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Beatrice is described as beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious. In 1531, she received as a fiefdom, from her cousin and brother-in-law, Emperor Charles V, the County of Asti which, on her death, was inherited by her son and permanently included on the Savoy's heritage.
Beatrice and Charles III had nine children:
After the death of the childless Sebastian of Portugal (her grand-nephew), her son fought for his rights to become King of Portugal, however he failed and the throne was given to Isabella's son Philip.
Claudine de Brosse (1450–1513), was a Duchess Consort of Savoy; married in 1485 to Philip II, Duke of Savoy.
She was a daughter of Jean II de Brosse and Nicole de Châtillon.
Catalina Micaela of Spain (; 10 October 1567 – 6 November 1597) was a duchess of Savoy who ruled the duchy as regent several times during the absence of her husband, Charles Emmanuel I. She was the younger surviving daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois.
Duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy suggested that he should marry Catalina Micaela as a way of gaining Spanish support for his plans to expand Savoy on the coast of the then weakened France. The wedding took place in Zaragoza on 11 March 1585 and the couple made their entrance to Turin in Savoy 10 August 1585.
Catalina Micaela died near the end of 1597; she had miscarried earlier that year. Her father died the following year.
In 1584, she married Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. This marriage produced ten children:
National Institute for the Honour Guard of the Royal Tombs of the Pantheon
The National Institute for the Honour Guard of the Royal Tombs of the Pantheon (Italian: "Istituto nazionale per la guardia d'onore alle reali tombe del Pantheon") is an Italian paramilitary company, originally chartered by the House of Savoy and subsequently operating with authorization of the Italian Republic, which mounts guards of honor at the royal tombs of the Roman pantheon.
The organization was founded in 1878. As of 2014 it had about 4,000 personnel, of whom between 15 and 20 percent were women. Members, uniformed in black berets and cloaks bearing the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy, volunteer to assume shifts guarding the tombs of the Savoy dynasty.
Enlistment in the Honour Guard is open to Italian citizens who "share the aims of the Institute" and pay an initiation fee of €100, however, a majority of the total membership must be veterans of the Italian Armed Forces.
Beatrice of Savoy ( 1237 – 21 April 1310) ruled as Lady of Faucigny, having succeeded her mother, Agnes of Faucigny. She was the only legitimate child of Peter II, Count of Savoy, but did not inherit the county, which passed instead to her uncle. Beatrice was also Dauphine of Viennois and Viscountess of Béarn by her two marriages.
In 1253 Beatrice was married to Guigues VII of Viennois, they had been betrothed to each other since 1241, the marriage being the work of Beatrice's maternal grandfather Aymon II, Seigneur de Faucigny.
In 1269, Guigues died and due to the minority of their son John, Beatrice was appointed his regent. Her son was married to Bonne, daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, who was a cousin of Beatrice. However, her son died after a fall from a horse aged around eighteen. He was eventually succeeded by Beatrice's older daughter Anne and her husband Humbert, with future dauphins descending from their marriage. Following the death of her son, Beatrice left for Taninges with his remains, laying them to rest there and praying for his soul in the monastery she founded, Mélan.
Beatrice was married for a second time on April 2, 1273 to Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn. Her second marriage is confirmed by the agreement dated 15 December 1284 under which Gaston makes an agreement with Anne and Humbert over his claim on the County of Vienne. Beatrice arranged a marriage for stepdaughter Constance of Béarn to Aymon II of Geneva, a relative through her grandmother. Gaston had dealt with domestic problems amongst his daughters from his first marriage and which would succeed him upon death, his sons-in-law Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix and Gerald VI, Count of Armagnac had battled for power. The marriage between Beatrice and Gaston did not produce any children. After seventeen years of marriage, Gaston died and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Roger-Bernard.
Beatrice did not remarry after the death of her second husband but did have more political involvement with her family back in Savoy. In 1294, she transferred her lands between Seyssel and Freiburg to her cousin Count Amadeus V. In 1296, she gave up her title as "Dame of Faucigny" to her son-in-law Humbert, for the benefit of one of his sons, reserving the usufruct for herself. Beatrice continued to be a powerful force in Savoy, causing torment for her cousin Amadeus especially, when she attempted to claim Savoy for her grandson Hugh. However, the claim proved unsuccessful and Amadeus remained count for the rest of his lifetime.
Beatrice died on 21 April 1310 and was buried at her monastery in Melun beside her son. Her various alliances with relatives and clerics in Geneva and the sharing out of her inheritance during and after her life, led to conflicts amongst her descendants for generations. The disputes between the House of Savoy and Dauphin de Viennois over the territory which the House of Savoy won back from the French in the Treaty of Paris (1355).
