The New International Encyclopædia/Piedmont

PIEDMONT, pēd′mōnt (It. Piemonte, country at the foot of the mountains). A compartimento of the Italian kingdom embracing the provinces of Turin, Cuneo, Alessandria, and Novara, and bounded by Switzerland, France, Liguria, and Lombardy. In 1247 a partition of the territories of Savoy (q.v.) led to the establishment of the two related lines of Savoy and Piedmont. The rulers of the second line were made princes of the Empire in the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1418 the dynasty became extinct and the land reverted to Savoy. From 1797 to 1814 it was a part of France. It constituted the principal part of the former Kingdom of Sardinia (q.v.), which was not infrequently spoken of as the Kingdom of Piedmont. See Italy.