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There have been several distinct entities known as the Kingdom of Italy. Italy under the rule of Odoacer from 476 to 493 is often called the kingdom of Italy, since it encompassed the Roman province of Italy and Odoacer is periodically (though always unofficially) styled rex (king). The Ostrogothic Kingdom that replaced Odoacer's rule in Italy is also sometimes referred to as a "kingdom of Italy". The term rex Italiae (king of Italy) came into use with the Ostrogoths. The other kingdoms of Italy were more formal:
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- At first a Lombard state established in 568. It was conquered by the Franks in 774 and formed a part of the Carolingian Empire and Middle Francia, but always with its own kings. It enjoyed a period of independence from any higher authority after the fall of Carolingian Empire until Otto the Great, already King of Germany, inherited its throne, a formative moment in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. Thereafter the kingdom was tethered to Germany as a part of the Empire, but its importance as a separate polity declined in the High Middle Ages and by the Renaissance it had ceased to function, though it had a nominal existence until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.
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- Napoleon Bonaparte established a French client state in Italy between 1805 and 1814.
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- Following the Risorgimento (or "unification of Italy") under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the House of Savoy, then represented by Victor Emmanuel II, was invited to hold the throne of a new independent kingdom in 1861. The state was often known as Fascist Italy during the regime of Benito Mussolini from 1922 to 1943. The kingdom was replaced by a Republic in 1946.
See also
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