Duchy of Mirandola

The Duchy of Mirandola was a state of northern Italy that existed from 1310 until 1711, centred in Mirandola in what is now the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, and ruled throughout by the House of Pico della Mirandola. The Pico were a noble family first known through one Hugh, a vassal of Matilda of Tuscany in the eleventh century; in the following centuries members of the family served as podestà in Modena and Reggio Emilia before establishing their own lordship at Mirandola, whose fortress made the small state a point of contention between its greater neighbours. The lords of Mirandola rose through the ranks of Italian nobility — for a time lords of Mirandola and Concordia, then princes of Mirandola and marquises of Concordia — until Alessandro I was raised to Duke of Mirandola in 1619, the title held by Alessandro II and then Francesco Maria Pico, the last of the line. Under the tenure shown on the map the duchy was a modest but sovereign court among the Este and Gonzaga lands. The end came in the wars around 1710: the last lord, Francesco Maria Pico, was charged with treason after having been forced to cede the fortress to the French, and the duchy was acquired by the Duchy of Modena under the House of Este, who bought it for 175,000 golden doppie.