Duke of Savoy

“ The Duke of Savoy remained true to his engagement with France, but he died in October, 1637. The Spaniards had captured Vercelli, and the emperor had bestowed the regency of the duchy on the Cardinal of Savoy and on Prince Thomas, brother-in-law of the duchess. These, supported by the Duke of Modena and the Governor of Milan, the Marquess of Leganez, declared that they were determined to protect the people against the French and to deliver the young duke from French domination. The duchess implored help from France, and la Valette advanced to her aid. ”

“ Open the history of France or Italy where you will, and there is always a duke of Savoy, a prince of Savoy, a king of Piedmont, a king of Sardinia, Philibert or Humbert, Amadeo or Victor — the house is too old for a surname — holding the mountain-gates between the two countries, allying himself with both or either, or betraying either or both, but always, amidst all changes, maintaining a reputation for daring, for adroitness, and for a certain determined persistence, which impressed observers even when the politics of the house became most tortuous, or in appearance vacillating. ”

“ Philip of Savoy, lord of Bauge, younger brother to the prince of Piedmont, who married a daughter of the duke of Bourbon, and became duke of Savoy on the death of his grand nephew, Charles II. in 1496; John the elder, count of Nassau. ”

“ It is a hardship to the writer to be compelled to retrench the story of the early deeds for liberty of Bonivard and his boon companions. There is a rollicking swagger about them all, which by and by begins to be sobered when it is seen that on the side of the oppressor there is power. By violence, by fraudulent promises, by foul treachery on the part of cowardly citizens, the duke of Savoy gains admittance with his army within the walls of Geneva, and begins his delicious and bloody revenge for the indignities that have been put upon his pretensions and usurpations. ”

“ Philip of Savoy, duke of Nemours (1490–1533) , was a son of Philip, duke of Savoy, and brother of Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I. of France. Originally destined for the priesthood, he was given the bishopric of Geneva at the age of five, but resigned it in 1510, when he was made count of Genevois. He served under Louis XII., with whom he was present at the battle of Agnadello (1509) , under the emperor Charles V. in 1520, and finally under his nephew, Francis I. In 1528 Francis gave him the duchy of Nemours and married him to Charlotte of Orléans-Longueville. ”

“ The duchy of Savoy, which still extended as far as the Rhone, and disputed with the king of France for the rule over Provence and Dauphiné, had been gradually pushed by its more powerful neighbour more and more towards Italy. Its duke had quite lately established himself in his capital of Turin at the foot of the mountain, and his ambition was to become an Italian prince. But though Piedmont and not Savoy had become the centre of his power, the border land of Savoy and not the Italian land of Piedmont became necessarily the centre of his policy. ”

“ Express your admiration of the many great men that the house of Savoy has produced; observe, that nature, instead of being exhausted by those efforts, seems to have redoubled them in the persons of the present king, and the Duke of Savoy ”

“ Now that they had become immediate neighbours of the city, they began before long to be its most dangerous enemies. The acquisition of the Genevois took place in the reign of the famous Amadeus, the Eighth, the first Duke of Savoy, who received that rank by grant of King Siegmund [1417] , and who was afterwards the Anti-pope Felix. See PAPACY: A. D. 1431-1448. In his reign the dominions of Savoy, as a power ruling on both sides of the Alps, reached their greatest extent. But the Savoyard power was still pre-eminently Burgundian, and Chambery was its capital. ”

“ God grant that we at least may be spared all participation in the slight offered to the memory of the late King, by refusing to falsify the pledge which he gave to the Duke of Savoy, whose house has so long been the firm ally of France. ”

“ He unfortunately espoused the cause of Louis, duke of Anjou, and while aiding that prince in his attempt to recover the kingdom of Naples he died of the plague, leaving his realm to his son, Amadeus VII., the Conte Rosso or “Red Count” (1383–1391) ; the latter added Nice (1388) and other territories to his domains. During the reign of Amadeus VIII. (1391–1440) , Savoy prospered in every way. The count extended his territories both in Savoy itself and in Italy, and in 1416 was created duke by the emperor Sigismund. ”

