Thread by @DrWatson_writer

**Who killed the king? The regicide of UGONE of ARBOREA**

Thread about the unsolved murder of the judike Ugone and his daughter, Benedetta.

📸 Portrait attributed to Ugone of Arborea, church of San Gavino Monreale

During the time of Sardinian Judicates, regicide/tyrannicide, if not legal, was tolerated. It's not certain where the custom comes from, some say from Byzantine law, others from local tradition. What is certain is that the king/queen had to swear to act accordingly to the-

-people's will when they were elected, and the people could destitute them if this didn't happen.

We have at least three certain cases of regicide: the first happened in 1237 in the Judicate of Torres, when the 17-y-o king Barisone III was murdered with his tutor, leading-

-to the rise to the throne of his sister Adelasia. The second happened in Arborea, where the king Giovanni "Chiano" was murdered. The third happened in Arborea too, in 1383, with the murder of Ugone III of Arborea and his daughter. These regicides were usually very brutal.

Ugone was the firstborn of Mariano IV and the Catalan noble Timbora de Rocabertí, born in Catalonia around 1337. Mariano is famous for his anti-Catalan politics and wars, which he led since 1354 to his death, with intervals in between. Mariano was regarded as a national hero-

-and so was his son, as he promptly took his father's side in the war, sinking many Catalan ships going to Cagliari. The two of them defeated the Catalans during the siege of Oristano, with Ugone getting a clear victory in Sant'Anna.

In 1375, Mariano died while there were -

-ongoing (unsuccessful) discussions for a peace. Ugone became king.

He had married some years back but his anonymous wife, a noble girl from the Italian peninsula, died of childbirth before she could become queen. The widower status of Ugone spread some shadows on the succession

-especially because his only child was a daughter, who he named after his own grandmother.

In the Sardinian Judicates, a woman could inherit the throne in absence of male heirs. Ugone's sisters were married and with sons when the murder happened, leaving Benedetta out of the-

-succession line.

Ugone was a man of action. Since when he became king, he never stopped the war against the Aragonese Crown, but he wasn't the subtle diplomat his father was. He kept connections with the French Duke of Anjou, he was likely in correspondence with Saint Catherine

-and it's likely the Pope thought of naming him King of Sardinia, stripping the Aragonese king of the title.

The correspondence with the Anjou included a possible marriage of his daughter to the Duke's newborn, an offer Ugone brusquely refused because he wasn't satisfied-

-with the Duke's unkept previous promises (and because Benedetta was already of marriageable age). Ugone gathered all his court and made public fun of the Anjou ambassadors, revealing their lord's false promises and telling he didn't need the help of someone who wouldn't keep-

-his word with his allies. He then sent the men away.

This episode is of importance because the thorough description that has been given portrays Ugone as a man of simple tastes (he didn't go around dressed in gold) and way too direct for his role. This happened in 1377.

In 1383, on the 3rd of March, he's murdered with his daughter. His tongue has been ripped off and he's been thrown down the pit of the royal palace, probably still alive. The Italian chronicles of the period, telling the shock of the events, say also he was a tyrant and the same-

-inhabitants of Oristano killed him, as it was "custom" (even if the codex issued by his father had actually made that illegal). It is said the people, especially the merchants, didn't like his new tax, imposed to sustain the cost of war. Oristano wanted to declare itself a-

-republic, but the prompt intervention of Ugone's sister, Eleonora, kept everything as it was. Eleonora was the *3rd* child, therefore not in direct line of succession, but she claimed the throne for her son.

Now, there have been several hypothesis. The first is that Ugone-

-was really a tyrant (he was also affected by some illness which likely made him less tolerable) and the inhabitants killed him.

There is the theory that someone sent the mob to kill him. It could be Peter IV the king of Aragon, even if he actually showed surprise in the private

-letter with which he was informed.

It could be the Duke of Anjou, because of the ripped tongue and the murder of Benedetta, who would have been spared if the reason was really tyrannicide.

It could be the butler Valore de Ligia, who had recently passed (like many) to the-

-Aragonese side.

It could be Eleonora (yes, people said that too) or her husband Brancaleone Doria, without her knowing, to put their son on the throne. This doesn't explain the murder of Benedetta though, and doesn't consider the fact that Federico Doria wasn't the first in-

-line to the throne. Eleonora and her family were in Genoa since 2 years when this happened. Even with the murder of Barisone of Torres, his sister and her husband have been suspected, so that's a usual thing 🤷🏻‍♀️

So in conclusion, we don't know, even if the most accredited theory

-is that of a merchant mob. What we know is that, once on the throne, Eleonora brought ahead her father's fight with less brutality than her brother, also because her husband has been kept prisoner for years, but that's another story.

📸 Thoughtful Ugone holding Benedetta