Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/535

 SARDINIA

475

SARDINIA

for those condemned to the mines, enjoyed great prosperity. The chief towns were Caralis, Sulci, Nura, NeapoUs, Tharros, Othoca, Olbia, Forum Traiani, Bosa, Tibulae. The province was now imperial and now senatorial. It is possible that the first seeds of Christianity were introduced into Sar- dinia by the few Christians who with 4000 Jews were exiled to the island by Tiberius. In the second and third centuries many Roman Christians, including Calhstus, later pope, Pope St. Pontianus, and the antipope Hippolytus, were sent to the island (de- scribed as nociva): the last two died there. Among the Sardinian martyrs are the bishops who preceded St. Lucifer of Caghari, of whom St. Athanasius speaks, which shows that at least in the time of the Diocle- tian persecution that city was the seat of a bishopric; St. Bonifacius, Bishop of Cagliari, whose tombstone was discovered in 1617 in the cathedral (Corpus Inscript. Lat. Sicilia? et Sardiniae, II, n. 7753), was not a personal disciple of Christ but belonged to the age after Constantius. Other martyrs are recorded at Cagliari, Sulci, Torres; not all of them, however, have been authenticated. Up to the present time only one Christian cemetery is known, that of Bonorva near Cagliari; there are ruins of a fourth-century Christian basilica at Tharros. Christian inscriptions have been found in Cagliari (66), Tharros, Torres, Terranova.

In 456 the island was taken by the Vandals, who were wont to exile thither, especially to the neigh- bourhood of Cagliari, the African bishops and Catho- lics. In 534 it was recovered for the empire by Cyril- lus, and included in the Diocese of Africa. In 551 it was captured by Totila. As far as is known the Longobards raided the island only once (589), but did not obtain control of it. Sardinia, moreover, was abandoned to its fate by the Byzantines more than the peninsula, and consequently the tradition which dates in the sixth century the origin of the three (later four) judicatures, into which the island was later divided, may have a historical foundation. The tradition runs that Taletus, a citizen of Caghari, rebelled against the Byzantine Government, pro- claimed himself King of Sardinia, and divided the island among his three sons. From the letters of St. Gregory we know that in some parts of the island, especially in the ecclesiiistical possessions, there were many pagans who had to pay a tax to the judex of the island for each sacrifice. In the ninth century such was the general depravity that Paulus, Bishop of Populonia, and Abbot Saxo, legate of Nicholas I, placed the whole island under excommunication. The episcopal sees were reduced to four in the tenth century. This decadence is to be attributed in part to the inroads in the seventh century of the Saracens, who were, however, always repulsed by the Sardin- ians. The latter had to establish an autonomous military organization, which naturally led to a political organization, the chiefs of which, while preserving the title of Byzantine governor, were called judges. In the tenth century there were four of these judges in Torres, Arborea, Gallura, and Cagliari; this distribution of the island remained till the Aragoncse conquest.

Shortly after 1000, Mughebid, Emir of the Balearic Islands, conquered Sardinia and from there made de- scents on the Tuscan coast (Pisa and Luni). En- couraged by the pope, to whom Charlemagne had given Sardinia, the Pisans with the assistance of the Sardinians drove him out. Mughebid was defeated a second time with the help of the Pisans and Genoese. The pope's suzerainty was then recognized willingly by the judges. The Genoese and the Pisans had a monopoly of the trade and also possession of several towns on the coast, and moreover acted as arbiters in the quarrels of the judges. But later a dispute arose between the two cities, in regard to the limits of

their respective rights. Moreover, as Pisa was an imperial city, the emperors claimed rights over the island. In the struggle only the seaboard towTis suf- fered, but the commercial advantages compensated the damage caused by war. The interior which was under the control of the judges exclusively continued to flourish. Barbarossa named his uncle Welf, King of Sardinia, but in 1164 sold the kingdom to Barisone, judge of Arborea, who was cro\\Tied at Pavia. Other families in the peninsula hke the Malaspina of Luni, the Visconti of Pisa, and the Doria of Genoa, had ac- quired property in the island and become related to the judges by marriage. The judicatures of Cagliari, Torres, and Gallura were suppressed by the Pisans. When later Adelasia, widow of Ubaldo Visconti and mistress of the judicatures of Torres and Gallura, married (1238) Enzo, Frederick IPs bastard, the latter proclaimed himself King of Sardinia; but he was soon overthro\\-n and after twenty-two years' imprisonment died at Bologna. The marriage of the Genoese Mi- chele Zanche with Enzo's mother embittered the war between Pisa and Genoa. When Pisa was victorious their vassals, the della Gherardesca and Nino di Gal- lura, rose in revolt, some signiories passing to the Vis- conti of Milan. Finally the Genoese got the north- west and the Pisans the south-east.

In 1297 Boniface VIII, in order to induce the King of Aragon to restore Sicily to Charles of Anjou, granted the investiture of Sardinia to Alfonso of Ara- gon. The latter aided by Branca Doria, judge of Logudoro and lord of Alghero, Ugone of Arborea, and the commune of Sassari, began war against the Pisans, who in 1324 had to sign a treaty which left them only the port and lagoon of Cagliari and two suburbs; and from these they were expelled later. On the defeat of the Pisans it was necessary to subdue the ancient allies: i. e. the Genoese and the rulers of Arborea. Ma- riano IV fought successfully against th<' Aragonese, but was carried ofT by a pestilence (1367); his son Gu- glielmo IV abdicated in favour of the Aragonese, and died a little later. In the beginning the King of Aragon planted colonies of Catalonians and Arago- nese in the island. Sardinia had a viceroy and a par- liament composed of the three orders: barons, clergy, and the commons meeting s(>i)arutely and communi- cating among themselves by means of deputies. The charter of Eleanora was adopted as a Constitution; and the King of Aragon swore in the presence of the Sardinian deputies to observe it. Nevertheless, the Aragonese Government succeeded in establishing in the island a dominant Spanish class, either by grant- ing most of the fiefs to Spanish nobles or by appoint- ing Spanish prelates to most of the sees. This stirred up enmity between the natives and the ruling classes; but only one attempt at rebellion is recorded, that of Leonardo Alagon (1470). In the history of the suc- ceeding years we may note the expulsion of all the Corsicans (1479) and Jews (1492), some Saracen in- roads, and three attempts of the French to conquer the island (1528 at Castel Sardo; 1637 at Oristano; 1644 at Alghero).

The War of the Spanish Succession plunged the island in anarchy. By the Peace of Utrecht (1713) Sardinia was given to Austria, for which the moun- taineers of Gallura had declared themselves from the beginning. Cardinal Alberoni's bold attempt (1717) regained the island for the Spaniards; but in 1718 by the Treaty of London it was given to Savoy in ex- change for Sicily which was awarded to Austria. The dukes of Savoy then assumed the title of King of Sardinia. The kingdom comprised at that time the Island of Sardinia, the Duchies of Savoy, Aosta, and Monferrato, the Principality of Piedmont, the Marquisate of Saluzzo, the Counties of Asti and Nizza, and some Lombard towns as far as the Ticino. King Charles Emmanuel III (1720-73) and his minister Bogino began certain reforms in the island, a work