Duchy of Guastalla

The Duchy of Guastalla was a small Italian state centred on the town of Guastalla in the Po Valley. On 2 July 1621, Emperor Ferdinand II raised the county of Guastalla to the rank of a duchy, and Ferrante II Gonzaga became its first duke. Ferrante II hoped to succeed to the larger Duchy of Mantua, but he died of plague in 1630 and was succeeded by his son Cesare II, under whom Guastalla annexed Dosolo, Luzzara and Reggiolo. The duchy modernised its defences because of the frequent wars sweeping Italy, but in 1689-90 Spanish troops stormed the city, demolished its walls and destroyed the Visconti castle. In 1692 the duke was accused of felony and Emperor Leopold I granted Guastalla to Vincenzo Gonzaga. During the War of the Spanish Succession the territory saw fighting at the Battle of Luzzara in 1702, and the city itself was forced to surrender. The last Gonzaga duke died without heirs in 1746; Guastalla was incorporated into Austrian Lombardy in 1747 and, by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, joined to the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. It later passed between Parma, Modena and Napoleonic Italy before becoming part of the unified Kingdom of Italy.