The Appiani dominion on the Island of Elba

The hegemony of the Pisans over the Tyrrhenian Sea, especially after the victory in the epic Battle of the Balearics in 1104, was certainly not welcomed by the Genoese, who attempted to attack Elba throughout the 12th century.

The Pisan domination over Elba led to a resurgence of mining activities on the island, which exported not only iron but also granite. To this prosperous period belong works such as the small church of S. Stefano di Bagnaia, the apse of S. Michele in Capoliveri, the small church of S. Pietro and Paolo in San Piero in Campo, and others.

At the end of the 14th century, the Appiani dynasty, lords of Piombino, Pianosa, and Montecristo, succeeded the Pisans. The Appiani, although not without difficulties and alternating moments of political neutrality and therefore tranquility with difficult periods, ruled the island until the middle of the 16th century. During this period, attempts of invasion by the Genoese and Saracen pirates (the island of Gorgona was attacked, and the Carthusian monks were forced to abandon it, and the same fate befell the inhabitants of Giglio).

A careful control of the fortifications allowed the continuity of governance on the island; numerous repairs to the fortresses and the construction of the Fortezza del Giogo near Rio date from this period. A two-year break in Appiani's rule was imposed by force by Duke Valentino, who conquered it in 1501 until the Appiani regained possession thanks to an alliance with the Kingdom of Naples.

The period from 1500 to 1538 is characterized by the naval threat posed by fierce Turkish pirates, led by the terrible Khayr al-Din, the great Barbarossa, and his older brother Aruj.

Elba remembers the raid that plundered and depopulated Rio and Grassera, and the deportation of some prisoners to Tunis, later partially freed by an expedition of Charles V in 1535. Meanwhile, as the French allied with the Moors, Cosimo de' Medici began to take increasing interest in the small state of Piombino and Elba, viewing them as strategic outposts for the conquest of the Mediterranean.

The news of an expedition departing from Constantinople led by Barbarossa, an ally of France, heading toward the Tyrrhenian Sea, was the opportunity awaited by the Florentines to send reinforcements to the Piombino state.

It was July 1544 when Barbarossa, after negotiating with the Appiani for the return of a Turkish boy prisoner, attacked Elba and ravaged the island, from Ferraja (Portoferraio) to Capoliveri and the fortress of Luceri, only stopping before the impregnable castle of Volterraio where part of the population had taken refuge.

This massacre convinced the Appiani to negotiate the return of the boy in exchange for the departure of the fierce pirate. The substantial financial resources of Cosimo de' Medici led Charles V to entrust him with the State of Piombino and Elba, despite the ties between the Appiani and the Spanish.