 The North was under indirect rule of the Austrian Habsburgs in their positions as Holy Roman Emperors, and the south was under direct rule of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs.Following the European wars of successions of the 1700s, the south passed to a cadet branch of Spanish Bourbons and the north was under control of the Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine.During the Napoleonic era, Italy was invaded by France and divided into a number of sister republics (later in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and the French Empire).