After long struggles for independence, the marquisate was occupied (1548) by the French, as a fief of the Crown of France – with the name of Saluces – and remained part of that kingdom until it was ceded to Savoy in 1601. In 1588 Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy took possession of the city. Thenceforward Saluzzo shared the destinies of Piedmont, with which it formed "one of the keys of the house" of Italy.