CHAPTER 19 Urban Planning and New Towns in Medieval

Marco Cadinu

The historic centers of Sardinian towns and villages have preserved much of their medieval urban structure, which resulted from important urban renewal projects undertaken between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Over time, successive authorities layered new architecture and new urban projects upon the first nuclei, and modern buildings have concealed their complex mesh of signs and languages. As a consequence, it is not always straightforward to rec- ognize the medieval urban landscape that has come down to us. However, we can reconstruct the planning and architecture with the help of historic cartog- raphy, land registers, as well as historic documents, archaeological fragments embedded in walls, and the study of the era’s architecture. In the near absence of direct documentation of town planning during the Middle Ages, the use of stylistic and critical comparisons provides the basis on which to date those projects that created streets, squares, and neighborhoods. This information demonstrates that the medieval town was the result of political programs and plans that were often as complex as modern ones, and they were supported by considerable economic effort and implemented by experienced builders in accordance with the era’s technical and design principles. From the early Middle Ages until the eleventh century, construction was simple in form or rural in character, but urban development employed more evolved principles and normative models soon thereafter. The history of urban places remains legible through units of structural measurement, residential lot divisions, military models, and the coordination of planned actions. In this sense, historians can read urban structures as original texts having documentary value comparable to many available case studies.1 The debate regarding the ori- gin and dating of urban structures in Sardinian villages and cities, particularly

1 The development of different urban forms in medieval Europe was the result of the historic, cultural, and scientific ties to its geographical areas. The comparison of the plans and cultur- al roots of the different types of new cities, like the French bastides or the Tuscan terrenove, allow us to classify and suggest dates for their projects. Enrico Guidoni, Arte e urbanis- tica in Toscana, 1000–1315 (Rome, 1970); Enrico Guidoni, Storia dell’urbanistica: il duecento

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004341241_021 498 Cadinu between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, is still open. The distinction be- tween the various settlement patterns, often with evidence attributable to very different cultural contexts, is a first element for assessment and dating. It is first necessary to examine the legacy of the ancient world that remains inscribed in medieval settlements. In their earliest forms, many of Sardinia’s medieval villages also bear the mark of Mediterranean Islamic culture. Yet, the birth of cities such as , , , and Santa Igia () between the eleventh and twelfth centuries evidences the power of the local govern- ment forces, known as the giudicati.2 During their rule, the island underwent important cultural changes that contributed to significant evolution in the fields of urban planning and architecture. The giudici were sensitive to inter- national cultures and, when they came into contact with the Roman Church, they managed the island through a transition that entailed a momentous dis- tancing from Islamic cultural dominance and an opening up to new models. This strategy is reflected in the island’s European Romanesque architecture. The thirteenth century began with a serious Pisan incursion that resulted in the re-foundation of Cagliari, which replaced the giudicato’s former capital Santa Igia in the space of just a few decades. Institutional tensions gave way to new historic scenarios, which had important consequences for architecture and urbanism. New military, economic, and fiscal assets marked the progres- sive crisis for the giudicati and led to the Aragonese invasion in the early four- teenth century.3 However, it is important to analyze some of these factors in order to better define the island’s medieval urban conditions.

1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

The traces of the buildings, streets, and walls of the Phoenician/Punic and Roman cities in Sardinia disappeared during the early Middle Ages. The trans- formation of their original functions, after continuity in some sites, was a

(Rome-Bari, 1989); Enrico Guidoni, La città europea: formazione e significato dal IV all’XI secolo (Milan, 1978). 2 The political role of the Giudicati was very similar to that of a kingdom. Sardinia was divided into four giudicati, and led by giudici (judges). Zedda, Corrado, and Raimondo Pinna, “La nas- cita dei giudicati: proposta per lo scioglimento di un enigma storiografico,” Archivio storico e giuridico sardo di Sassari n.s. 12 (2007), pp. 27–118; Raimondo Turtas, Storia della Chiesa in Sardegna dalle origini al Duemila (Rome, 1999). A general overview of the medieval giudicati can be found in Gian Giacomo Ortu, La Sardegna dei giudici (Nuoro, 2005). See also his chap- ter “Society and Power in Medieval Sardinia” in this volume. 3 Zedda and Pinna, “La nascita dei giudicati,” pp. 125–187.