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CHAPTER 1
Archives and Documents Pertaining to the History
of Medieval Sardinia
Olivetta SchenaIntroduction
The paucity of written documents pertaining to the entire medieval period in
Sardinia has quite frequently justified general lamentation, resignation, not to
mention the generation of many rich fantasies. Although this is not a particu-
larly perplexing anomaly within the context of medieval Europe—given the
fact that the production of written texts as well as their preservation have often
been hard hit by the ravages of time and men—in Sardinia, the loss has always
been deemed irreparable. From a certain point of view, this is absolutely true;
the written document is indeed a most important means of investigation, a
premise or confirmation at times crucial to the course of research and its dis-
semination, as well as its transmission from one period to another, and is itself
to some extent a historical problem, given the fact that the examination of
causes leading to one or another outcome entails an analysis of the existing
relationship between men and writing, between men and archives.
In this respect, the Sardinia that, as noted, presents a rather patchy stock
of documents may be an interesting case. In fact, the situation is frequently
attributed to the systematic destruction perpetrated by conquerors to erase all
trace of their predecessors as well as the historical consciousness of the subject
population, paired with human indifference and negligence. Both reasons are
symptomatic of a clearly defined attitude to sites designated for the preserva-
tion of documents; the first reveals obvious concern, a full awareness of the
potential inherent in an archive, so much so as to sanction its destruction; the
second, on the other hand, reveals an absolute incomprehension of its value
and significance. To this effect, Giovanni Todde, likewise assessing the situation
in his day, used to speak of the “tenacious Sardinian anti-archival attitude,”1 by
which he meant the Sardinians’ nearly atavistic refusal to preserve documents.
1 Giovanni Todde, “La storia della Sardegna negli archivi europei,” in La Sardegna, ed. Manlio
Brigaglia, 2 vols, 1. La geografia, la storia, l’arte e la letteratura (Cagliari, 1982), pp. 142–146: 142.