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 (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, and Beatrice of Portugal to reach adulthood. His mother was sister-in-law to Charles V,

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 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 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 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 1 ...

, 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

. He also purchased two territories. Internally, he moved his political capital from

to Turin and replaced

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

as the official language with

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 du ...

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 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

. Later, he was buried in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud 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

Life

Ancestry

References

Sources

See also