Italian Monarchs

A history of Italian monarchs.

Roman Italy

Under the Roman Republic, the Italian peninsula was a complex network of city states. Municipia were largely independent while coloniae were directly governed.

In 7 C.E., Augustus reorganized Italia as 11 regiones:

• Latium et Campania
• Apulia et Calabria
• Lucania et Bruttium
• Samnium
• Picenum
• Umbria et Ager Gallicus
• Etruria
• Aemilia
• Liguria
• Venetia et Histria
• Transpadana

Kingdom of Italy

The kingdom of Italy was a successor state to Middle Francia.

In 961, Otto I conquered the kingdom and claimed the title for himself. From then until the death of Charles V, the crowns of Germany and Italy were held as an elective union.

Papal States

Lombard League and Aftermath

The city states of northern Italy banded together in the Lombard League to oppose Frederick Barbarossa. This was an extension of the conflict between the guelfi (Welf) and ghibellini causes, a proxy war between the Hohenstaufens and the Vatican, which he inherited from his predescessor Conrad III. His forces were defeated in 1176 at the Battle of Legnano, leading to an armistice in the the Treaty of Venice. A lasting settlement was finally agreed in 1183 through the Peace of Constance; while they remained nominally in the empire, the city states were granted self-rule.

Frederick II, who personally held the crown of Sicily, sought to consolidate imperial power in Italy. In 1245 at the Council of Lyon, Innocent IV excommunicated Frederick and declared him deposed. After his death in 1250, Conrad I and Manfred continued to push into southern Italy, but the north was under no threat and the league dissolved.

The city states now became preeminent, and the seeds of French and Spanish claims were planted.

In addition to the following monarchies, see contemporary details on the republics of Genoa, Florence, Pisa, and Venice under democratization.

Duchy of Milan

The city of Milan was dominated politically by the Visconti family. In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was recognized as the first duke of Milan by Wenceslaus IV, king of Bohemia.

The Wars in Lombardy were a series of territorial conflicts between Milan and Florence in the early 15th century. Venice intervened to counterbalance the dominant Milanese forces. In 1447 Filippo Maria died without a legitimate heir, ending the Visconti dynasty. The Golden Ambrosian Republic was declared, but three years later mercenaries led by Francesco Sforza conquered the city, establishing the house of Sforza. The Peace of Lodi soon followed.

Louis XII pressed a claim on the duchy through the Italian Wars. Ludovico il Moro was forced to flee the city in 1499 and it remained actively contested until 1535, when Habsburg forces captured the city and Francesco II Sforza died without heirs. Charles V appointed his son, Philip II, as duke in 1540. The French finally released their claim to the duchy in 1559 through the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis.

Duchy of Savoy

The county of Savoy was a minor member of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1416, Sigismund raised Amadeus VIII to duke of Savoy.

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The Savoyards finally claimed a royal title in the kingdom of Sicily, which Spain ceded to in the Treaty of Utrecht,

Kingdom of Sicily

Throughout the 11th century, Norman mercenaries (who had been employed by the Byzantines) began to occupy the island of Sicily. Roger II declared a kingdom of Sicily in 1130. He secured recognition from Antipope Anacletus II, and therefore became embroiled in his conflict with Innocent II. Only in 1139, after years of armed conflict (mainly against Lothair III), did Innocent recognize the kingdom through the Treaty of Mignano.

In 1194, Henry VI invaded the kingdom and deposed William III. He made his wife, Constance I, queen regnant. Just a few years later in 1197, Henry died and his three year old son Frederick I inherited. Henry's brother Philip II was instead recognized as king of Germany, and Constance negotiated with him to ensure that Frederick retained the crown of Sicily even while giving up his claim to the Holy Roman Empire. Neighboring powers capitalized on the instability. Elvira, the sister and heiress of the deposed William, married Walter III, count of Brienne, who then pressed his wife's claim. Conflict continued until 1207. Frederick was made Holy Roman Emperor in 1220, dividing his attention between the two realms. Innocent III attempted in 1228 to recapture Sicily through the War of the Keys. In 1245 at the Council of Lyon, Innocent IV excommunicated Frederick and declared him deposed. While his hold on Germany was shaken, Sicily remained firmly his. Even after his death in 1250, and his second son Conrad I inherited the cause, Sicily was the one reliable power base.

