Marengo () was a department of the

French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted un ...

and of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

in present-day Italy. It was named after the Marengo plain near

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

to commemorate the eponymous French victory. It was formed in 1802, detaching part of the department of

Tanaro The Tanaro (; ; ; ) is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of drainage basin (partly Alpi ...

, when the

Subalpine Republic The Subalpine Republic () was a short-lived republic that existed between 1800 and 1802 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by the French Consulate. History Piedmont was the main part of the Kingdom of Sardinia which, despit ...

(formerly the mainland portion of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

) was directly annexed to France. Its capital was

, formerly the capital of Tanaro. Initially it comprised the former Piedmontese provinces of Alessandria, Casale, Tortona, Voghera and Bobbio. Following the annexation of the

Ligurian Republic The Ligurian Republic (, , ) or Republic of Liguria was a French client republic formed by Napoleon on 14 June 1797. It consisted of the old Republic of Genoa, which covered most of the Ligurian region of Northwest Italy, and the small Imper ...

to France in 1805, Voghera, Bobbio and Tortona passed to the newly created Department of Genoa, while the Department of Marengo acquired

Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...

, previously in the Department of Tanaro. The department was disbanded after the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. At the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

, the Savoyard

King of Sardinia Sardinia is traditionally known to have been initially ruled by the Nuragic civilization, which was followed by Greek colonization, conquest by the Carthagians, Carthaginians, and occupied by the Ancient Rome, Romans for around a thousand years, ...

was restored in all his previous realms and domains, including

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. Its territory is now divided between the

Italian provinces The provinces of Italy ( ; sing. ) are the second-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, on an intermediate level between a municipality () and a region (). Since 2015, provinces have been classified as "institutional bo ...

and

Subdivisions

The department was subdivided into the following ''arrondissements'' and ''

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

'' (situation in 1812):Almanach Impérial an bissextil MDCCCXII
p. 430-431, accessed in Gallica 25 July 2013 *

, cantons:

(2 cantons), Bosco, Cassine, Castellazzo,

Felizzano Felizzano (Flissan in Piemontese) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about west of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,405 ...

Sezzadio Sezzadio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about south of Alessandria. Sezzadio borders the following municipalities: Carpeneto, Cassine, Casteln ...

and

Valenza Valenza ( or ''Valensá'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about north of Alessandria, in the extreme Montferrat’s offshoots, in the Lombardy’s ...

. *

, cantons:

Canelli Canelli (Piedmontese: ''Canèj'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region of Piedmont. As of 31 January 2024 it has a population of 10,022 Canelli is located on a bend of the river Belbo in the ''Alto Monferrat ...

Castelnuovo d'Asti Castelnuovo or Castel Nuovo (Italian for 'new castle/fortress') may refer to : Places and jurisdictions In Italy ''Comuni'' (communes or municipalities): * Castelnuovo, Trentino, Province of Trento * Castelnuovo Belbo, Province of Asti * Cast ...

Cocconato Cocconato is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Asti. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Coccona ...

, Costigliole,

Mombercelli Mombercelli is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Asti. Mombercelli borders the following municipalities: Belveglio, Castelnuovo Calc ...

Montafia Montafia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northwest of Asti. As of 31 January 2024, it had a population of 950 and an area of .All demographics and o ...

, Montechiaro,

Portacomaro Portacomaro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Portacomaro borders the following municipalities: Asti, Calliano, Castagnole M ...

Rocca d'Arazzo Rocca d'Arazzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Asti. Rocca d'Arazzo borders the following municipalities: Asti, Azzano d'Asti, Castel ...

, San Damiano, Tigliole and

Villanova d'Asti Villanova d'Asti is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Asti, Piedmont, northern Italy. It has around 5,000 inhabitants. The economy is based on a mixture of agriculture and industry. Villanova d'Asti was founded in the Middle Ages. The main ...

. * Casale, cantons: Casale,

Gabiano Gabiano (Gabian in Piedmontese) is a rural ''comune'' in the northwest of the province of Alessandria, some west of Casale Monferrato. This area straddles the lowland immediately south of the Po and the furthest extension of the Monferrato hil ...

, Moncalvo, Montemagno, Montiglio, Pontestura, Rosignano, San Salvatore, Ticineto and Villanova. Its population in 1812 was 318,447, and its area was 348,261 hectares. The division was included within the 28th military division, the 16th cohort of the ''

légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

'', the 29th ''conservation des forêts'', the Diocese of Casale, the ''

sénatorerie The sénatoreries were the great properties distributed by Napoléon Bonaparte to senators in an implicit exchange for their docility towards his regime, as it became less and less democratic, starting on 4 January 1803. They were created by the ...

'' of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and the court of appeal of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. It elected three deputies to the ''

Corps législatif The was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body. History Under Napoleon's Consulate, the Constitution of the Year VIII (1799) set up ...

'' of the First Empire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marengo (Department) Former departments of France in Italy 1802 establishments in France