Victor Emmanuel I - King of Sardinia

The first Victor Emmanuel ruled only part of Italy

Italian painter Luigi Bernero's 
portrait of Victor Emmanual I

King Victor Emmanuel, who was Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoy states in northern Italy, and King of the island of Sardinia, died on this day in 1824 in Turin. 

His namesake in Italian history, who was to become Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy, was the son of one of his distant cousins.

When Victor Emmanuel I died, he left no heir. His surviving daughters were unable to inherit because of a law excluding women and their descendants from the line of succession. He was succeeded as King of Sardinia by his brother, Charles Felix in 1821. His brother also left no successors and he was in turn succeeded to the titles by his cousin, Charles Albert in 1831.

After Charles Albert died in 1849, his son, Victor Emmanuel, became King of Sardinia and took the title of King Victor Emmanuel II. Therefore, when Victor Emmanuel became King of the newly united Italy in 1861, he continued to style himself as King Victor Emmanuel II.

Some Italians may have preferred his title to have been King Victor Emmanuel I, marking a new start for the united country, but their first monarch chose to continue with the same title because of his Savoy ancestor, who had the same name.

This may have given the impression that the country was being taken over by Sardinia and Piedmont and caused resentment in the south of Italy, but to many Italians it was regarded as logical because this was their new king’s existing title.

Victor Emmanuel I had been born in 1759 at the royal palace in Turin. As the second son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, he was known from birth as the Duke of Aosta. 

When his father died in 1796, Victor Emmanuel’s older brother became Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia.  

Charles Emmanuel was immediately faced with the threat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army occupying his territory and he withdrew with his wife to Sardinia. He took little interest in the running of Sardinia and subsequently lived with his wife in Naples and Rome. They were childless and so he abdicated in favour of Victor Emmanuel after his wife’s death in 1802.

Victor Emmanuel I ruled from Cagliari
after Napoleon's army occupied Piedmont

Victor Emmanuel I ruled Sardinia from Cagliari for the next 12 years. He founded the Carabinieri, which still exists as one of Italy’s main law and order agencies to this day alongside the Polizia di Stato and the Guardia di Finanza. 

After Napoleon was defeated, he was able to return to Turin and he abolished many of the freedoms that had been granted to the people while under French rule, restoring a stricter regime, refusing to grant a liberal constitution, and entrusting education to the church.

In 1821, when revolutionary fever was threatening to sweep through Italy, Victor Emmanuel I was still unwilling to grant a liberal constitution to the people and so he abdicated in favour of his brother, Charles Felix. 

Because his brother was in Modena at the time, Victor Emmanuel I made Charles Albert, who was second in line to the throne, the Regent of the Kingdom.

In 1824, he went to live in the Castle of Moncalieri, where he died. He was buried in the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

As a descendant of Princess Henrietta, the youngest child of King Charles I of England, Victor Emmanuel I carried the Jacobite claim to the thrones of England and Scotland during his lifetime.

The colourful port city of Cagliari is the
capital of the island of Sardinia

Travel tip:

Sardinia is a large island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea. It has sandy beaches and a mountainous landscape. The southern city of Cagliari, from where Victor Emmanuel I ruled, has a medieval quarter called Castello, which has narrow streets, palaces and a 13th century Cathedral.  It came under Savoy control as part of the settlement following the War of the Spanish Succession, which became a battle for power in Europe between 1701 and 1714.  Victor Amadeus II, who was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of Piedmont, was originally given Sicily, but was persuaded by the victorious Allies - Britain, France, Austria and the Dutch Republic - to accept Sardinia instead, which appealed to the Savoys because, as a Spanish kingdom, it came with a crown. Thus, the Duchy of Savoy and the Principality of Piedmont effectively merged with the island to form the new Kingdom of Sardinia, although ruled from the Piedmont capital, Turin.

Stay in Sardinia with Hotels.com

The Castello di Moncalieri, the Savoy palace
where Victor Emmanuel I spent his last days

Travel tip:

Moncalieri, where Victor Emmanuel I spent his final days living in the castle originally built by his ancestor, Thomas I of Savoy, in 1100, is a town with a population of almost 58,000 people situated about 8km (5 miles) south of Turin, within the city’s metropolitan area. At one time principally a summer resort for the Savoy family, Moncalieri is now essentially a suburb of Turin, and home to many technology companies.  The castle, which Thomas I constructed on a hill as a fortress to command the main southern access to Turin, evolved in the mid-15th century as a pleasure residence at the behest of Yolanda of Valois, wife of Duke Amadeus IX, who employed the architect Carlo di Castellamonte to enlarge and redesign it. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle became a favourite residence of King Victor Emmanuel II and subsequently his daughter, Maria Clotilde. Today it houses a prestigious training college for the Carabinieri, Italy’s quasi-military police force, founded by Victor Emmanuel I.