The House of Savoy () is a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 to 1720, when they were handed the island of Sardinia, over which they would exercise direct rule from then onward.
Through its junior branch of Savoy-Carignano, the House of Savoy led the unification of Italy in 1861 and ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until 1946; they also briefly ruled the Kingdom of Spain in the 19th century. The Savoyard kings of Italy were Victor Emmanuel II, Umberto I, Victor Emmanuel III, and Umberto II. The last monarch ruled for a few weeks before being deposed following the Constitutional Referendum of 1946, after which the Italian Republic was proclaimed.
The name derives from the historical region of Savoy in the Alpine region between what is now France and Italy. Over time, the House of Savoy expanded its territory and influence through judicious marriages and international diplomacy. From rule of a small region on the French/Italian border, the dynasty's realm grew to include nearly all of the Italian Peninsula by the time of its deposition.
The house descended from Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia (Umberto I "Biancamano"), (1003–1047 or 1048). Humbert's family is thought to have originated near Magdeburg in Saxony, with the earliest recording of the family being two 10th century brothers, Amadeus and Humbert. Though Sabaudia was originally a poor county, later counts were diplomatically skilled, and gained control over strategic mountain passes in the Alps. Two of Humbert's sons were commendatory abbots at the Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum, on the River Rhone east of Lake Geneva, and Saint Maurice is still the patron of the House of Savoy.
Humbert's son, Otto of Savoy succeeded to the title in 1051 after the death of his elder brother Amadeus I of Savoy and married the Marchioness Adelaide of Turin, passing the Marquessate of Susa, with the towns of Turin and Pinerolo, into the House of Savoy's possession. This diplomatic skill caused the great powers such as France, England, and Spain to take the counts' opinions into account.
They once had claims on the modern canton of Vaud, where they occupied the Château of Chillon in Switzerland, but their access to it was cut by Geneva during the Protestant Reformation, after which it was conquered by Bern. Piedmont was later joined with Sabaudia, and the name evolved into "Savoy" (). The people of Savoy were descended from the Celts and Romans.
By the time Amadeus VIII came to power in the late 14th century, the House of Savoy had gone through a series of gradual territorial expansions and he was elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to the Duke of Savoy in 1416.
In 1494, Charles VIII of France passed through Savoy on his way to Italy and Naples, which initiated the Italian War of 1494–98. During the outbreak of the Italian war of 1521-1526, Emperor Charles V stationed imperial troops in Savoy. In 1536, Francis I of France invaded Savoy and Piedmont, taking Turin by April of that year. Charles III, Duke of Savoy, fled to Vercelli.
When Emmanuel Philibert came to power in 1553 most of his family's territories were in French hands, so he offered to serve France's leading enemy the House of Habsburg, in the hope of recovering his lands. He served Philip II as Governor of the Netherlands from 1555 to 1559. In this capacity he led the Spanish invasion of northern France and won a victory at St. Quentin in 1557. He took advantage of various squabbles in Europe to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of Turin. He moved the capital of the duchy from Chambéry to Turin.
The 17th century brought about economic development to the Turin area and the House of Savoy took part in and benefitted from that. Charles Emmanuel II developed the port of Nice and built a road through the Alps towards France. And through skillful political manoeuvres territorial expansion continued. In early 18th century in the War of the Spanish Succession Victor Amadeus switched sides to assist the Habsburgs and via the Treaty of Utrecht they rewarded him with large pieces of land in northeastern Italy, and a Crown in Sicily. Savoy rule over Sicily lasted only seven years (1713–20).
The crown of Sicily, the prestige of being kings at last, and the wealth of Palermo helped strengthen the House of Savoy further. In 1720 they were forced to exchange Sicily for Sardinia as a result of the War of the Quadruple Alliance. On the mainland, the dynasty continued its expansionist policies as well. Through advantageous alliances during the War of the Polish Succession and War of the Austrian Succession, Charles Emmanuel III gained new lands at the expense of the Austrian-controlled Duchy of Milan.
In 1792 Piedmont-Sardinia joined the First Coalition against the French First Republic. It was beaten in 1796 by Napoleon and forced to conclude the disadvantageous Treaty of Paris (1796), giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. In 1798, Joubert occupied Turin and forced Charles Emmanuel IV to abdicate and leave for the island of Sardinia. Eventually, in 1814 the kingdom was restored and enlarged with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa by the Congress of Vienna.
