The House of Lacon-Gunale was an indigenous Italian noble family of medieval

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 ...

originally established in all the four thrones of the

Judgedoms The Judicates (, or in Sardinian, in Latin, or in Italian), in English also referred to as Sardinian Kingdoms, Sardinian Judgedoms or Judicatures, were independent states that took power in Sardinia in the Middle Ages, between the elevent ...

, the four Sardinian medieval kingdoms.

Origin

Probably the Lacon and Gunale descended respectively from the last ''

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

'' and ''

praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...

'' of

Byzantine Sardinia The Byzantine age in Sardinian history conventionally begins with the island's reconquest by Justinian I in 534. This ended the Vandal Sardinia, Vandal dominion of the island after about 80 years. There was still a substantial continuity with the ...

, perhaps originating from the town of

Laconi Laconi, Làconi in Sardinian language, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Oristano in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and ...

in Sarcidano and Gunale or Unale (no longer in existence, it was located in the countryside of

Arzachena Arzachena (; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia, the second largest island off the coast of Italy. Arzachena lies halfway between the original Costa Smeralda resort and Porto Rafael, both founded in the la ...

) in

Gallura Gallura ( or ; ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has an area of . It is from the Italian peninsula and from the French island of Corsica. ...

, which joined in a single family, that assumed the role of ''Iudex provinciae'' or

Archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

of Sardinia, residing in Caralis. From the 11th century, with the fragmentation of the island territory in

, it divided into four branches.

Bibliography

* Francesco Cesare Casula, ''Dizionario storico sardo'', Carlo Delfino editore, Sassari, 2009 Judgedoms

Lacon-Gunale The House of Lacon-Gunale was an indigenous Italian noble family of medieval Sardinia originally established in all the four thrones of the Judgedoms, the four Sardinian medieval kingdoms. Origin Probably the Lacon and Gunale descended respective ...