Given the spate of 19th century TLs at the moment, particularly those with a focus on Austria, Germany and Italy, I was wondering something:
By 1848, the House of Savoy was the only "Italian" royal house left - the Sforza had died out in the 16th century, the della Rovere went extinct in the 17th, while the 18th saw the extinction of the Gonzaga (both in Mantua and Guastalla), the Farnese and the Medici, leaving the d'Estes of Modena as the last man standing until they died out in the 19th century.
These native houses were replaced in their turn by what Dudley Pope refers to as "degenerate, half-witted Habsburg or Bourbon second sons with a following of Austrians or Spanish grandees who had been given estates in Italy to get them out of way". (To my mind, Pope seems to be implying Italy was a dumping ground or a trash heap).
If any of these native houses survived, would/could they serve as a rallying point to the unification movement as the Savoys did?