Kingdom of Italy
There have been several entities known as the
Kingdom of Italy.
#The various barbarian rulers of Italy (including
Odoacer, the
Ostrogoths and the
Lombards) after the end of the
Western Empire in 476 sometimes called their state the "Kingdom of Italy".#With the end of the
Lombard Kingdom in 772, its territory, along with the former Byzantine possessions in Northern Italy became a new
Kingdom of Italy, sometimes called the
Regnum Italicum, which formed one of the constituent parts of the
Holy Roman Empire. The Regno continued to exist, at least in theory, until the end of the Empire in 1806 (or, at least, until the Imperial reorganization of 1803), and the
Archbishop of Cologne held the honorific title of Archchancellor of Italy, but the Imperial rule in Italy lost most of its force after the fall of the
Hohenstaufen in the mid-13th century, and ceased to have any real meaning after the
Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The Regno originally consisted of all of Italy from the Papal possessions northwards, but eventually the
Papal States as well as the mainland territories of the
Republic of Venice, were considered to be excluded.#In 1805, the
Italian Republic was transformed into a
Kingdom of Italy, with
Napoleon as King. Napoleon's stepson
Eugène de Beauharnais acted as Viceroy until the fall of Napoleon in 1814. The Kingdom was supposed to pass to a younger son of Napoleon, failing which, Eugène was to succeed.#In 1861, the King of
Sardinia was proclaimed king of a new, united
Kingdom of Italy as Sardinia had recently annexed
Lombardy,
Tuscany,
Modena,
Parma, the
Two Sicilies, and most of the
Papal States (see
Italian unification for more details). This new Kingdom of Italy had its capital initially in
Turin, but moved to
Florence in 1864.
Venetia was annexed in 1866 and
Rome in 1870 (with the capital immediately moved to Rome). The
House of Savoy would then rule Italy till the country became a
republic in 1946.
*
History of Italy*
King of Italy