In the meantime, nationalist figures such as Giuseppe Mazzini were influencing popular opinion. Mazzini believed that Italian unification could only be achieved through a popular uprising, but after the failure of the 1848 revolutions, the Italian nationalists began to look to the Kingdom of Sardinia and its prime minister Count Cavour as leaders of the unification movement. In 1848, Charles Albert conceded a constitution known as the "Statuto Albertino" to Piedmont-Sardinia, which remained the basis of the Kingdom's legal system even after Italian unification was achieved and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
The Kingdom of Italy was the first Italian state to include the Italian Peninsula since the fall of the Roman Empire. But when Victor Emmanuel was crowned King of Italy in 1861, his realm did not include the Venetia region (subject to Habsburg governance), Lazio (with Rome), Umbria, Marche and Romagna (with the Papal town of Bologna). Yet the House of Savoy continued to rule Italy for several decades, through the Italian Independence wars as Italian unification proceeded and even as the First World War raged on in the early 20th century.
In April 1655, based on (perhaps false) reports of resistance by the Waldensians, a Protestant religious minority, to a plan to resettle them in remote mountain valleys, Charles Emmanuel II ordered their general massacre. The massacre was so brutal it aroused indignation throughout Europe. Oliver Cromwell, then ruler in England, began petitioning on behalf of the Waldensians, writing letters, raising contributions, calling a general fast in England and threatening to send military forces to the rescue. The massacre prompted John Milton's famous sonnet, "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont".
In 1898, the Bava Beccaris massacre in Milan involved the use of cannons against unarmed protesters (including women and old people) during riots over the rising price of bread. King Umberto I of the House of Savoy congratulated General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris for the massacre and decorated him with the medal of Great Official of Savoy Military Order, greatly outraging a large part of the public opinion. As a result, Umberto I was assassinated in July 1900 in Monza by Gaetano Bresci, the brother of one of the women massacred in the crowd, who had traveled back to Italy from the United States for the assassination. The king had previously been the target of failed assassination attempts by anarchists Giovanni Passannante and Pietro Acciarito.
When the First World War ended, the Treaty of Versailles fell short of what had been promised in the London Pact to Italy. As the economic conditions in Italy worsened after the war, popular resentment and along with it the seeds of Italian fascism began to grow and resulted in the March on Rome by Benito Mussolini.
General Pietro Badoglio advised King Victor Emmanuel III that he could easily sweep Mussolini and his rag-tag Blackshirt army to one side, but Victor Emmanuel decided to tolerate Mussolini and appointed him as prime minister on 28 October 1922. The king remained silent as Mussolini engaged in one abuse of power after another from 1924 onward, and did not intervene in 1925-26 when Mussolini dropped all pretense of democracy. By the end of 1928, the king's right to remove Mussolini from office was, at least theoretically, the only check on his power. Later, the King's failure, in the face of mounting evidence, to move against the Mussolini regime's abuses of power led to much criticism and had dire future consequences for Italy and for the monarchy itself.
On 12 June 1946, the Kingdom of Italy formally came to an end as Umberto transferred his powers to Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi and called for the Italian people to support the new republic. He then went into exile in Portugal, never to return; he died in 1983.
Under the Constitution of the Italian Republic, the republican form of government cannot be changed by constitutional amendment, thus forbidding any attempt to restore the monarchy short of adoption of an entirely new constitution. The constitution also forbade male descendants of the House of Savoy from entering Italy. This provision was removed in 2002 but as part of the deal to be allowed back into Italy, Vittorio Emanuele, the last claimant to the House of Savoy, renounced all claims to the throne.
The Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin and the neighbourhood are protected as a World Heritage Site. Although the titles and distinctions of the Italian royal family are not legally recognised by the Italian Republic, the remaining members of the House of Savoy, like dynasties of other abolished monarchies, still use some of the various titles they acquired over the millennium of their reign prior to the republic's establishment, including Duke of Savoy, "Prince of Naples" previously conferred by Joseph Bonaparte to be hereditary on his children and grandchildren, Prince of Piedmont and Duke of Aosta.
Currently the leadership of the House of Savoy is contested by two cousins: Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, who used to claim the title of King of Italy, and Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who still claims the title of Duke of Savoy. Their rivalry has not always been peaceful — on 21 May 2004, following a dinner held by King Juan Carlos I of Spain on the eve of the wedding of his son Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Vittorio Emanuele punched Amedeo twice in the face.
Some of the activities of members of the House of Savoy have evoked media coverage disappointing to Italian royalists. In November 1991, after thirteen years of legal proceedings, the Paris Assize Court acquitted Vittorio Emanuele of the fatal wounding and unintentional homicide in August 1978 of Dirk Hamer, finding him guilty only of unauthorised possession of a firearm during the incident. On 16 June 2006 Vittorio Emanuele was arrested in Varenna and imprisoned in Potenza on charges of corruption and recruitment of prostitutes for clients of the Casinò di Campione of Campione d'Italia. After several days, Vittorio Emanuele was released and placed under house arrest instead. He was released from house arrest on 20 July but was required to remain within the territory of the Republic.
