Spanish Sardinia: Conflicts And Alliances 263
In the twenty years of Philip III’s rule (1598–1621) Sardinia seems to have
enjoyed a fortunate situation, both in terms of natural and human resources,
and, by extension, of royal finances. As the number of loading ports and fa-
cilities for grain exportation increased and allowed for substantial compensa-
tion, a notable increase occurred in agricultural production, which likewise
had positive repercussions on demographic movement. Thus, for example, the
population of the island, which in the census of 1589 had amounted to 65,540
fiscal hearths (families), surpassed 77,406 in 1627—a rather high increase.21
This favorable era was unfortunately cut short by the outbreak of the Thirty
Year War (1618–1648), which agitated Europe for a particularly long time, with
heavy repercussions on its economy and society, rearranging its political geog-
raphy, and sending Spain towards irreversible decline. In this context, numer-
ous families from Mallorca arrived on island, revitalized the cultivation of fruit
and vegetables, and introduced new crops, such as sugar cane and rice, though
these were short lived.22
The Thirty Year War was one of the most significant moments in Sardinia’s
modern history. Although Sardinia was not selected as a possible stage for
battle, after the French invasion of Oristano in February 1637, the island par-
ticipated directly (albeit marginally and totally by chance) in the war that
involved all of Europe for three decades. The nobility and the island’s tercios
fought with Spanish armies, exalting them, in certain respects, while the
people of the island paid a rather heavy price. Participation in the war was
devastating, not only on an economic level, but also, and above all, on that
of human life. According to fairly conclusive estimates, between 10,000 and
12,000 soldiers died between 1628 and 1650—a significantly high number,
equal to 4–5 percent of the population, which had been counted in 1624 on the
occasion of the celebration of the general courts of the kingdom, and which
fluctuated between 200,000 and 220,000. The recruitment system, in which
the baronial class was particularly active, weighed almost exclusively on the
rural population, insofar as it was directly subjected to the jurisdiction of the
military stamento, composed primarily of titular nobles of fiefdoms. Younger
and more robust men, between the ages of 16 and 40, suffered heavy losses,
which led to a steady decline in manual, agricultural labor. In the long run, this
had deleterious effects on the economy, already weak in itself and precariously
relying on two main activities: the cultivation of one type of grain and wild
21 Bruno Anatra, Giuseppe Puggioni, and Giuseppe Serri, Storia della popolazione in
Sardegna nell’epoca moderna (Cagliari, 1997).
22 Giovanni Murgia, “La comunità maiorchina a Villamar in periodo spagnolo (secoli XVI–
XVII),” in Anatra and Manconi, Sardegna, Spagna e Stati italiani.