Europe · The modern states
Italian Republic
drawn on the map 1946–2024
The medieval Kingdom of Italy (Regnum Italiae or Regnum Italicum) was the successor to the Lombard Kingdom, comprising northern and central Italy (Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, and adjacent regions, but not the southern Lombard duchies, the papal lands, or Byzantine/Norman areas). After Charlemagne conquered the Lombards in 774, the realm was ruled as a Carolingian sub-kingdom (his son Pippin was made king of Italy in 781).
- Shown on the map
- 1946–2024
- Peak area
- 292k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The medieval Kingdom of Italy (Regnum Italiae or Regnum Italicum) was the successor to the Lombard Kingdom, comprising northern and central Italy (Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, and adjacent regions, but not the southern Lombard duchies, the papal lands, or Byzantine/Norman areas). After Charlemagne conquered the Lombards in 774, the realm was ruled as a Carolingian sub-kingdom (his son Pippin was made king of Italy in 781). After the Carolingian collapse in 888, it became an independent kingdom fought over by local magnates (the "national kings," such as Berengar I of Friuli and Guy of Spoleto).
Later history and present status
The kingship was symbolized by the Iron Crown of Lombardy (said to contain a nail from the True Cross), used to crown the kings at Pavia (later Monza and Milan). In 951–961 Otto I of Germany conquered the kingdom, and thereafter the Kingdom of Italy was normally held by the German king/Holy Roman Emperor, its crown being one of the constituent crowns of the Empire. Italian kingship remained largely a matter of imperial claim and coronation ritual, with real power fragmenting among the communes, the papacy, and regional lords.
Common questions
- What was the Italian Republic?
- The medieval Kingdom of Italy (Regnum Italiae or Regnum Italicum) was the successor to the Lombard Kingdom, comprising northern and central Italy (Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, and adjacent regions, but not the southern Lombard duchies, the papal lands, or Byzantine/Norman areas). After Charlemagne conquered the Lombards in 774, the realm was ruled as a Carolingian sub-kingdom (his son Pippin was made king of Italy in 781).
- When is the Italian Republic shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Italian Republic 1946–2024. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
- How large was the Italian Republic?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Italian Republic covered about 292,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- What is the present status of the Italian Republic?
- The kingship was symbolized by the Iron Crown of Lombardy (said to contain a nail from the True Cross), used to crown the kings at Pavia (later Monza and Milan). In 951–961 Otto I of Germany conquered the kingdom, and thereafter the Kingdom of Italy was normally held by the German king/Holy Roman Emperor, its crown being one of the constituent crowns of the Empire.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity as the primary basis, cross-checked against Encyclopædia Britannica and the World History Encyclopedia, while flagging entries built on thin or contested evidence — Samo's Empire on a single Fredegar passage, Venice's 697 founding date as legendary, the Pacta conventa as a probable forgery. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Italy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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