The
1713 Treaty of Utrecht ending the
War of the Spanish Succession saw Spain's dominions in Italy parceled away to just about anyone who asked for something. Sardinia and
Naples were given to
Austria;
the island of
Sicily was given to
Savoy (aka
Piedmont). Since Sicily had been a kingdom since the Middle Ages, Duke
Victor Amadeus was now King of Sicily, even though the whole thing was ruled from
Turin, capital of Savoy.
In a little
1717-
1720 mini-war just after the War of the Spanish Succession,
Spain attempted to conquer Sicily back. The
British and
Austrians prevented them. Well, having gone to the trouble and expense of conquering Sicily themselves, Austria certainly wasn't going to give it back to the Piedmontese, so they gave Victor Amadeus Sardinia as a consolation prize.
The new agglomeration was named the
Kingdom of Sardinia, because Victor Amadeus was now a king and couldn't be made less than a king. It was still, however, ruled from Turin.
N.B. This writeup also mentions both parts of another kingdom named after a province, rather than the ruling region. The
War of Austrian Succession saw Naples set up on its own right as a kingdom, with Sicily thrown in for good measure. Since Sicily had been a kingdom for slightly longer than Naples had been, the agglomeration was called the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The king ruled Sicily from Naples until Piedmont..err, Sardinian forces kicked him out in
1860, creating the first state that could be called
Italy with a straight face.