- Benedetta of Cagliari
Benedetta (c. 1194 – 1232/1233) was the daughter and heiress of
William I of Cagliari and Adelasia, daughter ofMoroello Malaspina . She succeeded her father in January or February 1214.She was consecrated in 1214 by
Riccus, Archbishop of Cagliari , in the presence of the higher clergy and the grandees. She swore an oath not to diminish the territory of the "giudicato", nor to alienate its castles, nor to make foreign alliances without their consent. Then, on14 June , she marriedBarisone III of Arborea , son of Peter I, who was imprisoned by her father. He took the dynstic name "Torchitorio V" and they ruled their two "giudicati" jointly, each being cited in the acts of the other in their own "giudicato". [Solmi, 147n.] Then, Benedetta made homage to theHoly See .With Archbishop Riccus, the bishop of
Sulcis , and her husband, she made many donations to the churches ofS. Giorgio di Suelle and the church of Sulcis. Benedetta favoured natives over Pisans for positions in her government and preferred to cultivate the economy of Sardinia than that of theRepublic of Pisa . In 1215, the wrath of Pisa fell on her.In that year, Lambert Visconti, then judge of Gallura, landed a large army near
Cagliari and took the dominating hilltop ofS. Gilla , fortifying it. Benedetta was subsequently forced to flee her capital for the interior. In June 1216, she made a donation to thecathedral of Pisa in hopes of procuring their support, but in 1217, Lambert's brother, Ubald I Visconti, forced her to accept terms surrendering Cagliari. She received the "giudicato" back as fief from theconsul of Pisa. However, violence between Sardinians and Pisans escalated in Cagliari and Benedetta and Barisone made an alliance withComita III of Torres and theRepublic of Genoa in hopes of expelling the Pisans.In her opposition to Pisa, however, Benedetta found support in
Pope Honorius III . In February 1217, he annulled the election of the Pisan Marianus, then bishop ofSuelli , to the archdiocese of Cagliari. In his place he sentUgolino dei Conti ,Cardinal Bishop of Ostia andApostolic Legate toCorsica and Sardinia. He also urgedMilan to aidMarianus II of Torres . In that spring, Barisone died and in 1218 Ubald arranged for his widow to contract a new marriage with the widowered Lambert, her one-time conqueror, in hopes of bringing peace to Cagliari. On9 April 1220 , the two were married, but the pope immediately pronounced his annulment.In December 1224, Benedetta renewed the oath of homage to the Holy See to Goffredo, the papal legate. She agreed to pay an annual tribute of twenty lbs of silver to the
Holy See and not to contract any other marriage without papal approval and blessing. If she were to die without heirs, the pope would inherit Cagliari. The following years were ones of peace. In 1225-1226, Benedetta included her son William in several donations to various churches. But in the latter year, war began anew with Lambert's heir, Ubald II.In the following years, in order to protect herself from Ubald, she married twice more, both times without papal permission. Her third husband (1227) was
Enrico di Ceola , a Pisan of the Capraia family who soon gained papal favour. Her fourth husband wasRinaldo de Glandis and their marriage was declared valid. Nevertheless, violence in Cagliari forced her to move to the castle ofSanta Igia and then toMassa , her ancestral home. There she died, late 1232 or early 1233. By February 1233,Pope Gregory IX had given Massa andPotenzolo to Ugo di Procaria, while Cagliari was divied between theVisconti ,Capraia , andDonoratico , Pisan families. Her heir was William. He reigned, but never ruled. Her sister Agnes and her husband, the aforementioned Marianus of Torres, held the regency.Notes
ources
*Moore, John C. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0038-7134%28198701%2962%3A1%3C81%3APIISAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U Pope Innocent III, Sardinia, and the Papal State.] " "Speculum", Vol. 62, No. 1. (Jan., 1987), pp 81-101.
*Ghisalberti, Alberto M. "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: VIII Bellucci – Beregan". Rome, 1966.
*Solmi, A. "Studi storici sulle istituzioni della Sardegna nel Medioevo". Cagliari, 1917.
*Loddo Canepa, F. "Note sulle condizioni economiche e giuridiche degli abitanti di Cagliari dal secolo XI al XIX." "Studi sardi". X–XI, 1952, pp 237ff.
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