236 Ortu
power of the giudici, since the monks never went beyond the pretense of regu-
lating lands and servi.
From the early twelfth century on, the communes of Genoa and Pisa also
benefited from land concessions, not directly, but through the charitable insti-
tutions of their cathedrals: S. Lorenzo in Genoa and Santa Maria in Pisa. These,
however, were lay associations controlled by aristocratic consortia (Doria,
Malaspina, and Spinola in Genoa; Visconti, Donoratico, Gualandi, Capraia, etc.
in Pisa), who were the true beneficiaries of the concessions. Drawn from state
property, the domus and the donnicalias that followed this route, retained,
along with their new owners, exemptions and immunity from the public stat-
ute, and were thus easily able to transform themselves into small territorial
dominions.19 The intrusion of foreign and hostile seigniorial jurisdictions onto
the territory of the giudicati had its origins in this phenomenon.
In the thirteenth century, the rule of the Doria and Malaspina in the giu-
dicato of Torres assumed this burden by deposing Adelasia. The subsequent
construction of the castles of Bosa, Alghero, Casteldoria, and Castelgenovese
sealed their full territorial dominion, but also catalyzed the creation of new
urban centers. In the giudicato of Cagliari, the phenomenon of “urban forti-
fication” took place after 1216 with the construction of the mighty Castrum
Callari, promised by the Visconti, directly in front of the seat of the giudicati,
Sant’Igia, around which was to rise the future capital of the Regnum Sardiniae.
Half a century later, Ugolino Donoratico was responsible for the erection of the
stronghold of Salvaterra and the city of Villa di Chiesa (subsequently known as
Iglesias), which was destined to assume a strategic role in extracting minerals
and producing silver.
The urban dimension—a revolution throughout all of medieval Europe—
proliferated in Sardinia during the course of the thirteenth century. Inasmuch
as the new cities were the result of the military activity of lords who had un-
dermined the powers of the giudicati, they helped optimize artisanal and com-
mercial activities and became testing grounds for collective social and political
practices.20 Testifying to this are important collections of statutory norms,
such as the Breve di Villa di Chiesa and the Statuti di Sassari.
19 On the presence and role of the monks in Sardinia, see infra Raimondo Turtas; on don-
nicalias, see Ennio Cortese, “Donnicalie. Una pagina dei rapporti tra Pisa, Genova e la
Sardegna nel sec. XII,” in Scritti in onore di Antonio Gaeta (Milan, 1984), pp. 489–520.
20 Carlo Baudi di Vesme, ed., Codex diplomaticus ecclesiensis (Turin, 1877); Pier Enea
Guarnerio, ed., “Gli statuti della repubblica sassarese,” Archivio glottologico italiano 13
(1892–1894), pp. 1–124. On the origin, the structures, and the functions of medieval cities,