Torchitorio III of Cagliari

Who is Torchitorio III of Cagliari?

Torchitorio III, born Peter, was the Judge of Cagliari from October 1163 to his deposition and arrest in 1188, after which he was never heard of again.

Peter was a younger son of Gonario II of Logudoro. In 1147, he received the curatoria of Ottana. He married the eldest daughter of Constantine II of Cagliari, whose name is unknown, sometime before 1163. Following Constantine's death without surviving sons in October 1163, Peter "inherited" the giudicato jure uxoris. In fact, he was proclaimed with strong Pisan support. However, Barisone II of Arborea, as a direct descendent of Constantine II laid claim to Cagliari. He invaded the giudicato and forced Peter to flee to the court of his elder brother Barisone II of Logudoro at Porto Torres. In March 1164, the Barisone and Peter, united with the Pisans of the island, retook the city of Cagliari and then invaded Arborea in April. The judge of Arborea took refuge in the castle of Cabras.

In 1166, Peter and his brother travelled to Pisa to try to explain the bloody reprisals of their citizens against the Pisans in Ottana. Returning to Sardinia, the two made a pact with the Republic of Genoa, ally of the Arboreans.