Barisone II Torchitorio IV de Serra (circa 1190 – after 20 April 1217) was the 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 Cagliari

Giudice of Cagliari

The giudici of Cagliari were the local rulers of the south of Sardinia during the Middle Ages. Theirs was the largest giudicato and for the eleventh through twelfth centuries contested the supremacy on the island with that of Logudoro...

.

He was a son of Peter I

Peter I of Arborea

Peter I , of the Serra family, was the eldest son and successor of Barisone II of Arborea, reigning from 1186 to his death. His mother was Barisone's first wife, Pellegrina de Lacon...

 and Bina. His father was Judge of half of Arborea from 1195 to his death in 1214 along with Hugh I

Hugh I of Arborea

Hugh I Giudici of Arborea from 1185 CE until his death in 1211 CE. Hugh was the son of Ispella di Serra and Hugh I of Bas. He was a grandson -through his mother- of Barisone II of Arborea...

. When Hugh died in 1211, Barisone laid claim to his portion of the giudicato, laying claim to the whole on his father's death three years later. He married Benedetta

Benedetta of Cagliari

Benedetta was the daughter and heiress of William I of Cagliari and Adelasia, daughter of Moroello Malaspina. She succeeded her father in January or February 1214....

, the heiress of William I of Cagliari

William I of Cagliari

William I was the giudice of Cagliari from 1188 to his death.William was one of the greatest of medieval Sardinian giudici...

, and succeeded him on that throne.

William held Peter I imprisoned and in order to legitimise his control over half of Arborea, he married his daughter to Peter's heir in 1214. Torchitorio and Benedetta were related within the prohibited degree, but Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....

 gave them dispensation to marry. They subsequently did homage to the pope on 18 November 1215, probably to avoid domination by the Republic

Republic of Pisa

The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...

 and Archdiocese of Pisa.

Torchitorio died in 1217 and left a months-old son, William II

William II of Cagliari

William II Salusio V was the Judge of Cagliari from 1232 to his death. His Christian name was William, but his regnal name was Salusio, based on ancient Cagliaritan traditions which alternated their rulers between the forenames Torchitorio and Salusio...

, who succeeded him in Cagliari, while Hugh's son Peter II

Peter II of Arborea

Peter II was the Giudice of Arborea from 1221 to his death. He was also Peter IV, Viscount of Bas. He was "pious and submissive to the church" and his extensive "donations of privileges and judicial lands impoverished his state of glory."Peter's father, Hugh I, of the Bas family, died in 1211...

 maintained himself in all Arborea.

Sources

• Moore, John C. "Pope Innocent III, Sardinia, and the Papal State." Speculum, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Jan., 1987), pp 81–101.
• Nowé, Laura Sannia. Dai "lumi" dalla patria Italiana: Cultura letteraria sarda. Mucchi Editore: Modena, 1996.