- Brancaleone Doria
Brancaleone Doria was the husband of
Eleanor of Arborea . He was a scion of an influential family (theDoria ) of theRepublic of Genoa , the son of the elder Brancaleone and a woman named Giacomina. On16 March 1357 , he became a vassal ofPeter IV of Aragon , the nominalKing of Sardinia , to legitimate the possessions of his father on the island.When
Hugh III of Arborea , Eleanor's brother, sought out a matrimonial alliance with Genoa, his choice for a brother-in-law fell on Brancaleone. The marriage took place in 1376, a political alliance only, for theBas-Serra family of Eleanor was opposed to the royal pretensions of theHouse of Barcelona , to which Brancaleone was affiliated. Already at the time of his marriage, he had illegitimate children, Giannettino and Nicholas, by an anonymous woman.When Hugh was assassinated in 1383, Eleanor and Brancaleone's young son Frederick succeeded to the
Giudicato of Arborea . At that time, Brancaleone was inCatalonia to receive the honorific title of "Count of Monteleone and Baron of Lower Marmilla." As soon as Peter IV heard of the election of Frederick, he arrested Brancaleone and sent him toCagliari , to be imprisoned first in the tower of Pancrazio and then in that of Elefante. Arborea was governed in the meantime by Eleanor.Frederick died young and was succeeded by Brancaleone's second son, Marianus V. Brancaleone was finally liberated only on
1 January 1390 . His fidelity to the Aragonese crown was by then broken.On
1 April 1391 , Brancaleone marched onCastel di Cagliari and, on16 August , occupiedSassari andOsilo with his son Marianus. In September, he conquered the castles ofFava ,Galtellì ,Bonvehì , andPedreso . OnlyAlghero andLongosardo remained in Aragonese hands by then. On3 October , he enteredVilla di Chiesa . In a letter written atSanluri on3 February 1392 , he announced having repossessed all the territories lost to the Aragonese in 1388. On16 March , a fleet underMartin of Aragon appeared offCapo San Marco , conducted from Sicily for the purpose of putting down Brancaleone's "rebellion." The attempt failed.Following Marianus' death, Arborea passed to
William III of Narbonne . Brancaleone retired to his estates atMonteleone (Roccadoria). He disappears from the record mysteriously before theBattle of Sanluri in 1409.
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