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The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul III's illegitimate son, Piero Lodovico Farnese. In 1556, the second Duke, Ottavio Farnese, became also Duke of Piacenza, and thus the state was thereafter properly known as the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza.
The Farnese continued to rule until their extinction in 1731, at which point the Duchy was inherited by the Spanish Infant Don Carlos, whose mother Isabella Farnese was the Farnese heiress. He ruled until the end of the War of the Polish Succession in 1735, when Parma was ceded to the Emperor in exchange for the Two Sicilies. The Austrians only ruled until the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, when it was ceded to the Infant Don Felipe, Don Carlos's younger brother. As Duke Filippo, he became the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma.
In 1802, the Duchies were occupied by the French, who took over administration, and, in 1808, annexed them, forming out of them the Département of Taro (although two of his officials were given the titles of Duc de Parme and Duc de Piacenze). In 1814, the Duchies were restored, now under Napoleon's wife, Marie Louise, who was to rule them for her lifetime. She died in 1847, and the Bourbons, who had heretofore been ruling the tiny Duchy of Lucca, returned. The Bourbons ruled until 1859, when they were driven out by a revolution following the Sardinian victory in their war against Austria. The Duchies joined with Tuscany and Modena to form the United Provinces of Central Italy in December, and were annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in March of 1860.
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