The Kingdom of Sardinia was the

Savoyard state The Savoyard state comprised the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy from the Middle Ages to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. Although it was an example of composite monarchy, it is a term applied to the polity by historians an ...

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 ...

from 1720 to 1861. The kingdom united the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

with the mainland possessions of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

. Before 1847, only the island of Sardinia proper was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, while the other mainland possessions (principally the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy f ...

Principality of Piedmont A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchical state or feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "principality" is often ...

County of Nice The County of Nice (; ; Niçard ) was a historical region of France and Italy located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent to the modern arrondissement of Nice. It was part of the Savoyard state within the Holy Roman Emp ...

Duchy of Genoa The Duchy of Genoa (; ) was a state consisting of the territories of the former Republic of Genoa. It was formed when the former territories of the republic were given to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815 as a result of the Congress of Vienna, and ...

, and others) were held by the Savoys in their own right, hence forming a

composite monarchy A composite monarchy (or composite state) is a historical category, introduced by H. G. Koenigsberger in 1975 and popularised by Sir John H. Elliott, that describes early modern states consisting of several countries under one ruler, sometimes ...

and a

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

, which was formally referred to as the "States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia". This situation was changed by the

Perfect Fusion The Perfect Fusion () was the 1847 act of the Savoyard King Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states (Savoy and Piedmont) and the island of Sardinia within the Kingdom of Sardinia, i ...

act of 1847, which created a unitary kingdom. Due to the fact that

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 ...

was the seat of power and prominent part of the entity, the state is also referred to as Sardinia–Piedmont or Piedmont–Sardinia, and sometimes erroneously as the Kingdom of Piedmont. Before becoming a possession of the House of Savoy, the medieval

had been part of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

and then of the burgeoning

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. With the Treaty of The Hague (1720), the island of Sardinia and its title of kingdom were ceded by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

and Bourbon claimants to the Spanish throne to the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II. The Savoyards united it with their historical possessions on the Italian peninsula, and the kingdom came to be progressively identified with the peninsular states, which included, besides Savoy and

Aosta Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...

, dynastic possessions like the Principality of Piedmont and the County of Nice, over both of which the Savoyards had been exercising their control since the 13th century and 1388, respectively. Under Savoyard rule, the kingdom's government, ruling class, cultural models, and centre of population were entirely situated in the peninsula. The island of Sardinia had always been of secondary importance to the monarchy. While the capital of the island of Sardinia and the seat of its viceroys had always been

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

by law (''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

''), it was the Piedmontese city 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 ...

, the capital of Savoy since the mid 16th century, which was the '' de facto'' seat of power. This situation would be conferred official status with the

of 1847, when all the kingdom's governmental institutions would be centralized in Turin. When the peninsular domains of the House of Savoy were occupied and eventually annexed by

Napoleonic France 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 ...

, the

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, ...

temporarily resided on the island for the first time in Sardinia's history under Savoyard rule. 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 ...

(1814–1815), which restructured Europe after Napoleon's defeat, returned to Savoy its peninsular possessions and augmented them with Liguria, taken from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. Following

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

's accession to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, the Treaty of Turin (1816) transferred

Carouge Carouge () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Carouge is first mentioned in the Early Middle Ages as ''Quadruvium'' and ''Quatruvio''. In 1248 it was mentioned as ''Carrogium'' while i ...

and adjacent areas to the newly-created Swiss

Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

. In 1847–1848, through an act of Union analogous to the one between Great Britain and Ireland, the various Savoyard states were unified under one legal system with their capital in Turin, and granted a constitution, the '' Statuto Albertino''. By the time of the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

in 1853, the Savoyards had built the kingdom into a strong power. There followed the annexation of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

(1859), the central Italian states and the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

(1860), Venetia (1866), and the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

(1870). On 17 March 1861, to more accurately reflect its new geographic, cultural and political extent, the Kingdom of Sardinia changed its name to the Kingdom of Italy, and its capital was eventually moved first to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and then to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia was thus the legal predecessor state of the Kingdom of Italy, which in turn is the predecessor of the present-day

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Terminology

The Kingdom of Sardinia was the title with the highest rank among the territories possessed by the

, and hence this title was and still is used often to indicate the whole of their possessions. In reality, the Savoys ruled not a unitary state, but a complex array of different entities and titles with different institutional, cultural, and legal backgrounds. These included for example the

, Duchy of Aosta,

, and

, which were distinct and not juridically part of the

, which included only the island of

itself. The situation changed with the

of 1847, an act of King Charles Albert of Sardinia that abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states and the island of Sardinia, creating a unitary kingdom. The Savoys themselves referred to their possessions as a whole as "the States of the King of Sardinia" (Italian: ''gli Stati del Re di Sardegna''). Modern-day historians use the term ''

'' to indicate this entity, which is an example of

where many different and distinct territories are united in a

by having the same ruler.

