Posada is somehow linked to the Visconti family and, in particular, to the figure of Bishop Federico Visconti.

During the Middle Ages, the Visconti family was one of the most important families in Pisa (fig. 1); during the thirteenth century, one of its members, Lamberto, was able to extend his power over Sardinia through his marriage with Elena de Lacon, the last descendant and heiress of the Giudici of Gallura. The entrance of Pisa in the Giudicati’s political structure was aimed at controlling the island’s territories, a decisive step in order to obtain a commercial monopoly of the Tyrrhenian Sea. At the end of the thirteenth century, Pisa was able to consolidate its hegemony over much of Sardinia, which it maintained until the establishment of the kingdom of Aragon in Sardinia a few years later, in 1324.

In 1263, on the occasion of his pastoral visit in Gallura, Bishop Federico Visconti landed in the port of Saint Lucia (fig. 2): here, his brother Giovanni, Giudice of Gallura, and the bishop of Galtellì were waiting for him. The important prelate chose the same port to embark for his journey home. Federico’s grandson, Nino, son of Giovanni, was the last Giudice of Gallura: he was great friends with Dante Alighieri and was placed in the eighth canto of the Purgatory, among the souls of the negligent (fig. 3).

Fig. 1 - Family tree of the Visconti family of Pisa (reconstruction by E. Dirminti).

Fig. 2 - Probable route and landing place of Federico Visconti (reconstruction by E. Dirminti).

Fig. 3 - Dante meets Nino Visconti (from http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/jpegs/holkham/misc/48/1500/04800448.jpg).