Kingdom of Arborea

Who rules

Name

Peter I (Pietro I de Serra), a prisoner of William of Massa with his son Barisone; and Hugh I of Bas (Ugo I, Ugone de Bas), bound to William by a private pact

Title

Judges (giudici) of Arborea, co-rulers under the accord of 1192

Since

Peter: 1185, on the death of his father Barisone I. Hugh: co-judge by the accord made at Oristano in 1192 (the DBI: an accord of joint rule favoured by Genoa, February 1192).

Born

Peter: not pinned (son of Barisone I's first marriage). Hugh: about 1178, at Oristano (English Wikipedia).

Family

The Lacon-Serra judges of Arborea. Peter is the son of Barisone I and Pellegrina de Lacon. Hugh is the son of Hugh (Ugo) of Cervera, viscount of Bas in Catalonia, and Ispella (Sinispella), Barisone I's daughter by his second wife, the Catalan Agalbursa of Cervera; Ispella later married Comita, now judge of Torres, so Hugh is Comita's stepson.

Confidence

medium

DBI lives of William of Massa and of Comita; English and Italian Wikipedia for Peter and Hugh, which disagree on several dates.

Overlord

Claimed by the pope as part of Sardinia, which he treats as the Holy See's; the archbishop of Pisa is primate of the province (confirmed March 1198); William of Massa is master in fact.

What the realm holds

• Fourteen districts (curatorie) by the later lists: Campidano Maggiore, Campidano of Simaxis, Campidano of Milis, Bonorzuli, Marmilla, Usellus, Parte Montis, Parte Valenza, Guilcer, Barigadu, Mandrolisai and the Barbagias of Austis, Belvì and Ollolai
• Oristano, the capital since the later eleventh century, with the archbishop's cathedral (damaged in William's attack)
• The castles of Arcuentu (Arbus) and Marmilla (Las Plassas), pledged to Genoa from 1164 and 1172 for Barisone I's debts and returned to the judges in 1192; held for William that winter [the DBI says only 'the main fortresses']
• The lagoons and fisheries of the gulf of Oristano and the Sinis (Cabras, Santa Giusta)

Allies and rivals

Genoa (Hugh's ally), the pope (Peter's protector), Comita of Torres (Hugh's stepfather, who once claimed Arborea and gave up his claims, English Wikipedia); rival and master: William of Massa.

The realm that morning

On 1 January 1200 Peter and his son are William of Massa's prisoners (at Santa Igia or in Pisa: not pinned); Hugh of Bas, the co-judge, has agreed with William to take half of the kingdom as Preziosa's dowry; where Hugh himself is that morning (Genoa, Arborea or Catalonia) is not pinned. William's men hold the main fortresses. Who governs Oristano day to day is not pinned: most likely William's officers with Hugh's consent [inference].

Wealth

The grain of the three Campidani round Oristano, the Marmilla's wheat, the fish and salt of the lagoons, the flocks of the Barbagias.

Military

No independent force recorded in 1199-1200.

Threats

• Permanent partition between William and Hugh
• Genoese intervention on Hugh's behalf if the pact fails
• The pope's interdicts and summonses

Consort

Peter married Bina (Jacobina) in 1189 and was divorced from her in 1191; she married Count Ugo of Capraia of the Alberti in 1193 (English Wikipedia). Hugh is unmarried on 1 January 1200 and promised to William's daughter Preziosa.

Heirs and children

Peter's son Barisone (born 1190, English Wikipedia), a prisoner with his father; freed in 1204 to marry Benedetta of Cagliari. Peter also had an illegitimate son, Gotifred (died 1253). Hugh has no children yet (his son Peter II comes from the later marriage).

Kin

Hugh holds the viscounty of Bas in Catalonia, governed for him by kinsmen [thin]. His mother Ispella is married to Comita of Torres.

