Spanish Sardinia: Conflicts And Alliances 265
and human resources to save Spain. In April 1652, Spain exported the plague
from Barcelona and it spread uncontrollably across the island until late 1657,
leaving behind a dramatic scenario: a decline in population estimated at over
50 percent and a grave economic crisis that led to the depopulation of the
countryside and the abandonment of artisanal activities. Very few were saved
by the preventative health measures, which consisted of imposed quarantines
and blocks on people’s mobility. It took Sardinia nearly a century to recover
from this heavy blow.26
After the epidemic abated, the island, which seemed to have been heading
towards a slow but steady recovery, experienced a new demographic catastro-
phe that devastated its entire territory: the famine of 1680–1681. Ravaged by
hunger, around 32 percent of the population perished, and those able to re-
sist resorted to theft and violence of all kinds. The crop of 1680 was the worst,
practically destroyed by drought. It was followed by a series of unfavorable
harvests, which were nevertheless able to replenish grain reserves and thus
protect the population from further starvation. The survivors abandoned vil-
lages to convene in cities, where municipalities could count on stockpiles of
provisions, since they had been forced to stock up on a significant amount of
grain and legumes by the decree of ancient privileges. The capital of the king-
dom was the most desirable destination, because civic authorities purchased
grain from Spanish and Sicilian merchants in order to guarantee food for
themselves. Rationing committees—headed by royal officials and composed
of civic representatives and a prelate charged with registering the poor in order
to provide for those in greatest need—were established in all the cities by the
viceroy’s command. Analogous measures were taken in villages, though on a
smaller scale.
In the meantime, the feudal branch declared by preliminary ruling that it
would not vote for the donation proposed by Philip IV if it did not receive full
assurance that positions in the kingdom’s civil and ecclesiastical government,
excluding those of the viceroy and archbishop of Cagliari, would be given sole-
ly to naturales. The Crown responded on 4 July 1651 by introducing a pragmatic
sanction: the abolition of the criminal court. If Spain satisfied Sardinia’s de-
sire to keep jobs in the hands of locals, it nevertheless drastically reduced the
political-jurisdictional space for delegated powers, particularly those related
to the administration of feudal justice. It was above all the marquis of Laconi,
“the leading voice” of the military stamento, who went to battle on this front,
thereby meeting the firm opposition of Camarassa. All of 1666 passed amid
26 Francesco Manconi, Castigo de Dios. La grande peste barocca nella Sardegna di Filippo IV
(Rome, 1994).