The Kingdom of Sardinia
The kingdom of Sardinia was established in 1324 by Catalans, after Pope Boniface VIII granted James II king of Aragon the title of King of Sardinia and Corsica in 1297, and after a war between the kingdom of Aragon and its allies, the major families of Genoa who had territories in Sardinia and the giudicato di Arborea, against the republic of Pisa. Since 1420 (after the battle of Sanluri) the kingdom of Sardinia extended in the whole island.
The king of Sardinia was the same person who hold the title of king of Aragon and governed the kingdom through a viceroy who stayed in Cagliari. Thus the kingdom is said to belond to the crown (i.e. the commonwealth) of Aragon. The Sardinian political organization also had a parliament and, since 15??, a supreme court, called the Reale Udienza. Moreover in the city where the king stayed there was a so-called Supreme Council for Sardinian affairs.
After the fusion between Aragon and Castille Sardinia entered the crown of Spain, but nothing was formally changed in its autonomy. During the war of the Spanish succession Archduke Charles of Habsburg (later Emperor Charles VI) was appointed king of Sardinia in 1713, but could hold it no longer than 1718. In 1720 the title was granted by the treaty of London to Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy.
The kings of the House of Savoy never convoked the parliament of Sardinia and in 1847 its representative requested to the king the so-called perfect fusion with the continental States which belonged to the sovreign: Savoy, Piedmont, Genoa and its region and Nice. With the fusion Sardinian autonomy ceased and its institutions were replaced by a ministry for Sardinian affairs in Turin, but in 1848 king Carlo Alberto granted a constitution, called statuto albertino and the now unified kingdom of Sardinia had a 'democratic' parliament.
After Italian independence wars and adding the other Italian territories, in 1869 the kingdom of Sardinia changed name into kingdom of Italy. In 1946 with a referendum Italy became a republic and the island of Sardinia was granted regional autonomy.
Thus present Italy is institutionally nothing else than the old kingdom of Sardinia with an enlarged territory and new democratic institution.
Parliament of Sardinia
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Reale Udienza
Bibliography
Francesco Cesare Casula, Dizionario storico sardo, Carlo Delfino, Sassari 1996????
idem, Storia di sardegna
Goffredo Casalis, Dizionario storico-geografico degli Stati di Sua MAestà il Re di Sardegna, xxxxvoce....xxxxx