The possession of the island of Sardinia was crucial for the Crown of Aragon. Sardinia was abundant of natural resources like
silver and
salt and had a thriving agro-pastoral economy; also its geographical location ensured more control over the western Mediterranean and the island itself was an indispensable basis for the creation of so-called ruta de las islas (route of the islands) that allowed to halve the time of sailing to reach the rich markets of the
Eastern Mediterranean.
On 11 April 1323,
Hugh II of Arborea, 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]
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
Barcelona 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]
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
Port Fangós, 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.
On 13 June, acting upon the advice of Hugh II, the Catalan-Aragonese fleet made landfall at
Palmas [
it], in
Sulcis, thereby creating the first bridgehead on the island.[3]
On 28 June, at the request of the Judge of Arborea the Catalan-Aragonese, under the guidance of the
infant Alfonso, 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.
During the month of October, a Pisan fleet of 33 galleys led by the
vice admiral Francesco Zaccio made an incursion into the waters of Canyelles,
Portoscuso, burned two Catalan ships and then retired.
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
Goceano 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]
On 13 February, a week after the conquest of Villa di Chiesa, the Catalan-Aragonese reached
Castel di Castro 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]
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
Elmas. 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]
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
Calari 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 [
it].[6]
During the month of September, the Doria of Sardinia tried to occupy
Sassari, 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.
During the month of November, a Pisan-Genoese fleet gathered in the port of
Savona, before later sailing to Sardinia.
On 29 December, the Catalan-Aragonese fleet, under the command of Francesc Carròs was defeated in a naval battle, which took place at the
Gulf of Cagliari, by the Pisan-Genoese fleet commanded by Gaspare Doria.[8]
In January 1325 the Catalan-Aragonese army led by Ramon de Peralta assaulted
Stampace, 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]
In 1347 the Doria, which controlled most of the lands of the former
Logudoro state in north-western Sardinia, came again into conflict with the Crown of Aragon at Aidu de Turdu between
Bonorva and
Giave.[9]
Threatened by the Catalan-Aragonese claims of suzerainty and consolidation of the rest of the island, the Judicate of Arborea, under
Marianus IV of Arborea, broke the alliance with the Crown of Aragon and together with the Doria declared war on the Iberians. In 1368 an Arborean offensive succeeded in nearly driving out the Catalan-Aragonese from the island, reducing the "Kingdom of Sardinia" to just the port cities of
Cagliari and
Alghero and incorporating everything else into their own kingdom. A peace treaty returned the Catalan-Aragonese their previous possessions in 1388, but tensions continued and in 1391 the Arborean army led by
Brancaleone Doria again swept the most of the island into Arborean rule. This situation lasted until 1409 when the army of the Judicate of Arborea suffered a heavy defeat by the Catalan-Aragonese army in the
Battle of Sanluri.
After the sale of the remaining territories for 100,000 gold florins to the Judicate of Arborea in 1420,[10] the "Kingdom of Sardinia" extended throughout the island, except for the city of
Castelsardo (at that time called Casteldoria or Castelgenovese), which had been stolen from the
Doria in 1448. The subduing of Sardinia having taken a century, Corsica, which had never been wrestled from the Genoese, was dropped from the formal title of the Kingdom.