Acondaghe (Sardinian pronunciation:[kɔɳˈɖaɣɛ];also spelled ascondacheorcondake,pronounced[kɔɳˈɖakɛ]), also known as afundaghe, was a kind of administrative document used in theSardinianjudicates between the 11th and 13th centuries. They are one of the earliest witnesses for the development of the Sardinian language and are an important source for historians of medieval Sardinia. The word derives from the medievalSardinian termkondake, fromMedieval Greek:κοντάκιον,romanized: kontákion,lit. 'the pole around which a scroll is wound'.
The originalcondaghes (lateritalianized intocondaghi) were collections of acts of donations to churches or monasteries. Latercondaghes were kept by noble families for recording inheritances, purchases, donations (datura), transactions (tramutu) and litigation (kertu), principally when relating to the church. The chief object of such records was to provide precise dates in case of legal dispute.
Physically, the firstcondaghes were scrolls: overlapping parchment manuscripts wound tightly around akontákion. Over time they took on the familiar form of acodex (like modern books). They were produced in thescriptoria of monasteries and cathedrals, but the great majority have been lost. Only somecondaghes have been preserved, with most of them being of ecclesiastical kind like thecondaghes of the monasteries of Saint Mary ofBonarcado (Sancte Marie de Monarcanto orBonorcadu),[1] Saint Michael of Salvennor (San Miguel de Salvennor, of which we have only a translation into Spanish from an original Sardinian copy),[2]Saint Nicola of Trullas (Sanctu Nichola de Trullas), Saint Peter of Silki (Sanctu Petru de Silki), and of theBasilica of San Gavino (Sanctu Gavinu).[3] There is only a single condaghe of laical kind left, the one of JudgeBarisone II of Logudoro.