Kingdom of Torres (Logudoro)

Who rules

Name

Comita (counted as Comita III, sometimes as Comita II), of the Lacon-Gunale

Title

Judge (giudice) of Torres (Logudoro)

Since

December 1198, chosen by the crown council (Corona de Logu) on the death of his brother Constantine II

Born

About 1160, presumably at Torres

Family

The Lacon-Gunale judges of Torres; the youngest of four sons of Judge Barisone II and Preziosa de Orrubu

Confidence

high

DBI life of Comita; English Wikipedia (Comita III, Marianus II).

Overlord

The pope claims Sardinia as the Holy See's; the archbishop of Pisa is primate of the province of Torres (confirmed March 1198) and Comita's sworn legate.

What the realm holds

• Some twenty districts (curatorie) by the later lists, among them Flumenargia, Nurra, Romangia, Nulauro, Coros, Ploaghe, Figulinas, Anglona, Gisarclu (round Ardara), Meilogu, Caputabbas, Costa de Addes, Monte Acuto, the Goceano, the Marghine, Planargia, Montiferru, Dore (Nuoro), Ottana (Ozan) and Sarule
• Ardara, the judges' palace and royal church
• Torres (Porto Torres), the port, with the basilica of San Gavino (the archbishop's cathedral)
• The castle of the Goceano at Burgos (built by Judge Gonario II, in 1127 by it.wikipedia), occupied by William of Massa before March 1195, pledged to Archbishop Ubaldo, retaken by Constantine II; in Torres's hands under the peace with William [fair]
• Sassari, a growing village of the Romangia (first named in 1131)
• The island of Asinara

Allies and rivals

Genoa (old ally); his stepson Hugh of Bas; at present Archbishop Ubaldo and, by treaty, William of Cagliari. Rival: William of Massa, whom he accuses before the pope.

The realm that morning

On 1 January 1200 Comita, a year on the throne, rules the whole Logudoro in peace, holds the Goceano castle, and has bound himself to Pisa's archbishop and to William by treaty and betrothal. No foreign lord holds land in Torres.

Wealth

Grain of the Logudoro uplands, livestock, hides and cheese; the port of Torres and the trade of Pisan and Genoese merchants.

Military

The levy; Constantine II lost the Goceano to William in 1194-1195 and retook it.

Threats

• William of Massa's ambitions
• A papal summons in late 1200
• Being drawn into the Genoese and Pisan war

Consort

Ispella (Sinispella) of Arborea, married about 1180, the widow of Hugh of Cervera and mother of Hugh of Bas. About twenty-five years after the marriage (so about 1205) Comita sought a divorce and married Agnese of Saluzzo; on 1 January 1200 Ispella is still his wife as far as is known.

Heirs and children

By Ispella, all born by 1200 though their years are not pinned: Mariano (the heir, betrothed to Agnese of Massa under the peace with William of Cagliari; associated in the government in 1203; judge 1218-1233), Maria (marries Boniface, heir of the marquis of Saluzzo, in 1202), Preziosa, and Giorgia or Iurgia (marries Emanuele Doria in 1210).

Kin

His brother Ittocorre (Ithocor) de Gunale is alive and named in the papal letter of 15 September 1203; what he holds is not pinned. His stepson is Hugh of Bas, co-judge of Arborea.

Officers and household

The crown council, the curators of some twenty districts, the archbishop of Torres (a Church map record; his successor Biagio arrives in March 1203). No officer of 1199-1200 is pinned.

Great vassals

No fiefs. The great lineages of the Logudoro (the de Thori, the de Athen, the de Orrubu of Comita's mother, the de Gunale of his own kin) furnish the curators; holders in 1199-1200 not pinned. The Doria and the Malaspina have no documented lordship in Torres yet: the traditions that the Doria founded Alghero and Castelgenovese and the Malaspina built Bosa's castle in the early twelfth century are late inventions, and the castles belong to the second half of the thirteenth century.

Castles and towns

Ardara; Torres; Sassari (village); Bosa (bishop's seat on the Temo); the Goceano castle at Burgos; the bishoprics of Ploaghe, Sorres, Bisarcio, Castro and Ottana (Church map records).

Islands

Asinara, closing the gulf of Asinara to the west: the judge's, thinly peopled [inference]; reached from the Nurra and Torres.

Ports

Torres (Porto Torres) on the gulf of Asinara; Bosa on the Temo; the coves of the Nurra and the Anglona.

Mints salt tolls

No mint; port dues at Torres; the judge's estates and dues in grain and livestock.

Treaties in force

• Peace with William of Cagliari (made soon after December 1198), sealed by the betrothal of Mariano and Agnese of Massa
• Comita's oath to Archbishop Ubaldo of Pisa, accepted as permanent legate (the pope reminds him late in 1202 that it cannot prejudice the Holy See)
• Constantine II's treaty with Genoa of June 1191 (whether Comita has renewed it by 1200 is not pinned; an alliance is renewed in 1211)

Wars and feuds

At peace with Cagliari since the peace of 1199; a grievance against William, laid before the pope. No raiding recorded in the winter of 1199-1200.

Side

Between the two cities: Genoese by tradition, at present bound to Pisa's archbishop by oath and to William by treaty.

Coinage

Pisan and Genoese pennies [fair].

Host and fleet

The district levies and the judge's household; no fleet.

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. Late 1200 (November or December; the year is not certain)Innocent III summons Comita and William of Cagliari to Rome over Comita's complaints.Depends on: Comita keeping up the complaint. Stopped by: A settlement between the judges.
2. Beyond 1200: 1202 and 1203Comita's daughter Maria marries Boniface, heir of Saluzzo (1202); late in 1202 the pope reminds Comita that his oath to Archbishop Ubaldo cannot prejudice the Holy See; Mariano is associated in the government (1203); the new archbishop Biagio arrives (March 1203).

Where the sources disagree

• Comita's number: III in most lists, II in some (the first judge's double name Gonario-Comita).
• English Wikipedia says Constantine II died in battle with William in December 1198; the DBI says he died excommunicate soon after retaking the Goceano. Both put the succession in 1198.
• The Northern Italy map (Pisa) says Comita accepted Ubaldo as permanent legate; consistent with the DBI's mention of Comita's oath to Ubaldo.

Evidence: Succession and marriages are well attested; the terms of the 1199 peace and the extent of the Genoese tie that winter are not.

On the map: District lines from later lists; the Nuoro country and the Montiferru are placed with Torres on that authority.

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.