Overview Of Sardinian History 111
8 In the Center of the Mediterranean
On the island, Tuscan workers participated in the construction of Romanesque
Pisan architecture: the basilica of the Holy Trinity of Saccargia (Sassari),
Saint Peter of Simbrànos (Bulzi), Saint Peter of Sòrres (Borutta), and Cagliari
Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria di Castello).75 It was not by chance that
the pulpit of William was transferred to Cagliari Cathedral when Giovanni
Pisano finished making it for Pisa Cathedral. Furthermore, through these ar-
tistic and religious exchanges, old cultural relationships were reconfirmed and
there remained symbolic territorial continuity with the city on the Arno.76
In Sardinian legal tradition, the Pisan matrix was preserved by the same
Catalan-Aragonese legislatures. After Sardinia was assigned to Piedmont
(1718), the Sardinian municipal ordinances remained in force until the Savoy
reform (1771).77 Until that time, the term pisanesco was used to describe tradi-
tions and objects, which testifies to the ancient ties between Pisa and Sardinia.
For example, a marriage contract could be distinguished as being a sa sardisca,
based on the communion of goods or profits, in contrast to a dowry contract,
that is, a sa pisanisca.
In order to travel to Sardinia in the first half of the fifteenth century, ships
had to depart from Pisa. In the story of his journey to the Holy Land (1436–
1439), the Andalusian noble Pero Tafur tells of having sailed out of the Pisan
port to reach Castell de Cáller, “a nice place on the island,” while the rest of
Sardinia was “not healthy due to bad air and bad water.”78
At the end of the fifteenth century, Anselm Adorno, who came from a
Genoese family but resided in Bruges, made a pilgrimage to the Empty Tomb
by both land and sea (1470–1471). He departed from Bruges for Jerusalem, em-
barked at Genoa, and skirted along the coast of Sardinia. He described the
island as a place where much wheat and wine were produced, and where
rams and excellent horses were abundant. There were many foreigners and
75 Giovanni Padroni, Orme pisane in Sardegna (Pisa, 1994); Roberto Coroneo and Renata
Serra, Sardegna preromanica e romanica (Milan, 2004).
76 Laura Galoppini, “Pisa e la Sardegna, un legame millenario,” in Pisa e il Mediterraneo.
Uomini, merci, idee dagli Etruschi ai Medici, ed. Marco Tangheroni (Milan, 2003),
pp. 209–215.
77 Bruno Anatra, “Dall’unificazione aragonese ai Savoia,” in La Sardegna medievale e mod-
erna, pp. 191–663; Lucetta Scaraffia, “La Sardegna sabauda,” in La Sardegna medievale e
moderna, pp. 667–829.
78 Pero Tafur, Andanças e viajes por diversas partes del mundo avidos, ed. Giuseppe Bellini
(Rome, 1986), p. 302.