Savoyard state

Savoyard state
*Sabaudia* (lat)
*Stati di Savoia* (it)
*États de Savoie* (fr)
Savoyard state Sabaudia (lat); Stati di Savoia (it); États de Savoie (fr)
1003–1861
	Flag Coat of arms of Kings of Sardinia
	Motto: FERT
	The Savoyard state in 1839
Status	Former plurinational independent state; Former constituent territories of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Montmélian (1006–1295); Chambéry (1295–1562); Turin (1562–1792; 1815–1861); Cagliari (1792–1815)
Common languages	French, Italian, Piedmontese, Arpitan, Occitan, Latin
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	County, Duchy and Kingdom
Count; Duke; King
• 1003–1048	Humbert I White Hands (first)
• 1849–1861	Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia (last)
Historical era	Medieval era; Modern era
• Humbert I became Count of Savoy	1003
• Kingdom of Sardinia became Kingdom of Italy	1861
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Kingdom of Burgundy
Kingdom of Italy

The Savoyard state is a term of art used by historians to denote collectively all of the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy from the Middle Ages to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. This state was an example of composite monarchy.^[1]^[2] At the end of the 17th century, its population was about 1.4 million.^[3]^[4]^[5]

History

The multi-century history of Savoy included the period before the County of Savoy, then the County of Savoy, the Duchy of Savoy, the period from Savoy to Sicily and Sardinia before Italian unification, and thereafter.

From the Middle Ages, the state comprised the Duchy of Savoy, the Principality of Piedmont, the Duchy of Aosta and the County of Nice, all of which were formally part of the Holy Roman Empire. However, the Savoyards often acted against the Emperor, repeatedly siding with the French during the Franco-Habsburg Wars. From 1708, it included the Duchy of Montferrat, then the Kingdom of Sicily from 1713 until 1720, the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1720, and the Duchy of Genoa from 1815.

The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna of 1815 refers to them as the "States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia". Among contemporaries, "Kingdom of Sardinia" and "Sardinia" were used as common short forms, even though they were confounded with the island. "Piedmont", "Savoy-Piedmont" and "Piedmont-Sardinia" are also sometimes used to emphasise that the economic and political centre of the Savoyard state was the Piedmont since the late Middle Ages. The seat of the rulers was in Turin. Each state had its own institutions and laws.

These territories formed a composite state under the House of Savoy until the Perfect Fusion in 1847.^[2] By 1861, this unified state had acquired most of the other states on the Italian peninsula and formed the Kingdom of Italy, while its territories north and west of the Alps (including Savoy proper) became part of France.

Terminology

Scholarship has debated and used several different terms to reference the often disjointed possessions under control of the House of Savoy. Robert Oresko introduced the term "Sabaudian" in 1997.^[6]

Territory

Savoy during the Carolingian Empire
County of Savoy during the 12th
Duchy of Savoy in the 15th
Italian Peninsula in 1843
Proper Savoy today
Today's Administrative Piedmont in Italy

Flags

The first counts used the Holy Roman Empire banner as proof of their loyalty to the Emperor
Flag of the County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy (1023–1783)
Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia used in the late 18th century (1783–1802)
Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1832–1848), obtained by merging the flag of Savoy, Sardinia and Genoa
Flag of Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861)