ITALY STATE
Italy state has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the EUROPEAN STATES category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.
Italy is an aeternitas of the history of european integration that will have influence on the future of Europe. The name given by the inhabitants is REPUBBLICA ITALIANA applying the official national language of Italian (belonging to the group of Italic family) spoken by the citizens who today live in the parliamentary Republic of Italy, together with the minorities speaking other Italic languages as Ladino and Italo-Dalmatian&Istiot, guaranteed locally with special juridical recognition, as the dialets Lumbard, Ligurian, Neapolitan, Sicilian and Sardinian largely spreaded in the country.
Italy is situated in southern Europe above the Alps and along all the Appennini mountains, sourrounded eastward by the Adriatic Sea, southward by the Ionian and Mediterranean seas and westward by the Thyrrenian and Ligurian seas, while it borders are defined by the Alps on North with Austria and Switzerland, at West with France and at East with Slovenia. Are part of Italy's territoriality the big island of Sicily, Sardinia and Elba and the archiperlagos of Aeolies, Pontine and Tremiti, plus the exclave of Campione d'Italia. Its territory has been formed by the Alps (the Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of Europe) and Appennini chains that give origins to several rivers: the Po river pass throught and created the Pianura Padana before to erupt with a wade delta into the Adriatic Sea, after reveiving tributes from the Dora Baltea, the Bormida, the Trebbia, the Tycinus, the Adda and the Adige alpine rivers, while Arno and Tiber are the longest rivers within the Appennini and famous for passing throught the cities of Florence and Rome. Around 7500 km of coasts are mostly sandy, except for the mount Gargano region, the Cilento area and great part of the Calabria littoral, that makes Italy (together with its incomparable cultural estate) one of the most famous and frequented touristic destination in the world. Italy is rich of lakes in particular in the Alpine region, as the great Garda, the Maggiore, the Como e the Iseo lakes, while in the centre country are present large lakes of vulcanic origin such as the Bolsena, the Bracciano and the Trasimeno, differently from the big adriatic lidos of Venice, Lesina and Varano. In Italy there exist some of the biggest and still active vulcanos of Europe as the Etna and the Stromboli mountains in Sicily, whereas the famous Vesuvius and the area of Campi Flegrei are witnesses of the strong seismic activities underground the Gulf of Naples. The climate is temperate at North, influenced by humidity from the atlantic region, such as in Sardinia that can benefit of the mediterranean climate of the centre-southern country usually dried and hot, while on northern mountains the weather is typically alpine, characterized by rigid temperatures and plentiful precipitations during all year.
How old is Italy? The history of Italy started with the first settlements of the Megalithics people (as you can see in this article) on western Alps, on the northern Thyrrenian Sealands and in Sardinia during the Neolithic age, who had been followed by the Alpines people on the whole Alps chain and by the Italics people in centre-Southern part of the country and also by some Illyrians tribes on the Adriatic Sealands, until 2500 BC. In X century AD in Italy there had founded the reign of Etruscans in Tuscany, around the Dodecapolis cities and Siena and Bologna colonies, who developed the Villanovian civilty and colonized the Pianura Padana e centre-southern Italy up to Naples. Where they met and fight the Greeks civilty spreaded in South Italy (Magna Graecia), in the city-daughters of the greeks Kingdoms-Polys (Basileia) of Larinum, Taras, Caelia/Ceglie, Cumae, Naples, Metaponto, Heraclea, Sybari, Kroton, Locri, Reggio, Catania, Messina, Syracuse, Akragas, Gela, Segesta, etc. Time after, in VII century AD came the invasion of the Senoni tribe of Celts during La Téne and Golasecca cultures epoch in eastern Pianura Padana, concurrently with the Romans foundation of their civitas of Rome in 735 BC under Romulus, son of the greek God Ares and of the mother descending from the greek Goddess Aphrodite and Aenea hero of the Troy, who married the descendant of the greek God Hermes.
