Italian nobility

The Italian nobility ( Italian: ''Nobiltà italiana'') comprised individuals and their families of the Italian Peninsula, and the islands linked with it, recognized by the sovereigns of the Italian city-states since the Middle Ages, and by the kings of Italy after the unification of the region into a single state, the Kingdom of Italy.

Nobles had a specific legal status and held most of the wealth and various privileges denied to other classes, mainly politicians. In most of the former Italian pre-unification states, it was the only class that had access to high-level government positions. They represented the most distinguished positions of the peninsular nations in addition to the Catholic Church for several centuries. There were varying forms of nobility over time in their respective regions.

From the Medieval Period until the nineteenth century in March 1861, Italy was not a single unified sovereign state. It was a peninsular consisting of several separate kingdoms, duchies, and other minor principalities, with many reigning dynasties. These were often related maritally to both the neighbouring Italian states and other major and minor European dynasties.

Recognition of Italian nobility ceased with the creation of the Italian Republic in 1946. Although many titles still exist, they are used as a matter of social courtesy and are not recognised under Italian law. A limited number of noble titles granted by the pope were formally acknowledged according to Article 42 of the Lateran Treaty until its abrogation in 1985.

History

Pre-unification

Before the unification of Italy (1861) there were many members of the nobility in Italy. Between the most famous we have to remember the Sforza of Milano and the Medici of Florence. Both of these families promoted the development of the Italian Renaissance in their cities & regions. Of course the most important were those of the House of Savoy nobility, who masterminded the creation of the kingdom of Italy in the XIX century.

In the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the Italian peninsular was home to a myriad of noble families that had risen to prominence via judicial appointment, election to the various regional senates or appointment to Catholic Church office.''History of the popes; their church and state (Volume III)''
by Leopold von Ranke (2009, Wellesley College Library)

There were also families which had been part of Italian nobility for many decades or even centuries. For example in Rome, writing in the 19th century, Leopold von Ranke recorded:

Sicilian nobility

The Sicilian nobility was a privileged hereditary class in the Kingdom of Sicily, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Kingdom of Italy, whose origins may be traced to the 11th century AD.

The Romans, Byzantines and Saracens exported different elements of their aristocratic structures to the island of Sicily, however, it was not until the Norman invasion of 1061, led by Roger I de Hauteville, that the Sicilian aristocracy and feudal system took root.

Over the centuries, established noble families were advanced through the aristocratic ranks. By the 18th century, the titles '' principe'', '' duca'' and '' marchese'' were held by many men whose ancestors, only several centuries earlier, had been barons and lords. '' Conte'', ''signore'' and '' cavaliere'' are titles that have been used by the Sicilian nobility. Over the centuries many families emerged as landed aristocracy or nobility similar to the English gentry and peerage.

Papal nobility

During this period, throughout Italy various influential families came to positions of power through the election of a family member as Pope or were elevated into the ranks of nobility through ecclesiastical