Eleanor; 1347 – 1404) was the giudicessa ("judge") of Arborea from 1383 to her death. She was one of the last — and most powerful and significant — Sardinian judges; as well as the island's most renowned heroine.

Biography

Born at Molins de Rei

Molins de Rei

Molins de Rei is a municipality located at 18km from Barcelona's city centre, in the comarca of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain.It is situated on the left bank of the Llobregat river, on the A-7 autopista from Valencia to La Jonquera and the main N-II road.Its location has made Molins de Rei...

, Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Eleanor Bas-Serra, was the daughter of Marianus IV of Arborea

Marianus IV of Arborea

Marianus IV , called the Great, was the Giudice of Arborea from 1347 to his death. He was, as his nickname indicates, the greatest sovereign of Arborea. He was a legislator and a warrior whose reign saw the commencement of massive codification of the laws of his realm and incessant warfare with the...

, who had become in 1346 giudice of Arborea, on the west coast of Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

, and his wife Timbora de Roccabertí. It has been said that their family, the Cappai de Bas

Cappai de Bas

Cappai des Baux, originally Çapay viscounts of Bas , is the name of an old Aragonese noble family who came to Sardinia in the 14th century with the king James II of Aragon during his campaign to conquer the island...

 family, belonged to the House of Visconti

House of Visconti

Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...

. The house of Arborea, whose power extended over about one third of Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

, was the only independent part of the island at that point in history. During her childhood, she was raised with a natural tendency towards war and weapons.

Her father married Eleanor to Brancaleone Doria

Brancaleone Doria

Brancaleone Doria was the husband of Eleanor of Arborea. He was a scion of an influential family of the Republic of Genoa, the son of the elder Brancaleone and a woman named Giacomina...

, a Genoese

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 nobleman who held the fief of Castelgenovese, in order to strengthen local alliances. Marianus died in 1376 and was succeeded by his son Hugh III

Hugh III of Arborea

Hugh III was the eldest son and successor of Marianus IV of Arborea and Timbor of Rocabertí. He succeeded in 1376 as Giudice of Arborea and Count of Goceano. In most ways he continued and augmented the policies of his father...

. In March 1383, there was a republican uprising in Arborea and Hugh was murdered. Eleanor defeated the rebels and became regent to her infant son Frederick

Frederick of Arborea

Frederick was the Judge of Arborea from 1383 until his death. His surname was Doria Cappai de Baux, the last part being a corruption of Bas-Serra...

, who as next male heir became the official monarch of Arborea.

For the next four years Arborea was at war with the Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

, which claimed the island. It lost much of its Sardinian possessions to Eleanor. Arborea obtained almost all of the island during this war. After rallying Sardinian forces, Eleanor was able to negotiate a favourable treaty. Her eldest son Frederick died during this war and was succeeded by her younger son, Marianus V

Marianus V of Arborea

Marianus V was the Judge of Arborea from 1387 until his death. His surname was Doria Cappai de Baux, the last part being a corruption of Bas-Serra...

. An alliance was formed with Genoa which sustained Arborea's independence for another generation. She died at Oristano in 1404.

Eleanor composed the Carta de Logu

Carta de Logu

The Carta de Logu was legal code of the Giudicato of Arborea promulgated by the giudicessa Eleanor in 1392. It was in force in Sardinia until it was superseded by the code of Charles Felix in April 1827....

, a body of laws which came into force in April 1395. They were considered to be far in advance of the laws of other countries, the penalty for most crimes being a fine, and the property rights of women being preserved. These laws remained in force in Sardinia until the Italian unification

Italian unification

Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...

 of 1861.

Eleanor was particularly interested in ornithology. As a friend of birds, she was the first to legislate protection to a certain species of bird (falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

). Based on this, the Eleonora's Falcon

Eleonora's Falcon

Eleonora's Falcon is a medium-sized falcon. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Hypotriorchis. The Sooty Falcon is sometimes considered its closest relative, but while they certainly belong to the same lineage, they do not seem...

 (Falco eleonorae) was named after her.

Sources

• Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani LXII Dugoni – Enza. Rome, 1993.
• Mearns, Barbara and Richard. Biographies for Birdwatchers. ISBN 0-12-487422-3
• Manno, Giuseppe. Storia di Sardegna. 2005.