded by Comita III

Comita III of Torres

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...

. Comita quickly came to terms with William and Ubaldo, promising to marry his son Marianus II

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.He was a son of Comita III , who associated him with the government of Logudoro as early as 1203. He succeeded his father in 1218...

 to William's daughter Agnes. Comita was forced by Ubaldo to make an oath recognising him as permanent apostolic legate to the island. It was about this time that Genoese ships landed near Cagliari, William was defeated, and S. Gilla razed. The war turned out to be a mere raid.

Relations with Pope Innocent

On 11 August 1198, Pope Innocent asked the Archbishop of Cagliari, Bishop of Sorres, and the Pisan Bandino, Archbishop-Elect of Torres, to investigate the foundation of the accusations against Giusto. Giusto claimed that Arborea was a fief of the Holy See and that the canons of Oristano had no power to grant the judgeship to William, who had ousted Peter and imprisoned him. The pope put the whole investigation under the guidance and oversight of the clergy of the island.

Around this time, Comita accused William to Pope Innocent of aggression and other breaches of the peace. Arborea came under papal protection. Early in 1200, William requested Peter's half of Arborea, which he already controlled, from the pope. Innocent refused. Unbeknownst to the pope, he had made a secret pact with Hugh whereby he retained control not only of Peter's half of Arborea, but also of all the fortresses in the realm. Innocent replied to William in November or December summoning both William and Comita to Rome to answer the various charges they had launched against one another. The Pisans refused to allow William, a citizen of theirs, to appear in a foreign court on civil charges against another Pisan citizen.

When Barison II of Gallura

Barisone II of Gallura

Barisone II was the Judge of Gallura from about 1170 to his death. He was the son of Constantine III. His name appears in acts of 1182 and 1184....

 died in 1203, he left his giudicato under the protection of Pope Innocent, who wrote a letter to Biagio, Archbishop of Torres

Biagio, Archbishop of Torres

Biagio was the Archbishop of Torres from 1 December 1202 to his death late 1214 or early 1215.He was originally from the diocese of Nevers. He went to Rome and became a subdeacon and then a papal notary before 1200. By the influence of Pope Innocent III, he was elected to the vacant see of Porto...

, charging him with assuring a smooth succession in Gallura

Gallura

Gallura is a region of northern Sardinia, Italy.The name Gallùra means "area located on high ground".-Geography:...

, which meant arranging a marriage for the young Elena. The prospect of interference from William of Cagliari, Comita of Logudoro, and Hugh and Peter of Arborea was great.

William took the late judge's widow, Elena, and daughter, also 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....

, into his protective custody. When William Malaspina, son of Moroello and brother of his wife Adalasia, entered Gallura with the intent of abducting and marrying the minor Elena, William removed him, much to the praise of the pope, who claimed the right to choose her husband according to the late Barison's will. Nonetheless, a papal letter of 15 September 1203 mentions that William had accorded Malaspina the administration of Gallura and protection of Elena's rights. In that same letter, Innocent admonished William to restrain a relative of his Malaspina and to get him out of Gallura. He was asked to guard Elena from making a poor match and especially to guard her from Ittocorre de Gunale, Comita's brother. Both William and Comita were warned a second time to follow Biagio in the matter. Innocent desired a husband that would not be "suspect" to any of the judges.

Biagio tried to coax an oath of fidelitas to the pope out of William, but the latter claimed that his prior oath to Ubaldo prevented it, even though the earlier oath was made "save the honour of the Holy See." Eventually, in May or June 1205, Innocent asked the archbishop of Pisa to absolve William of his oath, but the archbishop ignored the request. Innocent pleaded again in May 1206.

In July 1204, Innocent thanked William for releasing Barison of Arborea from prison in order for him to marry 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....

, William's own daughter.