“ Louise of Savoy, daughter of Count Philip of Bresse, subsequently Duke of Savoy, was born at Le Pont d’Ain in 1477, and upon the death of her mother, Margaret de Bourbon, she married Charles d’Orléans, Count of Angoulême, to whom she brought the slender dowry of thirty-five thousand livres. (1) She was then but twelve years old, her husband being some twenty years her senior. He had been banished from the French Court for his participation in the insurrection of Brittany, and was living in straitened circumstances. Still, on either side the alliance was an honourable one. ”

“ The Swiss diet ordered them to receive the duke; there were only from ten to twelve thousand souls in the city, including women and children; and the prince of Piedmont, duke of Savoy, was at their gates with ten thousand soldiers. They fancied that Charles was going to enter, to burn and massacre everything: many families fled in alarm with the most valuable of their property. But their flight was useless, for the armed men of Savoy occupied the roads, so that the fugitives came upon them everywhere. Some returned to the city: ‘All the country of Savoy is in arms,’ said they ”

“ The house of Savoy had still many adherents in Geneva, capable of opposing the desire for independence and truth. There were old Savoyard families devoted to the duke; persons who were sold to him; young men of birth, enthusiasts of absolute power; priests and laymen enamoured of Rome; traders averse to a war that would injure their business; weak men, trembling at the least commotion, and many low people without occupation, who are easily excited to riot. ”

“ In Savoy she found the peace and quiet that her naturally indolent temperament craved, and for three years the infatuated Duke supported her in luxury at his Court. Pleasure, of which she was ever a devotee, was agreeably tempered by a taste for literature, art, and philosophy, which she developed at this time. Nor was love abandoned. She shared her heart between the unexacting Duke and a certain César Vischard. It was to the latter that she dictated her memoirs during her stay in Savoy, and as he played for a time a rather important part in her life a word about him will not be amiss. ”

“ The command of this army was given to Emanuel Philibert, prince of Piedmont,{88} better known by his title of duke of Savoy. No man had a larger stake in the contest, for he had been stripped of his dominions by the French, and his recovery of them depended on the issue of the war. ”

“ There was much to hear on either side, and the women’s faces grew very grave when Gaspard told them what had happened in the valleys of Luserna and Angrogna. Cannon and cavalry had been too much for the mountaineers in the villages and on the roads, and treachery had beguiled them from the entrenchments on the heights to which they had fled. The Savoy general had offered, in the duke’s name, safe and honourable treatment for themselves, their wives, and children, if they would throw themselves on their conquerer’s clemency. ”

“ Lord President Lawrence, Colonel Sydenham, Mr. Rous, Colonel Montague, Colonel Jones, General Desborough, Mr. Strickland, Colonel Fiennes, Lord Viscount Lisle, Sir Gilbert Pickering, Lord Lambert. "The Latin draft of a Letter to the Duke of Savoy in behalf of the Protestants in his Territory was this day read. Ordered, That it be offered to his Highness as the advice of the Council that his Highness will please to sign the said Letter and cause it to be sent to the said Duke." ”

“ In May (23rd) 1532 it warned the Duke of Savoy that if he thought of persecuting the inhabitants of Payerne because of their religion, it would make their cause its own, and declared that its alliance with the town was much more ancient than any existing between Bern and the Duke. ”

“ In return for so many concessions, Victor-Amadeo guaranteed to the king the neutrality of Italy, and promised to close the entry of his dominions against the Protestants of Dauphiny who came thither for refuge. If Italy refused her neutrality, the Duke of Savoy was to unite his forces to those of the king and command the combined army. ”

“ In the Pietà (one of Jean Colombe’s miniatures) kneeling figures of the Duke and Duchess of Savoy are introduced. We cannot help wondering what different results might have been achieved had Duke Charles of Savoy, on inheriting the Très Riches Heures, employed Bourdichon or Perréal to complete them—or perhaps Simon Marmion of Valenciennes, who at that very time was painting his celebrated altarpiece for St. Bertin. Unfortunately this prince was not a connoisseur like his august relative the Duc de Berry, and he was unable in consequence to distinguish great art from lesser achievements.{179} ”

