Benedetta (c. 1194 – 1232/33) was the daughter and heiress of

William I of Cagliari William I (c. 1160–1214), royal name Salusio IV, was the Giudicato of Cagliari, '' judike'' of Cagliari, meaning "King", from 1188 to his death. His descendants and those of his immediate competitors intermarried to form the backbone of the I ...

and Adelasia, daughter of Moroello Malaspina. She succeeded her father in January or February 1214. She was consecrated in 1214 by

Riccus, Archbishop of Cagliari Riccus or Ricco was the Archbishop of Cagliari in the early thirteenth century. In 1206, he requested the right to resign from Pope Innocent III, who simply enumerated the justifications for archiepiscopal resignation and left the decision up to Ri ...

, 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, on 14 June, she married

Barisone III of Arborea Barisone II Torchitorio IV de Serra (c. 1190 – after 20 April 1217) was the ''Judike'' (Judge) of Arborea and Cagliari. He was a son of Peter I and Bina. His father was Judge of half of Arborea from 1195 to his death in 1214 along with Hugh ...

, son of

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

, who was imprisoned by her father. He took the dynastic 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 the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. With Archbishop Riccus, the bishop of Sulcis, and her husband, she made many donations to the churches of S. 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 the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa ( it, Repubblica di Pisa) was an independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, which existed from the 11th to the 15th century. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated ...

. In 1215, the wrath of Pisa fell on her. In that year, Lambert Visconti, then

judge of Gallura The kings or ''judges'' (''iudices'' or ''judikes'') of Kingdom of Gallura, Gallura were the local rulers of the northeast of Sardinia during the Middle Ages. Theirs was the closest kingdom to Corsica. *Manfred of Gallura, Manfred (c. 1020 &nda ...

, landed a large army near

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

and took the dominating hilltop of S. Gilla, fortifying it. Benedetta was subsequently forced to flee her capital for the interior. In June 1216, she made a donation to the

cathedral of Pisa Pisa Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the t ...

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 the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

of Pisa. However, violence between Sardinians and Pisans escalated in Cagliari and Benedetta and Barisone made an alliance with

Comita III of Torres Comita III (c. 1160 – 1218) was the '' giudice'' of Logudoro, with its capital at Torres, from 1198 until 1218. He was the youngest of four sons of Barisone II of Torres and Preziosa de Orrubu. He ruled at a time when the great families, usually ...

and the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

in hopes of expelling the Pisans. In her opposition to Pisa, however, Benedetta found support in

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...

. In February 1217, he annulled the election of the Pisan Marianus, then bishop of Suelli, to the archdiocese of Cagliari. In his place he sent

Ugolino dei Conti Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

Cardinal Bishop of Ostia The Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia is an ecclesiastical territory located within the Metropolitan City of Rome in Italy. It is one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses. The incumbent Bishop is cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Since ...

and

Apostolic Legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and Sardinia. He also urged

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to aid

Marianus II of Torres Marianus II (died 1232) was the Judge of Logudoro from 1218 until his death. He was an ally of the Republic of Genoa and enemy of Republic of Pisa, Pisa. He was a son of Comita III of Torres, Comita III (by his wife Ispella of Arborea), who associ ...

. 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. On 9 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 pounds of silver to the

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 William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

in several donations to various churches. But in the latter year, war began anew with Lambert's heir, Ubaldo II. In the following years, in order to protect herself from Ubaldo, 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 was Rinaldo de Glandis and their marriage was declared valid. Nevertheless, violence in Cagliari forced her to move to the castle of

Santa Igia Santa Igia or Santa Ilia, modern Santa Gilla lagoon (''Santa Ilia'' being a contraction of ''Santa Cecilia''Corrado Zedda; p. 121.), was a city in Sardinia, in what is now Italy, which existed from the 9th century AD to 1258, when it was destroyed ...

and then to

Massa Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...

, her ancestral home. There she died, late 1232 or early 1233. By February 1233,

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

had given Massa and Potenzolo to Ugo di Procaria, while Cagliari was divided between the

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

Capraia Capraia is an Italian island, the northwesternmost of the seven islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, and the third largest after Elba and Giglio. It is also a ''comune'' (Capraia Isola) belonging to the Province of Livorno. The island has a p ...

, and

Donoratico Donoratico is a town in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Castagneto Carducci, province of Livorno. At the time of the 2011 census its population was . The town is about 52 km from Livorno Livorno () is ...

, 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

Sources

*Moore, John C.
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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedetta of Cagliari 1194 births 1230s deaths Judges (judikes) of Cagliari 13th-century women rulers 12th-century Italian women 12th-century Italian nobility 13th-century Italian women 13th-century Italian nobility Queens regnant in Sardinia