Hugh III was the eldest son and successor 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...

 and Timbor of Rocabertí. He succeeded in 1376 as Giudice (Judge) of Arborea

Giudice of Arborea

The Giudici ) of Arborea were the local rulers of the west of Sardinia during the Middle Ages...

 and Count of 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...

. In most ways he continued and augmented the policies of his father. He has been praised as a legislator who led a saggio e moderato governo: "wise and moderate government."

In 1363, he married a daughter of John III of Viterbo, of the Da Vico family, but she died in 1369. They had a daughter named Benedetta, who in 1373 was asked in marriage by the Louis I, Duke of Anjou, second son of King Charles V of France

Charles V of France

Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...

, whitout success.

Hugh participated in his father's last military campaign against Pere de Luna, the Catalan

Catalan people

The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

 general, commanding one of the battles

Battle (formation)

A battle or battaile was a medieval military formation, analogous and ancestral to the modern term battalion. In late medieval warfare, field armies were often drawn up into three main battles, also called guards: the vanguard, the middle guard, and the rearguard, often abbreviated to simply the...

 which ambushed him in a pincer movement at Oristano

Oristano

Oristano is a town and comune, capital of the Province of Oristano, on the island of Sardinia, Italy. It has approximately 32,500 inhabitants.Its economy is mainly based on fishing, agriculture and, to a certain extent, tourism.-History:...

 in 1365. As judge, Hugh continued to oppose the pretensions of Peter IV of Aragon

Peter IV of Aragon

Peter IV, , called el Cerimoniós or el del punyalet , was the King of Aragon, King of Sardinia and Corsica , King of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona Peter IV, (Balaguer, September 5, 1319 – Barcelona, January 6, 1387), called el Cerimoniós ("the Ceremonious") or el del punyalet ("the one...

 and the Catalans and warred against them.

He made enemies with the nobles, who tried to incite the poor to rebel. On 3 March 1383, Hugh and his daughter — and heiress — were assassinated at Oristano during a popular revolt. The rebels declared a "Republic" and made the law (which Hugh and his father had done so much to codify, expand, and improve) the sovereignty in Arborea. Hugh's successor was his nephew 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...

, under the regency of his sister Eleanor

Eleanor of Arborea

Eleanor ; 1347 – 1404) was the giudicessa 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....

, who pacified the rebels and reinstated judicial government.

Sources

• Nowé, Laura Sannia. Dai "lumi" dalla patria Italiana: Cultura letteraria sarda. Mucchi Editore: Modena, 1996.