List of historic states of Italy

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Italy, up until the Italian unification in 1861, was a conglomeration of city-states, republics, and other independent entities. The following is a list of the various Italian states during that period. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the arrival of the Middle Ages (in particular from the 11th century), the Italian peninsula was divided into numerous states, many of these states consolidated into major political units that balanced the power on the Italian peninsula: the Papal States, the Venetian Republic, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily. Unlike all the other Italian states, the republics of Venice and Genoa, thanks to their maritime powers, went beyond territorial conquests within the Italian peninsula, conquering various regions across the Mediterranean and Black Seas.[1][2]

Archaic Italy[]

Ethnic groups of Italy in the Iron Age.
  • Italic peoples:
  • Greek-speaking peoples of Southern Italy
  • Etruscans
  • Sardinians

Classical Italy[]

Roman Empire under Caesar Augustus
  • Roman Kingdom
  • Roman Republic
  • Roman Empire

Early Middle Ages[]

  • Kingdom of Italy
  • Ostrogothic Kingdom[3]
  • Lombard Kingdom
  • Duchy of Rome (under the Byzantine Empire)
  • Exarchate of Ravenna (under the Byzantine Empire)
  • Exarchate of Carthage (under the Byzantine Empire)
  • Thema of Sicily (under the Byzantine Empire)
  • Duchy of Benevento
  • Duchy of Spoleto
  • Papal States
  • Republic of Venice
  • Duchy of Naples
  • Kingdom of Italy (under the Carolingian Empire)
  • Catepanate of Italy (under the Byzantine Empire)


High Middle Ages[]

Political map of Italy in the year 1000
Political map of Southern Italy in the year 1112

States in Central and Northern Italy[]

States in Southern Italy[]

States of the Holy Roman Empire[]

Sardinian Judicates[]


Late Middle Ages[]

Italy in 1454, right after the Peace of Lodi.
The Italian Peninsula in 1499.

Major States[]

  • Papal States
  • Republic of Venice
  • Republic of Florence
  • Kingdom of Naples
  • Duchy of Milan
  • Republic of Genoa

Minor States[]

After the Italian Wars[]

Map of Italy in 1559 after the Treaties of Cateau-Cambrésis. Possessions and Viceroyalties of the Spanish Habsburgs in yellow. Imperial fiefs in Italy of the Austrian Habsburgs in red borders.

The Peace of Cateau Cambrésis ended the Italian Wars in 1559. The kingdoms of Sicily, Sardinia, Naples (inclusive of the State of Presidi) and the Duchy of Milan were left under the control of Spanish Habsburgs. France was in control of several fortresses and in particular of the Marquisate of Saluzzo. All the other Italian states remained independent, with the most powerful being the Venetian Republic, the Medici's Duchy of Tuscany, the Savoyard state, the Republic of Genoa, and the Papal States. The Gonzaga in Mantua, the Este in Modena and Ferrara and the Farnese in Parma and Piacenza continued to be important dynasties. Parts of the north of Italy remained a part of the Holy Roman Empire.[4][5][6]

Major States[]

  • Papal States
  • Republic of Venice
  • Grand Duchy of Tuscany
  • Kingdom of Naples
  • Republic of Genoa
  • Duchy of Savoy
  • Duchy of Milan

Minor States[]

After the Wars of Succession of the 18th century[]

Political map of Italy in the year 1789

Following the European wars of succession of the 18th century and the extinction of the House of Medici, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was ruled by the Habsburg-Lorraine. Some minor states in Central and Northern Italy, such as Parma and Mantua, passed to the Austrian monarchy. Southern Italy passed to a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, known as House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. While other states such as Genoa, Savoy, Modena and Lucca remained with their governments unchanged.

Major States[]

  • Papal States
  • Republic of Venice
  • Kingdom of Naples (under the Austrian monarchy from 1714 to 1734; in personal union with Sicily under the Bourbon-Two Sicilies thereafter)
  • Kingdom of Sicily (under Savoy from 1714 to 1720; under Austrian monarchy from 1720 to 1734; in personal union with Naples under the Bourbon-Two Sicilies thereafter)
  • Grand Duchy of Tuscany (under Habsburg-Lorraine after 1737)
  • Duchy of Savoy
  • Republic of Genoa
  • Duchy of Milan (under Habsburg Monarchy)

Minor states[]

  • Kingdom of Sardinia (under Austrian monarchy from 1714 to 1720; in personal union with Savoy thereafter)
  • Duchy of Mantua (under Austrian Monarchy)
  • Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (under Habsburg Monarchy from 1734 to 1748)
  • Duchy of Guastalla (in personal union with Parma from 1748)
  • Duchy of Modena and Reggio
    Political map of Italy in the year 1796
  • Duchy of Massa and Carrara (in personal union with Modena from 1731)
  • Duchy of Mirandola (in personal union with Modena from 1710)
  • Prince-Bishopric of Brixen
  • Prince-Bishopric of Trent
  • Principality of Masserano
  • Principality of Piombino
  • Principality of Monaco
  • Duchy of Montferrat
  • Republic of Lucca
  • Republic of San Marino
  • Republic of Ragusa
  • Republic of Noli
  • Republic of Senarica
  • Republic of Cospaia
  • City of Fiume and its District