History

Early history of Savoy

During the 3rd century BC, the

Allobroges The Allobroges (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; ) were a Gauls, Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman period. The Allob ...

settled down in the region between the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

and the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. This region, named Allobrigia and later "Sapaudia" in Latin, was integrated to the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. In the 5th century, the region of Savoy was ceded by the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

to the

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

and became part of the

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

was inhabited in early historic times by Celto- Ligurian tribes such as the Taurini and the Salassi. They later submitted to the Romans (), 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 The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

(5th century), Byzantines,

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

(6th century), and the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

(773). At the time, what is known today as Piedmont, as part of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, was subdivided into several

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

and counties. In 1046, Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main segment of

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, with a capital at

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

(now in France). Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful communes of

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 ...

and

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, ...

, and the marquisates of

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

and

Montferrat Montferrat ( , ; ; , ; ) is a historical region of Piedmont, in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, Alessandria and Province of Asti, Asti. Montferrat ...

. The County of Savoy was elevated to a

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

in 1416, and Duke Emmanuel Philibert moved the seat to

in 1563.

Exchange of Sardinia for Sicily

The Spanish domination of Sardinia ended at the beginning of the 18th century, as a result of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. By the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

(1713), Spain's European empire was divided: Savoy received

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and parts of the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

, while Charles VI (the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

and Archduke of Austria), received the

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

, the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

, Sardinia, and the bulk of the Duchy of Milan. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance, Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, and by now also King of Sicily, 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 17 February 1720. Because the 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. From 1720 to 1798, when

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

invaded Italy, the ''de facto'' government resided in Turin; Cagliari, which had been the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia since 1324, returned to be the ''de facto'' government during the Savoy exile from 1798 to 1814. When Napoleon was first resided, the ''de facto'' government returned to Turin but did not officially become the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia until 1847. Victor Amadeus initially resisted the exchange of Sardinia for Sicilia in 1720. Until 1723, he continued to style himself King of Sicily rather than King of Sardinia. The state took the official title of Kingdom of Sardinia, Cyprus, and Jerusalem, as the House of Savoy still claimed the thrones of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, although both had long been under Ottoman rule. In 1767–1769, Charles Emmanuel III annexed the Maddalena archipelago in the Strait of Bonifacio from the

and claimed it as part of Sardinia, which became a part of the Sardinian region since then. SardiniePiemont

Since the Iberian period in Sardinia, common languages included Sardinian, Corsican, Catalan, and Spanish. Other languages included French, Piedmontese, Ligurian,

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

, and Arpitan. During the Savoyard period as a composite state, Italian, which alongside French had already been made official in the peninsula since the 16th century via the Rivoli Edict, was introduced to Sardinia in 1760. With the Regio Biglietto of 25 July 1760, Italian was made a priority over French in Piedmont. The Kingdom of Sardinia's attempt of promotion of a unitary language was incisive, and also the replacement of Spanish with Italian has been described as a "revolution of ideas". Since French was still in use in some provinces, the '' Statuto Albertino'' (1848) authorised the use of French.

Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna

In 1792, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the other states of the Savoy crown joined the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

against 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 ...

, but was beaten in 1796 by

and forced to conclude the disadvantageous Treaty of Paris (1796), giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. On 6 December 1798 General 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, having defeated the armies of the French expedition to Sardinia without the royal army's help, stayed out of the reach of the French for the rest of the war. The refusal by the Savoyards of recognizing the Sardinian's rights and representaion in government caused the Sardinian Vespers (also known as the "Three years of revolution") started by ("the day of the pursuit and capture"), commemorated today as Sa die de sa Sardigna, when people in Cagliari started chasing any Piedmontese functionaries they could find and expelled them from the island. Thus, Sardinia became the first European country to have engaged in a revolution of its own, the episode not being the result of a foreign military importation like in most of Europe. In 1814, the Crown of Savoy enlarged its territories with the addition of the former

, now a duchy, and it served as a

buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between t ...

against France. This was confirmed by the

, which returned the region of Savoy to its borders after it had been annexed by France in 1792. By the Treaty of Stupinigi (1817), the Kingdom of Sardinia extended its protectorate over the

Principality of Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave borde ...

