Gonario II was the giudice

Giudicati

The giudicati were the indigenous kingdoms of Sardinia from about 900 until 1410, when the last fell to the Aragonese. The rulers of the giudicati were giudici , from the Latin iudice , often translates as "judge". The Latin for giudicato was iudicatus The giudicati (singular giudicato) were the...

of Logudoro

Logudoro

The Logudoro is a large traditional region in central-northern Sardinia, Italy. The local dialect is known as Logudorese.Mostly composed of soft volcanic terrains, it is the most fertile area of the island. For this reason it was settled since early Prehistoric times, as shown by the presence of...

 (a kingdom in 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[],...

) from the death of his father to his own abdication in 1154. He was a son of Constantine I

Constantine I of Torres

Constantine I was the giudice of Logudoro. He was co-ruling by 1082 and sole ruler by 1113. His reign is usually said to have begun about 1112.He was the son of Marianus I, with whom he co-reigned, and Susanna de Thori.-1113/1115:...

 and Marcusa de Gunale. He was born between 1113 and 1114 according to later sources and the Camaldolese

Camaldolese

The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...

 church of S. Trinità di Saccargia was founded in his name by his parents on 16 December 1112, though it wasn't consecrated until 5 October 1116.

Constantine died between 1127 and 1128, leaving his son under the regency

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 of Ittocorre Gambella

Ittocorre Gambella

Ittocorre Gambella was the regent of the Giudicato of Logudoro between 1127 and sometime before 1140.When Constantine I died around 1127, he left his young son Gonario II under the regency of Ittocorre...

. When the Athen family

Athen family

The Athen family was a noble family of Sardinia during the 11th and 12th centuries. It first appeared during the reign of Gonario I and was most prominent in the Giudicato of Logudoro....

 tried to harm the young ruler, Ittocorre whisked him away to Porto Torres and the protection of the Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

ns, who took him to Pisa and the house of Ugo da Parlascio Ebriaco

Ugo da Parlascio Ebriaco

Ugo da Parlascio Ebriaco was a leading citizen in theRepublic of Pisa in the early twelfth century.Sometime between 1113 to 1115, Ugo and Pietro Moriconi, Archbishop of Pisa, led a successful expedition against the Balearic Islands...

. When he turned seventeen, he married Ebriaco's daughter and returned to 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[],...

, with Pisan permission and four armed galleys. His father-in-law was part of this expedition to repossess his giudicato (1130). Together they landed at Torres and marched on Ardara

Ardara

Ardara is a small town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. It is located on the N56 road.Ardara is a small town with a population of 578 . Over recent years the town has seen some great growth with a lot of the pubs and shops being renovated...

, the location of the judicial palace, and took it. Controlling the giudicato again, they began construction of a castle at Goceano

Goceano

The Goceano is a historical and geographical region of center-north of Sardinia island, Italy.It covers a surface of 480 km² and has a population of 13,000 inhabitants...

 to guard the frontier. At this time, Comita II of Arborea

Comita II of Arborea

Comita II was the giudice of the Giudicato of Arborea, from 1131 until his death. He was the son of Gonario, first ruler of Arborea of the Lacon dynasty. Married Elena de Orrubu, mother of Barison II of Arborea. The dating and chronology of his reign are obscure.Comita succeeded his elder...

 allied with the Republic of Genoa

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....

 to defend himself from filopisano Logudoro, thus dividing the island's allegiance.

Gonario was among the first to do homage to the Pisan archdiocese for his giudicato. On 6 March 1131, Gonario did homage to Roger, Archbishop of Pisa, who was then acting papal legate

Papal legate

A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....

 on the island. In the previous year, Constantine I of Arborea

Constantine I of Arborea

Constantine I was the giudice of Arborea. He was the son of Gonario II and Elena de Orrubu. The dates of his reign are unknown, but he was probably in power at the turn of the 12th century. It was probably dominated by wars between Genoa and Pisa which lasted from 1118 to 1133.Constantine...

