Overview Of Sardinian History 93
over his subjects in his own territory. Succession to the throne was hereditary,
including women, although if the title passed to a woman it would go to her
husband. However, the recognition of the high clergy and leaders of the other
giudicato was necessary to confirm the right of succession. There were also
other high functionaries, among which some figures emerge: he who attended
to the private estate of the giudice (armentariu de pegugiare), the manager of
state property (armentariu de Rennu), a financial manager (maiore de camera),
a herd manager (maiore de caballos), a manager of packs of dogs for the silvae
(forests), and a manager for the large hunting groups (maiore de canes).
Hunting was practiced collectively and served as training for war through-
out the Middle Ages. Wild beasts that destroyed the harvest in the fields were
hunted, and their meat, salted and preserved, constituted an important food
supply and a popular commercial product.20 The island, rich with many spe-
cies of fauna, was at the center of trade for a wide variety of leather goods
sought after in the continental markets.
The giudicati were divided into various parts (curadorias), led by a curadore,
who was nominated by the giudice and exercised fiscal and judiciary authority.
The curatorie had, in turn, the town (ville or biddas) as a basic structure, led by
a majore, whose job was to manage minor problems, assisted by selected older
men from the town (iuratos). The giudice had to act with the consensus of the
higher clergy and the leaders of the Rennu. Like the medieval sovereigns, the
giudici would travel throughout their realms for the most important causes,
assisted by the Corona de logu: a special “assembly that manifested the will
of the most eminent personalities of the Rennu, the prelates, the functionaries,
the maiorales of the cities and the towns.”21
The term logu indicated the territorial environment of the Giudicato, or the
state. The customary laws were passed down orally and were then formalized
and written in the Carte de Logu, the documents of the territory of the giudica-
to. Fragments of the Carta de Logu Kallaritana (beginning fourteenth century)
and the complete text requested by the giudice Eleonora d’Arborea, the Carta
de Logu d’Arborea (1390–1391) still exist. These documents represent a late col-
lection of the most ancient laws and local customs, providing interesting in-
sights into Roman and canon law. Here testimony can be found regarding the
20 Luisa D’Arienzo, “La caccia in Sardegna nel periodo giudicale e pisano-genovese,”
Medioevo. Saggi e Rassegne 6 (1981), pp. 27–60.
21 Antonello Mattone, “Eleonora d’Arborea,” in Dizionario Biografico degli italiani, ed.
Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Rome, 1993), vol. 42, pp. 410–419; Antonello Mattone, “Mariano
d’Arborea,” in Dizionario Biografico degli italiani, ed. Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Rome, 2008),
vol. 70, pp. 320–325.