. In 1821, the Kingdom of Sardinia's reported population amounted to 3,974,500. In the reaction after Napoleon, the country was ruled by the conservative monarchs Victor Emmanuel I (1802–1821), Charles Felix (1821–1831), and Charles Albert (1831–1849), who fought at the head of a contingent of his own troops at the Battle of Trocadero, which restored the reactionary

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

to the Spanish throne. Victor Emanuel I disbanded the entire

Napoleonic Code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...

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 Sardinia. The Kingdom of Sardinia industrialized from 1830 onward. A constitution, the '' Statuto Albertino'', was enacted during the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

under liberal pressure. In addition to make Turin its official capital, the ''Statuto Albertino'' made

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

"the only State religion". Earlier in 1847, the island of Sardinia, a Piedmontese dependency for more than a century, lost its own residual autonomy to the peninsula through the

issued by Charles Albert. As a result, the kingdom's fundamental institutions were deeply transformed, assuming the shape of a constitutional and centralized monarchy on the French model; under the same pressure, Charles Albert declared war on

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. After initial success, the war took a turn for the worse and Charles Albert was defeated by Marshal Radetzky at the Battle of Custozza (1848).

Savoyard struggle for the Italian unification

Like all the various duchies and

city-states A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

on the Apennine peninsula and associated islands, the Kingdom of Sardinia was troubled with political instability under alternating governments. After a short and disastrous renewal of the war with Austria in 1849, Charles Albert abdicated on 23 March 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

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

. The Kingdom of Sardinia took part in the

, allied with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and fighting against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 1859, France sided with the Kingdom of Sardinia in a war against

, the Austro-Sardinian War.

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

did not keep his promises to Cavour to fight until all of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia had been conquered. Following the bloody battles of

Magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

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

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 this arrangement.

Garibaldi and the Thousand

On 5 March 1860, Parma, Piacenza,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, and

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

voted in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia. This alarmed Napoleon, who feared a strong Savoyard state on his south-eastern 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 through the Treaty of Turin, which also called for referendums to confirm the annexation. Subsequently, somewhat controversial referendums showed over 99.5% majorities in both areas in favour of joining France. In 1860,

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

started his campaign to conquer southern Italy in the name of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Thousand quickly toppled the

, which was the largest of the states in the region, stretching from

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

and

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

on the peninsula to

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

and

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

on Sicily. He then marched to

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

in the central peninsula. Cavour was satisfied with the unification while Garibaldi, who was too revolutionary for the king and his prime minister, also wanted to conquer Rome. Garibaldi was disappointed in this development, as well as in the loss of his home province, Nice, to France. He also failed to fulfill the promises that had gained him popular and military support by the Sicilians: that the new nation would be a republic, not a kingdom, and that the Sicilians would see great economic gains after unification. The former did not come to pass until 1946.

Towards the Kingdom of Italy

On 17 March 1861, law no. 4671 of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy, so ratifying the annexations of all other Apennine states, plus Sicily, to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The institutions and laws of the kingdom were quickly extended to all of Italy, abolishing the administrations of the other regions. Piedmont became the most dominant and wealthiest region in Italy and the capital of Piedmont, Turin, remained the Italian capital until 1865, when the capital was moved to

. As part of the Brigandage in the Two Sicilies, many revolts exploded throughout the peninsula, especially in southern Italy and on the island of Sicily, because of the perceived unfair treatment of the south by the Piedmontese ruling class. The

ruled the Kingdom of Italy until 1946, when Italy was declared a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

. The result of the

1946 Italian institutional referendum An institutional referendum (, or ) was held by universal suffrage in the Kingdom of Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event of contemporary Italian history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, reigning since the unification ...

was 54.3% in favor of a republic.

Economy

Major progress in the economy was achieved during the government of

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (; 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as the Count of Cavour ( ; ) or simply Cavour, was an Italian politician, statesman, businessman, economist, and no ...

. Cavour believed that economic progress had to precede political change, and stressed the advantages of railroad construction in the peninsula. He was a strong supporter of transportation by

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

, sponsoring the building of many railroads and canals. Between 1838 and 1842 Cavour began several initiatives in attempts to solve economic problems in his area. He experimented with different agricultural techniques on his estate, such as growing sugar beets, and was one of the first Italian landowners to use chemical fertilizers.Beales & Biagini, ''The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy'', p. 108. He also founded the Piedmontese Agricultural Society.

Currency

The currency in use in Savoy was the Piedmontese scudo. During the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, it was replaced in general circulation by the

French franc The franc (; , ; currency sign, sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amoun ...

