Spanish rule (1297–1720)
Crown of Aragon (1297–1479)
In 1297,
Pope Boniface VIII, intervening between the
Houses of Anjou and
Aragon in the war called
Sicilian Vespers, established on paper a
Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae that would be a
fief of the Papacy (in the island, however, already existed native state entities). Then the Pope offered his newly-invented fief to
James II of
Aragon, promising him papal support should he wish to conquer Pisan Sardinia in exchange for Sicily. In 1323 James II formed an alliance with
Hugh II of Arborea and, following a military campaign which lasted a year or so, occupied the Pisan territories of
Cagliari and
Gallura along with
Sassari, claiming the territory as the
Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica.
Aragon in the 15th century.
In 1347 Aragon made war on
Genoa (who owned large areas of the
Logudoro) then, starting from 1353, fought with the
arborean leader
Marianus IV, of the
Cappai de Bas family, but did not reduce the last of the
autochthonous giudicati (indigenous kingdoms of Sardinia) until 1409 when the Sardinian hopes of expel the Aragonese from the island vanished due to the heavy defeat at the
Battle of Sanluri. In 1420, after the exstintion of the Giudicato of Arborea, the Aragonese conquest of Sardinia was completed and the royal territory for the first time after almost a century of wars, coincided with that of the entire island. The
Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica retained its separate character as part of the Crown of Aragon and was not merely incorporated into the Kingdom of Aragon. At the time of his struggles with Arborea,
Peter IV of Aragon granted an autonomous legislature to the Kingdom, which had one of Europe's most advanced legal traditions. The Kingdom was governed in the king's name by a viceroy. When in 1409,
Martin the Younger, king of Sicily and heir to Aragon, defeated the last Sardinian
giudicato but then died in Cagliari of malaria, without issue, Sardinia passed with the Crown of Aragon to a united Spain. Corsica, which had never been conquered, was dropped from the formal title.
The loss of the autochthonous' independence, the firm Aragonese (later Spanish) rule, with the introduction of a sterile
feudalism, as well as the discovery of the
Americas, provoked an unstoppable decline of Kingdom of Sardinia. A short period of resurgence occurred under the local noble
Leonardo de Alagon, marquess of
Oristano, who managed to defeat the viceroy's army in the 1470s but was later crushed at the
Battle of Macomer (1478), ending any further hope of independence for the island.
Spanish Empire (1479–1700)
Main article:
Spanish Empire
Unceasing attacks from
North African pirates and a series of plagues (from 1582, 1652 and 1655) worsened the situation on the island early in the reign of the
Catholic Monarchs.
Sardinia between two powers (1700–1720)
The Spanish domination of Sardinia ended at the beginning of the 18th century, as a result of
War of the Spanish succession. By the
Treaty of Utrecht of 1713,
Spain's European empire was divided:
Savoy received
Sicily and parts of the
Duchy of Milan, while
Charles VI (the
Holy Roman Emperor and
Archduke of Austria), received the
Spanish Netherlands, the
Kingdom of Naples,
Sardinia, and the bulk of the
Duchy of Milan. In 1718, by the
Treaty of London among the great powers,
Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy and sovereign of Piedmont, was forced to yield Sicily to the Austrian Habsburgs and in exchange received Sardinia. Two years later, on Aug. 24, 1720, he formally took possession of the island.
Map of the Kingdom of Sardinia
The Spanish domination of Sardinia ended at the beginning of the 18th century, as a result of
War of the Spanish succession. By the
Treaty of Utrecht of 1713,
Spain's European empire was divided:
Savoy received
Sicily and parts of the
Duchy of Milan, while
Charles VI (the
Holy Roman Emperor and
Archduke of Austria), received the
Spanish Netherlands, the
Kingdom of Naples,
Sardinia, and the bulk of the
Duchy of Milan.
During the
War of the Quadruple Alliance,
Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy and sovereign of Piedmont, had to agree to yield Sicily to the Austrian Habsburgs and receive Sardinia in exchange. The exchange was formally ratified in the
Treaty of The Hague of February 17, 1720. Because a
kingdom of Sardinia had existed since the 14th century, the exchange allowed Victor Amadeus to retain the title of king in spite of the loss of Sicily.
[3][4] Victor Amadeus initially resisted the exchange, and until 1723 continued to style himself King of Sicily rather than King of Sardinia.
[5]
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (1553-80), called
Ironhead.
Savoyard rule (1720–1861)
Early history of Piedmont
Main article:
Duchy of Savoy
Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celtic-
Ligurian tribes such as the
Taurini and the
Salassi. They later submitted to the
Romans (c.
