King of Italy - Definition and Overview

The title King of Italy was assumed by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in the Cathedral of Milan, May 26, 1805. His son was briefly King of Rome.

The title was recreated in 1861 for Vittorio Emanuele II of the House of Savoy.

Barbarian kings

See List of barbarian kings of Italy

Frankish kings

• Pippin: 781-810
• Bernard: 810-818
• Lothar: 818-839
• Louis II: 839-875
• Charles the Bald: 875-877
• Charles the Fat: 877-888

Between 888 and 961, there were usually several claimants to the throne of Italy, and on occasion even several living crowned Emperors.

• Berengar of Friuli: 888-891
• Guy of Spoleto: 889-894; Emperor 891-894
• Lambert of Spoleto: Emperor 894-898
• Arnulf of Carinthia: Emperor 896-899
• Louis III, of Provence: Emperor 901-905
• Berengar I (restored): 899-924; Emperor 915-924
• Rudolf II of Burgundy: 922-933
• Hugh of Arles: 924-947
• Lothar II, of Arles: 947-950
• Berengar of Ivrea: 950-961 (nominally sub-king under Otto I after 953)
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor: 951-973

• Arduin of Ivrea: 1002-1014

Kings under the Holy Roman Empire

From 962 until 1806, the kingdom of Italy was subsumed into the Holy Roman Empire, and the emperors also claimed to be the kings of Italy. The one serious independent claimant during this period was Arduin (listed above). However, after the reign of Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190), imperial authority in Italy - where existent at all - was always based on other titles.

Napoleonic era

• Napoleon Bonaparte: 1805 - 1815

House of Savoy

• Vittorio Emanuele II : 1861-1878
• Umberto I : 1878-1900
• Vittorio Emanuele III : 1900-1946
• Umberto II : 1946

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