Aosta

The Duchy of Aosta was a Savoyard Alpine territory guarding the St Bernard passes between Burgundy and Italy. In 1337 Count Haimo the Peaceful held the valley alongside Savoy and Piedmont.

In 1561 Duke Emmanuel Philibert made French the language of administration. Aosta retained its own institutions and taxes until their alignment with Piedmont in the later eighteenth century; in 1798 Napoleonic troops ended the duchy's separate existence.