220 BC), who founded several colonies there including
Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) and
Eporedia (
Ivrea). After the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, the region was repeatedly invaded by the
Burgundians, the
Goths (5th century),
Byzantines,
Lombards (6th century),
Franks (773). In the 9th-10th centuries there were further incursions by the
Magyars and
Saracens. At the time Piedmont, as part of the
Kingdom of Italy within the
Holy Roman Empire, was subdivided into several marks and counties.
In 1046,
Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main segment of
Savoy, with a capital at
Chambéry (now in
France). Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful communes of
Asti and
Alessandria and the marquisates of
Saluzzo and
Montferrat. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duke in 1416, and Duke
Emanuele Filiberto moved the seat to
Turin in 1563.
Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna
In 1792 Piedmont-Sardinia joined the
First Coalition against the
French First Republic, but was beaten in 1796 by Napoleon and forced to conclude the disadvantageous
Treaty of Paris (1796), giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. On December 6, 1798
Joubert occupied Turin and forced
Charles Emmanuel IV to abdicate and leave for the island of Sardinia. The provisionary government voted to unite Piedmont with France. In 1799 the Austro-Russians briefly occupied the city, but with the
Battle of Marengo (1800), the French regained control. The island of Sardinia stayed out of the reach of the French for the rest of the war.
In 1814 the kingdom was restored and enlarged with the addition of the former
Republic of Genoa, now a duchy, and it served as a
buffer state against
France. This was confirmed by the
Congress of Vienna. In the reaction after Napoleon, the country was ruled by conservative monarchs:
Victor Emmanuel I (1802–21),
Charles Felix (1821–31) and
Charles Albert (1831–49), who fought at the head of a contingent of his own troops at the
Battle of Trocadero, which set the reactionary
Ferdinand VII on the Spanish throne. Victor Emanuel I disbanded the entire Code Napoléon and returned the lands and power to the nobility and the Church. This reactionary policy went as far as discouraging the use of roads built by the French. These changes typified Piedmont. The Kingdom of Sardinia industrialized from 1830 onward. A constitution, the
Statuto Albertino, was enacted in
the year of revolutions, 1848, under liberal pressure, and under the same pressure Charles Albert declared war on Austria. After initial success the war took a turn for the worse and Charles Albert was defeated by
Marshal Radetzky at
Custozza.
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour
Risorgimento
Like all of Italy, the Kingdom of Sardinia was troubled with political instability, under alternating governments. After a very short and disastrous renewal of the war with Austria in 1849, Charles Albert abdicated on March 23, 1849, in favour of his son
Victor Emmanuel II.
In 1852 a liberal ministry under
Count Camillo Benso di Cavour was installed, and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the engine driving the
Italian Unification. The Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) took part in the
Crimean War, allied with the
Ottoman Empire,
Britain, and
France, and fighting against
Russia.
In 1859 France sided with the Kingdom of Sardinia in a war against
Austria, the
Austro-Sardinian War.
Napoleon III didn't keep his promises to Cavour to fight until all of the
Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia had been conquered. Following the bloody battles of
Magenta and
Solferino, both French victories, Napoleon thought the war too costly to continue and made a separate peace behind Cavour's back in which only Lombardy would be ceded. Due to the Austrian government's refusal to cede any lands to the Kingdom of Sardinia, they agreed to cede
Lombardy to Napoleon who in turn then ceded the territory to the Kingdom of Sardinia to avoid 'embarrassing' the defeated Austrians. Cavour angrily resigned from office when it became clear that Victor Emmanuel would accept the deal.
King Victor Emmanuel II meets Garibaldi in Teano (October 26, 1860)
Garibaldi and the Thousand
On March 5, 1860
Parma,
Tuscany,
Modena, and
Romagna voted in
referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia. This alarmed Napoleon who feared a strong Savoyard state on his southeastern border and he insisted that if the Kingdom of Sardinia were to keep the new acquisitions they would have to cede Savoy and Nice to France. This was done after dubious referendums showed over 99.5% majorities in both areas in favour of joining France.
In 1860
Giuseppe Garibaldi started his campaign to conquer southern Italy in the name of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He quickly toppled the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and marched to
Gaeta. Cavour was actually the most satisfied with the unification while Garibaldi wanted to conquer Rome. Garibaldi was too revolutionary for the king and his prime minister.
Towards Kingdom of Italy
On March 17, 1861 the
Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed by the Parliament, so ratifying the
annexations of all other Italian states to Piedmont. The institutions and laws of the Kingdom were quickly extended to all Italy, brutally abolishing the administrations of the other regions. Piedmont would become the most dominant and wealthiest region in Italy and the capital of Piedmont, Turin, would remain the Italian capital until 1865 when the capital was moved to
Florence; but in contrast, many revolts exploded through the peninsula,
especially in Southern Italy. The
House of Savoy would rule Italy until 1946 when Italy was declared a
republic.