. In 1816, after regaining their peninsular domains, the scudo was replaced by the Sardinian lira, which in 1821 also replaced the Sardinian scudo, the coins that had been in use on the island throughout the period.

Government

Before 1847, only the island of Sardinia proper was part of the

. The other mainland possessions, which primarily included the

, and

, among others, were held by the Savoys in their own right. This resulted in the formation a

and a

. This personal union was formally referred to as the "States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia", such as in the documents of the Congress of Vienna. The

(Italian: ''Fusione perfetta'') was the 1847 act of the Savoyard King Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states and the island of Sardinia, in a fashion similar to the

Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees (, , ) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V of Spain, Philip V, the first House of Bourbon, Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain, during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spani ...

between the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

and the realms of the

between 1707 and 1716 and the Acts of Union between

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1800. In 1848, King Charles Albert granted the Statuto Albertino, which functioned as the constitution of the state. The Statute was proclaimed only because of concern at the revolutionary insurrection agitating Italy in 1848. At the time, Charles Albert was only following the example of other Italian rulers, but his Statute was the only constitution to survive the repression that followed the First War of Independence (1848–49). The Statute remained the basis of the legal system after

was achieved in 1860 and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy. Even though it suffered deep modifications, especially during the fascist government of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

(who ruled with the tacit approval of King

Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...

), the Statute lasted mostly unaltered in the structure until the implementation of the republican constitution in 1948, which superseded several primary features of the document, with specific regard to those of monarchical nature. The head of state was the

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, ...

, while the head of the government was the Prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Military

The Royal Sardinian Army and the Royal Sardinian Navy functioned as the military of Kingdom of Sardinia until they became the Royal Italian Army on 4 May 1861 and the Regia Marina on 17 March 1861.

Flags, royal standards, and coats of arms

When the Duchy of Savoy acquired the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

in 1713 and the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1723, the flag of Savoy became the flag of a naval power. This posed the problem that the same flag was already in use by the

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

. Because of this, the Savoyards modified their flag for use as a

naval ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large v ...

in various ways, adding the letters

FERT FERT (sometimes tripled, ''FERT, FERT, FERT'') is the motto of the royal House of Savoy and Kingdom of Italy. The motto was adopted by Duke Vittorio Amedeo II (1666–1732). Several interpretations exist. It appeared for the first time on ...

in the four cantons, or adding a blue border, or using a blue flag with the Savoy cross in one canton. Eventually, King Charles Albert of Savoy adopted from Revolutionary France the Italian tricolor, surmounted by the Savoyard shield, as his flag. This flag would later become the flag of the

, and the tricolor without the Savoyard escutcheon remains the flag of Italy. File:Greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720-1815).svg, (1720–1815) File:Greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1815-1831).svg, (1815–1831) File:Stemma del Regno di Sardegna 1831.svg, (1831–1848) File:Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy variant (1848-1870).svg, (1848–1861) File:State Flag of the Savoyard States (late 16th - late 18th century).svg, Royal standard of the Savoyard kings of Sardinia of Savoy dynasty (1720–1848) and state flag of the Savoyard states (late 16th–late 18th century) File:State Flag and War Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1816-1848).svg, State flag and war ensign (1816–1848), civil flag crowned File:Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848-1851).svg, State and war flag (1848–1851) File:Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg, State flag and war ensign (1851–1861) File:Merchant Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia (c.1799-1802).svg, Merchant flag (c. 1799–1802) File:War Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1785-1802).svg, War ensign of the Royal Sardinian Navy (1785–1802) File:Merchant Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1802-1814).svg, Merchant flag (1802–1814) File:War Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1802-1814).svg, War ensign (1802–1814) File:Merchant Flag and War Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1814-1816).svg, Merchant flag and war ensign (1814–1816) File:Civil Flag and Civil Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1816-1848).svg, Civil flag and civil ensign (1816–1848) File:War Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1816-1848) aspect ratio 31-76.svg, War ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1816–1848), aspect ratio 31:76 File:Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg, Civil and merchant flag (1851–1861), the Italian tricolore with the coat of arms of Savoy as an

inescutcheon In heraldry, an inescutcheon is a smaller Escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms, similar to a Charge (heraldry), charge. This may be used in the following cases: * as a sim ...

