Stamenti

The Stamenti was the parliament of Sardinia, consisting of representatives of the three estates of the realm. The term "stamenti" is the plural of "stamento", itself an Italianisation of the old Spanish word "estamento", which referred to an estate of the realm. The Sardinian parliament was divided into three traditional estates: the first or ecclesiastical estate (stamento ecclesiastico), the second or baronial estate (stamento baronale, or militare) and the third or peasant estate (stamento demaniale). These were also called bracci (singular braccio), meaning "arms". It had the power to authorise taxation, although its powers were executed by a commission of deputies after 1721 and it was abolished in the "perfect fusion" of the Savoyard realm in 1847, replaced by the Subalpine Senate. It would be almost a hundred years before Sardinia received an autonomous parliament again (1946).

In 1355 Peter IV called a parliament of the Sard nobility in order to address the resistance to his rule of Judge Marianus IV of Arborea, but the greater nobles refused to attend. This was nevertheless the first Sardinian parliament. One of its acts was to exclude all those of non-noble birth from entering the nobility (heretats). Its role was formalised in the constitution promulgated by Alfonso V in 1421, after which it was convened (semi-)regularly every ten years. Many members of the Sardinian parliament visited the Corts of Catalonia and were familiar with its functioning. The Corts in turn seems to have regarded Sardinia as lying within its jurisdiction, for in 1366 it petition Peter IV to revoke the law of exclusion passed in 1355. The king refused on the grounds that it was not right for laws passed by the parliament of one kingdom to be revoked by the parliament of another. This was relevant to Peter's other dispute with the Catalans, who wished to be exempted from the Sardinian customs regime. So long as Catalans were residents of the island they were subject to its parliament's laws. In 1421, in imitation of the Corts, the Stamenti demanded the redress of grievances before voting on taxes. Establishing the priority of the former greatly augmented a parliament's power. When the taxes were approved, the Stamenti established a committee of three, one from each estate, to oversee their collection.

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