Siege of Villa di Chiesa

The siege of Villa di Chiesa (today Iglesias) was carried out by the army of the Crown of Aragon (under the command of Alfonso IV of Aragon) and of the giudicato of Arborea, between the summer of 1323 and the winter of 1324. It represent the first act of the Aragonese conquest of Pisan Sardinia, for the creation of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The siege
The siege was launched on 28 June 1323. The Aragonese-Arborea army could count on thousand men and several siege engine, while the pisan town of Villa di Chiesa provided for his defense of 250 knights, 1.000 troops, including 128 crossbowmen, and 600 "townspeople", as well as of massive defensive walls.

Soon the hot and humid weather and the malaria epidemics decimated the besieging army. The Aragonese also suffered numerous defections; many in fact, given the unexpected long duration of the war, returned to the Iberian lands well before the end of the military operations.

For months the crossbowmen of Villa di Chiesa inflicted heavy losses to the Aragonese army that could not penetrate inside the walls. The Aragonese-Arborense alliance, to force the defenders to surrender to attrition, decided to cut all forms of supply of the besieged city.

The city surrendered the February 7, 1324, after eight months of siege. At the entrance of the Iberian troops in the city everything of edible had been consumed, according to reports, the besieged ate even mice, cats, dogs and birds before capitulating.

The Aragonese continued their march to Castel di Castro (Cagliari), again defeating the Pisans at the battle of Lucocisterna, on February 29 of that year.