The Duchy of Castro was a

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

in central Italy formed in 1537 from a small strip of land on what is now

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

's border with

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, centred on Castro, a fortified city on a tufa cliff overlooking the Fiora River which was its capital and ducal residence. While technically a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, it enjoyed ''de facto'' independence under the rule of the House of Farnese until 1649, when it was subsumed back into the Papal States and administered by the House of Stampa di Ferentino.Lunario Romano, Palazzi Municipali del Lazio 1984 The title of Duke of Castro has been held since the late 1860s by the claimant to the headship of the

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies The House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons that ruled Southern Italy and Sicily for more than a century in the 18th and 19th centuries. It descends from the Capetian dynasty in legitimate male line through Phili ...

, since the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was annexed to the newborn

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

. Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro currently holds the tile. It was created a duchy by Pope Paul III (1534–1549) in the

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

'' Videlicet immeriti'' on 31 October 1537, with his son

Pier Luigi Farnese Pier Luigi Farnese (19 November 1503 – 10 September 1547) was the first Duke of Castro from 1537 to 1545 and the first Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1545 to 1547. Born in Rome, Pier Luigi was the illegitimate son of Cardinal Alessandro Farn ...

and his firstborn male heirs as its dukes. It lasted approximately 112 years and was eclipsed by the Farnese's possessions in Parma. It stretched from the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

to the

Lago di Bolsena Lake Bolsena ( it, Lago di Bolsena) is a lake of volcano, volcanic origin in the northern part of the province of Viterbo called ''Alto Lazio'' ("Upper Latium") or ''Tuscia'' in central Italy. It is the largest volcanic lake in Europe. Roman ...

, in the strip of land bounded by the river Marta and the river Fiora, stretching back to the Olpeta stream and the lago di Mezzano, from which the Olpeta flows. The duchy of Latera and county of

Ronciglione Ronciglione (locally ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio (central Italy), about from Viterbo. The city is located in the Cimini mountains, over two tuff scarps, on the SE slope of the former volcano crater now housing ...

were annexed to it.

Wars of Castro

List of Dukes of Castro

*1537-1545:

*1545-1547: Ottavio Farnese *1547-1553: Orazio Farnese *1553-1586: Ottavio Farnese *1586-1592: Alexander Farnese *1592-1622:

Ranuccio I Farnese Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and Piacenza, thus rescinding the ...

*1622-1646: Odoardo Farnese *1646-1649: Ranuccio II Farnese

References

{{Former monarchies Italian peninsula 1537 establishments in the Papal States 1649 disestablishments Castro, Duchy of Papal States States and territories established in 1537 House of Farnese Former monarchies of Europe Former duchies