World War One – La Grande Guerra in Italian – destroyed four of the great ruling houses of Europe. The House of Savoy was not one of them. That would take another war. The House of Savoy is one of the older families of Europe making it into the rarefied heights of ascendant nobility. Like most of these families, the family history is complicated by time and politics. That history becomes confused further by looking at maps of the feudal lands over the years as they waxed and waned with time. Little bits of color interspersed with each other, seemingly with no rhyme or reason at times. So much of history tied up in abstruse, rarefied, esoteric stories understood by only a few of the most dedicated students.
DIFFICULTIES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY
My first time in Europe was for an extended period living in Germany. Germany has one the most difficult histories to study if you go back past 1864. The number of separate entities means you must have a scorecard and book of maps at your side the whole time to make any sense out of the stories and people. You could do worse than take notes when reading Simon Winder’s Germania to establish a grounding in German history. There are many gems to be discovered, to be pulled out from the vast mess of things.
And then, there is Italy. Even Winder has not attempted to unravel history here, at least not yet.
Italy came together as a country at the same time as Germany. Like Germany, before the unification – Risorgimiento or re-ordering – the country lie in many pieces. Maybe there were not as many pieces to bring together as Germany, but pieces far from similar in many cases, all the same. Some say that the whole still has not been obtained from the many.
And like Germany, Italy came together as a country from events happening atop the tribal chain, not as a result of an upswelling from below such as in the case of France or Russia. Also, like Germany, unification came about from military action. Unification was not the perfect world for many in either Germany nor Italy.
AND THEN THERE IS THE SAVOY – “AVANTI SAVOIE!”
Back to the House of Savoy. Before a recent trip to Italy, my knowledge of the Italian royal family, the top dogs in the story of Risorgimento was limited to 1848 when Carlo Alberto decided to help out rebelling Milanese – too much of a delay in the minds of the Milanese – in their struggle to throw out the ruling Hapsburgs. Visiting the Savoyard palaces in Torino, with statues galore; climbing to the top of the Superga hill and making sense of all of those from the House of Savoy buried there. Then there were visits to sites like the magnificent Fenestrelle fort, the little abbey at Novalesa high in the Alps or the not so little incredible basilica of Sacra di San Michele standing high above the eastern entrance to the Valley of Susa, the highway between Piemonte and France for many armies over the centuries.
Standing in the mausoleum of the Superba Basilica, seeing all of those from what is essentially a family cemetery is to witness an era of Italian history stretching back into the dusty library rows in the far back where books sit untouched.
there is a story to be told here
I also recently came across another of Winder’s books, Danubia, a book trying – and succeeding – to make sense of the history of Central Europe seen through the eyes of another family tribe which shook things up in Europe on scales other families, like the Savoy, could only dream of. In a poorer version, here I try to understand Italian history, at least as it pertains to the far northwest in the Piemonte region, a little better by dashing off a post about the tribal leaders of the House of Savoy from their beginnings in the Eleventh century up to Carlo Alberto and the beginnings of Risorgimiento. The House went on to bigger things as Italy realized unification in 1860, 1866 and 1918, but the men who led the House then do not lie at the Superga. Their destinies took them elsewhere.
So, we begin.
BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING
Humbert the Whitehanded – Biancamano – is the first of the family carving out a feudal fiefdom in the Alps during the late Dark Ages. The family is thought to have originated in Saxony. In return for his service earlier in Burgundy, Humbert gained lands in Sapaudia given by King Rudolf III of the Holy Roman Empire. Sapaudia being an ancient region between Lakes Geneva and Neuchâtel and much of the rest of the central plateau of today’s Switzerland.
By 1034, Umberto for service helping solidify Holy Roman Emperors Henry II and Conrad II – the Salic – claims to the region of Burgundy following Rudolf’s death, Umberto acquired more lands. His rule stretched south from Lake Geneva on both sides of the Alps – Savoy, Maurienne, Belley, the Tarantaise along with three Alpine passes – Mount Cenis and two St. Bernard passes. The new territory became the county of Savoy. About this same time, a little farther to the north, also in the future Switzerland, another family was beginning its rise as well – the Hapsburgs.
MARRIAGES AND CRUSADES
Like other houses eventually rising to the top of European cream, the Savoy married well. The third Count of Savoy, Otto, one of Umberto’s sons, married Adelaide, heiress and daughter of Odelrico Manfredi, the Marquess of Susa. This brought in lands covering much of Piemonte including the town of Torino into the House of Savoy, further planting the House on both sides of the Alps. The March of Susa – also known as the March of Turin – technically ruled by Adelaide, did not come into permanent Savoy possession, though the northern part did under Humbert II – the Fat – by the end of the 1000’s.
