Emanuele Filiberto – Duke of Savoy

Ruler who made Turin the capital of Savoy

A  portrait of Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of
Savoy, by an unknown artist

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, who was nicknamed testa di ferro (iron head) because of his military prowess, died on this day in 1580 in Turin.

After becoming Duke of Savoy he recovered most of the lands his father Charles III had lost to France and Spain and he restored economic stability to Savoy.

Emanuele Filiberto was born in 1528 in Chambery, now part of France. He grew up to become a skilled soldier and served in the army of the emperor Charles V, who was the brother-in-law of his mother, Beatrice of Portugal, during his war against Francis I of France. He distinguished himself by capturing Hesdin in northern France in July 1553.

When he succeeded his father a month later he began the reacquisition of his lands.

His brilliant victory over the French at Saint Quentin in northern France in 1557 on the side of the Spanish helped to consolidate his power in Savoy.

Emanuele Filiberto, as portrayed by the
Italian painter Giorgio Soleri

The peace of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559 ended the wars between Charles V and the French Kings and restored part of the Duchy of Savoy back to Emanuele Filiberto on the understanding that he would marry Margaret of France, the sister of King Henry II. They had one child, Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, who succeeded him as duke.

Emanuele Filiberto took advantage of the political struggles between the European powers to slowly increase his domain.

The city of Turin was part of the territory he recovered from the French and he moved Savoy’s capital from Chambery to Turin in 1562, fortifying and enlarging the city. He also substituted Italian for Latin as the official language of Savoy.

Just before his death in the city at the age of 52 he was arranging for Savoy to acquire the Marquisate of Saluzzo.

Emanuele Filiberto was buried in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin Cathedral.

Turin's duomo - the Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista

Travel tip:

Turin Cathedral, or the Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista as the Duomo is known in Italian, was built between 1491 and 1498 on the site of an old Roman theatre. Emanuele Filiberto is one of the members of the House of Savoy buried there, while others are buried in the Basilica di Superga on the outskirts of the city.

Emanuele Filiberto brought the Shroud of Turin (above)
to Turin from Chambery in France

Travel tip:

It is fitting that Emanuele Filiberto is buried in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud as he was responsible for having the Shroud brought from Chambery in France to the Duomo in Turin in 1578 and it has remained there ever since.  A project for the enlargement of the Duomo in order to create a more luxurious home for the Shroud was begun in 1649 by Bernardino Quadri and completed by Guarino Guarini.  In 2002 the Shroud was restored so that the reverse side of the cloth could be photographed for the first time. In 2013 high definition images of the Shroud were put out on the internet and on television. These could be magnified on computers to show details not visible to the naked eye.  Pope Francis urged people to contemplate the Shroud with awe but he stopped short of asserting its authenticity.

More reading:

The Duke of Savoy responsible for a notorious massacre

Why Savoy duke Victor Amadeus I may have been poisoned

Iolanda of Savoy - the banished princess

Also on this day:

1585: The death of composer Andrea Gabrieli

1860: The birth of New York crime fighter Joe Petrosino


Home

Victor Amadeus I of Savoy

Duke’s French connection may have proved fatal

Victor Amadeus ruled the Duchy of Savoy
for seven years until his death

Victor Amadeus I, who during his seven-year reign over Savoy was forced to give strategic territory to France, was born on this day in 1587 in Turin.

He was the son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and Catherine Micaela of Spain, daughter of Philip II of Spain.

Victor Amadeus spent much of his childhood in Madrid at the court of his grandfather.

He became heir-apparent to the Duchy of Savoy, when his brother, Filippo Emanuele, died in 1605 and he succeeded to the Dukedom after his father’s death in 1630.

Charles Emmanuel’s policies had made relationships with France and Spain unstable and troops were needed to defend the Duchy.

But as there was no money to recruit mercenaries or train local soldiers, Victor Amadeus signed a peace treaty with Spain.

In 1619 he married Christine Marie of France, the daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de Medici.

After war broke out amongst rival claimants to the city of Mantua, the French took the fortress of Pinerolo, part of the Duchy of Savoy, in 1630.

The Treaty of Cherasco the following year brought peace again to northern Italy. According to the treaty, France renounced its conquests in Piedmont, but it was later discovered that Victor Amadeus had surrendered Pinerolo to France.

Pinerolo sits in the shadow of the Alps about 40km
southwest of Turin, about 75m from the French border

This gave France a strategic route into the heart of Savoy territory and then into the rest of Italy. Subsequent rulers of the House of Savoy resented this loss and strived to regain the territory.

In league with the French army, Victor Amadeus defeated the Spanish forces in the Battle of Tornavento in 1636 and the Battle of Mombaldone in 1637.

The French Marquis du Crequi held a banquet on 25 September 1637 to celebrate the victories and Victor Amadeus attended.  Several guests at the banquet subsequently became ill, including the Duke of Savoy. 

