316 Martorelli
century. Because of his opposition to Arianism, he was sent into exile in the
Near East by the Byzantine emperor, but then returned to die in Cagliari. By
the end of the seventeenth century, a church was built on the site of his burial
and consecrated to Lucifero.9 Further excavations with similar intentions were
undertaken in the cave of Saint Efisio and other sites in the town.
The Archbishop Francisco Desquivel, the promoter of these investigations,
ordered the construction of a crypt under the presbytery of the Dom, called
“Santuario dei martiri” (Shrine of martyrs), which was consecrated in 1618.
There is a written report of this event, a large procession of believers, clergy,
and noblemen, sent to the Pope Paul V and to the king of Spain Philip III.10
There was much excitement about the new discoveries dispersed through-
out Cagliari. However, scientific methods were not used, and the destruction
of a large area of the Roman and Byzantine town irreversibly removed most of
the recent layers connected with the early medieval period (from the eighth to
the eleventh centuries), when the town was still functioning, but in a severely
reduced way. Further, for this same period we do not know the demography of
the town, the configuration of the town plan, nor its topography. Motivated by
an apologetic purpose, the researchers aimed to find the cuerpos santos, so that
the literature and historiography of this period was almost solely concerned
with cemeteries, churches, and saints.11
After the 1720 Treaty of London and the subsequent union of the island
with the kingdom of Piedmont governed by the Savoy family, the Sardinian
economy endured a challenging period. Cagliari and Sardinia were not part
of the Grand Tour of the most important and beautiful cities of Europe. The
traveler’s guides were not concerned with the landscape and ruins of the is-
land, but rather were instigated by the prince of Piedmont, who lived in Turin,
9 Ambrogio Machin, Difesa della santità di Lucifero, published in 1638.
10 Relacion de la invencion de los cuerpos santos que en los años 1614 e 1616 fueron hallados en
varias yglesias de la ciudad de Caller, then printed in Naples in 1617.
11 Serafin Esquirro, Santuario de Caller, y verdadera istoria de la invencion de los cuerpos san-
tos hallados en la dicha Ciudad (Caller, 1624); Jorge Aleo, 1637–1672. Storia cronologica di
Sardegna. Translation by father Attanasio da Quartu, Cappuccino (Cagliari, 1926); Juan
Francisco Carmona, Alabanças des Sanctos de Sardena (Caller, 1631) (manuscript of the
Biblioteca dell’Università di Cagliari); Dionigi Bonfant, Triumpho de los santos del reyno
de Cerdeña (Caller, 1635). Studies full of mistakes, caused by a parochial spirit, are those
of Salvador Vidal, Clypeus aureus excellentiae calaritanae (Floreantiae, 1641); Jorge Aleo,
Successos Generales de la Isla y Reyno de Cerdena despues el diluvio hasta el ano 1325 de
Nacimiento de Cristo Nuestro Senor (Caller, 1684): manuscript of the Biblioteca universita-
ria di Cagliari.