Kingdom of Sardinia

Kingdom of Sardinia
Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae Reino de Cerdeña Regno di Sardegna Royaume de Sardaigne
1324–1861
The final flag used by the kingdom under the "Perfect Fusion" (1848–1861) Coat of arms (1848–1870)
Motto FERT FERT FERT (Savoyard period)
Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815.
Capital		Cagliari (1324–1720, 1798–1814) Turin (1720–1798, 1814–1861)
Languages		Sardinian, Corsican, Catalan and Spanish,Italian (from 1760 onwards), French, Piedmontese, Ligurian
Government		Absolute monarchy (1324–1849) Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1849–1861)
King
•	1324–1327	James II of Aragon (first)
•	1849–1861	Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (last)
Prime Minister
•	1848	Cesare Balbo (first)
•	1860–1861	Camillo Benso (last)
Legislature		Parliament
•	Upper house	Subalpine Senate
•	Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
History
•	Papal investiture	1297
•	Actual establishment	1324
•	Kingdom to Habsburg	1714
•	Kingdom to Savoy	1720
•	Perfect Fusion	1848
•	Loss of Savoy and Nice	1860
•	Becomes the new Kingdom of Italy	1861
Area
•	1859	73,810 km² (28,498 sq mi)
Currency		Cagliarese (to 1813) Sardinian scudo (to 1816) Piedmontese scudo (to 1816) French franc (1800–14) Sardinian lira (1816–61)
Preceded by Succeeded by Giudicato of Arborea Republic of Pisa Sassari Duchy of Savoy Kingdom of Italy Second French Empire
Today part of		France  Italy  Monaco

The Kingdom of Sardinia was a state in Southern Europe which existed from the early 14th until the mid-19th century. It was the predecessor state of today's Italy.

When it was acquired by the Duke of Savoy in 1720, it was a small state with weak institutions. However, the Savoyards united it with their possessions on the Italian mainland and, by the time of the Crimean War in 1853, had built the resulting kingdom, often called Piedmont-Sardinia or just Piedmont in this period, into a strong power. Its final capital was Turin, the centre of Savoyard power since the Middle Ages.

The kingdom initially consisted of the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, sovereignty over both of which was claimed by the Papacy, which granted them as a fief, the regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae ("kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica"), to King James II of Aragon in 1297. Beginning in 1324, James and his successors conquered the island of Sardinia and established de facto their de jure authority. In 1420 the last competing claim to the island was bought out. After the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, Sardinia became a part of the burgeoning Spanish Empire. In 1720 it was ceded by the Habsburg and Bourbon claimants to the Spanish throne to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. The kingdom of Sardinia came to be progressively identified with the entire domain ruled by the House of Savoy, which included, besides Savoy and Aosta, dynastic possessions since the 11th century, the Principality of Piedmont (a possession built up in the 13th century), and the County of Nice (a possession since 1388). While in theory the traditional capital of the island of Sardinia and seat of its viceroys was Cagliari, the Piedmontese city of Turin was the de facto capital of the House of Savoy.