Aragonese conquest of Sardinia

In 1321 the of the Principality of Catalonia, held in Girona accepted the offer by Sancho of Majorca, the King of Majorca, of twenty galleys,^[1] two hundred horses, and a large number of labourers who would be necessary for an undertaking such as the conquest of Sardinia to be successful, other support came from the Kingdom of Valencia and the Kingdom of Aragon.

Corts

On 11 April 1323, , became vassal of James II in exchange for maintenance of the dynastic rights over his Judicate, opened hostilities against the Pisans, defeating them between Villanovaforru and Sanluri.^[2]

Hugh II of Arborea

On 15 May 1323, a fleet of three galleys with 200 knights and 2,000 men-at-arms, under the command of Guerau de Rocabertí and his nephew Dalmau de Rocabertí, departed from in aid of the judge of Arborea, taking position near Quartu Sant'Elena, not far from the pisan walled city of Castel di Castro, today Cagliari. At the same time the vanguard of the army was meanwhile gathering in Catalonia.^[3]

Barcelona

On 31 May, after years of preparation a powerful fleet of 300 ships, under the command of Admiral Francesc Carròs i de Cruïlles (Francis Carroz), departed , near Tortosa, in Tarragona. It was composed of 20 cogs, including the flagship St. Eulalia, 53 galleys, 24 sailing ships and other special vessels (uxer^[4]) for the transport of horses and supplies. On the way to Sardinia, the fleet landed for four days in Mahón, on the island of Menorca, and then resumed his sailing toward Cape San Marco, in the Gulf of Oristano.

Port Fangós

On 13 June, acting upon the advice of Hugh II, the Catalan-Aragonese fleet made landfall at , in Sulcis, thereby creating the first bridgehead on the island.^[3]

Palmas

On 28 June, at the request of the Judge of Arborea the Catalan-Aragonese, under the guidance of the , began the siege of Villa di Chiesa, today Iglesias. Villa di Chiesa was an important mining town founded by Count Ugolino della Gherardesca decades before and now under the control of the Republic of Pisa.

infant Alfonso

During the month of October, a Pisan fleet of 33 galleys led by the Francesco Zaccio made an incursion into the waters of Canyelles, Portoscuso, burned two Catalan ships and then retired.

vice admiral

On 7 February 1324, the city of Villa di Chiesa surrendered, after holding out for seven months, due to starvation.

[3]

Little is known about the Catalan-Aragonese military campaign in the interior of the island; Raimondo de Sentmenat wrote to the king who, at the command of a small contingent of Iberian riders and servicemen and 50 knights and 200 infantrymen from Arborea, in December 1323 marched from into the Baronie, taking 33 villages including perhaps Orosei and Dorgali and some castles. However, he was then forced to contend with a Pisan contingent, who had recaptured two villages. Francesc Carròs, Ramon de Peralta and Bernat de Cabrera with the fleet were sent to Pisa. Along the way they took the castle of Medusa, near Lotzorai, and attacked Terranova, but they did not reach their final goal due to bad weather and then decided to return toward Cagliari.^[1]

Goceano

On 13 February, a week after the conquest of Villa di Chiesa, the Catalan-Aragonese reached taking position east of the castle, on the hill of Bonaria.^[5] In order to relieve their army trapped in the city the Republic of Pisa sent a fleet of 40 galleys, 12 uxer, 60 other ships from Piombino to the command of the Count Manfredi della Gherardesca. The fleet sailed from Porto Pisano, the fleet made a stop at Terranova, today Olbia, where the fleet took onboard 200 horsemen from the Pisan possessions in Gallura along with other forces.^[1]

Castel di Castro

On 25 February, as the Pisan fleet approached Castel di Cagliari they were intercepted by the galleys of the Crown Aragon who tried to do battle but the Pisani refused confrontation. After a negotiation, the Catalan-Aragonese conceded to the pisan fleet to land in freedom near .

Capoterra

On 29 February the Catalan-Aragonese and the Pisan armies engaged in a pitched battle near the present day centre of . The Battle of Lucocisterna ended with a hard-fought victory of the Catalan-Aragonese army. On the same day the Pisan fleet was defeated in the waters near Cagliari by the Admiral Francesc Carròs. Many Pisans were captured while seeking refuge on ships.^[6]

Elmas

After the defeat in Lucocisterna the Pisans were forced to accept the surrender and give to the Catalan-Aragonese their territorial possessions in Sardinia which included the former Judicates of and Gallura.^[6] The republic of Pisa maintained, for the moment, the control of Castel of Castro and the surrounding villages of Villanova and Stampace.^[6]

Calari

During the month of September, the Doria of Sardinia tried to occupy , ex-Confederate comune of the Republic of Genoa passed to the Catalan-Aragonese in 1323,^[7] and Pisa, in alliance with Genoa, declared again war to the Crown of Aragon.

Sassari

During the month of November, a Pisan-Genoese fleet gathered in the port of , before later sailing to Sardinia.

Savona

On 29 December, the Catalan-Aragonese fleet, under the command of Francesc Carròs was defeated in a naval battle, which took place at the , by the Pisan-Genoese fleet commanded by Gaspare Doria.^[8]

Gulf of Cagliari

In January 1325 the Catalan-Aragonese army led by Ramon de Peralta assaulted , massacring the population.^[8] Pisa had to accept a new capitulation that forced the republic to surrender definitively, Castel di Castro passed to the newborn Kingdom of Sardinia in June 1326, becoming its new capital.^[8]

Stampace

Antonio Arribas Palau, La conquista de Cerdeña por parte de Jaime II de Aragón, 1952.

(1994). La storia di Sardegna.

Casula, Francesco Cesare

(2012). Il Regno di Sardegna-Vol.01.

Casula, Francesco Cesare

Crònica, 14th century.

Ramon Muntaner