, Comita's father, had done likewise. In the following year, 1132, on 26 June, Comita I of Gallura did homage to Roger at Ardara, thus preliminarily establishing the legatine status of Gonario's principality. In 1135, Roger's successor, Uberto

Uberto, Archbishop of Pisa

Uberto Lanfranchi was the Cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata , then the Cardinal-priest of San Clemente , and finally the Archbishop of Pisa Uberto Lanfranchi (or Humbert) (died 1137) was the Cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata (appointed by Pope Calixtus II no later than 1123),...

, declared Logudoro the base of the Sardinian legateship.

In 1144, Gonario got involved in a war with Arborea

Arborea

Arborea is a town and comune in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture, with production of vegetables and fruit.- History :...

 and, on 10 November, Baldwin, Archbishop of Pisa

Baldwin, Archbishop of Pisa

Baldwin was a Cistercian monk and later Archbishop of Pisa, a correspondent of Bernard of Clairvaux, and a reformer of the Republic of Pisa...

, moved to give him aid from the Republic. In 1145, Baldwin excommunicated Comita of Arborea. The Pisan prelate, travelling the island as a papal legate, had excommunicated the judge for oppressing the people and warring against Pisa, his righfult sovereign. Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...

 even weighed into island politics and sent a letter to Pope Eugene III

Pope Eugene III

Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...

 to justify Baldwin's actions and commend Gonario as quia bonus princeps dicitur. Nominally Arborea was transferred to Logudoro, but Comita died soon after and his son Barison II

Barisone II of Arborea

Barison II or Barisone II was the giudice of Arborea, a kingdom of Sardinia, from 1146 to 1186. He was the son of Comita II and Elena de Orrubu. His reign was groundbreaking in Sardinian history...

 succeeded him. In 1146, this Barison hosted the consecration ceremony of Santa Maria di Bonarcado with most of the Arborean clergy and Villano, Archbishop of Pisa. Gonario and Constantine II of Cagliari

Constantine II of Cagliari

Constantine II was the giudice of Cagliari . He was called de Pluminus after his capital city....

 also attended this ceremony, the only instance of three out of the four giudici appearing in the same place.

On 24 June 1147, Gonario was in his twentieth year of rule as Gonnarius . . . Turritanorum Rex et Dominus. This statement indicates that Gonario's rule was considered to begin with his father's death and was uninterrupted by exile and regency. In that year, Gonario left on the Second Crusade

Second Crusade

The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

 as a pilgrim to Jerusalem. He left his four sons, Barison

Barisone II of Torres

Barison II or Barisone II was the giudice of Logudoro from 1153 to 1186. He was the son and successor of Gonario II, who retired to the monastery of Clairvaux to live out his days....

, Peter, Ittocorre, and Comita as regents during his absence. He met Saint Bernard, who had only heard a good reputation earlier, on his return journey (1149). The two founded the Cistercian abbey of Cabuabbas di Sindia. Gonario probably extended this journey, making a pilgrimage to Saint Martin of Tours as well. Not long after this, Gonario, perhaps moved by his meeting with Bernard, entered the monastery of Clairvaux

Clairvaux

Clairvaux can mean the following:*Clairvaux, a former commune in France, now part of Ville-sous-la-Ferté. It is the home of**Clairvaux Abbey in France**Clairvaux Prison, France, on the site of the abbey*Saint Bernard of Clairvaux...

.

Sources

• Moore, John C. "Pope Innocent III, Sardinia, and the Papal State." Speculum, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Jan., 1987), pp 81–101.
• Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LVII Giulini – Gonzaga. Rome
  Rome
  Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
  
  , 2001.
• Scano, D. "Serie cronol. dei giudici sardi." Arch. stor. sardo. 1939.
• Besta, E. and Somi, A. I condaghi di San Nicolas di Trullas e di Santa Maria di Bonarcado. Milan, 1937.
• Libellus iudicum Turritanorum.