Victor Amadeus I (; 8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the
Duke of Savoy and ruler of the
Savoyard states from 26 July 1630 until his death in 1637. He was also known as the ''Lion of Susa''.
He was succeeded by two of his sons;
Francis Hyacinth and
Charles Emmanuel II. His male-only line became extinct in 1831 with the death of
Charles Felix. Therefore, the Kings of Italy are descended from his younger brother,
Thomas Francis.
Biography
Victor Amadeus was born in
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 ...
,
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
, as the second son and child of
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and
Catherine Micaela of Spain, daughter of King
Philip II of Spain
Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...
. He spent much of his childhood in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
at the court of his grandfather Philip II. He stayed there until the king's death in 1598, when Victor Amadeus was eleven. As the second son of the Duke, he was not expected to become Duke of Savoy. That changed when his brother, Filippo Emanuele, died in 1605, thus he became heir-apparent to the
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy f ...
and received the homage of the court at
Racconigi on 21 January 1607.
Victor Amadeus became Duke of Savoy after his father's death in 1630. Charles Emmanuel's policies had brought great instability in the relationships with both
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and Spain, and troops were needed to defend the Duchy. As money was lacking to recruit mercenaries or train indigenous soldiers, Victor Amadeus signed a peace treaty with Spain.
With the
Treaty of Cherasco, Savoy was forced to give
Pinerolo to France. This gave France a strategic route into the heart of Savoy territory and on into the rest of Italy. The rulers of Savoy from that point resented this loss and worked for decades with the goal of regaining that loss. Subsequently, under the direction of
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
, Victor Amadeus attempted to create an anti-Spanish league in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. He achieved two victories against the Spanish: In 1636 in the
Battle of Tornavento
The Battle of Tornavento was fought in Northwest Italy on 22 June 1636, during the Thirty Years' War.
Prelude
In 1636, Cardinal Richelieu had persuaded the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus I, to launch an offensive on the Spanish Duchy of Milan ...
and on 8 September 1637 in the Battle of Mombaldone.
Death
On 25 September 1637, Victor Amadeus fell ill after a dinner offered by the
Duke of Créqui. A prominent Savoyard noble (Count Augusto Manfredo Scaglia di Verrua) who attended the dinner also died in the same week, arousing suspicions of poisoning and generating uncertainty in Savoyard-French relations.
The duke was carried to
Vercelli
Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC.
...
, where he died on 7 October, aged 50. He was first succeeded by his elder son,
Francis Hyacinth. However, Francis died the following year, and his younger son, Charles Emmanuel, became
Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy.
Marriage and issue

In 1619, he married
Christine Marie of France (1606–1663), a daughter of
Henry IV of France
Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
and
Marie de' Medici. Following his death, she served as regent of the Duchy from 1637 to 1663. They had children including:
*Stillborn son (1621)
*Prince Louis Amadeus of Savoy (
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 ...
, 24 February 1622 –
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 ...
, 29 January 1628)
*
Prince Francis Hyacinth of Savoy (
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 ...
, 14 September 1632 –
Castello del Valentino, 4 October 1638), Duke of Savoy
*
Princess Luisa Cristina of Savoy (
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 ...
, 27 July 1629 –
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 ...
, 14 May 1692), married her uncle
Prince Maurice of Savoy
*
Prince Charles Emmanuel of Savoy (20 June 1634 –
Palace of Venaria, 12 June 1675), Duke of Savoy; married first his first cousin
Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans and had no issue; secondly married another first cousin
Marie Jeanne of Savoy and had issue;
*
Princess Margaret Yolande of Savoy (
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 ...
, 15 November 1635 –
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
, 29 April 1663), married
Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma; had two stillborn children; died giving birth to her last child;
*
Princess Henrietta Adelaide Marie of Savoy (
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 ...
, 6 November 1636 –
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, 18 March 1676), married
Ferdinand Maria of
Wittelsbach
The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...
, Elector of
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
and had issue
*
Princess Catherine Beatrice of Savoy (
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 ...
, 6 November 1636 –
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 ...
, 26 August 1637) twin of the above
Ancestry
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
1587 births
1637 deaths
17th-century dukes of Savoy
Nobility from Turin
Princes of Piedmont
Claimant kings of Jerusalem
Princes of Savoy
Burials at Vercelli Cathedral
17th-century Italian nobility
Italian people of the Thirty Years' War