http://homepage.interaccess.com/~arduinif/kings.htm


| Louis Alfano pulled the following listings of Italian
ruling houses from The Wordsworth Handbook of Kings and Queens and
posted them to the PIE (Pointers In E-Mail) listserver. He did so to help
us understand the diversity of Italian nobility. We must realize that less
than 150 years ago Italy was comprised of about 10 separate small countries,
and as a result, great-great grandpa was NOT "Italian," but either Piemontese,
Toscano, Veneziano, Modenese, Parmigiano, a subject of the Pope, or Napoletano-Siciliano,
etc.
Since all of these ruling groups held sway over parts of Italy, I hope you will find the information which follows helpful. |
| RULING HOUSES IN ITALY
(Excerpted from The Wordsworth Handbook of Kings &
Queens
|
The Medieval
Kingdom of Italy
The Doges
of Venice
The Kingdom
of Naples and Sicily
The d'Este
in Ferrara and Modena
The Montefeltro
and Della Rovere in Urbino
The Visconti
and Sforza in Milan
The Gonzaga
in Mantua
The de'
Medici and their Successors in Florence
The Farnese
and Bourbons in Parma
The House
of Savoy
| THE ESTE IN FERRARA AND MODENA | |
| Lords of Ferrara: | |
| 1196-1212 | Azzo I (marquis of Este as Azzo VI; podesta` of Ferrara 1196) |
| 1212-1215 | Aldobrandino I (son) |
| 1215-1264 | Azzo II, the Younger (brother) |
| 1264-1293 | Obizzo I (grandson; lord of Ferrara 1264; of Modena 1289) |
| 1293-1308 | Azzo III (son) |
| -1308 | Fresco (son; deposed, died 1309; Venetian, then papal rule 1308-17) |
| 1317-1335 | Rinaldo (grandson of Obizzo I) |
| 1317-1344 | Niccolo` I (brother) |
| 1317-1352 | Obizzo II (brother) |
| 1352-1361 | Aldobrandino III (son) |
| 1361-1388 | Niccolo` II, the Lame (brother) |
| 1388-1393 | Alberto (brother) |
| 1393-1441 | Niccolo` III (son) |
| 1441-1450 | Leonello (son) |
| Dukes of Ferrara: | |
| 1450-1471 | Borso (brother; duke of Modena 1452.; made duke of Ferrara by pope Paul II 1471) |
| 1471-1505 | Ercole I (brother) |
| 1505-1534 | Alfonso I (son) |
| 1534-1559 | Ercole II (son) |
| 1559-1597 | Alfonso II (son) |
| Dukes of Modena: | |
| 1597-1628 | Cesare (grandson of Alfonso I; union of Ferrara with the papal states 1598) |
| 1628-1629 | Alfonso III (son; abdicated, died 1644) |
| 1629-1658 | Francis I (son) |
| 1658-1662 | Alfonso IV (son) |
| 1662-1694 | Francis II (son) |
| 1694-1737 | Rinaldo (son of Francis I) |
| 1737-1780 | Francis III (son) |
| 1780-1796 | Ercole III (son; deposed, died 1803; union with the Cispadane Republic and later regimes 1796-1814) |
| House of Habsburg-Lorraine: | |
| 1814-1846 | Francis IV (son of Mary Beatrice, daughter of Ercole III, and Ferdinand, son of emperor Francis I) |
| 1846-1859 | Francis V (son; deposed, died 1875; union with the kingdom of Sardinia 1860) |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY: | |
| Chiappini, L., Gli Estensi (Milan, 1967). | |
| Gundersheimer, W. L., Ferrara: The Style of a Renaissance Despotism (Princeton, 1973). | |
| THE VISCONTI AND SFORZA IN MILAN | |
| House of Visconti - Lords of Milan: | |
| 1287-1302,
1311-1322 |
Matteo 1, the Great (captain of the people 1287; lord 1313; abdicated, died 1322) |
| 1322-1327 | Galeazzo I (son; deposed, died 1328; republic 1327-29) |
| 1329-1339 | Azzone (son) |
| 1339-1349 | Luchino (son of Matteo I) |
| 1339-1354 | Giovanni (brother) |
| 1354-1355 | Matteo II (nephew) |
| 1354-1378 | Galeazzo II (brother) |
| 1354-1385 | Bernabo` (brother; deposed, died 1385) |
| Dukes of Milan: | |
| 1378-1402 | Gian Galeazzo (son of Galeazzo II; made duke of Milan by Wenceslas, king of the Romans, 1395) |
| 1402-1412 | Giovanni Maria (son) |
| 1412-1447 | Filippo Maria (brother; Ambrosian Republic 1447-50) |
| House of Sforza: | |
| 1450-1466 | Francesco I (married Blanca Maria, daughter of Filippo Maria) |
| 1466-1476 | Galeazzo Maria (son) |
| 1476-1494 | Gian Galeazzo (son) |
| 1494-1499, | Ludovico Maria (son of Francesco I; deposed, 1500 died 1508; French occupation 1499-1512) |
| 1512-1515 | Massimillano (son; deposed, died 1530; French occupation 1515-21) |
| 1521-1525,
1529-1535 |
Francesco II (brother; deposed during imperial occupation 1525-9; union with the empire 1535) |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY: | |
| Cognasso, F., I Visconti (Milan, 1966). | |
| Santoro, C., Gli Sforza (Milan, 1968). | |
| THE GONZAGA IN MANTUA | |
| Captains-General of Mantua: | |
| 1328-1360 | Luigi (captain-general of Mantua after fall of Bonacolsi rule 1328) |
