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| King of Italy | |
|---|---|
| Re d'Italia | |
.svg) | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Majesty |
| First monarch | Odoacer |
| Last monarch | Umberto II |
| Formation | 4 September 476 |
| Abolition | 12 June 1946 |
| Residence | Quirinal Palace |
| Pretender(s) | Disputed: |
King of Italy (Italian: Re d'Italia; Latin: Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian warlord, in the late 5th century, followed by the Ostrogothic kings up to the mid-6th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, which was maintained by subsequent Holy Roman Emperors throughout the Middle Ages. The last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
A Kingdom of Italy was restored from 1805 to 1814 with Napoleon as its only king, centred in Northern Italy. It was not until the Italian unification in the 1860s that an independent Kingdom of Italy covering the entire Italian Peninsula was restored. From 1861 the House of Savoy held the title of King of Italy until the last king, Umberto II, was exiled in 1946 when Italy became a republic.