Oristano

Oristano stands on the western side of Sardinia, near the northern end of the Campidano plain. It became the seat of the archbishop after raids threatened coastal Tharros, and grew into the capital of the Judicate of Arborea. Its fortifications protected the centre of the last surviving Sardinian kingdom.

Mariano IV and his children, among them Eleanor, sought to extend Arborea's authority across the island in the later fourteenth century, bringing it into conflict with the Crown of Aragon. The independent judicate ceased to exist in 1420 and became a marquisate. After the last marquis, Leonardo Alagon, rebelled, Aragonese forces defeated him at Macomer in 1478. Oristano thereafter shared the fortunes of Sardinia under Aragonese, Spanish and later Savoyard royal rule.