Sardinien

Italiensk ø i Middelhavet syd for Korsika. Øen var genstand for fønikisk og græsk kolinisation i 9.-7. århundrede f.Kr. og blev i 6. århunderede f.Kr. erobret af Karthago; 238 f.Kr. indtog romerne øen, der blev romersk provins. I 5. århundrede e.Kr. erobret af vandalerne, indtil øen 534 erhvervedes af Byzantinske Rige. I 8. århundrede satte araberne sig fast på øen, men blev i 11. århundrede fordrevet af Genova og Pisa, der senere stredes indbyrdes om øen, til den omkring 1300 kom under Aragonien og derefter Spanien. Efter Spanske Arvefølgekrig tilfaldt Sardinien 1714 Østrig, der 1720 byttede øen for Sicilien, hvorefter den tilfaldt hertugen af Savoyen; herve opstod Kongeriget Sardinien, der desuden omfattede Piemonte, Savoyen; Genova og Nicd. Efter 1815 var Sardinien den eneste italienske stat, der lå uden for Østrigs indflydelse.

The Kingdom of Sardinia

After the acquisition of Sardinia, the political history of the dynasty (Savoyen) became that of the kingdom of Sardinia (see Sardinia, kingdom of) and of Italy. Victor Amadeus II was succeeded by Charles Emmanuel III (reigned 1730–73), Victor Amadeus III (reigned 1773–96), and Charles Emmanuel IV, who lost all but the island of Sardinia to Napoleon I and abdicated (1802) in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel I. Restored to his possessions in 1814, Victor Emmanuel I abdicated in 1821, after the outbreak of a revolution in Piedmont. His brother and successor, Charles Felix, died without issue in 1831, and the cadet line of Savoy-Carignano, descended from a younger son of Charles Emmanuel I, came to the throne in the person of Charles Albert.

Sardinia, kingdom of, name given to the possessions of the house of Savoy (see Savoy, house of) in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded (by the Treaty of London) to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austria. Besides Sardinia, the kingdom included Savoy, Piedmont, and Nice; Liguria, including Genoa, was added by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. During the Risorgimento the kingdom expanded to include almost all Italy. Lombardy was added in 1859. In 1860, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Marche, and the Romagna (i.e., the Papal States except Rome and Latium) were annexed by the kingdom. After the annexation (1861) of the Two Sicilies, Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed king of Italy. Although the name of the kingdom of Sardinia was derived from the island, Turin was its capital except from 1799 to 1814, when the mainland territories were annexed by France. During that period, Cagliari, on Sardinia, was the royal residence.