Victor Emmanuel I (Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the
Duke of Savoy and
King of Sardinia
The following is a list of rulers of Sardinia, in particular, of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica from 1323 and then of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1479 to 1861.
Early history
Owing to the absence of written sources, litt ...
(1802–1821).
Biography
Victor Emmanuel was the second son of King
Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus III (Vittorio Amadeo Maria; 26 June 1726 – 16 October 1796) was King of Sardinia from 1773 to his death. Although he was politically conservative, he carried out numerous administrative reforms until he declared war on Revolu ...
and
Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, daughter of King
Philip V of Spain and
Elisabeth Farnese.
Victor Emmanuel was known from birth as the
Duke of Aosta. From 1792 to 1796, Aosta's father had taken an active part in the struggle of the old powers against the revolutionary forces in France but was defeated and forced to make peace, signing the
Treaty of Paris. The old king died shortly thereafter, and in December 1798, his eldest son and successor,
Charles Emmanuel IV
Charles Emmanuel IV (Carlo Emanuele Ferdinando Maria; 24 May 1751 – 6 October 1819) was King of Sardinia from 1796 to 1802. He abdicated in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel I.
Biography
Carlo Emanuele Ferdinando Maria di Savoia was ...
, was faced with a French occupation and eventually annexation, of his mainland territories.
Charles Emmanuel and his family were forced to withdraw to
Sardinia, which was the only part of his domains not conquered by the French. Charles Emmanuel himself took little interest in the rule of Sardinia, living with his wife on the mainland in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
and
Rome until his wife's death in 1802, which led the childless Charles Emmanuel to abdicate the throne in favour of his younger brother.
Aosta took the throne on 4 June 1802 as Victor Emmanuel I. He ruled Sardinia from
Cagliari for the next twelve years, during which time he constituted the
Carabinieri, a
Gendarmerie corps, still existing as one of the main branches of the
military of Italy
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
.
Victor Emmanuel could return 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 ...
only in 1814, his realm reconstituted by the
Congress of Vienna, with the addition of the territories of the former
Republic of Genoa. The latter became the seat of the Sardinian Navy. Victor Emmanuel abolished all the freedoms granted by the Napoleonic Codices and restored a fiercely oppressive rule: he restored the ''Regie Costituzioni'' of
Victor Amadeus II
Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice.
L ...
and the ''
Jus commune'', strengthened
customs barriers, refused to grant a liberal constitution, entrusted education to the Church and reintroduced laws concerning labour and the justice system which discriminated against
Jews and
Waldensians.
He nurtured expansionist ambitions in
Lombardy, where nationalist anti-
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
sentiments had developed, promoted largely by the bourgeoisie. This led to conflict with Austria. In March 1821, a liberal revolution exploded in Italy, largely the work of the
Carbonari and it seemed that the anti-Austrian attitude of the revolutionaries matched that of Victor Emmanuel.
However, Victor Emmanuel was not willing to grant a liberal constitution as desired by the revolutionaries, so he
abdicated
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
in favor of his brother,
Charles Felix on 13 March 1821. Because Charles Felix was in
Modena at the time, Victor Emmanuel temporarily entrusted the regency to
Charles Albert, who was second in line to the throne.
Thereafter Victor Emmanuel lived in a number of cities until 1824, when he returned to the
Castle of Moncalieri
The Castle of Moncalieri is a palace in Moncalieri (Metropolitan City of Turin), Piedmont, in northern Italy. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1997.
History
The first structu ...
, where he died. He is buried in the
Basilica of Superga.
Family and children
On 21 April 1789, he married
Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este, daughter of
Ferdinand, Duke of Modena (who was the son of
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor).
They had six daughters and one son who died very young:
#
''Maria Beatrice'' Victoria Josepha of Savoy (6 December 1792 – 15 September 1840), married her uncle
Francis IV, Archduke of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and Duke of
Modena
# ''Maria Adelaide'' Clothilde Xaveria Borbonia of Savoy (1 October 1794 – 2 August 1795)
# Charles Emanuel (3 September 1796 – 9 August 1799) died of smallpox.
# A daughter (13 November 1800 – 10 January 1801)
#
''Maria Teresa'' Fernanda Felicitas Gaetana Pia of Savoy (19 September 1803 – 16 July 1879), married
Charles II, Duke of Parma (1799–1883)
#
''Maria Anna'' Ricciarda Carlotta Margherita Pia of Savoy (19 September 1803 – 4 May 1884), married
Ferdinand I of Austria
#
''Maria Cristina'' Carlotta Giuseppina Gaetana Elise of Savoy (14 November 1812 – 21 January 1836), married
Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
As a descendant of
Henrietta of England he carried the
Jacobite claim to the thrones of England and Scotland.
Ancestry
See also
*
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
References
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor Emmanuel 01 Of Savoy
1759 births
1824 deaths
19th-century kings of Sardinia
Nobility from Turin
Dukes of Aosta
Monarchs who abdicated
Claimant Kings of Jerusalem
Jacobite pretenders
18th-century Italian people
Burials at the Basilica of Superga
Princes of Savoy
Grand Masters of the Gold Medal of Military Valor