Victor Amadeus of Savoy (Vittorio Amedeo Filippo Giuseppe; 6 May 1699 – 22 March 1715) was the eldest son of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy and his French wife

Anne Marie d'Orléans Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

. He was the heir apparent of

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

from his birth and as such was styled as the ''Prince of Piedmont''. He acted as Regent of Savoy from September 1713 till September 1714 in the absences of his father. He died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

at the age of 15.

Biography

The Prince of Piedmont was born in Turin on 6 May 1699. He was the fifth child and first son of his parents, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy and

, and was baptised with the names Victor Amadeus John Philip. He remained close to his father all his life. Though his parents were not close he also had a close relationship with his mother, a niece of

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. From birth he was styled as the Prince of Piedmont, the typical style for the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the Duke of Savoy. Victor Amadeus was born at a time when 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 ...

was in need of a male heir to succeed as the duchy observed

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

which forbade females to inherit the throne. His birth was greeted with great celebration and throughout his life, his health required constant attention. During the Battle of Turin, he, his mother, grandmother and younger brother, Charles Emmanuel, had to flee

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 ...

for their safety and go to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. His father took part in the battle which was played out to west of the city. The prince was moved from female care in 1708. In 1713, at the end of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, by the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

, Sicily was ceded to the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus's father. As such, Victor Amadeus became the heir to a kingdom rather than just a duchy. In September his parents set off for

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in order to be crowned officially. Victor Amadeus II asked his mother, Marie Jeanne of Savoy, to maintain a regency in his absence but she declined and the younger Victor Amadeus was given the post. Victor Amadeus's regency ended when his father returned in September 1714. Strained relations between Savoy and Austria caused plans for the Prince of Piedmont to wed Maria Amalia, a daughter of the late Emperor Joseph I, but plans were ignored by his father. There were also negotiations for Victor Amadeus to wed Infanta Francisca Josefa of Portugal or Elisabeth Farnese. Victor Amadeus died in Turin on 22 March 1715 having caught

. He was buried at the Turin Cathedral and later moved to the Basilica of Superga outside Turin. His body is located in the ''Sala degli Infanti'' (Hall of the Infantes hildren. He was succeeded as Prince of Piedmont by his younger brother, Charles Emmanuel.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Victor Amadeus, Prince Of Piedmont 1699 births 1715 deaths 18th-century Italian nobility 18th-century regents Nobility from Turin Princes of Savoy Deaths from smallpox Heirs apparent who never acceded Regents of Savoy Princes of Piedmont Burials at the Basilica of Superga Italian royalty who died as children Sons of kings 18th-century people from the Savoyard State Sons of dukes