Innocent IV (and his successors, Alexander IV and Urban IV) created rival claims to entice other kingdoms into deposing the Hohenstaufens. First he extended this offer to Henry III, with the intent of creating Henry's younger son Edmund the king. After a few years, he shifted the offer to Charles I. At the same time, the Hohenstaufen claim had severely weakened due to a series of deaths. Frederick died in 1250, leaving his claims to his second son, Conrad I; but Conrad then also died in 1254. His young son, Conradin, was soon usurped by an illegitimate son of Frederick, Manfred. The latter was captured and executed by Charles in 1266; the former in 1268.

In 1282, Charles launched a conquest of peninsular Italy. The War of the Sicilian Vespers widened when Peter III, king of Aragon, joined the cause of rebelling Sicilian nobles. The Peace of Caltabellotta of 1302 settled the conflict and granted the island of Sicily to Peter. He ruled the new kingdom of Trinacria (but still informally known as Sicily) as Peter I.

Kingdom of Naples

In 1282, Charles I launched a conquest of southern Italy. The War of the Sicilian Vespers widened when Peter III, king of Aragon, joined the cause of rebelling Sicilian nobles. The Peace of Caltabellotta of 1302 settled the conflict and granted peninsular southern Italy to Charles. This realm became known as the kingdom of Naples.

The heir to the throne traditionally held the duchy of Calabria.

Joanna II died in 1435 without children, ending the Capetian dynasty. She appointed René I, duke of Anjou, as her heir. Alfonso V however conquered the kingdom in 1442, reuniting it with Sicily. A decades-long conflict known as the Italian Wars ensued. Finally, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559 saw Henry II abandon the claim.

Duchies of Ferrara and of Modena and Reggio

The House of Este had been counts and margraves of Milan since the 10th century. In 1035, Welf III of the Elder House of Welf died without a male heir. Albert Azzo II married Kunigunde, Welf's sister and heir, and their eldest son Welf I (same name; sometimes enumerated as fourth in the Elder House tradition) established the new House of Welf.

The younger son Fulco I usurped his brother's realms south of the Alps, continuing the House of Este. In 1146 Azzo VI was granted lordship of Ferrara as dowry. Obizzo II gained the lordships of Modena and Reggio in the late 13th century. Borso was created duke of Modena and Reggio by Frederick III in 1452, and additionally duke of Ferrara by Paul II in 1471.

Alfonso II died in 1597 without a legitimate heir. His illegitimate son, Cesare, was recognized as the imperial duke of Modena and Reggio; Clement VIII however seized the duchy of Ferrara and incorporated it into the papal states.

Following a brief Napoleonic conquest, Modena and Reggio were ceded to direct Austrian rule.

Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont

The kingdom of Sardinia, which had been a Spanish territory since James II of Aragon, was exchanged to Austria through the Treaty of Utrecht. The subsequent Treaty of the Hague forced Victor Amadeus II to trade the kingdom of Sicily for Sardinia.

The personal union of Savoy and Sardinia would be cemented by the Perfect Fusion in 1847 under Charles Albert.

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Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Duchy of Parma

Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia

The kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia was established by the Congress of Vienna. As the successor state to Milan and Venice, Francis I was made king. Viceroys were appointed to manage the kingdom, and they ruled exclusively from Milan and Venice.

Under Franz Joseph, the kingdom rapidly disintegrated. He was forced to cede Lombardy to the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in the Treaty of Zurich. Ultimately Sardinia seized the entire kingdom in the Third War of Independence.

Note that following the second War of Independence, the viceroys were replaced with a governor-general.

Kingdom of Italy

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