The siege of Villa di Chiesa (today Iglesias) was carried out by the army of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

(under the command of

Alfonso IV of Aragon Alfonso IV (2 November 1299 – 24 January 1336), called the Kind (also ''the Gentle'' or ''the Nice'', ), was King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona (as Alfons III) from 1327 to his death. His reign saw the incorporation of the County of Urgell ...

) and of the

giudicato of Arborea The Judicate of Arborea (; ; ) or the Kingdom of Arborea (; ; ) was one of the four independent judicates into which the island of Sardinia was divided in the Middle Ages. It occupied the central-west portion of the island, wedged between Logud ...

, between the summer of 1323 and the winter of 1324. It represented the first act of the Aragonese conquest of Pisan Sardinia, for the creation of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

Siege

The siege was launched on the 28 June 1323. The Aragonese-Arborea army could count on thousand men and several

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

s, while the Pisan town of Villa di Chiesa provided for his defence of 250 knights, 1,000 troops, which included 128

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

men, and 600 "townspeople", as well as of massive defensive walls. Soon the hot and humid weather and the

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

epidemics decimated the besieging army. The Aragonese also suffered numerous defections; many in fact, given the unexpected long duration of the war, returned to the Iberian lands well before the end of the military operations. For months the crossbowmen of Villa di Chiesa inflicted heavy losses on the Aragonese army that could not penetrate inside the walls. The Aragonese-Arborense alliance, to force the defenders to surrender by attrition, decided to cut all forms of supply to the besieged city. The city surrendered on 7 February 1324, after eight months of siege. At the entrance of the Iberian troops in the city everything edible had been consumed, according to reports, the besieged ate even mice, cats, dogs, and birds before capitulating.

Aftermath

The Aragonese continued with their march to

Castel di Castro Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

, defeating another Pisan army at the

battle of Lucocisterna The Battle of Lucocisterna (or Lutocisterna) was fought on the 29 February 1324, during the Aragonese conquest of Sardinia, between the army of the Crown of Aragon, in command of the Infante Alfonso IV of Aragon, son of King James II of Aragon, ...

, on the 29 February.

References

Bibliography

* * *

Ramon Muntaner Ramon Muntaner () (1265 – 1336) was a Catalan mercenary and writer who wrote the '' Crònica'', a chronicle of his life, including his adventures as a commander in the Catalan Company. He was born at Peralada. Biography The Catalan Com ...

, La conquista della Sardegna nelle cronache catalane, a cura di Giuseppe Meloni, Ilisso, 1999, . * Antonio Arribas Palau, ''La conquista de Cerdeña por parte de Jaime II de Aragón'', 1952. {{coord, 39.3167, N, 8.5333, E, source:wikidata, display=title

Villa di Chiesa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fal ...