The County of Guastalla was a feudal state in northern Italy, centered on Guastalla. The title of count was created in 1406 for Guido Torelli.
History
The Torelli family ruled Guastalla until 1539. The final ruler, Countess Ludovica Torelli, inherited it as a young woman over her illegitimate older brother, sold her rights to the county to Ferrante Gonzaga for 22,000 ducats.[1][2] Another branch of the Torelli family held the County of Montechiarugolo, which was created in 1456 from a split in the County of Guastalla, until 1612.
Ferrante Gonzaga's descendants ruled Guastalla until 1746, being raised to the title of duke in 1621 when the territory became the Duchy of Guastalla. The last Gonzaga duke, Giuseppe Gonzaga, died heirless in 1746, at which point the territory was briefly incorporated into Austrian Lombardy.
With the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Guastalla was ceded to the Duke of Parma.
See also
- Guastalla
- Duchy of Guastalla
- List of rulers of Guastalla
- Duchy of Parma
- House of Gonzaga
- County of Montechiarugolo
- List of historic states of Italy
References
- ^ Winston, ElDanté C. (May 2022). Power and Punishment: Architecture and Violence in the Italian Renaissance (PhD thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/145115.
- ^ Rosenberg, Charles M. (2010-06-21). The Court Cities of Northern Italy: Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-521-79248-6.