“ This body of men at arms, after many days marches, arrived in Savoy, and were joyfully received by the duke. They were thence ordered to the borders of Lombardy, where they committed numberless mischiefs, insomuch that, through fear of them, and from compassion to the poor natives, these two princes concluded a peace.
When this was done, duke Amé of Savoy gave orders for the Picards to return home, thanking them greatly for their effective services, and presenting to some of the principal captains pieces of damask and other precious ornaments. The Picards were now marched home again. ”

“ Francis had overrun almost the whole of Savoy and Piedmont, he had invaded Artois, and successfully repelled two invasions of France. He was content for the present to rest upon his conquests, to hold Savoy, an outpost for defence, a ready road for attack, and to defer the settlement of other outstanding questions for a season. Charles was the more willing to leave Savoy in Francis' possession because the Duke had offended him deeply in the matter of Nice. On the other hand he needed peace above all for his affairs in Germany, and to meet the Turkish danger. ”

“ Mantua and Montferrat are given to Charles, duke of Nevers. Savoy gets a small portion of Montferrat and Pinerolo is ceded to France.
1637 On death of Victor Amadeus a contest over the regency for his young son, Charles Emmanuel II, begins.
1639 Capture of Turin by Prince Thomas of Savoy in the contest for the regency.
1642 The duke’s mother Christina obtains the regency of Savoy under the protection of France. This leads to the implication of Italy in the wars of Louis XIII with Germany and Spain. Civil war breaks out in Italy. The ducal families take the side of Spain. ”

“ The King, after some weeks of consideration, declared that he could not think of it; that even the duke of Savoy was against the project. (See Gachard, Corresp. de Philippe II, II, 552, and his Les bibliothèques de Madrid et de l’Escurial, 100.) On the political ambition of the duke of Savoy see Rel. vén., I, 453. He had made a treaty with Bern in 1565 (Collection Godefroy, XCIV, fol. 21) . There are three excellent German monographs on Switzerland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Planta, Die Geschichte von Graubunden in ihren Hauptzügen, Bern, 1892 ”

“ Princess Clothilde (b. 1843) , who married Prince Napoleon; Humbert, prince of Piedmont (1844) ; Amadeus, duke of Aosta (b. 1845) ; Oddone, duke of Montferrat (b. 1846) ; and-Princess Maria Pia (b. 1847) . Humbert, who Humber, in 1868 had married Princess Margherita of Savoy, daughter of Victor Emmanuel's brother, the duke of Genoa, became king of Italy on his father's death in 1878. In July 1900 he was assassinated by an anarchist at Monza. He was succeeded by his only son, Victor Emmanuel III., born in 1869, who during his father's lifetime had borne the title of prince of Naples. ”

“ The lay nobles followed, when they felt themselves as safe in that fresh and healthy air as the prelates. The chapel of the Savoy is still a royal chapel, and the memories of time-honoured Lancaster and of John, the honest King of France, still dignify the place. But the last nobleman who resided so far from the now recognised quarters of fashion has left what has been the seat of the Howards and Percys for nearly three centuries, and the Strand will be able no longer to boast of a duke. It also recently possessed an English earl ”

“ These fifteen years draw to a close; it is now 1650, and the Vaudois are entering within the shadow of their [Pg 133] greatest woe. The throne of Savoy was at this time filled by Charles Emmanuel II., a youth of fifteen. He was a prince of mild and humane disposition; but he was counselled and ruled by his mother, the Duchess Christina, who had been appointed regent of the kingdom during his minority. That mother was sprung of a race which has ever been noted for its dissimulation, its cruelty, and its bigoted devotion to Rome. ”

“ It would be impossible to chronicle here the history of the Savoyard dukes, who were advanced to the title of Kings of Sardinia after the acquisition of that island. Savoy lay in the way of the three fighting nations, France, Spain, and Austria. The plain of Piedmont was an admirable fighting-ground, and [Pg 343] the combatants chose it on all possible occasions, but it would not be fair to charge the whole blame upon those three nations. The Dukes of Savoy were ambitious men, full of all sorts of schemes for increasing their dominions and their personal glory. ”