John of Arborea

Who was John of Arborea?

John, nicknamed Chiano, was the Giudice of Arborea from 1297 to his death.

He was the son and successor of Marianus II and reigned initially under the tutelage of Tosorat Uberti, a Pisan nobleman. Nino Visconti of Gallura having been deposed in 1288, John was the only judge and Arborea the only giudicato left on the island of Sardinia. Shortly after his succession, Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed a Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae: Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica. He named James II of Aragon King and paved the way for the invasion of the two islands.

John prepared to resist. In 1300, he ceded to Pisa the third of Cagliari which he ruled, the silver mines, and, perhaps, part of the judicial demesne. This last — the alienation of public land — released the people to revolt and they did so, executing John and cutting out his tongue.

He married Giacomina, daughter of Ugolino della Gherardesca, in 1287, on the advice of his father, though he already had sons through a liaison with Vera Cappai, of Villasalto. He was succeeded by his sons Andrew and Marianus. He left a legitimate daughter, Joanna, who died in 1308.