Duchy of Montferrat
The Duchy of Montferrat was a state located in Northern Italy. It was created out of what was left of the medieval March of Montferrat after the last Palaeologus heir had died and the margraviate had been briefly controlled by Habsburg Spain. After that brief interlude, it passed to the Gonzaga dukes of Mantua, in 1574.
Its territory, located in southern Piedmont, is still known today as Montferrat.
At that time, the state of Montferrat had an area of 2750 km2, and consisted of two separate parts bordered by the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Milan, and the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Casale Monferrato.
With the War of the Mantuan Succession, a piece of the duchy passed to Savoy; the remainder passed to Savoy in 1708, as Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, gained possession of the principal Gonzaga territory, the Duchy of Mantua.
