See also: List of viceroys of Sardinia and List of consorts of the Savoyard monarchs. The following is a list of rulers of Sardinia, in particular, of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica from 1323 and then of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1479 to 1861.
Owing to the absence of written sources, little is known of the history of the Nuraghic civilization which constructed impressive megalithic structures between the 18th and the 12th centuries BCE. The first accounts of Sardinia are from Greek sources, but relate more to myth than to historical reality; an African or Iberian hero, Norax, named the city of Nora; Sardo, a son of Hercules, gave the island its name; one of his nephews, Iolaus, founded the city of Olbia.[1] Greek colonization of the city of Olbia has been confirmed by recent archaeological excavations.[2] Towards the end of the 6th century BC, Sardinia was conquered by the Carthaginians and in 238 BC it was occupied by the Romans for c.1000 years, with a period under the dominion of the Vandals in the 5th and 6th centuries CE.
According to Procopius,[3] Godas was a Vandal governor of Sardinia who rebelled against his king, Gelimer, who ruled northern Africa, Sardinia and Corsica. Procopius wrote that Godas behaved like a king, but it was a short-lived kingdom.[4] Godas was defeated and killed after two years by an expedition from Carthage led by King Gelimer's brother, Tzazo. Shortly afterwards, Roman troops sent by Emperor Justinianus and led by General Belisarius, totally annihilated the Vandal kingdom and Sardinia returned to Roman administration.
See main article: Sardinian medieval kingdoms.
Before the Kingdom of Sardinia was founded, the rulers of the island were known as archons (ἄρχοντες in Greek) or "judges" (iudices in Latin, judices in Sardinian, giudici in Italian).[5] [6] The island was organized into one "judicatus" from the 9th century. After the Muslim conquest of Sicily in the 9th century, the Byzantines (who ruled Sardinia) could no longer defend their isolated far western province. In all likelihood a local noble family came to power, still identifying themselves as vassals of the Byzantines but in reality independent since communication with Constantinople was very difficult.
Of those rulers, only two names are known: Salusios (Σαλούσιος) and the protospatharios Turcoturios (Tουρκοτούριος),[7] [8] [9] who probably reigned some time in the 10th and 11th centuries. They were still closely linked to the Byzantines, both by a pact of ancient vassalage[10] and culturally, with the use of the Greek language (in a country of the Romance language) and Byzantine art.
In the early 11th century, Muslims based in Spain attempted to conquer the island.[11] The only records of that war are from Pisan and Genoese chronicles.[12] The Christians won but afterwards the previous Sardinian kingdom had been undermined and was divided into four small judicati: Cagliari (Calari), Arborea (Arbaree), Gallura, Torres or Logudoro.
Occasionally, these rulers took the style of king (rex):
Some rulers obtained the title King of Sardinia (Rex Sardiniae) by grant of the Holy Roman Emperor, despite the emperor itself not having any sovereignty over the island, which made this a mere title with no effective authority over Sardinia:[13]
James II of Aragon received royal investiture from Pope Boniface VIII in 1297 as Rex Sardiniae et Corsicae. The Aragonese did not take possession of the island until 1323, after a victorious military campaign against the Pisans. However, the Sardinian royal title did not have a specific line of succession and all kings used their own primary title.