As evident, the situation was so complex and fragmented that a question emerges: when was founded Italy? From III century BC Romans started the conquest of all Italy completed in 194 BC with the annexation of the Pianura Padana to the Respublica of Rome as Gallia Cisalpina province, aside the Sicilia province and the Sardegna-Corsica province conquered at the end of the first punic war against Carthago. Within the reform of Augustus (see Roman Empire), Italy was included into the Italiae province and fragmented in Regios (I Latio et Campania; II Apulia et Calabria; III Lucania et Bruttii; IV Samnium; V Picenum; VI Umbria et ager Gallicus; VII Etruria; VIII Aemilia; IX Liguria; X Venetia-Istria; XI Traspadania) but with the reform of Constantine I (see Christian Empire) was divided in two parts: the Italiae diocesi southern of the Rubicon river, including Rome "Urbs" and Suburbicaria and Sicilia and Sardegna-Corsica provinces; the Annonaria diocesi composed of the Cisalpina and Alpes and Noricum provinces. Romans builts a wade roads network all around Europe whose centre was Rome, passing through the several civitas founded by them as Aquileia, Asti, Alba, Ivrea, Piacenza, Brescia, Cremona, Parma, Modena, Florence, Cagliari, Capua, etc. while were already present at I century BC large Israelites communities in Rome, Naples, Salerno, Benevento, Kroton, Reggio, Syracuse, Akragas, Messina and Catania.
The Roman Empire has been ruled from 27 BC to 476 AD by many Roman dinasties (Gens Julia-Claudia, Gens Flavia, Gens Aurelia, Gens Antonini, Gens Severi, Gens Valeria, Gens Costantini, Gens Teodosiani, Gens Valentiniani, Gens Anicia, other "anarkist" or laters) mostly descending from greek gods and at the falling of the Western Roman Empire, Italy remained divided in two parts quite until XIX century AD! Indeed the invasions of Germans people saw the Vandals creating the Regna Vandaloricum in the Sardegna-Corsica province, ruled by Asdingi dinasty, and the Ostrogoths found the Regna Ostrogotorum in most part of the country under Amali dinasty, both annexed to Byzantine Empire in 553 AD at the end of the "greek-goths war". Then from VI to X century AD the Italiae diocesi had been composed of Exarchate of Ravenna, Pentapolis, Themes of Calabria, of Longobardia and of Sikelia, aside the independent Theme of Sardinea-Corsica, the Duchy of Venetia and the Neapolis Principality (watch this map), while the rest of the country had been conquered in 568 AD by Lombards, who founded the Regna Longobardorum under the Alboinici and Agilolfingi dinasties but fragmented in main duchies (Torino, Verona, Friuli, Tuscia, Spoleto and Benevento).
The political situation changed again with the conquest of Franks in 774 AD: With the renovatio imperii reform of Charlemagne the land of Italy was annexed to the Carolingian Empire, within the Regnum Italiae ruled by the Carolingian dinasty and fragmented as succeeding the ex-lombards duchies in the marks of Ivrea of Friuli/Verona of Tuscia and Spoleto and the Patrimonium Petri (see Vatican State). The rest of the country remained under possessions of Constantinople, where had been founded the "Free marine republics" of Venice (697 - 1805 AD, ruled by city Dogi) and of Genoa (958 - 1815 AD, ruled by city Dogi). The only great difference was the independent status of the ex-lombard or byzantine duchies in southern country: the Duchy of Benevento (existing from 571 AD) and the County of Capua (founded in 840 AD) both ruled by lombards dinasty, that in 900 AD had been joined and elevated to Principaliy of Capua&Benevento under the Teano dinasty; the Principality of Salerno, founded in 840 AD ruled by the citizens dinasties of Siconidi, Pietridi and Dauferidi before to be passed to Teano dinasty, such as happened to the Duchy of Naples founded in 661 AD and ruled by byzantines and Cuma dinasties. So Italy continued to be divided in two differently parts: when the carolingian empire was splitted in 843 AD with the Verdun treaty, it became part of the Regna Lotharingia and seat of the imperial title of rex romanorum, crowned in Pavia or in Rome until 1527 AD with Emperor Charles V, ruled by Carolingian and their related dinasties of Unrochidi, Guidoni, of Bosonidi and Anscarici.
