Victor Amadeus I Duke Of SAVOY

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Victor Amadeus I (Italian: Vittorio Amedeo I di Savoia, May 8, 1587 - October 7, 1637) was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also titular King of Cyprus and Jerusalem.

Biography
He was born in Turin to Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Catherine Micaela of Spain. He spent much of his childhood at the Spanish court in Madrid. When his brother prince Filippo Emanuele died, he became legitimate heir to the duchy and received the loyalty swore of the court at Racconigi on January 21, 1607.

After a crisis with relationships with Spain, he was married to Louis XIII of France's daughter Christine Marie.

Victor Amadeus became Duke of Savoy after his father's death in 1630. Charles Emmanuel's policies had brought a great instability in the relationships with France 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 given back Pinerolo, although, according to a secret point of the agreement, that important stronghold was to remain to France in exchange of Geneve.

Subsequently, under the direction of Cardinal Richelieu, Victor Amadeus attempted to create an anti-Spanish league in Italy. In 1637 he crushed a Spanish army at battle of Mombaldone.

On September 25 1637, Victor Amadeus fell ill after a dinner offered by the Duke of CrÈqui. Carried to Turin, he died here on October 7.

Victor married Christine Marie Duchess Of SAVOY in 1619. Christine (daughter of Henry IV King Of FRANCE and Maria DE'MEDICI) was born on 12 Feb 1606; died on 27 Dec 1663. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Princess Luisa Cristina of Savoy (27 July 1629 - 12 May 1692) was a Princess of Savoy by birth and the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy. She married her uncle Prince Maurice of Savoy but had no children. She was the owner of the future Villa della Regina. She was a first cousin of Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England.

Biography
Luisa Cristina was born at the Castello del Valentino in Turin. She was the eldest daughter of the future Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and his wife Christine Marie of France. Her birth was greeted with excitement as prior to her birth, her parents had lost a son and heir and were expecting another son.[1] However, being a female and due to the salic law, she was barred from succeeding to the Duchy of Savoy which at the time of her birth was ruled by her grandfather Charles Emmanuel I. Luisa Cristina was said to have been illegitimate and the fruit of her mother's supposed affair with a French courtier named "Pommeuse".[1]

As a child, two of her brothers succeeded their father who became ruler of Savoy in 1630. Her father died in 1637 and was succeeded quickly by her brother Francis Hyacinth who died in 1638 and was followed by another brother Charles Emmanuel II. Her mother took over a regency which was disputed by her uncles Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano and Cardinal Maurice. The two brothers conspired against Christine Marie claiming the regency between the two of them causing a war in Savoy.

The war resulted in Thomas Francis and Maurice fleeing to Spain for support which came to nothing. Her mother was soon victorious in the ensuing wars thanks to French support in the form of her brother, Louis XIII. Returning to Savoy, Luisa Cristina was soon engaged to Maurice as part of a reconciliation between Christine Marie.[2] Luisa Cristina married Maurice in Turin on 18 August 1642. Maurice had previously been a cardinal and had to receive permission from Pope Urban VIII who consented to the match. The thirteen-year-old bride and forty-nine-year-old Maurice moved to Nice where Maurice was the governor of the city ? another part of the reconciliation.

Her husband died in 1657 of a stroke leaving Luisa Cristina a widow aged twenty seven. Her husband willed her his large art collection as well as his huge debts.[3] In Turin she lived at her husband's villa outside Turin. She also did much to improve the structure under the direction of Amedeo di Castellamonte. She also commissioned Guarino Guarini to carry out works on churches in Savoy.[4] Luisa Cristina died at the villa and left the property to her nephew's consort, the French born Anne Marie d'Orléans.[5]

Family/Spouse: Maurice Of SAVOY. Maurice (son of Charles Emmanuel I Of SAVOY and Catherine Michelle Of SPAIN) was born on 10 Jan 1593; died on 04 Oct 1657. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Charles Emmanuel II (Italian: Carlo Emanuele II di Savoia); 20 June 1634 ? 12 June 1675) was the Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675[1] and under regency of his mother Christine of France until 1648.[2] He was also Marquis of Saluzzo, Count of Aosta, Geneva, Moriana and Nice, as well as claimant king of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia. At his death in 1675 his second wife Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours acted as Regent for their nine-year-old son.

Biography
He was born in Turin to Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, and Christine of France.[1] His maternal grandparents were Henry IV of France and his second wife Marie de' Medici. In 1638 at the death of his older brother Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel succeeded to the duchy of Savoy at the age of 4. His mother governed in his place, and even after reaching adulthood in 1648, he invited her to continue to rule.[2] Charles Emmanuel continued a life of pleasure, far away from the affairs of state.

He became notorious for his persecution of the Vaudois (Waldensians) culminating in the massacre of 1655, known as Piedmontese Easter. The massacre was so brutal that it prompted the English poet John Milton to write the sonnet On the Late Massacre in Piedmont. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, called for a general fast in England and proposed to send the British Navy if the massacre was not stopped while gathering funds for helping the Waldensians. Sir Samuel Morland was commissioned with that task. He later wrote The History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piemont (1658). The 1655 massacre was only the beginning of a series of conflicts, the Savoyard?Waldensian wars (1655?1690), that saw Waldensian rebels use guerrilla warfare tactics against ducal military campaigns to enforce Roman Catholicism upon the entire population.

Only after the death of his mother in 1663, did he really assume power. He was not successful in gaining a passage to the sea at the expense of Genoa (Second Genoese?Savoyard War, 1672?1673),[3] and had difficulties in retaining the influence of his powerful neighbour France.

But he greatly improved commerce and wealth in the Duchy[citation needed], developing the port of Nice and building a road through the Alps towards France. He also reformed the army, which until then was mostly composed of mercenaries: he formed instead five Piedmontese regiments and recreated cavalry, as well as introducing uniforms. He also restored fortifications. He constructed many beautiful buildings in Turin[citation needed], for instance the Palazzo Reale.

He died on 12 June 1675, leaving his second wife as regent for his son.[4] He is buried at Turin Cathedral.

Marriages and issue
Charles Emmanuel first met Marie Jeanne of Savoy in 1659 and fell in love with her. However, his mother disagreed with the pairing, and encouraged him to marry Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans, daughter of his maternal uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of his mother Christine Marie. They were married 3 April 1663.[5] The couple had no issue. His mother died at the end of 1663, and his first wife died at the start of 1664. This left him free to get married on 20 May 1665 to Marie Jeanne of Savoy.[6] They had one son:

Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, future King of Sicily and later Sardinia;[3] married Anne Marie d'Orléans and had issue; had illegitimate issue also; married Anna Teresa Canalis di Cumania in a morganatic marriage
Charles Emmanuel II also recognized five of his illegitimate children by three different mistresses.[7]

Charles married Francoise Madeleine Of ORLEANS on 04 Mar 1663 in The Louvre. Francoise (daughter of Gaston Duke Of ORLEANS and Margaret Of LORRAINE) was born on 13 Oct 1648 in st. Germain-en-Laye; died on 14 Jan 1664 in Turin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Charles married Marie Jeanne Baptiste of SAVOY-NEMOURS on 20 May 1665. Marie (daughter of Charles Amadeus Duke of NEMOURS and Elisabeth DE BOURBON) was born on 11 Apr 1644; died on 15 Mar 1724. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ranuccio Farnese Duke Of PARMA, II. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Elector of Bavaria Ferdinand Maria Of BAVARIA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]