Victor Amadeus was taken to Vercelli where his condition worsened and he passed away a few days later in October 1637. As it was well known that there had been friction between him and Crequi because their military strategies had been incompatible, rumours soon circulated that the Duke of Savoy had been poisoned.

His widow, Christine Marie of France, served as regent of the duchy until 1663. It was inherited in turn by her sons, Francis Hyacinth, and Charles Emmanuel II.

The Piazza Duomo in Pinerolo 

Travel tip:

Pinerolo is a town about 40km (25 miles) southwest of Turin on the River Chisone in Piedmont. It was one of the principal fortresses of the dukes of Savoy. French troops invading Piedmont in 1536 conquered Pinerolo and it stayed under French control until 1696. The Man in the Iron Mask, who was a legendary unidentified French prisoner, was held in the Fortress of Pinerolo from 1669 to 1681 when he was moved to another prison. The prisoner has been featured in various works of fiction, most famously in the novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne, by Alexandre Dumas.

Piazza Umberto I in Mombaldone

Travel tip:

The Battle of Mombaldone, where Savoy troops and French forces defeated the Spanish army, took place on September 8, 1637 at Mombaldone, a comune in the province of Asti, about 70 kilometres south east of Turin. Featured by I Borghi piu belli d’Italia - a private association that promotes small Italian towns it deems to be of "strong historical and artistic interest" - Mombaldone still has its medieval centre and part of its 13th century castle, which was badly damaged during the battle.

Home

Charles Emmanuel I – Duke of Savoy

Rash ruler who led catastrophic attack on Geneva 

A portrait of Charles Emmanuel I by the Dutch
Renaissance painter Jan Kraeck

Charles Emmanuel I, who developed a reputation for being hot-headed, was born on this day in 1562 in the Castle of Rivoli in Piedmont.

Renowned for his rashness and military aggression in trying to acquire territory, Charles Emmanuel has gone down in history for launching a disastrous attack on Geneva in Switzerland.

In 1602 he led his troops to the city during the night and surrounded the walls. At two o’clock in the morning the Savoy soldiers were ordered to dismount and climb the city walls in full armour as a shock tactic.

However the alarm was raised by a night watchman and Geneva’s army was ready to meet the invaders.

Many of the Savoy soldiers were killed and others were captured and later executed.

The heavy helmets worn by the Savoy troops featured visors with the design of a human face on them. They were afterwards called Savoyard helmets and the Swiss army kept some of them as trophies.

The Savoyard armour featured a helmet
with eyes and a mouth

Geneva’s successful defence of the city walls is still celebrated during the annual festival of L’Escalade, in which confectionary shops sell a cauldron known as a marmite made from chocolate.

Charles Emmanuel, from whom Victor Emmanuel II and the subsequent Italian kings are descended, had become Duke of Savoy in 1680 after having had a good education, which had made him multilingual.

He married a distant cousin, Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain, who bore him ten children.

Charles Emmanuel tried to expand his duchy in a bid to become King and occupied French territory during the reign of his cousin, Henry III. When Henry IV became King he demanded the return of the land, but Charles Emmanuel refused and so they went to war.

Eventually the area of Saluzzo, now in the provinces of Cuneo and Turin, went to Savoy in exchange for Bresse, which they had also occupied.

A shop in Geneva selling chocolate marmites - cauldrons - at
the time of the festival of L'Escalade

Charles Emmanuel supported France against Spain in 1610 but later changed sides and supported Spain against France in order to continue his policy of expansion. When Philip II of Spain sent an invasion force to Italy, Charles Emmanuel declared himself neutral. However, a French army then marched into Savoy and defeated the Savoy army.

In 1630, Charles Emmanuel died of a stroke at Savigliano and was succeeded by his son, Vittorio Amedeo.

Travel tip:

The ninth-century Castle of Rivoli in Piedmont, where Charles Emmanuel I was born, was a former residence of the Royal House of Savoy in Rivoli, which is in the province of Turin. The Castle is now home to the museum of contemporary art of Turin, Castello di Rivoli – Museo d’Arte Contemporaneo.

The triumphal arch in Savigliano, erected
in honour of Charles Emmanuel I

Travel tip:

Savigliano, where Charles Emmanuel I died, is a comune of Piedmont in the Province of Cuneo, about 50 kilometres south of Turin. Now an industrial centre, it retains some traces of its ancient walls and has a triumphal arch, which was erected in honour of the marriage of the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I, with Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain.

More reading:

Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed first King of the united Italy

How Savoy Queen Margherita came to have a pizza named in her honour

Victor Emmanuel II given prestigious burial despite excommunication from the Catholic Church

Also on this day:

1848: The Sicilian uprising against the Bourbons

(Picture credits: Savoyard helmet by Golden Hound; shop window by Schutz; Savigliano arch by Davide Papalini; all via Wikimedia Commons)



Home