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Italian nobility

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Coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The Nobility of Italy reflects the fact that medieval "Italy" was a set of separate states until 1870 and had many royal bloodlines. The Italian royal families were often related through marriage to each other and to other European royal families.

Prior to Italian Unification, the existence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (which before 1816 was split in Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily), the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Parma the Duchy of Modena, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Milan, the Papal States, various republics and the Austrian dependencies in Northern Italy led to parallel nobilities with different traditions and rules.

Under the united Kingdom of Italy a new national nobility, with an attempt (not wholly successful) to impose a uniform nobiliary law, was created, including male succession (although it was possible for ancient titles to be transferred to an heir in the female line by royal authority), and some acknowledgment by the King of Italy of titles conferred by Francis II of the Two Sicilies in exile by making new grants in the same name. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 acknowledged all Papal titles created before that date and undertook to give automatic recognition to titles conferred by the Holy See on Italian citizens in the future.[1]

Castle of Valentino
Caserta Palace


Italian Unification (1861-1870)

Modern Italy became a nation-state during the Risorgimento on March 17, 1861 when most of the states of the peninsula and Kingdom the Two Sicilies were united under king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy dynasty, hitherto monarch of the Kingdom of Sardinia, a realm that included Piedmont.

The architect of Italian unification was Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel.

Rome itself remained for a decade under the Papacy, and became part of the Kingdom of Italy only in 1870, the final date of Italian unification.

Napoleon III's defeat brought an end to the French military protection for Pius IX and on September 20, Italian troops breached Rome's walls at Porta Pia and entered the city. The Italian occupation forced Pope Pius IX to his palace where he declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican until the Lateran Pacts of 1929.

The Holy See (State of the Vatican City) is now an independent enclave surrounded by Italy.

Titles of Nobility

The official ranks under the Kingdom of Italy (1871-1946) were:

  • Principe, Principessa. (Prince, Princess).
  • Duca, Duchessa. (Duke, Duchess).
  • Marchese, Marchesa. (Marquess, Marchioness).
  • Conte, Contessa. (Count, Countess).
  • Visconte, Viscontessa. (Viscount, Viscontess).
  • Barone, Baronessa. (Baron, Baroness).
  • Signore (Lord).
  • Patrizio (Patrician).
  • Nobile/Nob. (Baronet/Bart/Bt, Baronetess/Btss).
  • Dominus/D.nus. (Lord).
  • Cavaliere/Cav. (Hereditary Knight Bachelor).

This hierarchy resulted from the overlapping of those set by the pre-unitarian states, which were strongly different from each other.

As a consequence, titles were not homogeneously distributed throughout the country and, respectively, in each region some title was completely absent.

The southern kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, as well as the Papal states, granted the ranks typical of an absolutist monarchy, similar to that of Spain, France or England: Prince, Duke, Marquess, Count, Baron.

The title of Viscount is not so frequent in Italy.

In Northern Italy and Tuscany the situation was more complex, because there were many kinds of authorities granting titles.

Typically, Italian Commons (also in the Kingdom of Naples) and Republics granted the title of "Patrician", which only in Italy is regarded as a rank of nobility.

However, the Republic of Venice granted also the feudal titles.

In the two Republics of Venice and Genoa also the head of state had a feudal title, that of [("Doge")], a variant form of "Duca"(Duke).

Until 1806, Northern Italy (excepted Venice) and Tuscany formed the Kingdom of Italy, belonging to the Holy Roman Empire.

The Emperor retained for himself the right of creating dukes and princes.

The Northern Italian monarchs had received from the Emperor the right of granting the lower feudal titles (from Marquess downwards), since these monarchs often were princes and dukes themselves.

During Renaissance the monarchs conquered all the the city-republics, but Venice, Genoa, Lucca, San Marino and Ragusa. So, in the majority of Italy patricians were integrated in the low ranks of aristocracy.

When, in 1871, the King of Sardinia conquered the other Italian states, the Consulta Araldica (the Italian College at Arms)integrated these different and varied systems in the hierarchy described before.

"The majority of feudatories were simply signori (from the French seigneur, a title introduced into Italy by the eleventh-century Normans), vassalli (vassals) or cavalieri (knights). Eventually, this class came to be known collectively as the baroni (barons), as in Italy barone was not always a title descriptive of a particular feudal rank. During the fourteenth century, most minor feudal lands became baronies, their holders barons. It must be observed that the use of these titles usually required some form of sovereign sanction or feudal tenure."[2]




Italian Royal Palaces

Italian Royal Families

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