An ancient royal house of Europe (represented now by the king of Italy), whose territorial possessions were constituted a county of the empire in the 12th century under the name Savoy; was created a duchy in the 15th century. By the treaty of Utrecht (1713) the island of Sicily was ceded to Savoy and the title of king bestowed upon the duke; in 1720 Victor Amadeus II. was forced to cede Sicily to Austria in exchange for Sardinia, which with Savoy and Piedmont, etc., constituted the kingdom of Sardinia till its dissolution in 1860, when Savoy was ceded to France and the remaining portion merged in the new Italian kingdom under Victor Emmanuel.