The Byzantine age in
Sardinian history conventionally begins with the island's reconquest by
Justinian I in 534. This ended the
Vandal dominion of the island after about 80 years. There was still a substantial continuity with the Roman phase at this time.
The invasion of the
Italian peninsula by the
Longobards in 568, which changed the face of Italy, only resulted in a few coastal raids on Sardinia, even if there are traces of their presence on the island, documented by the discovery of various objects, including numerous
coins.[1][2]
Administration
The
Byzantine Empire was an autocratic state, with its administration centralised around the Emperor. In addition to being the chief of the army he also had authority in the Church, often appointing the Ecumenical Patriarch. Following the Byzantine reconquest, Sardinia was part of the
Praetorian prefecture of Africa.[3] The province of Sardinia was ruled by a praeses provinciae, also known as the iudex provinciae, based in Cagliari. A dux was responsible for military matters and was based at
Fordongianus (Forum Traiani), which since
Roman times had been a fortified bastion against the inhabitants of the
Barbagia. These two most important offices, iudex and dux, were unified in the 7th century. To allow for control of the routes that crossed the
Tyrrhenian Sea, the island was also home to a squadron of the
Byzantine fleet.
Units of the Byzantine field army, the comitatenses, were based at Fordongianus. Along the border with the Barbagia region were fortresses such as those at
Austis,
Samugheo,
Nuragus and
Armungia. Soldiers of different origins (
Germanic peoples,
Balkan peoples,
Longobards and
Avars among others[5]), called limitanei (border troops), were garrisoned here. Some of the island's garrison soldiers were caballarii (horsemen) and received in compensation for their military services land parcels to farm.[6]
In the countryside there continued to be the great estates, but also smaller properties and common lands. The rural population consisted of both free people (the possessors) and slaves, mostly living in villages (
vici). They worked the private and community lands with hoes and nail plows, grazed livestock and fished. Extensive vineyards were cultivated but there seemed to have been few orchards.
End of Byzantine rule
Sardinia was initially constituted as a ducatus (duchy) within the
Exarchate of Africa. After the fall of the African Exarchate in the 7th century, caused by the
Arab conquest of Carthage, the ducatus was directly dependent on
Constantinople.
It became then an archontate; that is, a region with the same characteristics of a theme but smaller and less rich. The governors of the island originally held the rank of hypatos and later that of protospatharios, before receiving the title of patrikios from the middle of the ninth century.[7] At this time the relations with Byzantium, if not completely interrupted, had become intermittent, however.[8] Due to
Saracen attacks, in the 9th century
Tharros was abandoned in favor of
Oristano, after more than 1,800 years of human occupation while
Caralis was abandoned in favor of
Santa Igia. Numerous other coastal centres suffered the same fate (Nora, Sulci, Bithia, Cornus, Bosa, and Olbia among others). Contacts between Sardinia and the Byzantine empire didn't cease, however, as suggested by the mention of Sardinian imperial guards in Constantine VII's work De Caereimoniis (956–959 AD).[9]
The Sardinian archon had both military and civil functions. During the period of direct Byzantine rule, these were delegated to two different officers, the dux and the praeses. The office of archon became the prerogative of a specific family who transmitted the title in succession from father to a son. At the beginning of the 11th century there was a single archon for the whole island. This situation changed over the following decades. The first unequivocal attestation of four separate kingdoms in Sardinia is the letter sent on October14, 1073 by
Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085) to
Orzocco of Cagliari,
Orzocco d'Arborea,
Marianus of Torres, and
Constantine of Gallura.[8]
During the early
Giudicati era, the
Judicate of Cagliari was a direct descendant of the former Archontate of Sardinia. It helped many Byzantine institutions, including the
Byzantine Greek language, to survive.[10] By the end of the century Greek had been supplanted by
Medieval Latin and
Sardinian.
Religion
The Sardinian Church followed the
Eastern Rite, in which baptism and confirmation were imparted together. Baptism was carried out by submersion in tanks where water came to the knees of the catechumens. Similar baptismal tanks are found in
Tharros,
Dolianova,
Nurachi,
Cornus and Fordongianus. Alongside the secular clergy operated the
Basilian monks, who spread
Christianity in Barbagia.
In the Byzantine period several
cross-in-square churches were erected, with the four arms around a domed roof over their junction.
698 The conquest of Carthage is a decisive date for the occupation of North-West Africa by the
Umayyads; start of the Islamization of that region.
705–753 Arab raids
827 The Arabs begin the conquest of Sicily; this event is probably relevant in marking a stage in the de facto separation of Sardinia from the Byzantine empire.
Dyson, Stephen L., and Rowland, Robert J. Archaeology and History in Sardinia from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages: Shepherds, Sailors, and Conquerors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsyolvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2007.
Galoppini, Laura. "Overview of Sardinia History (500–1500)", pp. 85–114. In Michalle Hobart (ed.), A Companion to Sardinian History, 500–1500. Leiden: Brill, 2017.
Kaegi, Walter Emil. "Gightis and Olbia in the Pseudo-Methodius Apocalypse and Their Significance". Byzantinische Forschungen26 (2000): 161–67.
Kaegi, Walter Emil. "Byzantine Sardinia and Africa Face the Muslims: Seventh-Century Evidence". Bizantinistica3 (2001): 1–25.
Kaegi, Walter Emil. "Byzantine Sardinia Threatened: Its Changing Situation in the Seventh Century", pp. 43–56. In Paola Corrias (ed.), Forme e Caratteri della presenza bizantina: la Sardegna (secoli VI–XI). Condaghes, 2012.
Rowland, Robert J. The Periphery in the Center: Sardinia in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2001.
Paola Corrias (ed.), Forme e Caratteri della presenza bizantina: la Sardegna (secoli VI–XI), Condaghes, 2012.
Giorgio Ravegnani, I Bizantini in Italia, Bologna, il Mulino, 2004.
Storia della marineria bizantina, a cura di Antonio Carile, Salvatore Cosentino, Editrice Lo Scarabeo, Bologna, 2004,
ISBN88-8478-064-0
Pier Giorgio Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina tra VI e VII secolo, S'Alvure, Oristano, 1998.
Letizia Pani Ermini, La Sardegna nel periodo vandalico, in AA. VV. Storia dei Sardi e della Sardegna, a cura di Massimo Guidetti, vol. I Dalle origini alla fine dell'età bizantina, Jaca Book, Milano, 1987, pagg. 297–327
André Guillou, La lunga età bizantina: politica ed economia e La diffusione della cultura bizantina, in AA. VV. Storia dei Sardi e della Sardegna cit., pag. 329–423
Giuseppe Meloni, Il Condaghe di San Gavino: un documento unico sulla nascita dei giudicati, Cagliari, CUEC, 2005.
ISBN8884672805.
Giulio Paulis, Lingua e cultura nella Sardegna Bizantina, Sassari, 1983;
Alberto Boscolo, La Sardegna bizantina e alto-giudicale, Sassari, Chiarella 1978;
Victor Leontovitsch, Elementi di collegamento fra le istituzioni di diritto pubblico della Sardegna medioevale ed il diritto pubblico dell'Impero bizantino, in "Medioevo. Saggi e rassegne", 3, Cagliari, 1977, pagg. 9–26
Piras P.G., Aspetti della Sardegna bizantina, Cagliari, 1966.