William I of Cagliari

William I (c. 1160–1214), regnal name Salusio IV, was the Giudice of Cagliari, or high Judge, from 1188 to his death. His descendents and those of his immediate competitors intermarried to form the backbone of the Italian Aristocracy, and ultimately their descendents in the Medici clan are precursors to, and definers of later royalty and claims thereto.

William was an infamous politician and warlord in medieval Sardina. A member in the medieval Sardinian giudici he consolidated his power through both millitary force and political intruige. He was a Soldier, a military man, and a merchant. He assisted his father in the conquest of Cagliari, and later accompanied his Archbishop (Ubaldo Lanfranchi, Archbishop of Pisa) on the Third Crusade. He claims to have led the force defeating the Visconti in a civil war, only to later hand Pisa back to them while marriing into the Visconti family. A Catholic, he was a man of the Church. Being closely related to many high ranking clerics, he maintained close relations with the papacy until his death. Allegedly, he was a man of some culture, as he was in reportedly in contact with the Provençal troubadours Peire de la Caravana and Peire Vidal, likely to contract their services on behalf of his wealthy patrons.

He was the son of Giorgia, daughter of Constantine II of Cagliari, and Obert, Margrave of Massa. He was a brother of William, Margrave of Massa. His paternal relatives were a branch of the Obertenghi who ruled Massa Lunense from the 11th century. Constantine II's eldest daughter married a younger son of Gonario II of Logudoro. This man, Peter, ruled the giudicato on her behalf (as Torchitorio III) following the death of Constantine. While Constantine, like the Massa, had been a vassal of the Republic of Pisa, Peter transferred his allegiance to the Republic of Genoa. In 1187, open conflict raged over the whole island of Sardinia between the Genoese and their factions and the Pisans and theirs. The Pisans mercilessly assaulted Genoese merchants in Cagliari and despoiled their landed possessions, evicting them from the giudicato. In 1188, Peter was captured and imprisoned, never to be heard of again. By 1190, William was judge in his place. Because of the interval between Peter's known arrest and William's first appearance as judge, some scholars have alleged that William's father, Obert, ruled the giudicato as judge in the intervening period, but this is unsupported by any documentary evidence and is based on arguments from silence. The period of silence may be explained by William's accompaniment on the Third Crusade with Ubaldo, Archbishop of Pisa, a pilgrimage which is referenced in a papal letter of early 1200.

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