 By the beginning of the early modern period, the Kingdom in Italy still formally existed but had "de facto" splintered into completely independent and self-governing city states.Its territory had been significantly limited – the conquests of the Republic of Venice, which considered itself independent of the Empire, in the "domini di Terraferma" had taken most of northeastern Italy outside the jurisdiction of the Empire, while the Popes claimed full sovereignty and independence in the Papal States in Central Italy.Nevertheless, the Emperor Charles V, who was also king of Sicily and Naples via his Spanish inheritance, was able to establish his dominance in Italy to a greater extent than any Emperor since Frederick II.