Umberto’s son, Amadeo III, added to his holdings lands south of Lake Geneva – “New Chablais” – in 1128. His brother-in-law, Louis VI of France, in turn tried to confiscate the Savoy. Amadeus gained a reprieve only by agreeing to go on a crusade with Louis and with the help of Peter the Hermit. Peter was a French priest who organized the People’s Crusade. This, part of the ill-fated initial Christian campaign to regain Jerusalem from Muslim conquerors in 1095-1096 ended badly for the crusaders destroyed in a Turkish ambush in the Battle of Civetot. Peter escaped and hoped to persuade others in France to pick up the Crusader cause.
deus vullt!
The First Crusade featured both the failed People’s Crusade and the better funded Princes’ Crusade. The Princes succeeded in capturing Jerusalem and founded three crusader states, one of which was the County of Edessa. Edessa fell to a Muslim counterattack in 1144. In response, Louis VII, Amadeus’ nephew, was instrumental in launching the Second Crusade. Joining in was Amadeo, along with many of his barons from Savoy lands. Amadeo joined Louis and others at Antalya to journey by sea to Antioch. In Cyprus, Amadeo fell ill, dying April 1148. He lies at the Church of St. Croix in Nicosia.
SAVOY SAINT?
Amadeo’s son, Umberto III, helped organize Hautecombe Abbey on the south shores of Lake Geneva. Umberto was probably better as a monk living a life of mystic vocation, but his nobles had other ideas. First, he supported Frederick I Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor in his hopes of rebuilding the old Kingdom of Burgundy in opposition to French royal aspirations of centralization. Umberto ran afoul of Frederick because of conflict with the bishop of Torino who enjoyed Barbarossa’s patronage. The bishop hoped for undisturbed rule over Torino. Henry VI, son and successor to Frederick Barbarossa, eventually banished Umberto from the Holy Roman Empire in 1187 after the Savoy domains had been reduced to only the valleys of Aosta and Susa.
Umberto III was beatified by the Catholic church in 1838, something the Hapsburg family had to wait for until 2003 when Karl I gained the same status representing the Hapsburgs. Umberto III was the first of many Savoyard leaders to be buried at Hautecombe.
MISTS OF TIME
Umberto’s heirs slowly regained ground lost in the ensuing years. His son, Peter II, is known for expanding the family summer castle at Chillon on Lake Geneva in the latter part of the 13th century. Peter II spent years in England centrally involved with the Second Baron’s War. The Savoy Palace and its successors, the Savoy Hotel and Savoy Theatre, are reminders of Peter’s English period. Peter’s time also featured the first battles with the Hapsburgs regaining the initially lost Castle of Chillon in 1266 from Rudolf I.
Amado VIII became Count of Savoy in 1391. In 1416, he was elevated to Duke of Savoy by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the last of the House of Luxembourg. Sigismund was succeeded by Albert V of Austria as the Hapsburgs gained serious ground in the dynastic rumblings in central Europe. His son, Ludovico I, became the first Savoy to hold the title of Prince of Piedmont – Savoy still being a ducal status. Eventually, the position of Prince of Piedmont would be the title borne by the heir apparent to the throne of the King of Sardinia, but that is three hundred years still down the line.
Ludovico married Princess Anne of Cyprus and heiress to the Crusader states of the Kingdom of Cyprus and the Kingdom of Jerusalem 1 November 1433 gaining more titles for the House. Also Ludovico was the Savoy who received in 1452 the Shroud of Turin from Margaret de Charney. The Shroud stored first in Chambery, the Savoy capital of the time before moving to Torino in 1578 where it remains today.
ANOTHER SAINT?
A second Savoy was beatified – actually the first to be so – in 1677, Amadeo IX. He served as a protector of Franciscan friars while endowing religious houses and homes for the sick and poor. Relations with the Hapsburgs improved in 1501 when Filiberto II married Margaret of Austria, the only daughter of Maximillian I. His half-brother, Carlo III, inherited the family seat in 1504. Allied to the Hapsburg camp in the 16th century wars between Francis I of France and Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and pater familias of the Hapsburg camp, Savoy found itself invaded by France in 1536 Carlo III spent most of the rest of his life in exile.