But the political situation of Italay evolved again with the conquest of Vikings, who in XI century AD was able to join all the southern fiefs into the Kingdom of Sicily with capital in Palermo and ruled by the Hauteville dinasty allied to the Popes. While in 962 AD the northern part of Italy had been annexed to the Reich Empire by the emperor Otto I "the great", then had been founded new feifs became important all along the history of european integration. The Marquisade of Ivrea ruled by Anscarici and Arduinici dinasties was splitted in 1024 AD into: the Mark of Saluzzo, enfeoffed in 1125 AD to Aleramici family until 1601 AD when was annexed to the County of Savoia; this had been founded in 1000 AD and ruled by the Savoia dinasty then elevated as Duchy of Savoia in XVI century, finally annexed in 1720 AD to the Kingdom of Sardinia when the S-Acaja dinasty extinguished; the Mark of Monferrato founded in 967 AD and enfeoffed to Aleramici dinasty, then inherited by the Paleologo dinasty who in 1530 AD ceded it to the Mark of Mantova. It was a part of the ancient Mark of Canossa instituited in 970 AD and ruled by the homonimous dinasty until estinguished in 1115 AD: founded in 1328 AD and enfeoffed to Gonzaga dinasty then passed to the G-Nevers family until 1745 AD when it was annexed to Reich Empire. The Mark of Friuli/Verona founded in 781 AD and enfeoffed to Unrochidi dinasty in great part was included into the Archibishopric of Verona and in part passed to Della Scala family and finally was annexed to the Duchy of Milan: instituted in 1395 AD and enfeoffed to Visconti family, then inherited by the Sforza dinasty until XVI century AD when the Habsburg-Spain dinasty annexed to the Kingdom of Spain. The Mark of Tuscia founded in 781 AD enfeoffed to the Tuscia dinasty, then passed to Obertenghi, Canossa and Guidi dinasties until in 1235 AD it was splitted in free "Comuni", Republics and Duchies of Romans/Etruscans civitas under the Reich Empire before to be annexed to the (Great) Duchy of Florence/Tuscany enfeoffed to Medici family in 1434 AD then inherited by Habsburg-Toscana dinasty. Something similar happened to the Duchy of Modena&Reggio, enfeoffed in 1264 AD to Estensi family then inherited by Habsburg-Este dinasty, and the Duchy of Parma&Piacenza instituted in 1545 AD for the Farnese family and inherited by Borbone-Napoli dinasty. All these feifs had been annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860 AD with spontaneous devolution acts.
Meantime, the ancient Duchy of Spoleto (VI century AD) after have been ruled by lombards and Guidoni and franks dinasties in 1247 AD was annexed to the State of Church, such as the Duchy of Urbino in 1631 AD by Della Rovere family, that had inherited by Montefeltro dinasty who founded it in 1213 AD. The same State of Church was in part annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860 AD and definitely conquered by the Kingdom of Italy in 1871 AD under the Savoia dinasty, who moved the capital in Rome. They had been elevated with the Utrecht Peace to royal dinasty of Sicily then of Sardinia in 1720 AD, joined to the Duchy of Savoia and became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 AD after the independence wars won against the Austria Empire and the campaign of annexation of the ancient Kingdom of Two Sicilies ruled by Borbone-Napoli dinasty since 1734 AD. This was in continuity with the ancient kingdom ruled since 1137 AD by Hauteville, Staufer, Angioini, Aragona and Habsburg dinasties, separated from the Kingdom of Naples from 1268 to 1435 AD ruled by Angioini dinasty: both had been joined to the Kingom of Spain in XVI century AD by Bellonidi dinasty and inherited by Habsburg families, then joined in the Kingdom of "Two Sicily" from 1734 to 1860 AD by Borbone-Napoli dinasty. Whereas the ancient Judicates of Sardinia of Torres, of Gallura, of Arborea and of Cagliari instituted in 959 AD and ruled by Lacon-Gunale and Del Balzo dinasties had been conquered in 1297 AD by the Regna Aragona then joined to the Kingom of Spain before to became the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720 AD.
After the military undertaking of the national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, who conquered the Kingdom of "Two Sicily" and ceded it to the king of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele I, Italy is united and independent since 1861 AD and became Republic at the end of the Second World War: nowadays is administered by regions (Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli, Trentino-Alto-Adige, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzi, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia), the capital is Rome and the biggest city are Milan, Naples, Torino, Palermo, Genoa, Bologna, Florence and Bari. Some of the most ancient cities in Europe are the ones founded by Pheonicians, Megalithics or Celts as Genoa, Torino, Motya, Panormos/Palermo, Naxos/Acireale/Taormina, Paestum, Milan, Pavia, Verona or Senigallia, while Italics and Illyrians established new cities famous in Adria, Padua, Este, Bari, Lucera, Venosa, Canosa, Otranto, Brindisi, Tivoli, Alba Longa, Tusculum, Lanuvium, Assisi, Foligno, Spoleto, Narni, Rimini, Ravenna, Benevento, Norcia, Rieti, Ascoli, Ancona, Matera, Vibo Valentia and Cosenza.
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