Palma de Sols

Palma de Sols: the Spanish name for Sant'Antioco

 

"Palma de Sols" was the name given to the island of Sant'Antioco during the long period of Catalan-Aragonese and Spanish rule over Sardinia, which lasted approximately 400 years, from 1323 to 1718.

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The conquest of Sardinia by the Crown of Aragon began on 9 June 1323, when a Catalan fleet set sail from Port Mahon, headed for the island to take possession of the Kingdom, following the papal investiture granted by Boniface VIII with the papal bull of 1297.

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The Kingdom of Sardinia was formally born in Rome on April 4, 1297, in St. Peter's Basilica, under the name Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae. Pope Boniface VIII, to resolve the conflict between the Angevins and Aragonese over the Kingdom of Sicily (which had given rise to the famous Sicilian Vespers), signed the papal bull Ad honorem Dei omnipotentis Patris, with which he invested James II of Aragon with the right of conquest of Sardinia and Corsica.

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The actual conquest of Sardinia began with the expedition led by Infante Alfonso of Aragon, who landed at Palma de Sols, now Sant'Antioco, thus beginning a new chapter in Sardinian history.