Aragonese Period.—The Aragonese enjoyed at first the assistance of the giudici of Arborea, who had remained in power; but in 1352 war broke out between Mariano IV. and the Aragon ese, and was carried on by his daughter Eleonora, wife of Branca leone Doria of Genoa, until her death in 5403. Peter IV. had meanwhile in 1355 called together the cortes (parliament) of the three estates (the nobles, the clergy and the representatives of the towns) for the first time after the model of Aragon. After 1403 the Aragonese became masters of Arborea also. The title of giudice was abolished and a feudal marquisate substituted. The code of laws issued by Eleonora was in 1421 extended to the whole island by the cortes under the presidency of Alphonso V., who visited Sardinia in that year. In 1478 the marquisate of Oristano was suppressed, and henceforth the island was governed by Spanish viceroys with the feudal regime of the great nobles under them, the cortes being convoked once every ten years. Many of the churches show characteristic Spanish Late Gothic architecture which survived until a comparatively recent period. The Renaissance had little or no influence on Sardinian architec ture and culture.
Modern History.—The island remained a Spanish province until the War of the Spanish Succession, when in 1708 Cagliari capitulated to an English fleet, and the island became Austrian; the status quo was confirmed by the peace of Utrecht in 1713. In 1717, however, Cardinal Alberoni retook Cagliari for Spain; but this state of things was short-lived, for in 1720, by the Treaty of London, Sardinia passed in exchange for Sicily to the dukes of Savoy, to whom it brought the royal title. The popula
tion was at that time a little over 3oo,000; public security and education were alike lacking, and there were considerable animosi ties between different parts of the island. Matters improved con siderably under Charles Emmanuel III., in whose reign of 43 years (173o-73) the prosperity of the island was much increased. The French attacks of were repelled by the inhabitants, Cagliari being unsuccessfully bombarded by the French fleet. But the refusal by Victor Amadeus III. to grant the Sardinians privi leges promised in consideration of their bravery led to the revo lution of In 1799 Charles Emmanuel IV. of Savoy took refuge in Cagliari after his expulsion by the French, but soon re turned to Italy. In 1802 he abdicated in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel I., who in 1806 returned to Cagliari and remained there until 1814, when he retired, leaving his brother, Carlo Felice, as viceroy. Carlo was successful in repressing brigands, but had to deal with much distress from famine. In 1821 he became king of Savoy by the abdication of his brother, and the construction of the highroad from Cagliari to Porto Torres was begun (not without opposition on the part of the inhabitants) in 1822. Feudalism was abolished in 1836, and in 1848 complete political union with Piedmont was granted, the viceregal government being suppressed, and the island being divided into three divisions of which Cagliari, Sasssari and Nuoro were the capitals. The later history of Sardinia is bound up with that of Piedmont and Italy. Victor Emmanuel II. (q.v.), king of Sardinia, became the king of a united Italy in 1861.