Medieval village of Salvennor and its churches

Its name probably comes from ancient Sardinian language. At least another four towns which have the same suffix are mentioned in the Giudicato of Torres: Lesegannor and Billikennor (Curatoria of Anglona), Thilikennor (near Osilo), Billikennor (Curatoria of Coros).

    This village first appears in the sources in a document dated 1113 in Codex Diplomaticus Sardiniae by Tola: with a deed written in SALBENNOR, on September, 13^th , Constantine I de Lacon[i] and his wife Marcusa de Gunale ordered the two churches of Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas from Soliu to be joined in a single parish.

This ancient town name shows again in 1193 in a list of Sardinian Archbishoprics, Giudicati[ii], churches and monasteries which had to pay a yearly tax to Roman Church. SALVENERO priest had to pay one silver pound.

    During XII–XIII centuries, the town is mentioned in five files from the Condaghe[iii] of Silki Saint Peter women’s monastry, and several times in Salvennor Saint Michael Condaghe, a deed which we obtained as a Castilian translation from the seventeenth century, surely made on original documents in Sardinian language handwritten by the clergymen themselves. More recently, in Madrid Historical Archive was found a fragment of the original Condaghe written in Sardinian Language.

    So, we get to know that Mariane de Thori gave his domo de Salvennor with courtyard, lands, vineyards, men, pastures and everything he owned.

Reading the document you can understand that, besides State’s economic and social structure, which was parted in curatorias and villas, there was another one, either lay or ecclesiastical, organized in curtes, curias, in this case domos, inside the great estates and where servants lived. Actually, in the domo lived all the ones who bred cattle or worked as farmers; usually they were servants. Those servants, bound to the area where they dwelled, could be sold, given, claimed, especially because of the work they could do. There are many files in S. Michael from Salvennor’s Condaghe which witness this: …. y si tenia hijos la mitad de toda su casa de Salvenor, de hombres y tierras y de viñas, de saltos…

    It’s interesting to read the description about many estates: It was bought from Gosantine de Kerki… his farm in the zone of Othila… Boundary of this farm: from the fig-tree in S. Migali de Salvennor, and right to the Andria street, then down main street… then back to the crown slope…

    Salvennor is again mentioned in 1342 and, later, in 1346-50, with different hand-writings, in Rationes Decimarum.

    On 7^th September, 1342, G. de Opia, SALVENE canonist, gave a tribute of three pounds and ten pennies. In the years 1346-50, instead, SALVENNOR abbot paid twelve pounds and twelve pennies.  In the same times was William, the rector and canonist of SALVENNOR, in charge to pay: on August the thirtieth, he gave two pounds and two pennies; on the twenty-third, we do not know what month, one pound and eighteen pennies; on July the twenty-sixth, one pound and six pennies.

Again, on the next month, on August the twelve, abbot Barnabas from SALVENNOR was to give the eighteen pounds payment. At last two payments were given, the first of one pound for SALVENOR church, and the other of three pounds for SALVENOR abbey.

    Several years later, on 23^rd January, 1355, SALVENNOR abbot was convoked, as Church’s spokesman, to the Parliament instituted in Cagliari by Peter IV from Aragon.

    Latter, this town is found in a hand-written document (a Catalan translation from a manuscript kept in Cagliari Castle Archive that contained a Pisan description, after 1320, where the Sardinian towns incomes of money, wheat and barley were registered), edited in 1358 by king Peter IV from Aragon in order to count incomes from every Sardinian town, zone and castle. Well, in the Curatoria of Figulinas, near to the towns of Ploaghe, Noraylla, Seve, Briave, Figulinas castle, Cotroniano sus, Cotoniano josso, Bodo, Cargegue, Encontra and Mura, we found SALVENNOR too, where sixteen men had to pay taxes, twenty-two were capable to fight and to produce three liras par day.

    About the end of the same century, in 1388, Salvenor representatives took part to peace negotiates between Aragon Crown and Arborea Giudicato. They were the major of the village, Thomas Seche, Leonard Pinna, Anthony Tolla, Andrew Solina, Peter de Vare, Gantino Murgia e Gantino de Flumen.

    Some other tax documents are registered and dated 1415. On that year, the village counted ten fireplaces[iv].

    On 16^th November, 1420, Salvennero, together with Ploaghe and Figulinas, was given as feud by Don Alfonso V, king of Aragon, to Serafino de Montanias, a Sassarian noble, as a reward for his services to the Crown.

    After that date, no other medieval source quotes Salvennor.

    In modern times, in 1632 tax list, SALVENERO was to give 69,7 liras.

    Several years later, in a will made in Sassari in 1654 and kept in Ploaghe Parish Archive, we get to know the condition Salvennor was living. Doctor Madau from Ploaghe, Salvennor rector, was unable to give doctor Accorrà, previous Salvennor rector, the annual two-hundred liras payment. He said this was the reason: …. per la molta baxa han dat tots els beneficis per rahò del contagi suscedit i que ab tant rigor te afligit aquest present cap de Sasser i Logudor i en particular la dicta villa…

    So, the village was beginning to suffer the catastrophic effects of the epidemic that was affecting Sassari and the whole Logudoro.

    Another confirmation the inhabitants of Salvennor were living a hard situation is found inside a letter sent by Laconi Marquis, Ploaghe Baron, to his Ploaghe delegate, on September 23^rd September, 1658. The Marquis stated that he had lost tax exemption request made by Salvennor vassals, thus he wanted the petition to be asked again, intended to estimate its importance and, especially, demanded to know how much his subjects actually were to pay.

    In 1698 other tax data were registered. The village counted 17 fireplaces, 35 men and 37 women, that is 72 inhabitants. In 1728 we can see a demographic loss: 25 fireplaces, that means 69 inhabitants. In the end, in 1751 census, Salvennor was completely abandoned.

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