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.

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Domenico Bartolucci – composer

Talented musician served under six popes

Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci

Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci, director of the Sistine Chapel Choir for 40 years and a talented and prolific composer, was born on this day in 1917 in Borgo San Lorenzo in Tuscany.

Bartolucci was considered one of the most authoritative interpreters of the works of composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and he led the Sistine Chapel Choir in performances all over the world.

His own compositions are said to fill more than 40 volumes and include masses, hymns, madrigals, orchestral music and an opera.

Bartolucci was born in Borgo San Lorenzo near Florence, the son of a brick factory worker who loved the music of Verdi and Donizetti. Bartolucci was recruited as a singer at the seminary in Florence at a young age. After the death of his music master, Bartolucci succeeded him as director of music for the Chapel of the Duomo of Florence and began to compose masses, motets and organ music.

Bartolucci went to Rome to deepen his knowledge of sacred music and served as deputy master of the choir at the Church of St John Lateran. In 1947 he was appointed Master of the Choir of St Mary Major, and in 1952 was appointed deputy master of the Sistine Chapel Choir.

Bartolucci was director of the Sistine Chapel Choir from
1956 until his retirement in 1996

Pope Pius XII gave him the position of permanent director of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir in 1956. During his 40 years of leadership he strengthened the choir and took it to perform in countries all over the world.

Bartolucci had been a child prodigy and composed his first mass at the age of 12. His best known mass is the Misa Jubilei, written in the Holy Year of 1950. His biggest musical influences were Palestrina and the opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi. Bartolucci’s own three-act opera, Brunelleschi, dedicated to the history and construction of Filippo Brunelleschi’s colossal dome atop Florence’s cathedral, is yet to be performed.

Pope Benedict XVI created Bartolucci a cardinal in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to the church in the area of sacred ecclesiastical music. He became the fourth oldest member of the College of Cardinals and because he was over 80 was not eligible to vote in a papal conclave.

Bartolucci died in 2013 at the age of 96. After his funeral mass at St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis described him as ‘an ‘illustrious composer and musician, who exercised his long ministry particularly through sacred music, which is born of faith and expresses faith.’

The unusual campanile at the church of
Pieve di San Lorenzo

Travel tip:

Borgo San Lorenzo, the birthplace of Bartolucci, is the largest of the towns and villages of the Mugello, the green, hilly area to the north and west of Florence. The Romanesque church of Pieve di San Lorenzo has a campanile that is circular in its lower stages and hexagonal above. Nearby are the Medici properties of Castello del Trebbio and the Villa di Cafaggiolo, both built for Cosimo il Vecchio in the 15th century.

Travel tip:

The Sistine Chapel, whose choir Bartolucci led for 40 years, is in the Apostolic Palace, where the Pope lives, in Vatican City. The chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, the uncle of Pope Julius II, who had it restored during his papacy. Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo painted the ceiling at the request of Pope Julius II.  His amazing masterpiece is in bright colours, easily visible from the floor, and covers more than 400 square metres.

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Alessandra Ferri – ballerina

Dancing star who believes age is a matter of attitude

Alessandra Ferri made a comeback in ballet
six years after her 'retirement'

Prima ballerina assoluta Alessandra Ferri, who retired in 2007 but then made a triumphant return to ballet in 2013, celebrates her 55th birthday today.

She is scheduled to dance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York later this month, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow at the beginning of June, at Hamburg Staatsoper at the end of June, at the Ravello Festival in Italy in July and in Tokyo in August.

In a recent newspaper interview, Ferri said she was happy to be breaking barriers as an older woman in a youth-dominated world. She said she still has full confidence in her abilities and believes ageing is largely an attitude and her advice to other women of her age is ‘to keep moving’.

Ferri was born on May 6, 1963 in Milan and began studying ballet at La Scala Theatre Ballet School. She moved to the upper school of the Royal Ballet School in London, where she won a scholarship that enabled her to continue studying there.

She joined the Royal Ballet in 1980 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for her first major role in 1982. She was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 1983.

Ferri became principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikow in 1985.

Ferri in a production of Remeo and Juliet in 2016

She began a close association with La Scala Theatre Ballet in 1992, becoming recognised as prima ballerina assoluta of the company, but she remained a guest star of the American Ballet Theatre. 'Prima ballerina assoluta' is a title awarded to the most notable of female ballet dancers of their generation and is a rare honour.

Ferri has appeared at the top venues for ballet all over the world and has performed with the leading male dancers, including Rudolf Nureyev in Los Angeles on the occasion of his 50th birthday in 1988.

She married the photographer, Fabrizio Ferri, with whom she had two daughters.

Since her return from retirement, Ferri has danced roles in Italy and at the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera House in London. After her birthday celebrations today she has a packed schedule of appearances for the rest of the year.

