The following section contains the list of all
Marquessates that have been existing or have existed in the
Kingdom of Sardinia. Titles were created through
letters patent by the King of Sardinia, who was also
King of Aragon since 1326 (actual creation of the Kingdom of Sardinia) to 1500, King of Spain and of Aragon since 1500 to 1713, Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire since 1519 to 1556 and since 1713 to 1720 and
Duke of Savoy since 1720 to 1847. The autonomous Kingdom of Sardinia ceased in 1847, when its Parliament asked the King – and obtained – for the unification (Italian:
perfetta fusione) with the other States belonging to him, namely the
Dukedom of Savoy, the
Principality of Piedmont, the
County of Nice and the
Dukedom of Genoa. Titles granted after 1847 by the kings of Sardinia, who became also
Kings of Italy since 1861, are not listed here.
Feudalism ceased in the years 1838–1840, when
fiefs were
redeemed by the Crown, i.e. bought. Afterwards, titles continued to be recognized as
honours, and nothing changed to this regard after the unification of Italy. Since the establishment of the
Italian Republic in 1946, titles are not officially recognized anymore and they exist as traditional and historical remains. The main associations that privately protect titles and nobility are the
Corpo della Nobiltà Italiana (
body of the Italian nobility, also known as CNI) and the
Corpo della Nobiltà Sarda (
body of the Sardinian nobility). In 14th and 15th centuries, no titles were granted, but only fief possession. Lords of fiefs were called (in
Catalan)
Barons or
Señors, i.e. lords (normally – but not always – the distinction depended on the extent of the power granted with the fief: Barons had the
merum and mixtum imperium, meaning civil and criminal jurisdiction, while Lords only the
mixtum imperium, civil jurisdiction) without these terms referring to specific titles but indicating just their quality of fief owners. Progressively, as a mark of distinction, a couple of titles of
Viscount were granted: the Kings of Aragon were primarily
Counts of
Barcelona, so the usual title they had granted in
Catalonia had been the one below their own rank. Chiefly in the 16th century, most important feudal lords began to receive titles of Counts, in order to emphasize their role. Only since the end of the century titles of Marquess (Marquis) were granted, as a result of an inflation of titles. Titles of Dukes were as rare as only one was granted before the
Savoy rule. A few exception to this trend have to be regarded as recognition of quasi-sovereign status: the rulers of
Arborea had in different times the titles of
Judex Arboreae, Count of
Goceano, Count of Monteleone and Marquis of Oristano, while the foremost house of Carroz, admirals and viceroys, had the title of Count of Quirra. Since the rank of marquis was theoretically the highest one, marquesses were addressed as "illustrious" by anyone and as "cousin" by the monarch, a concept similar to
peerage. Titles were granted either according to the Italian or the Catalan tradition (Latin respectively
iuxta morem Italiae and
iuxta morem Cathaluniae), meaning that the succession was only by male
primogeniture or also by females if the holder of the title had no sons. Succession by females was abolished in 1926, meaning that if the holder has no sons, the title passes to his younger brother, if any (as the normal
succession for British titles today). Note on language. The ordinary use in Sardinia is that proper names be translated according to the language of the document: that is why name of titles has been translated to English if the case be. For name of people, we adopted the actual most used language at the time:
Catalan until the 16th century included, Spanish for the 17th and 18th centuries and later for Spanish subjects, and Italian for the 19th century for Sardinian subjects. == List of marquesses in Lombardy ==