Piedmont, during the 1800‘s was the home base for the unity of the Italian state. Piedmont is made up of
Turin the capital, and the provinces of
Ivrea,
Vercelli,
Cuneo,
Asti,
Novara, and
Alessandria and to which, recently, were added
Biella and
Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
The
Liguri were the first to inhabit the Italian peninsula, starting from the 2nd millennium B.C., establishing themselves even in the hinterlands of the Piedmont territories.
In the Roman period, Piedmont was a territory of
Liguria and of
Transpadana. When the Western Roman empire fell in the 5th century, the region was invaded by the barbaric tribes. The
Longobards descending into Italy in 568 divided the territory into dukedoms, while the
Carolingi created and divided it into
committees.
The first important reunification of the territory came about in the 10th century (
marca of Ivrea), while during the 13th century, Piedmont was dominated by the
Angiò family, then by the
Visconti family and last by the
Orléans. In fact the political and geographical closeness to
France determined the future events of the region.
The second important reunification of the region was with the
Savoiafamily in the 15th century. Without considering two French occupations, it was thanks to the enlargement of the “Saubaud State” including the island of
Sardinia, that was central to the unifying process of Italy.
After several revolutionary attempts in 1820-21 and in 1848, the democratic and liberal forces led by the minister of foreign affairs
Camillo Benso, count of Cavour liberated the Italian territories from the Austrian and Spanish dominations. On March 17th, 1861 the first
Italian National Parliament was formed, headed by
Vittorio Emanuele II in
Turin, the new capital of the Italian state.