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on the Cinarchesi nobility of the southern part of the island to support him.
However, after a defeat at the hands of the Genoese fleet, he abandoned the
siege. Although the duke of Milan and lord of Genoa ended up handing over
Bonifacio and Calvi to Alfonso’s representatives, he never gave up the fortress-
es and Alfonso’s dream of a Corsican kingdom was dead. The castle of Termini
(Sicily) was selected as a prison to house the hostages from Bonifacio and was
securely controlled by a Catalan garrison supported by the city merchants.39
These seafaring expeditions gave rise to a whole host of raids and the loot-
ing of foreign ships. It is a simple matter to take a large vessel carrying grain
outside its port of loading and Sardinian privateers were often attracted to
Sicilian vessels. Numerous Catalans from Cagliari raided Sicilian and Ligurian
vessels for wheat, even so far afield as continental Italy.40 Others lay in ambush
near the capes to intercept vessels coming from the Orient carrying such exotic
goods as alum, wax, and leathers.41 In part, these activities provided supplies
for Catalan cities along the coast, which invoked an ancient general privilege
calling for a portion of shipments to be deducted for the benefit of populations
at risk of famine, so long as the value was paid off.42 Palermo in turn invoked
this doctrine in 1356, no doubt as a form of reprisal, unloading a vessel that
was sailing between Cagliari to Naples when it was forced to take refuge from
a storm in the port of Palermo.43 The ports of Sardinia and nearby Bonifacio
also served as refuges and places of exchange for stolen goods, catering to the
pirates of the Tyrrhenian Sea.44 It is worth noting that, aside from a few excep-
tions, the patrons of the corsairs were all Catalan.45
39 ASTI G. Bonafede 4 (17 November 1421).
40 ASP Notai defunti (ND) B. Bononia 123 ( July 16, 1362); ASP ND B. Bononia Spezzone 17N
(25 February 1371); Archivio Comunale, Palermo, Atti del Senato 25, f. 8 (28 September
1413).
41 Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona de Aragó (ACA), Cancelleria, Pergamins Alfons II 446.
42 Marco Tangheroni, Aspetti del commercio dei cereali nei Paesi della Corona d’Aragona. La
Sardegna (Pisa, 1981), pp. 110–117; ASP ND B. Bononia Spezzone 36N (12 November 1384).
43 ASP ND Not. ignoto Spezzone 299N (26 September 1356). The cargo consisted of four cen-
tenarii and 70 quartini of salt, 350 cantari of cheese, 200 cantari of wool, three loads of
skins, two loads of calfskin, one of cowhide, one of doeskin, and one of already tanned
hides.
44 Don Pero Niño, Le Victorial. Chronique de don Pero Niño, comte de Buelna (1378–1453) par
Gutierre Díaz de Gamez, son porte-bannière, trans. Jean Gautier Dalché (Turnhout, 2001),
pp. 137–138. ASP ND B. Bononia Spezzone 36N (21 November 1384).
45 Laura Sciascia, ed., Acta Curie Felicis Urbis Panormi, 6, Registri di Lettere (1321–22 e 1335–36)
(Palermo, 1987), p. 91, n. 51, complaint of Leonardo Ligerio of Savona. ACA Cancelleria
2854, f. 62v (22 November 1445). ASP Protonotaro 5, f. 37; (3 October 1371).