Sardinia was an imperial province of the
Byzantine Empire until the 9th century, when the
Arabs and
Berbers began pursuing aggressive policies of expansion and piracy in the
Mediterranean. The
gradual conquest of
Sicily by these groups from 827 on effectively cut Sardinia off from the central government and military might of the Empire, and the Byzantines found the island increasingly difficult to supply and defend. In the absence of instruction or reinforcement, the Sardinian provincial Byzantine officials, called ("judges") began to govern autonomously. A single
archontate was formed to govern the entire island, that nominally still recognized the Byzantine emperor. By the 11th century the archontate became divided into four provinces (, literally "judgeships"), though two — Logudoro and
Arborea — were combined at the start of the 11th century. By 1073, these districts had become
de facto independent states, their ruling kings still titled as or after their imperial civil servant predecessors. The first capital city of the Giudicato of Logudoro was ancient Torres (now
Porto Torres), but the coastal city was exposed to Arab attacks, and so the seat of the judgeship was transferred first to
Ardara and finally to
Sassari. , figured capital with a portrait of Judge
Barisone II of Torres Logudoro only began to emerge from the fog of history during the reign of
Barisone I from about 1038 to 1073. He brought
Western monasticism to the island by requesting monks from
Abbot Desiderius of
Montecassino and in this he was supported by both
Pope Alexander II and
Godfrey the Bearded,
Margrave of Tuscany, though the
archdiocese of Pisa, thitherto the chief religious influence on the island, opposed it. The monks had spiritual, scholastic and military roles. On the death of Barisone I, Arborea chose its own judge in
Marianus de Zori, while the Logudorese chose
Andrew Tanca. The kingdom of Logudoro came to an end in 1259, when the queen
Adelasia died without an heir. After this, Logudoro was effectively ruled by the
Genoese families of
Doria and
Malaspina, and the ruling family of Arborea. Sassari meanwhile became
an autonomous city-state. ==See also==