declared themselves subjects of the
Holy See in the presence of the apostolic legate Landolfo, bishop of
Pisa. Pope Gregory VII. thereupon invested the bishop and his successors
with the island, an investiture confirmed by Urban II. in 1190 and
extended into a concession of the full sovereignty. The Pisans now took
solemn possession of the island and their "grand judges" (_judices_)
took the place of the papal legates. Corsica, valued by the Pisans as by
the Vandals as an inexhaustible storehouse of materials for their fleet,
flourished exceedingly under the enlightened rule of the great
commercial republic. Causes of dissension remained, however, abundant.
The Corsican bishops repented their subjection to the Pisan archbishop;
the Genoese intrigued at Rome to obtain a reversal of the papal gift to
the rivals with whom they were disputing the supremacy of the seas.
Successive popes followed conflicting policies in this respect; until in
1138 Innocent II., by way of compromise, divided the ecclesiastical
jurisdiction of the island between the archbishops of Pisa and Genoa.
This gave the Genoese great influence in Corsica, and the contest
between the Pisans and Genoese began to distract the island. It was not,
however, till 1195 that the Genoese, by capturing Bonifacio--a nest of
pirates preying on the commerce of both republics--actually gained a
footing in the country. For twenty years the Pisans fought to recover
the fortress for themselves, until in 1217 the pope settled the matter
by taking it into his own hands.

Throughout the 13th century the struggle between Pisans and Genoese
continued, reproducing in the island the feud of Ghibellines and Guelphs
that was desolating Italy. In order to put a stop to the ruinous anarchy
the chiefs of the Terra di Comune called in the marquis Isnard
Malaspina; the Pisans set up the count of Cinarca once more; and the war
between the marquis, the Pisans and Genoese dragged on with varying
fortunes, neither succeeding in gaining the mastery. Then, in 1298, Pope
Boniface VIII. added to the complication by investing King James of
Aragon with the sovereignty of Corsica and of Sardinia. In 1325, after
long delay, the Aragonese attacked and reduced Sardinia, with the result
that the Pisans, their sea-power shattered, were unable to hold their
own in Corsica. A fresh period of anarchy followed until, in 1347, a
great assembly of _caporali_ and barons decided to offer the sovereignty
of t