In 1206, William turned his sights on obtaining Gallura by force, but the giudicessa Elena married Lamberto Visconti, who rebuffed his assaults (1207). On 30 October, William and Hugh renewed their pact and the latter finally married Preciosa. Both Hugh and William appear as judges in Arborea, though each with his own clearly delineated zone. In June, Innocent had approved the marriage, but by October 1207, he had reproved Riccus, Archbishop of Cagliari

Riccus, Archbishop of Cagliari

Riccus or Ricco was the Archbishop of Cagliari in the early thirteenth century.In 1206, he requested the right to resign from Pope Innocent III, who simply enumerated the justifications for archiepiscopal resignation and left the decision up to Riccus...

, for approving it.

In September 1211, William asked the pope about the legitimacy of his second marriage, but it was not annulled. In 1213, despite that lack of a formal oath, Innocent considered William to hold his lands in fief from the Holy See. Innocent was in general a supporter and ally of William. He twice wrote favourable about William's economic policies to the Bishop of Florence.

The Pisan citizen

William was a citizen of Pisa and alternatingly passed his time there and at Cagliari. Around 1207, he married his second wife Guisiana, daughter of a Tuscan

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

 count at odds with Pisa, Guido Guerra III.

He was in Pisa on 9 November 1210 when his mother founded a hospital nextdoor to his own house, near the cathedral. However, even in Pisa he signed a document as Salusio IV de Lacon when granting immunities to San Vito

San Vito

San Vito is a comune in the Province of Cagliari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 45 km northeast of Cagliari.San Vito borders the following municipalities: Burcei, Castiadas, Muravera, Sinnai, Villaputzu, Villasalto....

, a Sardinian dependency, on 10 May 1211.

In 1212, there was complete anarchy in Pisa. Various factions were at war. In mid-January 1213, William led the forces of Massa, Pistoia

Pistoia

Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...

, the anti-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...

 faction in Pisa, and his father-in-law's militia to victory near Massa over the forces of Lucca

Lucca

Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

 supported by the Visconti under Ubaldo I

Ubaldo I Visconti

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....

, and by the deposed Pisan podestà

Podestà

Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...

Goffredo Musto. It was the greatest military accomplishment of William's career and is recounted in the Ritmo lucchese

Ritmo lucchese

The Ritmo lucchese is an anonymous vernacular poem in a Tuscan koiné. It is reckoned one of the earliest pieces of Italian literature, composed in or shortly after 1213. It records a battle between Lucca and Pisa near Massa fought in mid-January that year...

. He assumed control of Massa, which thitherto been in the hands of relatives, and forced Pisa to accept four rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

es, one of which was a Visconti.

Late 1213 or early 1214, William died. By May 1214, his daughter Benedetta was in power with her husband, Barison, who took the name Torchitorio IV.

Family

William's first wife was Adelasia (or Adalasia), of the Malaspina family. William's second wife was Guisiana. He left three daughters by her:

• 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....
  
  , married the aforementioned Barison of Arborea
• Agnes, married the aforementioned Marianus of Logudoro (to seal a treaty returning Goceano to Logudoro)
• Preciosa (or Preziosa), married the aforementioned Hugh of Arborea

Sources

• Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: XXVII Collenuccio – Confortini. Rome, 1982.
• Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: XXVII Guglielmo Gonzaga – Jacobini. Rome, 2000.
• Moore, John C. "Pope Innocent III, Sardinia, and the Papal State." Speculum, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Jan., 1987), pp 81–101.
• Solmi, A. "Un nuovo documento per la storia di Guglielmo di Cagliari e l'Arborea." Archivio storico sardi. VI. (1908), pp 193–212.
• Oliva, A. M. "Guglielmo di Massa. «Al pro marques de Sardenha, qu'ab joi viu et ab sen renha»." Gli Obertenghi di Massa e della Lunigiana ed i Regno della Sardegna, secoli 12.–14. pp 85–108. M. G. Armanini et al.: Pisa, 1999.
• Petrucci, S. Re in Sardegna, a Pisa cittadini. Bologna, 1988.
• Baudi di Vesme, Benedetto. "Guglielmo di Cagliari e l'Arborea." Archivio storico sardo. I. (1905), pp 12–51, 173–209.