The entrance to Villa Rufolo is off
the main scare in Ravello

Travel tip:

Alessandra Ferri will dance on July 7 at the Belvedere di Villa Rufolo in Ravello for the town’s 2018 music and arts festival. The Villa Rufolo, dating from the 13th century, overlooks the cathedral square of Ravello, a town perched high above the dramatic Amalfi Coast.

Travel tip:

La Scala Theatre Ballet School, where Alessandra Ferri studied, was founded in 1813 in association with the international ballet company based at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The theatre is in Piazza della Scala in the centre of the city across the road from the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an elegant arcade lined with cafes, shops and restaurants, built to link Piazza della Scala with Piazza del Duomo, Milan’s cathedral square.

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Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola – Condottiero

Adventurous soldier lived on in literature

Bussone was beheaded for alleged treason aginst
the Republic of Venice

The soldier of fortune, Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, who has been featured in poetry, books and an opera, was executed on this day in 1432 in Venice.

The military leader had been seized, imprisoned and brought to trial for treason against La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic of Venice, and was beheaded between the columns of San Marco and San Todaro at the entrance to the Piazzetta.

Francesco Bussone had been born at Carmagnola near Turin into a peasant family. He began his military career at the age of 12, serving under the condottiero, Facino Cane, who was in the service of the Marquess of Monferrat at the time, but later fought for Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan.

After the death of Gian Galeazzo, the duchy was divided up, but his son Filippo Maria was determined to reconquer it by force. He gave command of the army to Bussone da Carmagnola, who had taken over Cane’s role after his death.

Carmagnola subdued Bergamo, Brescia, Parma, Genoa and many smaller towns until the whole duchy was under Filippo Maria’s control.

The landmark columns of San Marco and San Todaro at the
entrance to the Piazzetta, just off St Mark's Square in Venice

Filippo Maria rewarded Carmagnola financially, but fearing he might become a danger, did not give him further military commands. He made him governor of Genoa instead, but an aggrieved Carmagnola offered his services to the Venetians in 1425.

The Doge of Venice, Francesco Foscari, was anxious to go to war with Milan and accepted Carmagnola’s word that it was an opportune moment.

Venice wanted a quick and decisive operation but, as a soldier of fortune, it was in Carmagnola’s interest to make the operation last as long as possible, so some battles were won and others lost, with no definite result achieved.

His most decisive victory was the Battle of Maclodio in 1427 when his Venetian forces triumphed over the Milanese near Brescia. Carmagnola was given a palace at San Stae, property in Brescia and a letter of appreciation from the Doge.

But he decided not to advance on Cremona, to release all his prisoners and to retire his army for the winter. The Venetians lost patience with him and the Council of Ten decided to bring him to justice.

The cover of an early edition
of Manzoni's drama

When summoned to Venice to discuss future operations, he arrived in 1432 without any suspicion of what lay ahead of him. He found it was too late in the day to meet the Doge, but as he turned to get back into his gondola, one of the men sent to meet him directed him to the Pozzi prison instead. He was sentenced to death after a trial and beheaded as a traitor.

Alessandro Manzoni made Francesco Bussone the subject of a poetical drama, Il Conte di Carmagnola, in 1820.

More recently, a drama-documentary about Bussone's life was released on a DVD, directed by Claudio Uberti and starring Omar Pedrini.

The opera, Le Comte de Carmagnola, with music by Ambroise Thomas, was produced at the Paris Opera in 1841. The French soprano, Elizabeth Vidal, has recorded one of the main arias from the opera.

Carmagnola was also one of the characters portrayed in Rafael Sabatini’s historical novel, Bellarion, published in English in 1926.

In Milan, there is a plaque on a wall in Via Rovello, not far from the Sforza Castle, marking the house in which Bussone lived when he was in the service of Gian Galeazzo Visconti.

Piazza Sant'Agostino in Carmagnola. The town's war
memorial is in the foreground

Travel tip:

Carmagnola, where Francesco Bussone was born, is a town 29km (18 miles) south of Turin. In the oldest part of town, the Church of Sant’Agostino, in Piazza Sant’Agostino, dates back to 1406. A gastronomic fair, la Sagra del Peperone, is held between the last week of August and the first week of September. During the Sagra of 2010, Carmagnola was entered into the Guinness Book of Records for producing the biggest ever peperonata, a sauce made with peppers, weighing in at 1,190 kg.

The remains of the Trezzo Bridge, which provided access to
the Visconti castle, on the left, across the Adda

Travel tip:

During a siege in 1416, Bussone da Carmagnola ordered the destruction of the Trezzo Bridge, the largest existing medieval single arch bridge, for military reasons. The bridge, at Trezzo sull’Adda in Lombardy was completed in 1377 and held the record for the largest span for hundreds of years. It was not until early in the 20th century that masonry bridges with larger openings were constructed. The Trezzo bridge provided access to a Visconti castle high above the Adda, but Carmagnola deliberately caused it to collapse by weakening one of its supports, robbing the world of an architectural marvel.

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