Chapter 16 - The Crown of Aragon and the Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae in the Fourteenth Century: Comparing Institutional Identities

Summary

The Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae was created in 1297 by the pope for the Crown of Aragon in the context of the rulership crisis in Sicily. Nevertheless, the king still had to conquer his new domain, and he started this in 1323. Longer and more complex than expected, this was much more than a simple military conquest. This chapter explores how the identity of the island was altered and how institutions played a central role in this change. As a result, Sardinia became an example of how political institutions could reflect and promote a social, and territorial, identity.

Sardinia, Kingdom of the Crown of Aragon

The Mediterranean extension of Catalan–Aragonese power during the Late Middle Ages caused a sequence of events, the importance and effects of which were and are still visible today. The conquest of the Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae proved to be a watershed in the process of territorial expansion of the Crown of Aragon, not limited to Sardinia, but fundamental to the ambitious foreign policy of the Iberian confederation. This study outlines the institutional and administrative system established by the Catalan–Aragonese sovereigns in the newly created Regnum Sardiniae, immediately after the occupation of the island in 1323.

It has been widely demonstrated that the system had many elements in common with the other states of the Confederation; many aspects highlight differences and contrasts, thus showing how such a model adapted itself on the island. In the eyes of the Aragonese sovereigns, Sardinia became an experiment for institutions, which over time were either modified or preserved, and, in some cases, even exported to the other confederate kingdoms.

At the time of the Catalan–Aragonese conquest, Sardinia played a highly prestigious role in the Mediterranean region. Its central position in the Mare Nostrum made it a natural bastion, useful to any power looking to extend its overseas rule. Any such crown would gain control of trade in the proximity of the Catalan coastline, along the “Island's route” (Ruta de las Islas), as well as creating a new source of supplies and obtaining much needed inland territory.

The island appeared as a mosaic of diverse territories, both from a political and a juridical point of view. The problematic coexistence of these distinct and fragmented institutional entities fuelled constant disputes, but the new Catalan–Aragonese lords found a way through.