Their populations and other vital statistics stood as follows in the late 18th century:[7]

  • Kingdom of Naples (including Sicily): 6,000,0000 (400,000 in Naples), army of 60,000 to 80,0000, 2 ships of the lines and some frigates
  • Republic of Venice: 3,500,000 (140,000 in the city of Venice itself), standing army and navy of 30,000, 12-15 ships of at least 54 guns plus frigates and brigs
  • Kingdom of Sardinia: 2,900,000 (2,400,000 on the mainland and 500,000 on the island), 12-15 fortified cities and towns (largest being Turin at 80,000), standing army of 25,000, which could be raised to 50,000 in a time of war and 100,000 with militia
  • The Papal States: 2,400,000 (140,000 in the city of Rome), standing army of 6,000 to 7,000
  • Austrian Lombardy (Duchy of Milan, Duchy of Mantua, and minor territories): 1,100,000 (40,000 in the city of Milan itself)
  • Grand Duchy of Tuscany: 1,000,000 (80,000 in Florence), standing army of 6,000, navy of 3 frigates
  • Republic of Genoa: 500,000 (100,000 in the city of Genoa itself)
  • Duchy of Parma: 500,000 (40,000 in the city of Parma itself), standing army of 2,500 to 3,000
  • Duchy of Modena: 350,000 (20,000 in the city of Modena itself), standing army of 5,000 to 6,000
  • Republic of Lucca: 100,000

Total: 18.3 million

During Napoleonic times (1792–1815)[]

Political map of Italy in the year 1810

Sister republics of Revolutionary France[]

In personal union with France[]

  • Kingdom of Italy

Client states of the First French Empire[]

  • Kingdom of Etruria
  • Kingdom of Naples
  • Principality of Lucca and Piombino
  •  [it]
  • Principality of Pontecorvo

Other states[]

  • Kingdom of Sardinia
  • Kingdom of Sicily
  • Principality of Elba (non-hereditary Monarchy under the exiled Emperor Napoleon)
  • Republic of San Marino
  • Republic of Cospaia

From the Restoration to the Unification[]

Political map of Italy in the year 1843

Following the defeat of Napoleon's France, the Congress of Vienna (1815) was convened to redraw the European continent. In Italy, the Congress restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, either directly ruled or strongly influenced by the prevailing European powers, particularly Austria. The Congress also determined the end of two millenary republics: Genoa was annexed by the then Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia, and Venice was incorporated with Milan into a new kingdom of the Austrian Empire.

At the time, the struggle for Italian unification was perceived to be waged primarily against the Habsburgs, since they directly controlled the predominantly Italian-speaking northeastern part of present-day Italy and were the most powerful force against the Italian unification. The Austrian Empire vigorously repressed nationalist sentiment growing on the Italian peninsula, as well as in the other parts of Habsburg domains.

Post-unification[]

Kingdom of Italy in 1870, showing the Papal States, before the Capture of Rome
Kingdom of Italy in 1871
  • Kingdom of Italy
  • Italian Regency of Carnaro
  • Free State of Fiume
  • Italian Social Republic
  • Free Territory of Trieste

Micronation

  • Kingdom of Tavolara
  • Republic of Rose Island

Italian Partisan Republics[]

The Italian Partisan Republics were the provisional state entities liberated by Italian partisans from the rule and occupation of Nazi Germany and the Italian Social Republic in 1944 during the Second World War. They were universally short-lived, with most of them being reconquered by the Wehrmacht within weeks of their formal establishments and re-incorporated into the Italian Social Republic.

  • Republic of Alba (10 October - 2 November)
  • Republic of Alto Monferrato (September - 2 December)
  • (September - December)
  • Republic of Bobbio (7 July - 27 August)
  • (July - September)
  •  [it] (26 September - 10 October)
  •  [it] (2 February - March 1944)
  • (30 June - September)
  • (18 September 1944 - 8 October 1944)
  • (September - November)
  •  [it] (17 June - 1º August)
  • Republic of Ossola (10 September - 23 October)
  •  [it] (26 June - 27 November)
  • (10 June - 11 July)
  • (June - July)
  • (June - 21 August)
  •  [it] (15 June - 24 July)
  • (25 June - September)
  • (11 June - 10 July)
  • (19/24 September - 29 November)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "End of Europe's Middle Ages - Italy's City-States". www.faculty.umb.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  2. ^ Bragadin, Marc'Antonio. Storia delle repubbliche marinare (in Italian). Odoya. ISBN 8862880820.
  3. ^ Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, Variae, Lib. II., XLI. Luduin regi Francorum Theodericus rex.
  4. ^ Burman, Edward. Italian Dynasties: Great Families of Italy from the Renaissance to the Present Day. Equation; First Edition. ISBN 1853360058.
  5. ^ Christine Shaw, Michael Mallett. The Italian Wars 1494-1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe. Routledge.
  6. ^ "Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis | European history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  7. ^ Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor, Vol. 3. Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonne comte de Las Cases. 1816.
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