See main article: Crown of Aragon. |-||James II of Aragon
1323 - 1327||||10 August 1267
Valencia
son of Peter I and Constance of Sicily||Isabella of Castile
1 December 1291
No children
Blanche of Anjou
29 October 1295
10 children
Marie de Lusignan
15 June 1315
No children
Elisenda de Montcada
25 December 1322
No children||5 November 1327
Barcelona
aged 60|-| Alfonso IV of Aragon
1327 - 1336|| ||1299
Naples
son of James II of Aragon and Blanche of Anjou|| Teresa d'Entença
1314
7 children
Eleanor of Castile
2 children || 27 January 1336
Barcelona
aged 37|-| Peter IV of Aragon
1336 - 1387 || ||5 October 1319
Balaguer
son of Alfonso IV and Teresa d'Entença||Maria of Navarre
1338
2 children
Leonor of Portugal
1347
No children
Eleanor of Sicily
27 August 1349
4 children || 5 January 1387
Barcelona
aged 68|-| John I of Aragon
1387 - 1396|| ||27 December 1350
Perpignan
son of Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily||Martha of Armagnac
27 March 1373
1 child
Yolande of Bar
1380
3 children || 19 May 1396
Foixà
aged 46|-| Martin of Aragon
1396 - 1410 || || 1356
Girona
son of Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily||Maria de Luna
13 June 1372
4 children
Margarita of Aragon-Prades
17 September 1409
No children||31 May 1410
Barcelona
aged 54|}
|-| Ferdinand I of Aragon
1412 - 1416 || || 27 November 1380
Medina del Campo
son of John I of Castile and Eleanor of Aragon||Eleanor of Alburquerque
1394
8 children|| 2 April 1416
Igualada
aged 36|-| Alfonso V of Aragon
1416 - 1458|| || 1396
Medina del Campo
son of Ferdinand I and Eleanor of Alburquerque||Maria of Castile
1415
No children|| 27 June 1458
Naples
aged 52|}
|-| John II of Aragon
1458 - 1479|| || 29 June 1398
Medina del Campo
son of Ferdinand I and Eleanor of Alburquerque|| Blanche I of Navarre
6 November 1419
4 children
Juana Enríquez
April 1444
2 children ||20 January 1479
Barcelona
aged 80|-| Ferdinand II of Aragon
1479 - 1516|| || 10 March 1452
son of John II of Aragon and Juana Enriquez|| Isabella I of Castile
19 October 1469
5 children
Germaine of Foix
1505
No children ||23 January 1516
Madrigalejo
aged 63|-| Joanna of Castile
1516 - 1555|| || 6 November 1479
daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile|| Philip IV of Burgundy,
1496
6 children|| 12 April 1555
Madrigalejo
aged 75|}
Nominally co-monarch of her son Charles, Joanna was kept imprisoned almost during her whole reign.
|-| Charles I of Spain
co-king with his mother Joanna
1516 - 1556 || || 24 February 1500
Ghent
son of Philip I of Castile and Joanna of Castile||Isabella of Portugal
10 March 1526
3 children ||21 September 1558
Yuste
aged 58|-| Philip II of Spain
1556 - 1598 || || 21 May 1527
Valladolid
son of Charles IV and Isabella of Portugal||Maria of Portugal
1543
1 child
Mary I of England
1554
No children
Elisabeth of Valois
1559
2 children
Anna of Austria
4 May 1570
5 children||13 September 1598
Madrid
aged 71|-| Philip III of Spain
1598 - 1621|| || 14 April 1578
Madrid
son of Philip I and Anna of Austria||Margaret of Austria
18 April 1599
5 children||31 March 1621
Madrid
aged 42|-| Philip IV of Spain
1621 - 1665|| || 8 April 1605
Valladolid
son of Philip II and Margaret of Austria||Elisabeth of Bourbon
1615
7 children
Mariana of Austria
1649
5 children
||17 September 1665
Madrid
aged 60|-| Charles II of Spain
1665 - 1700|| || 6 November 1661
Madrid
son of Philip III and Mariana of Austria||Maria Luisa of Orléans
19 November 1679
No children
Maria Anna of Neuburg
14 May 1690
No children
||1 November 1700
Madrid
aged 38|}
See also: Kingdom of Sardinia (1700–1720). |-| Philip V of Spain
1700 - 1708|| || 19 December 1683
Versailles
son of Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Anna of Bavaria||Maria Luisa of Savoy
2 November 1701
4 children
Elisabeth of Parma
24 December 1714
7 children
||9 July 1746
Madrid
aged 62|}Sardinia was taken over by Habsburg troops in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession in the name of the Habsburg claimant to the Spanish throne, "Charles III". At the end of the war, Sardinia remained in Charles' possession and, by the Treaty of Rastatt, was ceded to him.