His son, Emanuele Filiberto’s mother was sister-in-law to Charles V. The young man served in Charles’ army hoping to regain the Savoyard lands from France. He served as Governor of the Netherlands from 1555 to 1559. Leading a Spanish invasion of northern France in 1557, he gained victory at Saint-Quentin. Regaining his lands in 1559, he married the sister of Henry II of France. He also moved the Savoy capital from Chambery to Torino establishing French as the official language in the Duchies of Savoy and Aosta and Italian in the Principality of Piemonte and the County of Nice. He lies buried in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, an annex of the Torino Cathedral.
SAVOY AND FRANCE
The 16th and into the 17th century, relations found tehmselves often frayed between Savoy and France. Vittorio Amadeo II looked at opportunities in the 17th century to replace Spain as the big player in northern Italy. Normally, Savoy sided with France against the Hapsburgs because of the difficulty in defending the County of Nice from attack. But Savoy, being Savoy, was well suited to switch sides to their gain. The town of Pinerolo nearby to Torino fell to invading French forces in 1536. They remained in control until 1574. Back in control, the French occupied Pinerolo from 1631 until the Treaty of Torino in 1696 when Savoy left its involvement in the Nine Years’ War agreeing to demolish the town fortifications.
In the subsequent War of the Spanish Succession, Vittorio Amadeo began fighting on the French side in 1701, but in 1703, as in the last war, he changed sides to join the Hapsburgs. The French besieged Torino in 1706. The siege went on from 2 June until 7 September when Imperial forces under Eugene of Savoy pushed through to relieve the city. Prince Eugene of Savoy was a great example of the mixed-up affair of European nobility. Raised in France of an Italian mother who hoped to marry young King Louis XIV – some thought Eugene’s father was actually Louis XIV – and Eugene Maurice, grandson of Carlo Emanuele I, a Duke of Savoy. Eugene Maurice spent much of his adult life fighting for France.
SAVOY-CARIGNANO – CADET FAMILY BRANCH MOST PERSISTENT
Eugene’s family began as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. Founded by the fifth son of Carlo Emanuele, Thomas Francis. He married a Bourbon becoming a princes étraners at the French court. The title, an empty title in that the Carignano already found itself controlled by others in the Savoy family. His son, Prince Eugene hoped to follow his father in French service, but a murder scandal involving his mother extinguished those hopes. The Prince went on to become one of the most celebrated generals the Hapsburgs ever had leading their armies against the Turks and against the French. The Carignano branch will be heard from again in the not-so-distant future.
SUPERGA AND A KINGDOM
In recognition of the victory at Torino, Vittorio Amadeus II had the basilica built atop the hill of Superga. From atop the hill on 2 September 1706, he witnessed the Franco-Spanish siege. Kneeling, he promised to build a monument in honor of the Virgin Mary. On 7 September, victory was his. The church is part monument and part royal mausoleum for the House of Savoy. The Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of Spanish Succession between Savoy, France, and Spain.
Savoy gained the Kingdom of Sicily out of the war giving them their first real crown. Vittorio Amadeo II was forced to exchange Sicily for the lesser Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720, though he remained a king as well as a duke, a marquis, prince, and perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire. He abdicated his throne in September 1730 and Carlo Emanuele III succeeded him. A year later, he informed his son of his wish to resume his kingly responsibilities. That did not go so well as his son arrested him. He died a year later. Initially, he was denied burial at Superga by his son, but he lies there today.
18TH CENTURY TRIBALISM ON AN ELEVATED PLAYING FIELD
Wars of the Polish Succession and the Austrian Succession punctuated the years of Carlos Emanuele II. First with the French and then with Austria, he was able to regain the lost provinces of Nice and Savoy along with other lands. Opting out of the Seven Years’ War, Carlos Emmanuele II focused on improving the lands he held, strengthening both his army and fortresses defending, as well. Dying in 1773, he lies at the Superga.
Another Vittorio Amedeo came next, the Third. The French Revolution saw Savoy join in the First Coalition against the new French Republic. Beaten after four years of renewed war by Napoleon, he gave up Nice and Savoy to France once again. Several forts ended up given to France as well as allowing free passage to French armies as they marched across Italy to do battle with the Hapsburgs. Vittorio Amedeo III brought many of the remains of his ancestors up to Superga in 1786 where he would join them in 1796.
REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON
Carlo Emanuele IV came next. His marriage to Marie Clotilde of France did not produce children. Not the only difficulty he faced during his reign. At the end of 1798, French general Joubert forced Carlo Emanuele to give up all territories on the Italian mainland and withdraw to Sardinia. A descendent of Charles I of England, he inherited the Jacobite claim to the English throne in 1807 though no attempt was ever made to put claim the throne. Abdicating his positions in Sardinia and Savoy with the death of his wife in 1802, he became a Jesuit novitiate in 1815 living the rest of his life in Rome where he died in 1819.
