Constantine IAlso ''Costantino'', ''Gosantine'', ''Goantine'', or ''Gantine''. (born in the second half of the 11th century) was the

Judge of Arborea The Kings or Judges of Arborea (from the Latin language, Latin and the Sardinian language, Sardinian , "judges", the title of the Byzantine officials left behind when imperial power receded in the West) were the local rulers of Kingdom of Arb ...

. He was the son of Gonario II and Elena de Orrubu. The dates of his reign are unknown, but he was probably in power at the turn of the 12th century. It was probably dominated by wars between

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

which lasted from 1118 to 1133. Constantine tightened Aborea's alliance with the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

. His reign followed on the

Gregorian reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–1080, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...

of the papal church and its major effect on

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. Like his predecessors, Constantine probably paid the annual tribute to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

of 1,100

bezants In the Middle Ages, the term bezant (, from Latin ) was used in Western Europe to describe several gold coins of the east, all derived ultimately from the Roman . The word itself comes from the Greek Byzantion, the ancient name of Constantinopl ...

. He accepted papal and Pisan suzerainty and sponsored the expanding monasticism on the island. Monasticism provided much needed technological and economic improvements, as the monks which immigrated to inhabit the new foundations and the reformed old ones brought with them collections of books and knowledge of more efficient agricultural and construction techniques, as well as connections to the wider Christian world. There is some discrepancy over the foundation of Santa Maria de Bonarcado, but it seems likely that Constantine laid its foundation around the year 1100. He put it under the authority of the

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona () are a Catholic Church, Catholic monastic order of pontifical right for men founded by Romuald, St. Romuald. Its name is derived from the Holy Hermitage () in Camaldoli, high in the mountains of Tuscany, ...

abbey of San Zenone San Zeno is a church and a former abbey in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. The church is documented going back to 1029. It was part of a monastery built over pre-existing edifices, and, until the 15th century, it had also a hospital. In the 12th century it ...

instead of the monastery of Saint-Victor in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, which was the great monastic power in the rival

Judicate of Cagliari The Judicate of Cagliari (, ) was one of the four kingdoms or judicates (''iudicati'', literally "judgeship") into which Sardinia was divided during the Middle Ages. The Judicate of Cagliari occupied the entire southern portion of the island and ...

. According to a charter of his grandson Barison II in 1182, he founded a monastery in dedication to San Nicolas di Urgen. Following the ''

Condaghe di Santa Maria de Bonarcado A ''condaghe'' (; also spelled as ''condache'' or ''condake'', ), also known as a ''fundaghe'', was a kind of administrative document used in the Sardinian judicates between the 11th and 13th centuries. They are one of the earliest witnesses for t ...

'', Constantine's wife was Anna de Zori and he left two sons: Comita II, who succeeded him by 1131, and Orzocco.

Notes

Sources

*Ghisalberti, Aldo (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: XXX Cosattini – Crispolto''. Rome, 1984. Judges (judikes) of Arborea 11th-century births Year of birth uncertain 12th-century deaths Year of death uncertain 12th-century Italian nobility {{Italy-noble-stub