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April 11, 1713 (Treaty of Utrecht); 1734 (Bourbon Naples)Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The War of the Spanish Succession Passes Italy From Spain to Austria

A European dynastic war hands Naples, Milan, and Sardinia to the Habsburgs, then splits Naples off again for the Bourbons

On the timeline · around April 11, 1713 (Treaty of Utrecht); 1734 (Bourbon Naples) · Renaissance and Foreign RuleRenaissance and Foreign RuleUnification and Liberal ItalyThe War of the Spanish Succession Passes Italy From Spain to Austria16001650170017501800

Quick facts

War trigger
Death of Charles II of Spain, 1700
Treaty of Utrecht
April 11, 1713
Italian territories to Austria
Naples, Milan, Sardinia
Bourbon Two Sicilies established
1734

What happened

The death of the childless Spanish king Charles II in 1700 triggered the War of the Spanish Succession, a European-wide conflict over whether a French Bourbon or an Austrian Habsburg would inherit Spain and its possessions, which by then included the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan, and Sardinia in Italy. The Treaty of Utrecht, signed on April 11, 1713, transferred Naples, Milan, and Sardinia to Austria, ending nearly two centuries of Spanish Habsburg rule over southern and northern Italian territory that had begun under Charles V. Austrian control did not last: further wars over the following decades redrew the map again, and by 1734 the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily had come under a separate Bourbon royal line, sharing the same ruler as a unified Bourbon Two Sicilies for the rest of the century.

Why it matters

This transfer marked the end of direct Spanish rule over Italian territory that had lasted since the early 16th century, replacing one set of foreign rulers, Spanish viceroys answering to Madrid, with two others, Austrian Habsburg administrators in the north and a separate Bourbon dynasty in the south. Italy would remain divided among Austrian, Bourbon, papal, and remaining independent Italian rulers for the rest of the 18th century, until Napoleon's invasion upended the settlement again in the 1790s.

How we know

The territorial provisions of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht are documented in the treaty's own text and corroborated by contemporary diplomatic correspondence among the European powers involved, and the 1734 transfer of Naples and Sicily to Bourbon rule is recorded in official histories of both kingdoms.

Sources

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Part of a timelineHistory of Italy27 events · A peninsula that fractured into rival kingdoms and city-states after Rome fell, then spent thirteen centuries putting itself back together as one countryView all →
The War of the Spanish Succession Passes Italy From Spain to Austria · History of Italy · SourcedStory