158 Bresc
which were supported by a large workforce in massive units of production: 400
hectoliters on average.
Sicily produced a considerable surplus of grain for exportation, which con-
tinued to grow in the fourteenth century.34 Sardinia also produced a significant
surplus throughout the fourteenth century, exporting out of Cagliari, which
had the monopoly on grain exports in the Capo di Sotto. These fourteenth-
century numbers are considerably higher than the weak levels of trade seen
in the fifteenth century. Perhaps one reason for this decline is that the cus-
toms authorities kept raising taxes to ensure their own considerable ongoing
income from the low prices and high levels of production of Sardinian and
Sicilian wheat.35
7 The Absence of Political Relations between Sardinia and Sicily
Direct political relations between Sardinia and Sicily were rare and practically
nonexistent until 1410. The Sicilian nobility was only mobilized by the politi-
cal ambitions the sovereigns of southern Italy had for Sardinia. King Enzio,
after 1238, may have been the first Sicilian to try to establish his dominion over
Sardinia, followed most definitely by Manfred in 1265–1266. Angelo di Vito, the
intendant for the office of Secrets and Portulans for the continental provinces
of the kingdom of Sicily, recounts hiring a vessel with a suite of 35 persons and
twelve horses, bound to Sardinia for such a purpose.36
In the conquest of Sardinia by Sicily in 1408–1409, Sicily mobilized the
“Catalan” nobility that had settled on the island and participated in the wars of
Martin de Montblanc, including the Limousin Ogier de Larcan and the Gascon
Arnaud de Sainte-Colombe.37 However, evidence of benevolence between the
sides has been discovered in the pity that was shown to certain Sardinian rebels
upon their enslavement.38 A decade later, in 1420–1421, Sicily was also part of
the great undertaking of Alfonso V of Aragon, “the Magnanimous,” to unite the
kingdoms of Sardinia and Corsica. After putting down the attempts at revolt
on the part of the Sardinians, Alfonso named a viceroy for Corsica and counted
34 Bresc, Un Monde méditerranéen, 115–116; 127–128.
35 Day, “La Sardegna e i suoi dominatori,” 43–44.
36 Giuseppe del Giudice, Codice diplomatico del regno di Carlo I e II d’Angiò (Naples, 1869),
vol. 2.1, pp. 1–21.
37 Pere Tomic, Historias e conquestas dels excellentissims e catholics reys de Arago e de lurs
anteçessors los comtes de Barçelona (Barcelona, 1886), vol. 3, p. 3.
38 Archivio di Stato, Termini Imerese (ASTI), G. Bonafede 2 (4 March 1412).