Eleanor of Arborea

Eleanor (Italian: "Eleonora"; 1347 Molins de Rei, Catalonia, – 1404) was the "giudicessa" ("judge") of Arborea from 1383 to her death. She was one of the last — and most powerful and significant — Sardinian judge; as well as the island's most renowned heroine.

Born in Oristano, Eleanor was the daughter of Marianus IV of Arborea, who had become in 1346 "giudice" of Arborea, on the west coast of Sardinia, and his wife Timbora de Roccabertí. It has been said that their family, the Cappai de Bas family, belonged to the House of Visconti. The house of Arborea, whose power extended over about one third of Sardinia, was the only independent part of the island at that point in history. During her childhood, she was raised with a natural tendency towards war and weapons.

Her father married Eleanor to Brancaleone Doria, a Genoese nobleman, in order to strengthen local alliances. Marianus died in 1376 and was succeeded by his son Hugh III. In March 1383, there was a republican uprising in Arborea and Hugh was murdered. Eleanor defeated the rebels and became regent to her infant son Frederick, who as next male heir became the official monarch of Arborea.

For the next four years Arborea was at war with the Crown of Aragon, which claimed the island. It lost much of its Sardinian possessions to Eleanor. Arborea obtained almost all of the island during this war. After rallying Sardinian forces, Eleanor was able to negotiate a favourable treaty. Her eldest son Frederick died during this war and was succeeded by her younger son, Marianus V. An alliance was formed with Genoa which sustained Arborea's independence for another generation.

Eleanor composed the "Carta de Logu", a body of laws which came into force in April 1395. They were considered to be far in advance of the laws of other countries,citation the penalty for most crimes being a fine, and the property rights of women being preserved. These laws remained in force in Sardinia until the Italian unification of 1861.

Eleanor was particularly interested in ornithology. As a friend of birds, she was the first to legislate protection to a certain species of bird (falcon). Based on this, the Eleonora's Falcon ("Falco eleonorae") was named after her.

ources

*Caravale, Mario (ed). "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani LXII Dugoni – Enza". Rome, 1993.
*Mearns, Barbara and Richard. "Biographies for Birdwatchers". ISBN 0-12-487422-3
*Manno, Giuseppe. " [http://www.classicistranieri.com/cs-storiadisardegna.pdf Storia di Sardegna.] " 2005.