His successor, Vittorio Emanuele I, could only return to Torino in 1814 after Napoleon’s defeat. The old territories became restored with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa. Vittorio abolished the freedoms allowed by the Napoleonic Codices restoring a very conservative rule. He also shared anti-Austrian sentiments with Italian liberals. Not willing to grant a liberal constitution brought about his forced abdication 13 March 1821. Enter the brief regency of Carlo Alberto, head of the Carignan branch of the Savoy family. Because neither Vittorio Emanuele I nor his brother, Carlo Felice, had male children, he had become second-in-line for the throne.
SAVOY REACTIONARIES
Carlo Alberto agreed to granting a constitution to quell the chaos erupting in Torino. Carlo Felice, living in Modena at the time, was not having any sort of liberal constitutions pushed at him. He ordered Carlo Alberto and his family to depart for Florence. Then he asked Francis I of Austria to supply him with troops to crush the revolt in order to re-impose the reactionary rule his brother had gotten thrown out of Torino for. After suppressing the opposition through a series of death sentences and sentences of imprisonment, Carlo Felice reached Torino issuing a pardon to all. Austrian troops remained in Piemonte until 1823 supporting the new reactionary king. He was able to rule until his death in 1831. He lies buried with his wife at the Hautecombe Abbey in Haute Savoy.
carlo alberto
Carlo Felice’s death brought in the Savoy-Carignano branch of the family. To try and make amends for any role he played in the liberal revolt of 1821, he volunteered for the French expeditionary force heading to Spain. Their goal, to suppress the liberal revolution there and restore Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne. He was among the first to break into the fortress of the Trocadero in Cadiz to free the Spanish king. Carlo Alberto was also finally allowed to return to Torino. He spent the next seven years quietly making preparations for his time on the top.
Initially, Carlo Alberto continued the reactionary program of Carlo Felice. Other liberal rebellions – France 1831; Spain and Portugal as well – moved him to support legitimist claims against liberals who wanted constitutional laws drawn up as a curb on absolutism. At home he moved to repress would-be liberal efforts executing twelve with no pardons granted like his successor. He helped in the drafting of new civil and criminal codes. And in 1849 enacted the Perfect Fusion which extended mainland reforms to Sardinia.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
The revolutions of 1848 changed things in Savoy-Piemonte as elsewhere in Europe. On 4 March 1848, pre-empting possible moves from below, Carlo Alberto announced the Statute. This specified Catholicism as the only state religion; executive power including command of the armed forces remained in the king’s hands; a bicameral legislature; free press and individual liberty.
Revolution in France brought about the Second Republic. The spirit spread to Germany, Milan, Venice and finally Vienna forcing the downfall of Prince Metternich and abdication of Emperor Ferdinand I. With a longtime desire to extend Savoy rule into the rest of northern Italy, Carlo Alberto told the rebellious Milanese he would agree to intervene on their behalf.
But the Austrians, even with revolution raging across their lands, were not ready to give up without a fight. Sadly, for Carlo Alberto, the Austrians were led by the greatest living general of the time, Jospeh Radetzky von Radetz.
HAPSBURG INTERPLAY
Reversing early Piemontese victories, a reinforced Radetzky counterattacked defeating the Italians at Custoza. Withdrawing first to Milan and later back to Piemonte, Carlo Alberto reluctantly agreed to an armistice signed on 9 August. But before the inked dried, he began having second thoughts. Resuming the war, the following spring, Carlo Alberto forces met up with Radetzky once more. This time was more conclusive and with the door open to Torino, he abdicated in the hope his son Vittorio Emanuele could gain better armistice terms from the Austrians. He went into exile reaching Oporto in Portugal 19 April hoping to go on to America. But by this time, he was ill with liver problems. His health went downhill from there. Finally, after three heart attacks, he died 28 July at the age of 51. His body, after embalming, was brought back to Turin for his funeral on 13 October.
He is the last head of the House of Savoy to lie in the Superga. His son and three more successors went on to become Kings of Italy two of whom lie in the Pantheon in Rome.
The House of Savoy and the House of Hapsburg both found themselves bound together for most of the centuries of their ruling existence. Sometimes they were bound together by marriages and other times, by war, either on the same side or opposites. Both families came from the same approximate region – western Switzerland. Both families fell as a result of catastrophic wars – the Hapsburgs in World War One and the Savoy after World War Two. And, both families left their mark whether in the monuments erected or the history inscribed.