The County of Guastalla was a feudal state in northern Italy, centered on

Guastalla Guastalla ( Guastallese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Geography Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River. Guastalla is located at around from the citie ...

. The title of count was created in 1406 for

Guido Torelli Guido is a given name Latinisation of names, Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America an ...

. The

Torelli Torelli may refer to: People * Achille Torelli (1841–1922), Italian playwright *Alec Torelli (born 1987), American professional poker player *Bernard Torelli (1955–2016), French guitarist and audio engineer *Cesare Torelli (died 1615), Italian ...

family ruled Guastalla until 1539 when it was purchased by

Ferrante Gonzaga Ferrante I Gonzaga (also Ferdinando I Gonzaga; 28 January 1507 – 15 November 1557) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. Biography He was born in Mantua, the ...

. Another branch of the Torelli family held the

County of Montechiarugolo The County of Montechiarugolo was a small sovereign state of northern Italy which existed from 1456 to 1612. It included the other fief of Casei. It was created from a splitting in the county of Guastalla between count Cristoforo Torelli and Pietr ...

, which was created in 1456 from a split in the County of Guastalla, until 1612. Ferrante Gonzaga's descendants ruled Guastalla until 1746, being raised to the title of duke in 1621 when the territory became the

Duchy of Guastalla The Duchy of Guastalla was an Italian state which existed between 1621 and 1748. It was bordered by the Duchy of Modena and Reggio and the Po River to the north, on the opposite bank of the Duchy of Mantua. History On 2 July 1621, Emperor Fe ...

. The last Gonzaga duke,

Giuseppe Gonzaga Giuseppe Gonzaga (20 March 1690 – 16 August 1746) was the last reigning Duke of Guastalla and a member of the House of Gonzaga. Early life He was the second son of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla and his second wife, Princess Maria Vitt ...

, died heirless in 1746, at which point the territory was briefly incorporated into Austrian Lombardy. With the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Guastalla was ceded to the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

See also