See also: Kingdom of Sardinia (1700–1720). | Emperor Charles VI
1708 - 1720 || || 1 October 1685
Vienna
son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg||Elisabeth Christine
1 August 1708
4 children|| 20 October 1740
Vienna
aged 55|}Spanish forces invaded the kingdom in 1717 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. The island was under Spanish military occupation until 1720, when it was given back to Emperor Charles VI who in turn ceded it to the Duke of Savoy by the Treaty of The Hague.
The monarchs of the House of Savoy ruled from their mainland capital of Turin, but styled themselves primarily with the royal title of Sardinia as superior to their original lesser dignity as Dukes of Savoy. However, their numeral order continued the Savoyard list.
| Victor Amadeus II of Savoy
17 February 1720 - 3 September 1730|| || 14 May 1666
Turin
son of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne of Savoy||Anne Marie d'Orléans, Princess of France
10 April 1684
6 children||31 October 1732
Moncalieri
aged 66|-| Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy
3 September 1730 - 20 February 1773|| || 27 April 1701
Turin
son of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and Anne Marie d'Orléans, Princess of France||Anne Christine of Sulzbach
15 March 1722
1 child
Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg
20 August 1724
6 children
Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine
5 March 1737
3 children||20 February 1773
Turin
aged 72|-| Victor Amadeus III of Savoy
20 February 1773 - 16 October 1796|| ||26 June 1726
Turin
son of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg||Maria Antonietta of Spain
31 May 1750
12 children||16 October 1796
Moncalieri
aged 70|-| Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy
16 October 1796 - 4 June 1802|| ||24 May 1751
Turin
son of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain||Marie Clotilde of France
27 August 1775
No children||6 October 1819
Rome
aged 68|-| Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy
4 June 1802 - 12 March 1821|| ||24 July 1759
Turin
son of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain||Maria Teresa of Austria-Este
21 April 1789
7 children||10 January 1824
Moncalieri
aged 64|-| Charles Felix of Savoy
12 March 1821 - 27 April 1831|| ||6 April 1765
Turin
son of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain||Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily
7 March 1807
No children||27 April 1831
Turin
aged 66|-| Charles Albert of Savoy
27 April 1831 - 23 March 1849|| ||2 October 1798
Turin
son of Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignan and Maria Cristina of Saxony||Maria Theresa of Austria
30 September 1817
3 children||28 July 1849
Porto
aged 50|-| Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy
23 March 1849 - 17 March 1861 || ||14 March 1820
Turin
son of Charles Albert of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria||Adelaide of Austria
12 April 1842
8 children
Rosa Vercellana
18 October 1869
2 children||9 January 1878
Rome
aged 57|}
In 1861, after the annexation of other states in the Italian peninsula, the parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia passed a law (Legge n. 4671, 17 marzo 1861) adding to the style of the sovereign the title of King of Italy. The monarchs retained the designation of King of Sardinia.
| Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy
17 March 1861 - 9 January 1878 || ||14 March 1820
Turin
son of Charles Albert of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria||Adelaide of Austria
12 April 1842
8 children
Rosa Vercellana
18 October 1869
2 children||9 January 1878
Rome
aged 57|-| Umberto I of Italy
9 January 1878 - 29 July 1900 || || 14 March 1844
Turin
son of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy and Adelaide of Austria||Margherita of Savoy
21 April 1868
1 child||29 July 1900
Monza
aged 56|-| Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
29 July 1900 - 9 May 1946 || || 11 November 1869
Naples
son of Umberto I of Italy and Margherita of Savoy||Elena of Montenegro
24 October 1896
5 children|| 28 December 1947
Alexandria
aged 78|-|Umberto II of Italy
9 May 1946 - 12 June 1946 || || 15 September 1904
Racconigi
son of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Elena of Montenegro || Marie José of Belgium
8 January 1930
4 children|| 18 March 1983
Geneva
aged 78|}
The Kingdom of Italy was disestablished by an institutional referendum on 2 June 1946 and the Italian Republic was proclaimed.