Hotels in Moncalieri by Expedia

More reading: 

The ruler nicknamed “iron head” who made Turin the capital of Savoy

Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed first King of Italy

The founding of the Carabinieri

Also on this day:

49BC: Julius Caesar leads army across the Rubicon river, sparking civil war

987: The death of Venetian Doge Pietro Orseolo

1834: The birth in Naples of historian and politician Lord Acton

1890: The birth of silent movie star Pina Menichelli

1903: The birth of car designer Flaminio Bertoni

1922: The birth of footballer Aldo Ballarin

1959: The birth of football manager Maurizio Sarri

2009: The death of publisher Giorgio Mondadori

Home

Charles Emmanuel III – King of Sardinia-Piedmont

Savoy king won new territory and power for his descendants

Charles Emmanuel III was a skilled
soldier who found himself in demand

Charles Emmanuel III, a skilled soldier who ruled over Sardinia and the region of Piedmont, was born on this day in 1701 in Turin.

He became king after his father, Victor Amadeus II, abdicated his throne in 1730. Charles Emmanuel later had his father arrested when he tried to intervene in affairs of state, and had him confined to a castle for the remainder of his years.

Charles Emmanuel had a military and political education and, after he became an adult, other European countries often sought his aid in conflicts because of his skills. After becoming King of Sardinia-Piedmont, he joined in the War of the Polish Succession on the side of France and Spain. 

The war was supposedly to determine who was going to be the next King of Poland, but its main results were a redistribution of Italian territory and an increase in Russian influence over Polish affairs.

Charles Emmanuel sent troops to occupy Milan and then scored a brilliant success at the Battle of Guastalla, which took place in Emilia-Romagna in 1734. After the subsequent Treaty of Vienna, he gained the cities of Novara and Tortona in Piedmont.

During the War of the Austrian Succession, which began in 1740, Charles Emmanuel fought against the Spanish and French, who had designs on Milan, as he himself did. He inflicted a crushing defeat on the French at the Battle of Assietta in 1747. At the end of the war, because he was an astute negotiator, he was able to regain Nice and Savoy for his family and obtain Vigevano in Lombardy and territory in Pianura Padana, as a result of the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle in 1748.

He then concentrated on carrying out administrative reforms and maintaining a well-disciplined army and did not participate in the Seven Years War, which started in 1756 and involved many of the major European powers at the time. 

The Battle of Assieta, in which Charles
Emmanuel scored a notable victory

He also restored the Universities of Sassari and Cagliari in Sardinia to help improve the poor conditions on the island.

His father, Victor Amadeus II, was the first head of the Savoy family to acquire a royal crown, having been given the Kingdom of Sicily because of the part he played in the war of the Spanish Succession. He was crowned King of Sicily, but was later forced to exchange Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia. 

However, Victor Amadeus II had begun to show signs of  melancholy (nowadays known as depression) after becoming King of Sardinia, and he abdicated his throne and retired from the royal court completely in 1730.

But after spending some time at his residence in Chambery in France, Victor Amadeus II started to intervene in his son’s government. He accused Charles Emmanuel of incompetence and reclaimed the throne, establishing himself in the Castle of Moncalieri, a Savoy residence in Piedmont.

Victor Amadeus III, who was
Charles Emmanuel's heir

He was suspected of planning an attack on Milan, which could have led to an invasion of Piedmont, so Charles Emmanuel had his father arrested and taken to the Castle of Rivoli in Turin, where he was confined until his death in 1732, without causing any further interference in his son’s reign.

Charles Emmanuel was married three times. His wives all died young, although between them they bore him 13 children.

He was a keen art collector and added to the collections of art treasures built up by his Savoy ancestors. The Flemish battle painter Jan Peeter Verdussen was his court painter and painted many of his military victories.

Charles Emmanuel died in 1773 in Turin at the age of 71 and was buried in the Basilica of Superga. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, who became Victor Amadeus III.

A view over the city of Turn at dusk, with
the Alps forming a distant backdrop

Travel tip:

The region of Piedmont in northern Italy is the second largest after Sicily. It borders France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Aosta Valley and a small part of Emilia-Romagna. Piedmont was acquired by Otto of Savoy in 1046 and its capital was established at Chambery, which is now in France. The Savoy territory became the Duchy of Savoy in 1416 and the seat of the Duchy was moved to Turin in 1563 by Duke Emanuele Filiberto. After Victor Amadeus II became King of Sardinia in 1720, Piedmont became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Turin grew in importance as a European capital city. 

The Castello di Rivoli, where Charles Emmanuel
II had his father confined, now houses a museum

Travel tip:

The Castello di Rivoli, where Charles Emmanuel III had his father confined, was acquired by the House of Savoy in the 11th century. It probably dates back to the ninth century. It became one of the many royal residences in Turin belonging to the Savoy family. It is currently home to a museum of contemporary art. In 1997 it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage site list, along with 13 other residences belonging to the House of Savoy.  It is located in Rivoli, a municipality of almost 47,000 inhabitants about 15 km west of Turin, within the city’s metropolitan area. The castle complex suffered serious damage during repeated sieges inflicted by the French during the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century and had to be rebuilt, with several architects playing a role, including Michelangelo Garove, Antonio Bertola and Filippo Juvarra.

Also on this day:

1538: The birth of painter Gian Paolo Lomazzo

1575: The birth of Maria de' Medici, Queen of France

1977: The birth of astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

1925: The birth of chocolatier Michele Ferrero

1993: The birth of rugby player Tommaso Allan

Home