House of Savoy

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House of Savoy

Country France, Italy, Spain
Titles Count, Duke, King
Founder Humbert I
Final ruler Umberto II
Current head Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples or
Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta
Founding year 1003
Dissolution 1946
Ethnicity Italian, originally Frankish
Cadet branches Savoy-Aosta
Savoy-Genoa
Italian Royalty
House of Savoy

Victor Emmanuel II
Children
   Princess Marie Clothilde
   Umberto I (born 1844)
   Amadeo I, King of Spain (born 1845)
   Maria Pia, Queen of Portugal (born 1847)
    Vittoria (born 2 December 1848)
   Emanuele Alberto (born 16 March 1851), Count of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda.
Grandchildren
   Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta
   Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin
   Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi
   Umberto, Count of Salemi
Great Grandchildren
   Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta
   Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta
Great Great Grandchildren
   Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este
   Princess Maria Cristina
   Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta
Great Great Great Grandchildren
   Princess Bianca
   Aimone, Duke of Apulia
   Princess Mafalda
Umberto I
Children
   Victor Emmanuel III
Victor Emmanuel III
Children
   Princess Yolanda
   Princess Mafalda
   Umberto II
   Giovanna, Queen of Bulgaria
   Princess Maria
Umberto II
Children
   Princess Maria Pia
   Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples
   Princess Maria Gabriella
   Princess Maria Beatrice
Grandchildren
   Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont
Great Grandchildren
   Princess Vittoria
   Princess Luisa

The House of Savoy (Italian: Casa Savoia) was formed in the early eleventh century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy until the end of the Second World War. At the time that it ended in 1946, the House of Savoy was the longest surviving royal house in the world.[1] Though, the validity of this claim is disputed as the Imperial House of Japan has been ruling since 660 BCE.[2]

History

The House of Savoy emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, in what is now called Switzerland. The name derives from the historical region Savoy in what is now France. Over time the house expanded from that region to rule almost all of the Italian Peninsula. Yet their growth and survival over the centuries was not based on spectacular conquests, but on gradual territorial expansion through marriage and methodical and highly manipulative political acquisitions.

Early history

The house descended from Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia (Umberto I "Biancamano"), (1003-1047 or 1048). Though originally a poor county, later heirs to the throne were diplomatically skilled, and gained control over strategic mountain passes in the Alps. Two of Humbert's sons were bishops at the Abbey of Saint Maurice on the River Rhone east of Lake Geneva, and Saint Maurice is still the patron of the House of Savoy.

Humbert's son, Otto of Savoy ascended the throne in 1051 after the death of his elder brother Amedeo and married the Marchioness Adelaide of Turin, passing the Marquessate of Susa, with the towns of Turin and Pinerolo, into the House of Savoy's possession.[3] This diplomatic skill caused the great powers such as France, England, and Spain to take the dukes' opinions into account.

They once had claims on the modern canton of Vaud, where they occupied the Château of Chillon in Switzerland, but their access to it was cut by Geneva during the Protestant Reformation, after which it was conquered by Bern. Piedmont was later joined with Sabaudia, and the name evolved into "Savoy" (Italian "Savoia"). The people of Savoy were descended from the Celts and Romans. There are many Italians in the area along with French near the French border.

Expansion, retreat and prosperity

By the time Amadeus VII came to power in the late fourteenth century, the House of Savoy had gone through a series of gradual territorial expansions and he was elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to the Duke of Savoy in 1416.

However, the years of the Renaissance in Europe witnessed the invasion and occupation of Piedmont by the French. When Charles VIII of France invaded Savoy, Piedmont, and Italy in 1494 and conquered Naples, the House of Savoy retreated and established its residence in Turin, where they remained until the unification of Italy.

When Emmanuel Philibert came to power in 1553 most Savoy lands were in French hands. So he offered to serve the Habsburgs in hopes of recovering his lands, and served Philip II as Governor of the Netherlands from 1555-1559. In this capacity he led the Spanish invasion of northern France and won a victory at Saint-Quentin in 1557. He took advantage of various squabbles in Europe to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of Turin. He moved the capital of the duchy from Chambéry to Turin and replaced Latin as the duchy's official language with Italian.

The seventeenth century brought about economic development to the Turin area and the House of Savoy took part in and benefited from that. Charles Emmanuel II developed the port of Nice and built a road through the Alps towards France. And through skillful political maneuvers, territorial expansion continued. In early eighteenth century in the War of the Spanish Succession Victor Amadeus switched sides to assist the Habsburgs and via the Treaty of Utrecht they rewarded him with large pieces of land in northeastern Italy, and a Crown in Sicily.

The Kingdom of Italy

The crown of Sicily, the prestige of being kings at last, and the wealth of Palermo helped strengthen the House of Savoy further and they established themselves in the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1792 Piedmont-Sardinia joined the First Coalition against the French First Republic, but was beaten in 1796 by Napoleon and forced to conclude the disadvantageous Treaty of Paris (1796), giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. In 1798 Joubert, occupied Turin and forced Charles Emmanuel IV to abdicate and leave for the island of Sardinia. Eventually, in 1814 the kingdom was restored and enlarged with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa by the Congress of Vienna.

In the meantime, nationalist figures such as Giuseppe Mazzini were influencing popular opinion. Mazzini believed that Italian unification could only be achieved through a popular uprising, but after the failure of the 1848 revolutions, the Italian nationalists began to look to the Kingdom of Sardinia and its prime minister Count Cavour as the leaders of the unification movement. In 1848 under the Statuto Albertino Charles Albert conceded a constitution to the Kingdom of Sardinia including the parts of north-western Italy, such as Piedmont. The Statuto Albertino remained at the basis of the Kingdom's legal system even after Italian unification was achieved and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

The Kingdom of Italy was the first Italian state to include the Italian Peninsula since the fall of the Roman Empire. But when Victor Emmanuel was crowned King of Italy in 1861, his reign did not control Venetia and Lazio. Yet the House of Savoy continued to rule Italy for several decades through the Italian Independence wars as the Italian unification continued and even as the First World War raged on in the early 20th century.

Controversies

Over the centuries, the House of Savoy had its share of controversies (including massacres of unarmed civilians including children and old people) on more than one occasion.

In the seventeenth century, based on (perhaps false) reports of resistance by Waldensians, in April 1655, Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy ordered their general massacre. The massacre was so brutal it aroused indignation throughout Europe. Oliver Cromwell, then ruler in England, began petitioning on behalf of the Waldensians, writing letters, raising contributions, calling a general fast in England and threatening to send military forces to the rescue. The massacre prompted John Milton's famous sonnet: On the Late Massacre in Piedmont.