Un regno senza impero?

Abstract The essay analyses the strategies adopted in the 1330s by King John of Bohemia and Poland, Count of Luxembourg, to attempt a political experiment in the Kingdom of Italy. The unfinished plan of Henry VII’s son is also considered in relation to the designs of the papacy, particularly John XXII, and the ruling French dynasty. However, the complex political landscape of central and northern Italy prevented the implementation of the agreements drafted by the Bohemian king’s envoys in Avignon in 1331. The conflicts between Guelphs and Ghibellines and the consolidation of seigneurial powers ultimately made the Bohemian option unfeasible: a Kingdom of Italy without an empire.