Ruler who was notorious for massacre of Protestant minority
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| Charles Emmanuel II's good work for Turin was overshadowed by his persecution of minority |
Charles Emmanuel II, who was Duke of Savoy for almost his whole
life, died on this day in 1675 in Turin.
His rule was notorious for his persecution of the Valdesi –
a Christian Protestant movement widely known as the Waldenses that originate in
12th century France, whose base was on the Franco-Italian border.
In 1655, he launched an attack on the Valdesi that turned
into a massacre so brutal that it sent shockwaves around Europe and prompted
the English poet, John Milton, to write the sonnet On the Late Massacre in
Piedmont.
The British political leader Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector
of the Commonwealth, proposed to send the British Navy if the massacre and subsequent
attacks were not halted, and raised funds for helping the Waldensians.
More positively, Charles Emmanuel II was responsible for improving commerce
and creating wealth in the Duchy. He was a driver in developing the port of
Nice and building a road through the Alps towards France.
He also reformed the army so that it did not rely on mercenaries,
forming five Piedmontese regiments and reviving the cavalry, as well as
introducing a standardised uniform.
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| Charles Emmanuel with his mother Christine Maria |
Charles Emmanuel restored crumbling fortifications and many
of Turin’s most beautiful buildings were built on his initiative. He also
continued the development of the Palazzo Reale, which had been built by mother,
Christine Marie of France, during her regency, as a new residence for the Court
of Savoy.
He was born in Turin in June 1634. His father was Victor
Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, who died when Charles Emmanuel was just three. His maternal
grandparents were Henry IV of France and his second wife Marie de' Medici.
Charles Emmanuel was only four when he succeeded to the
title following the death of his older brother, Francis Hyacinth. Because of
his age, his mother governed as regent. He showed little interest in affairs of
state himself as he grew up and even after turning 18, when he might have taken
charge in his own right, he invited his mother to extend her regency, allowing
him to continue to enjoy the carefree life of a wealthy young man.
It was only with the death of his mother in 1663 that he was
forced to take responsibility for governing the Duchy. Apart from his persecution of the Valdesi, he
also flexed his military muscles in a war against Genoa which was inconclusive.
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| Charles Emmanuel was Duke of Savoy from the age of four years old |
His first marriage was rather forced on him by his mother,
who paired him with Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans, daughter of her younger
brother, Gaston, Duke of Orléans. They were married in April 1663 but the
marriage lasted less than one year because of the death of his new wife in
1664. They had no children.
This freed him to marry Marie Jeanne of Savoy, whom he had
first met in 1659 and fallen in love with her. They married in May 1665 and had one
son, who would become Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, future King of Sicily and
later Sardinia.
Charles Emmanuel II is also thought to have fathered at
least five illegitimate children by three different mistresses.
He died in Turin a few days short of what would have been
his 41st birthday, leaving his wife to act as regent on behalf of
Victor Amadeus. He is buried in Turin’s Duomo – the Cathedral of St John the Baptist.
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| The Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista in Turin |
Travel tip:
The Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista, to give the Turin Duomo
its Italian name, is the seat of the Archbishops of Turin. It was built between
1491–98 on the site of an old Roman theatre and adjacent to an earlier
campanile built in 1470. Designed by Guarino Guarini, the Chapel of the Holy
Shroud – the resting place of the Shroud of Turin - was added in 1668–94,
Guarini having been called in to complete a project begun in 1649 by Bernardino
Quadri at the behest of Charles Emmanuel II.
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| The Palazzo Reale is at the heart of Turin |
Travel tip:
The Royal Palace of Turin – the Palazzo Reale – was built on
the site of what had been the Bishop’s Palace, built by Emmanuel Philibert, who
was Duke of Savoy from 1528 to 1580, who chose the site because it had an open and
sunny position close to other court buildings. Opposite is the Palazzo Vecchio
or the Palazzo di San Giovanni, which was later replaced by the grand Ducal
Palace. In 1946, the building became the property of the state and was turned
into a museum. In 1997, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.