Eugenio of Savoy (Eugenio Ilarione; 21 October 1753 – 30 June 1785) was a prince of the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...
and founder of the Villafranca branch of the royal family of Italy that survived until 1888. He was a brother of Queen
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
family seat
A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...
was the principality of Carignano 20 kilometers south of Turin, of which they were nominally
suzerain
A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...
, the
Savoy-Carignano
The House of Savoy-Carignano (; ) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano (1596–1656), an Italian military commander who was the fifth son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. ...
s were in attendance at the
royal court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...
of the Savoys in Turin, while also maintaining a residence in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and frequenting the French court.
In addition to being a cousin in the first degree of
Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus III (Vittorio Amedeo Maria; 26 June 1726 – 16 October 1796) was King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state, Savoyard states from 20 February 1773 to his death in 1796. Although he was politically conservative, he carrie ...
legitimised
Legitimation, legitimization ( US), or legitimisation ( UK) is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and val ...
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...
As his elder brother, Victor Amadeus, was heir to the Carignano princedom, the traditional occupations for a younger son of a princely house, an episcopal or military
sinecure
A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...
Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos (9 April 1865 – 5 December 1921), known as Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, was a Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator.
Early life
The Teixei ...
and was known there as "Prince Eugène, comte de Villefranche".Le Barzic, Ernest. A Saint Malo, les Magons '. Nature et Bretagne. Quimper, France. 1974. pp. 24-26, 99-100. (French). .
While stationed in
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany.
The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...
, on 29 December 1779 the 26 year-old prince secretly married 14 year-old Elisabeth Anne Magon de Boisgarin, the daughter of François Nicolas Magon, ''
Seigneur
A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...
'' de Boigarin, and his wife Louise de Caruel. After the wedding, held probably in the Boisgarin parish of Spézet in the
Finistère
Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Lacretelle the Elder) and, eventually, an annulment ("for not having observed all the formalities prescribed by the civil and military laws of the kingdom") registered by the ''
Parlement of Paris
The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...
'' at the behest of Eugène's parents, as well as the Kings of Sardinia and France, who objected to his elopement with the daughter of a family only ennobled since 1695, whose wealth derived from a prosperous
apothecary
''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...
ancestor.
As the bridegroom persisted in his determination to wed Mlle de Boisgarin,
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
relented, and King Victor Amadeus III issued a royal decree in September 1780 requiring consent of the head of the house for the marriage of princes of the blood, and morganatising marriages for brides of "inferior condition or status", whether wed with or without the
royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
in accordance with the new Savoyard house law. Thus, the marriage, being approved in advance, was legal in Sardinia and Eugène did not thereby forfeit his own dynastic rights or princely title, but his wife and future descendants of the marriage were not recognized as members of the House of Savoy nor as in the line of succession to the throne, although allowed to bear the Savoy surname and to retain the Villafranca countship. The Sardinian king granted the couple an annual allowance of 24,000 livres, supplemented by 44,000 from the French king which, combined with Villefranche's resources yielded an annual income of 100,000 lives.
The only child born of this union, a son known as the ''Chevalier de Savoie'', inherited Eugène's property when he died in his castle at Domart, Picardy, aged 31. In addition to King Louis designating his finance minister, Breteuil, to be his tutor, the young chevalier was allowed a 15,000 livres allowance, while his widowed mother was given a 6,000 livre pension. Despite the Parisian mob's murder of his aunt, the Princesse de Lamballe, after the French Revolution he was made a page at the court of
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
in 1812, became a colonel of the
Hussars
A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...
2nd Regiment, and was promoted to lieutenant general during the Restoration. The chevalier's son, Eugenio (1816-1888), lived to be designated "
heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...
to the throne of Italy in the event of extinction of the reigning branch" in 1834. Prince Eugène's Villafranca descent, although dynasticised in 1834, survives as the once-again morganatic Villafranca line, headed by Edoardo, Count of Villafranca-Soissons.
Issue
*Giuseppe Maria (Joseph-Marie), Chevalier de Savoie, Count of Villafranca, Baron of the Empire (30 October 1783 – 15 October 1825) married 29 October 1810 Pauline Antoinette de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade (17 May 1784 – 10 February 1829), daughter of Paul François de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, and had issue:
** Maria Gabriella (18 September 1811 – 10 September 1837), recognized as Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy-Carignano on 28 April 1834, married 1827 Vittorio Emanuele
Massimo
Massimo () is a masculine Italian given name.
Notable people with the name include:
* Massimo Agostinelli (Max Agos) (born 1987), Swiss-based Italian American artist, entrepreneur and activist
* Massimo Agostini (born 1964), Italian football man ...
, 2nd Prince of Arsoli (1803–1873), and had issue, two daughters and one son.
** Maria Filiberta (29 September 1814 – 20 January 1874), recognized as Princess Maria Filiberta of Savoy-Carignano on 28 April 1834, married 1837 Prince Leopoldo of the Two Sicilies, Count of Syracuse (1813–1860), and had issue, one daughter.
** Eugenio Emanuele (14 April 1816 – 15 December 1888), Count of Villafranca, recognized as Prince Eugenio Emanuele of Savoy-Carignano and created Prince of Carignano on 28 April 1834, and '' HRH'' on 29 March 1849, married morganatically on 25 November 1863 Felicita Crosio (1844–1911), created hereditary Countess of Villafranca-Soissons on 14 September 1888, and they have living descendants.