File:Royal standard of Italy (1861 - 1880).svg, (1848–1861) and Kingdom of Italy (1861–1880) File:Royal Standard of the Crown Prince of Italy (1861–1880).svg, Crown Prince (1848–1861) and Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1880) * Sources: ** ** **

Maps

Territorial evolution of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1859 to 1860

File:Italia1859.png, 1859:
On the eve of the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

File:Italia1860.png, 1860:
After the annexation of

and before the annexation of the United Provinces of Central Italy File:RegnoItalia1861.png, 1861:
After the

Expedition of the Thousand The Expedition of the Thousand () was an event of the unification of Italy that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto al Mare near Genoa and landed in Marsala, Sicily, in order to conquer the Ki ...

, and on the eve of the

proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy The proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy happened with a legal norm, normative act of the House of Savoy, Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia — the law 17 March 1861, n. 4761 — with which Victor Emmanuel II assumed for himself and for his successors ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Antonicelli, Aldo (2016)
"From Galleys to Square Riggers: The Modernization of the Navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia"
''The Mariner's Mirror''. 102 (2): 153–173. * * Luttwak, Edward (2009). ''The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire''. The Belknap Press. . * Mack Smith, Denis (1971)
''Victor Emanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento''
Oxford University Press. * * * Romani, Roberto (2012)
"Reluctant Revolutionaries: Moderate Liberalism in the Kingdom of Sardinia, 1849–1859"
''Historical Journal''. pp. 45–73. * Romani, Roberto (2018). "The Reason of the Elites: Constitutional Moderatism in the Kingdom of Sardinia, 1849–1861". In ''Sensibilities of the Risorgimento''. Brill. pp. 192–244. * Schena, Olivetta (2019). "The Role Played by Towns in Parliamentary Commissions in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries". ''Parliaments, Estates and Representation''. 39'' (3): 304–315. * * Old interpretations but useful on details; volume 1 goes to 1859]
volume 2 online covers 1859–62

In Italian

* AAVV. (edited by F. Manconi), ''La società sarda in età spagnola'', Consiglio Regionale della Sardegna, Cagliari, 2 volumes, 1992–1993. * Blasco Ferrer Eduardo, ''Crestomazia Sarda dei primi secoli'', collection Officina Linguistica, Ilisso, Nuoro, 2003, . * Boscolo Alberto, ''La Sardegna bizantina e alto giudicale'', Edizioni Della Torre, Cagliari, 1978. * * Coroneo Roberto, ''Arte in Sardegna dal IV alla metà dell'XI secolo'', AV eds., Cagliari, 2011. * Coroneo Roberto, ''Scultura mediobizantina in Sardegna'', Nuoro, Poliedro, 2000. * Gallinari Luciano, "Il Giudicato di Cagliari tra XI e XIII secolo. Proposte di interpretazioni istituzionali", in ''Rivista dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Europa Mediterranea'', no. 5, 2010. * Manconi Francesco, ''La Sardegna al tempo degli Asburgo'', Il Maestrale, Nuoro, 2010, . * Manconi Francesco, ''Una piccola provincia di un grande impero'', CUEC, Cagliari, 2012, . * Mastino Attilio, ''Storia della Sardegna Antica'', Il Maestrale, Nuoro, 2005, . * Meloni Piero, ''La Sardegna Romana'', Chiarella, Sassari, 1980. * Motzo Bachisio Raimondo, ''Studi sui bizantini in Sardegna e sull'agiografia sarda'', Deputazione di Storia Patria della Sardegna, Cagliari, 1987. * Ortu Gian Giacomo, ''La Sardegna dei Giudici'', Il Maestrale, Nuoro, 2005, . * Paulis Giulio, ''Lingua e cultura nella Sardegna bizantina: testimonianze linguistiche dell'influsso greco'', Sassari, L'Asfodelo, 1983. * Spanu Luigi, ''Cagliari nel seicento'', Edizioni Castello, Cagliari, 1999. * Zedda Corrado and Pinna Raimondo, "La nascita dei Giudicati. Proposta per lo scioglimento di un enigma storiografico", in ''Archivio Storico Giuridico di Sassari'', second series, no. 12, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sardinia, Kingdom of Kingdom of Sardinia, 1324 establishments in Europe 1861 disestablishments in Italy

Former countries Former countries in Europe Former monarchies of Europe History of Sardinia Island countries States and territories established in 1324 States and territories disestablished in 1861 Viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire

Terminology

History

Early history of Savoy

Exchange of Sardinia for Sicily

Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna

Savoyard struggle for the Italian unification

Garibaldi and the Thousand

Towards the Kingdom of Italy

Economy

Currency

Government

Military

Flags, royal standards, and coats of arms

Maps

Territorial evolution of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1859 to 1860

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

In Italian