Sardinia is far too often overlooked in discussions of medieval history despite being one of the most fascinating examples of a non-feudal european state. By the 1000s and 1100s AD, feudalism was dominant across europe as a system of governance and land management. It was really only Sardinia, Frisia, and some merchant republics which held differing systems of governance. In Sardinia's case, their system of four 'Judicates' (Judgedoms) was largely an inheritance from their time under Eastern Roman/Byzantine control. Still, this family tree demonstrates that dynastic rule was still prevalent, and these judges held power throughout the island. The fundamental difference was that the judges did not legally own the land, meaning the system of rent upon which feudalism functioned was not present in Sardinia.
The four kingdoms intermittently fought and squabbled, as was to be expected, but the relative isolation of Sardinia kept the power dynamics of the island sectioned off from mainland Europe for a couple centuries. History is more than a little murky during this time, but we have a few sources which were instrumental for creating this family tree (cited at the bottom). What I find most interesting is how you can see the end of that isolation here, when the ruling families (tending to go by the name Lacon-Gunale or Lacon-Zori, the association between these families and each other is also very unclear prior to 1000 AD) began to intermarry with powerful merchant families from Italy proper. The different colors-- representing the different judicates --all stop very suddenly with Cagliari, Torres/Logudoro, and Gallura all being overtaken by Genoa & Aragon in 1258, 1259, and 1296 respectively. Only the small western kingdom of Arborea remained under the 'De Serra Bas' dynasty, which had full control of the island occassionally during the wars which followed between Genoa, Pisa and Aragon. Independence slowly wittled away and by 1420, Aragon conquered the island, bringing an end to this fascinating period of European history. NOTE: I am not an expert of Sardinian history and do not have a degree in that kinda field. I do have academic training on proper research methods, which were instrumental to the research necessary for this chart. Still, feel free to correct my mistakes as the relationships between individuals is difficult to track (especially because of the tendency for rulers to have different names). ==========
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