Officers and household

The crown council (Corona de Logu), the curators of the districts and the archbishop of Arborea (a Church map record; Archbishop Giusto, whose conduct the pope ordered investigated in August 1198, fled with Hugh when William took Oristano, by it.wikipedia). No officer of 1199-1200 is pinned.

Great vassals

No fiefs; the curators and the great lineages (the de Serra, the de Zori, the de Lacon and others), not pinned for 1199-1200.

Castles and towns

Oristano; Santa Giusta (bishop's seat); Terralba and Usellus (Ales) (bishops' seats); the abandoned site of Tharros; the castles of Arcuentu and Marmilla; the old castle at Cabras (besieged without success in 1164, it.wikipedia).

Ports

The gulf of Oristano and the Tirso mouth; the Sinis lagoons.

Mints salt tolls

No mint; salt and fish of the lagoons; dues of the grain lands of the Campidani.

Treaties in force

• The accord of 1192 making Peter and Hugh joint judges
• Hugh's alliance with Genoa, renewed at Genoa in August 1198
• Hugh's private pact with William of Massa (before early 1200): marriage to Preziosa and half of Arborea, William keeping the main fortresses
• Old Genoese claims from Barisone I's debts (the castles were pledged from 1164; Peter swore fealty to Genoa in 1189, 'saving fidelity to the pope', English Wikipedia)

Wars and feuds

Occupied by Cagliari since about 1195; no fighting recorded in the winter of 1199-1200.

Side

Divided: Peter was Pisa's candidate and is now Pisa's man William's prisoner; Hugh was Genoa's candidate and is now William's client. The pope protects Arborea.

Coinage

Pisan and Genoese pennies [fair].

Host and fleet

The district levies; no field force of its own able to face William that winter [inference].

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. Early 1200Innocent III refuses William's request to approve his rule over Arborea and condemns the pact with Hugh (DBI); by English Wikipedia's account Innocent has agreed in secret with Hugh to leave Peter's half and the fortresses in Hugh's hands.Depends on: The pope's protection of Arborea; William still holding Peter. Stopped by: William freeing Peter or handing the fortresses to Hugh.
2. Beyond 1200: July 1204William frees Peter's son Barisone so that he can marry Benedetta of Cagliari; Barisone later inherits his father's half of Arborea.
3. Beyond 1200: 30 October 1206Hugh and William renew their pact and fix the bounds of Arborea; Hugh marries Preziosa and cedes part of the north-eastern Marmilla to Cagliari.Depends on: The pact of 1199 holding. Stopped by: A Genoese or papal intervention.

Where the sources disagree

• Year of Peter's capture: about 1195 (DBI, it.wikipedia) against 1198 (English Wikipedia).
• Who made a secret agreement with whom: the DBI says William made his pact with Hugh without the pope's knowledge; English Wikipedia (lives of William and Peter) says Innocent had secretly agreed with Hugh. They may describe two different arrangements.
• Hugh's mother is called a daughter of Barisone I (DBI on Comita, English Wikipedia on Peter) but a granddaughter of Barisone in English Wikipedia's life of Hugh; we follow the DBI.
• Where Peter is held: Pisa (English Wikipedia; it.wikipedia says he died at Pisa) or Santa Igia: not pinned.

Evidence: The outline is secure (two judges, one captive, William's control, the pact with Hugh); the years and the exact terms are reconstructed from papal letters and differ between authors.

On the map: Borders from the later lists of districts; the line with Cagliari in the Marmilla and the Parte Valenza and with Torres in the Montiferru and the Marghine is approximate.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. Read online
• Annals of Pisa, by Bernardo Maragone, with continuation, Bernardo Maragone (1160s to 1175, continued to 1192). Pisa's official annals stop in 1175 and their continuation in 1192, so there is no Pisan narrative for 1200 itself. Read online
• The register of San Pietro di Silki (11th to 13th centuries). A monastic register of lands, serfs, gifts and lawsuits in the giudicato of Torres (Logudoro), written in the vernacular.