Sardinia

Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
Sardìgna
Location of Sardinia
Established	1756
Capital	Casteddu
Largest City	Casteddu
Government Type	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Languages	Sard (official) French
Currency	Dinai

Sardinia (Sard: Sardìgna), officially the Kingdom of Sardinia, is an island nation in southern Europe. Part of the Spanish and French empires for centuries, an independent Sard monarchy gained independence in 1756.

History

French period (1700-1756)

France acquired Sardinia in 1700 from the Spanish Habsburgs. The Bourbons felt threatened by the Hispanic nobility of Sardinia and sought to replace them. Over the next three decades, the Hispanic population was gradually expelled. In February 1735, the Baron of Las Plassas Don Antonio Zapata Brondo left the island and took up residence in the capital of Spain, Madrid.

The power vacuum left by the disappearance of the Spanish nobility wasn't adequately taken advantage of by the French aristocracy. This led to the rise of a new Franco-Sard nobility, including the House of Mondiverru, the future ruling house of the island. Sardinia was the poorest of the French dominions in Italy, far beneath Milan, Naples, and Sicily. The feudal three-field system remained in use, hampering economic progress for decades.

Sard War of Independence

Main article: Sard Independence War

During the Great Silesian War in 1755, the French rose taxes on the Sard population. They also instituted a system of mandatory conscription, leading to the deaths of many young Sardinian men and several epidemics. The March 14th Protest planted the seeds for the successive revolts that would lead to independence.

In April 1755, Charles Boyer was made Viceroy of Sardinia. Known for his cruel yet efficient regime, his reign merely accelerated the independent of the island. Approximately sixteen months later, Sardinia would finally become a sovereign state once more after 450 years of foreign rule.

List of leaders