William III, of the House of Massa, was the last

Judge of Cagliari The kings or ''judges'' (''iudices'' or ''judikes'') of Kingdom of Cagliari, Cagliari were the local rulers of the south of Sardinia during the Middle Ages. Theirs was the largest kingdom and for the eleventh through twelfth centuries contested t ...

, ruling under the name Salusio VI from 1256 to his deposition in 1258. He is also known as Guglielmo Cepolla or Cipolla. William was a nephew of Torchitorio V and a cousin of Salusio V. After the assassination of the former, he was proclaimed Judge, but he immediately followed his predecessor in a policy in favour of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

over and against the pretensions of the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

. In 1258, the Pisan influences in the region — the

Gherardeschi The House of Gherardesca was an ancient Italian noble family of the Republic of Pisa, of Longobard origin. The family likely dates back as early as the 11th century. They were one of the most prominent families initially in Pisa, then of Volte ...

, Counts of

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 ...

;

William of Capraia William of Capraia (died 1264) was the regent for Marianus II of Arborea from 1241 until his death, being entitled "Judge" from 1250 on. Biography He was the son of Ugo degli Alberti of the Counts of Capraia and Bina, the first wife of Peter I ...

, acting

Judge of Arborea The Kings or Judges of Arborea (from the Latin language, Latin and the Sardinian language, Sardinian , "judges", the title of the Byzantine officials left behind when imperial power receded in the West) were the local rulers of Kingdom of Arb ...

; and

John Visconti John (or ''Giovanni'') Visconti (died 1275) was the Judge of Gallura from 1238 to his death. He was a member of the Visconti dynasty of Pisa. John was the son of Ubaldo I Visconti and cousin of Ubaldo of Gallura. When the latter Ubaldo drew up a ...

Judge of Gallura The kings or ''judges'' (''iudices'' or ''judikes'') of Gallura were the local rulers of the northeast of Sardinia during the Middle Ages. Theirs was the closest kingdom to Corsica. *Manfred (c. 1020 – c. 1040) * Baldo (c. 1040 – c. 1 ...

— invaded Cagliari. They reconquered the castle of Castro and besieged

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

, which received no Genoese aid and was consequently destroyed, and the inhabitants were forced to flee to the interior. William was deposed, and his ''

giudicato The Judicates (, or in Sardinian, in Latin, or in Italian), in English also referred to as Sardinian Kingdoms, Sardinian Judgedoms or Judicatures, were independent states that took power in Sardinia in the Middle Ages, between the elevent ...

'' was divided among its conquerors: the northwest third, the old

Giudicato of Agugliastra Agugliastra or Ogliastra was an administrative subdivision of Pisan and Aragonese Sardinia. History The territory of Ogliastra, part of the Judicate of Cagliari as a curatoria until 1258 and then of the Judicate of Gallura (1288) and the Rep ...

, went to Gallura; the centre was incorporated into Arborea; and the region of

Sulcis Sulcis (''Maurreddia'' or ''Meurreddia'' in Sardinian language) is a subregion of Sardinia, Italy, in the Province of South Sardinia. Languages spoken include Italian, Sardinian ( Campidanesu) and Ligurian (Tabarchino). Geographical extension ...

and

Iglesiente The Iglesiente is a traditional and geographical subdivision of Sardinia, Italy. It encompasses the northern province of Carbonia-Iglesias and the south-western one of the province of Medio Campidano, and its main center is Iglesias. Language ...

(the west) were given to

Ugolino della Gherardesca Ugolino della Gherardesca (March 1289), Count of Donoratico, was an Italian nobleman, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. Biography In the 13th century, the ...

Sources

*Boscolo, A. "Chiano di Massa, Guglielmo Cepolla, Genova e la caduta del giudicato di Cagliari (1254–1258)." ''Miscellanei di storia ligure''. IV (1966), pp 7–18. Judges (judikes) of Cagliari 13th-century Italian nobility People from Cagliari {{Italy-noble-stub