| 1360-1369 | Guido (son) |
| 1369-1382 | Ludovico I (son) |
| 1382-1407 | Francesco I (son) |
| Marquises of Mantua: | |
| 1407-1444 | Gianfrancesco (son; made marquis of Mantua by emperor Sigismund 1433) |
| 1444-1478 | Ludovico II (son) |
| 1478-1484 | Federico I (son) |
| 1484-1519 | Francesco II (son) |
| Dukes of Mantua: | |
| 1519-1540 | Federico II (son; made duke of Mantua by emperor Charles V 1530; marquis of Montferrat 1536) |
| 1540-1550 | Francesco III (son) |
| 1550-1587 | Guglielmo (brother; duke of Montferrat 1575) |
| 1587-1612 | Vincenzo I (son) |
| 1612 | Francesco IV (son) |
| 16l2-1626 | Ferdinando (brother) |
| 1626-1627 | Vincenzo II (brother; war of the Mantuan Succession 1628-31) |
| Line of Nevers: | |
| 1631-1637 | Carlo I (duke of Nevers; grandson of Federico II) |
| 1637-1665 | Carlo II (grandson) |
| 1665-1708 | Ferdinando Carlo (son; union of Mantua with the empire and of Montferrat with Savoy,1708) |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY: | |
| Coniglio, G., I Gonzaga (Milan, 1967). | |
| --- Mantova: La Storia (3 vols., Mantua, 1958-63). | |
| THE MEDICI AND THEIR SUCCESSORS IN FLORENCE | |
| House of Medici: | |
| 1434-1464 | Cosimo the Elder (son of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici; de facto ruler of Florence 1434) |
| 1464-1469 | Piero I, the Gouty (son) |
| 1469-1492 | Lorenzo the Magnificent (son) |
| 1492-1494 | Piero II (son; deposed, died 1503; republic 1494-1512) |
| 1512-1513 | Giuliano of Nemours (brother; deposed, died 1516) |
| 1513-1519 | Lorenzo of Urbino (son of Piero II) |
| 1519-1523 | Giulio (grandson of Piero I; pope Clement VII 1523-34) |
| 1524-1527 | Ippolito (bastard son of Giuliano; deposed, died 1535; republic 1527-30) |
| Duchy of Florence: | |
| 1531-1537 | Alessandro (bastard son of Giulio; duke of Florence 1532) |
| Grand Duchy of Tuscany: | |
| 1537-1574 | Cosimo I (fifth in descent from Giovanni di Bicci; made grand duke of Tuscany by pope Pius V 1569) |
| 1574-1587 | Francis I (son) |
| 1587-1609 | Ferdinand I (brother) |
| 1609-1621 | Cosimo II (son) |
| 1621-1670 | Ferdinand II (son) |
| 1670-1723 | Cosimo III (son) |
| 1723-1737 | Giovanni Gastone (son) |
| House of Habsburg-Lorraine: | |
| 1737-1765 | Francis II (duke of Lorraine 1729-37; emperor 1745) |
| 1765-1790 | Leopold I (son; emperor 1790-2) |
| 1790-1799 | Ferdinand III (son; deposed; French occupation 1799, 1800-1; grand duke of Wurzburg 1806-14) |
| House of Bourbon: | |
| 1801-1803 | Louis I (son of Ferdinand, duke of Parma; reconstitution of Tuscany as the kingdom of Etruria 1801-7) |
| 1803-1807 | Louis II (Charles Louis) (son; deposed; French rule 1807-9; duke of Parma 1847-49) |
| House of Bonaparte: | |
| 1809-1814 | Marie Anne (Elisa) (sister of Napoleon I, emperor of the French; deposed, died 1820) |
| House of Habsburg-Lorraine: | |
| 1814-1824 | Ferdinand III (restored) |
| 1824-1859 | Leopold II (son; abdicated, died 1870) |
| 1859-1860 | Ferdinand IV (son; deposed, died 1908; union with the kingdom of Sardinia) |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY: | |
| Andrieux, M., I Medici (Milan, 1963). | |
| Schevill, F., History of Florence (New York, 1961). | |
| THE FARNESE AND BOURBONS IN PARMA | |
| House of Farnese: | |
| 1545-1547 | Pier Luigi (made duke of Parma and Piacenza by his father, Pope Paul III, 1545) |
| 1547-1586 | Ottavio (son) |
| 1586-1592 | Alessandro (son) |
| 1592-1622 | Ranuccio I (son) |
| 1622-1646 | Odoardo (son) |
| 1646-1694 | Ranuccio II (son) |
| 1694-1727 | Francesco (son) |
| l727-1731 | Antonio (brother) |
| House of Bourbon: | |
| 1731-1736 | Charles I (son of Elizabeth, niece of Antonio and Philip V of Spain; king of Spain 1759-88; Austrian rule 1736-48) |
| 1748-1765 | Philip (brother) |
| 1765-18O2 | Ferdinand (son; French occupation 1802-8; union with France 1808-14) |
| House of Habsburg-Lorraine: | |
| 1814-1847 | Marie Louise (daughter of Francis I, emperor of Austria; ex-empress of Napoleon I, emperor of the French) |
| House of Bourbon: | |
| 1847-1849 | Charles II (grandson of Ferdinand; duke of Lucca 1824-47, abdicated, died 1883) |
| 1849-1854 | Charles III (son) |
| 1854-1859 | Robert (son; deposed, died 1907; union with the kingdom of Sardinia 1860) |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY: | |
| Bazzi, T., and U. Benassi, Storia di Parma (Parma, 1908). | |
| Nasalli Rocca, E., I Farnese (Milan, 1969). | |
| VIVA LA FAMIGLIA! | |
| Louis Alfano |
