Giudicato 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 was composed of thirteen subdivisions called . It bordered the judicates of Arborea to the northwest and Logudoro and Gallura to the northeast. Origins and extent The exact date of founding of the Judicate of Cagliari is unknown. After the Byzantine Empire's conquest of Sardinia in 534, the island became one of the provinces of the Exarchate of Africa and was governed by a magistrate of the empire said Iudex Provinciae, resident in Cagliari. Sardinia remained a Byzantine province until the early 8th century, when Arab and Berber expansionism and piracy on the Mediterranean began to make communications with Byzantium very difficult. The Arabs conquered Sicily in 827, and Sardinia itself endured several Saracen raids. As the empire found it increasingly difficult to supply and defend its westernmost provinces, the Byzantine iudici (judges) heading the local administration in Sardinia were forced to govern autonomously and thus gradually became de facto independent.