State of the Presidi in the context of "Council of Italy"

The Hispanic Monarchy (Monarquía Hispánica in Spanish), also known as the Catholic Monarchy and historically referred to as the Monarchy of Spain, was the political entity encompassing the territories and dependencies of the Spanish Empire between 1479 and 1716. These regions maintained distinct, individual public institutions, councils, and legal systems, but were united under the control of a superior entity (the King of Spain) and common state institutional structures. This monarchy was administered under a polysynodial system of councils. The Spanish monarch acted as king (or with the corresponding title) according to the political constitution of each kingdom, state, or lordship, and thus, their formal power varied from one territory to another. However, they acted as a unified monarch over all the territories of the monarchy, almost like a Composite Monarchy.

The Monarchy included the Crown of Castile—with Granada, Navarre and the kingdoms of the Indies—and Aragon—with Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Malta and the State of the Presidi—, Portugal and its overseas territories between 1580 and 1640, the territories of the Burgundian Circle except between 1598–1621—Franche-Comté, the Netherlands, as well as Charolais—, the Duchy of Milan, the Marquisate of Finale, the Spanish East Indies, and Spanish Africa.

Porto Azzurro is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany; it is on the island of Elba, located about 130 kilometres (81 miles) southwest of Florence and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Livorno. It was formerly called Porto Longone, and in 1557 Iacopo VI Appiani, Prince of Piombino, granted Spain the right to build a fortress there, so it was transferred to the State of the Presidi that it was born as a direct possession of the crown of Spain. The state had only governors sent by the central Spanish government first and then Austrian. In 1801, Napoleon established the Kingdom of Etruria. Eventually it was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.