Emmanuel Philibert ( it, Emanuele Filiberto; pms, Emanuel Filibert; 8 July 1528 – 30 August 1580), known as ( pms, Testa 'd fer, links=no; "Ironhead", because of his military career), was
Duke of Savoy
The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at ...
from 1553 to 1580. He is remembered for the recovery of the
Savoyard state
The Savoyard state is a term of art used by historians to denote collectively all of the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy from the Middle Ages to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. At the end of the 17th century, its population ...
(invaded and occupied by France when he was a child) following the
Battle of St. Quentin (1557), and for moving its capital to
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
.
Life
Born in
Chambéry
Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...
, Emmanuel Philibert was the only child of
Charles III, Duke of Savoy
Charles III of Savoy (10 October 1486 – 17 August 1553), often called Charles the Good, was Duke of Savoy from 1504 to 1553, although most of his lands were ruled by the French between 1536 and his death.
Biography
He was a younger son of P ...
, and
Beatrice of Portugal
Beatrice ( pt, Beatriz, ; 7–13 February 1373 – ) was the only surviving legitimate child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Teles. She became Queen consort of Castile by marriage to King John I of Castile. Following her fat ...
to reach adulthood. His mother was sister-in-law to
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
,
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
, and the future duke served in Charles's army during the war against
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
, distinguishing himself by capturing
Hesdin
Hesdin (; vls, Heusdin) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.
Geography
The N39, from Arras to Montreuil, used to be the main thoroughfare of the town. In the 1950s, a circular route was created to help traffic fl ...
in July 1553. A month later, he became Duke of Savoy on the death of his father, but this was a nearly empty honour, as the vast majority of his hereditary lands had been occupied and administered by the French since 1536. Instead, he continued to serve the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
s in hopes of recovering his lands, and served his cousin
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
as
Governor of the Netherlands from 1555 to 1559.
In this capacity, he personally led the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
invasion of northern France and won a brilliant victory at
Saint-Quentin on 10 August 1557. He was also a suitor to
Lady Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. Emmanuel Philibert finally recovered his lands following the
Peace of Cateau Cambrésis
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
signed between France and Spain in 1559, and he married his first cousin once removed,
Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry
Margaret of Valois, Duchess of Berry (French: ''Marguerite de Valois'') (5 June 1523 – 15 September 1574) was Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. She was the daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude, Duche ...
, the sister of King
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
. Their only child was
Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I ( it, Carlo Emanuele di Savoia; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630. He was nicknamed (, in context "the Hot-Headed") for his rashness and military aggression.
Bein ...
.
After the death of his uncle,
Henry I of Portugal
Henry ( pt, Henrique ; 31 January 1512 — 31 January 1580), dubbed the Chaste ( pt, o Casto, links=no) and the Cardinal-King ( pt, o Cardeal-Rei, links=no), was king of Portugal and a cardinal of the Catholic Church, who ruled Portugal between ...
, on 31 January 1580, Emmanuel Philibert fought to impose his rights as a
claimant to the Portuguese throne. However, he soon realised that he had quite a fragile position due to the claims of Philip II, who gained control of the country, thus
uniting Spain and Portugal.
Emmanuel Philibert spent his rule regaining what had been lost in the costly wars with France. A skilled political strategist, he took advantage of various squabbles in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
. He also purchased two territories. Internally, he moved his political capital from
Chambéry
Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...
to Turin and replaced
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as the official language with
French in the
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...
and the
Duchy of Aosta
__NOTOC__
The Duchy of Aosta, originally the County of Aosta, was a realm ruled by the House of Savoy from the early 11th century until the late 18th, when its independent institutions were aligned with those of the Principality of Piedmont. The ti ...
and with
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
in the
Principality of Piedmont The lordship of Piedmont, later the principality of Piedmont ( it, Piemonte), was originally an appanage of the Savoyard county and as such its lords were members of the Achaea branch of the House of Savoy. The title was inherited by the elder br ...
and the
County of Nice
The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...
. He was attempting to acquire the marquisate of
Saluzzo
Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy.
The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...
when he died in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
. Later, he was buried in the
Chapel of the Holy Shroud
The Chapel of the Holy Shroud ( it, Cappella della Sacra Sindone) is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic chapel in Turin in northern Italy, constructed to house the Shroud of Turin (''Sindone di Torino''), a religious relic believed to be the burial s ...
of the
Turin Cathedral
la, Ecclesia Sancti Johannis Baptista
, native_name = Duomo di Torino
, native_name_lang = Italian
, image = DuomoTorino.jpg
, caption = The Cathedral in 2019
, imagelink =
, pushpin map = Italy Turin
, pushpin mapsize =
, map caption = ...
, to which he had moved the
Sindone in 1578.
File:Caval ëd Brons001.JPG, The ''Caval ëd Brons'' ("Bronze horse"), monument to Emmanuel Philibert in Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
File:Torino e suoi dintorni 15.jpg, Representation of the tomb monument
Ancestry
References
Sources
*
*
*
See also
*
1580 Portuguese succession crisis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmanuel Philibert Of Savoy, Duke
1528 births
1580 deaths
16th-century Dukes of Savoy
Princes of Savoy
Military personnel from Chambéry
Military personnel from Turin
Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands
Military leaders of the Italian Wars
Italian generals
Spanish generals
Claimant Kings of Jerusalem
Garter Knights appointed by Mary I
Knights of the Golden Fleece
Nobility from Turin