Duke of Parma

Duke of Parma and Piacenza
Duke of Parma and Piacenza
	Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Parma as Dukes of Parma and Piacenza. ; (1848–1859)
Details
Style	Royal Highness
First monarch	Pier Luigi Farnese
Last monarch	Robert I
Formation	16 September 1545
Abolition	3 December 1859
Pretender(s)	Carlos, Duke of Parma

The Duke of Parma and Piacenza (Italian: duca di Parma e Piacenza) was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese.^[1] It existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859.

The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except for the first years of the rule of Ottavio Farnese (1549–1556), and the time of the Napoleonic wars, when the two were established as separate positions held by two different individuals. The Duke of Parma also usually held the title of Duke of Guastalla from 1746 (when Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor occupied the Duchy of Guastalla after the last Gonzaga duke died childless) until 1847 (when the territory was ceded to Modena), except for the Napoleonic era, when Napoleon's sister Pauline was briefly Duchess of Guastalla and of Varella. The last duke, Robert I, was driven from power in a revolution following France and Sardinia's victory over Austria. Its territory was merged into Sardinia in 1860.

The position is currently claimed by a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma. A recent pretender to the extinct Parmese throne, the late Carlos-Hugo, was also a pretender to the Spanish throne in the 1970s (see Carlism).

^ Dickens, A. G. (1968). The Counter Reformation. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 96.

[1] Dickens, A. G. (1968). The Counter Reformation. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 96.

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