When incarcerated in June 2006, Vittorio Emanuele was recorded admitting with regard to the killing of Dirk Hamer that "I was in the wrong, [...] but I must say I fooled them [the French judges]", leading to a call from Hamer's sister Birgit for Vittorio Emanuele to be retried in Italy for the killing. After a long legal fight, Birgit Hamer obtained the full video. The story was broken in the press by aristocratic journalist Beatrice Borromeo, who also wrote the preface for a book on the murder "Delitto senza castigo" by Birgit Hamer. Vittorio Emanuele sued the newspaper for defamation, claiming the video had been manipulated. In 2015, a court judgement ruled in favor of the newspaper.
Judicially separated since 1976, civilly divorced in 1982 and their marriage religiously annulled in 1987, Amedeo of Aosta's first wife, Princess Claude d'Orléans, revealed that she was aware that her husband fathered a child by another woman during their marriage. Aosta acknowledged paternity of another child, born out-of-wedlock in 2006 during his second marriage, but agreed to contribute financially to the child's care only after being directed to do so by court order.
The patrilineal lineage of the House of Savoy was reduced to four males between 1996 and 2009. In 2008 Aimone of Savoy-Aosta married Princess Olga of Greece, his second cousin, and they became the parents of sons Umberto and Amedeo born, respectively, in 2009 and 2011.
In 2019, Vittorio Emanuele issued a formal decree that modified the medieval law restricting succession to male heirs to place his granddaughter, Vittoria Cristina Chiara Adelaide Marie, in the line of succession. Prince Aimone declared the change illegitimate.
The House of Savoy has held two dynastic orders since 1362 which were brought into the Kingdom of Italy as national orders. Although the Kingdom ceased to exist in 1946, King Umberto II did not abdicate his role as "fons honorum" over the two dynastic orders over which the family has long held sovereignty and grand mastership. Today, following the dispute, both Prince Vittorio Emanuele and Prince Amedeo claim to be hereditary Sovereign and Grand Master of the following orders of the House of Savoy:
In addition to these, Vittorio Emanuele claims sovereignty over two more orders:
Recently, all three of Vittorio Emanuele's sisters (Princess Maria Pia, Princess Maria Gabriella, and Princess Maria Beatrice) resigned from the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation and the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, alleging that memberships in the orders had been sold to unworthy candidates, a newfound practice they could not abide.
In 1941, in the fascist puppet state Independent State of Croatia, Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, grandson of Amadeo I of Spain, was formally named as the king under the name "Tomislav II", but was never crowned, never ruled, and formally abdicated in 1943.
In 1396, the title and privileges of the final king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Levon V, were transferred to James I, his cousin and king of Cyprus. The title of King of Armenia was thus united with the titles of King of Cyprus and King of Jerusalem. The title was held to the modern day by the House of Savoy.
"VITTORIO AMEDEO III, per la grazia di Dio Re di Sardegna, Cipro, Gerusalemme e Armenia; Duca di Savoia, Monferrato, Chablais, Aosta e Genevese; Principe di Piemonte ed Oneglia; Marchese in Italia, di Saluzzo, Susa, Ivrea, Ceva, Maro, Oristano, Sezana; Conte di Moriana, Nizza, Tenda, Asti, Alessandria, Goceano; Barone di Vaud e di Faucigny; Signore di Vercelli, Pinerolo, Tarantasia, Lumellino, Val di Sesia; Principe e Vicario perpetuo del Sacro Romano Impero in Italia."
The English translation is: Victor Amadeus III, by the Grace of God, King of Sardinia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia, Duke of Savoy, Montferrat, Chablais, Aosta and Genevois, Prince of Piedmont and Oneglia, Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy, of Saluzzo, Susa, Ivrea, Ceva, Maro, Oristano, Sezana, Count of Maurienne, Nice, Tende, Asti, Alessandria, Goceano, Baron of Vaud and Faucigny, Lord of Vercelli, Pinerolo, Tarentaise, Lumellino, Val di Sesia, Prince and perpetual Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy.
These titles were used during the unified Kingdom of Italy which lasted from 1860–1946.
The land reforms done in the Duchy of Savoy, beginning at 1720, was the first land reform that emancipated peasants in France from the bondages of Feudalism.
During the Middle Ages, most lands in Savoy, as in most of Europe, were owned by Feudal lords. Peasants were bound to their lords by heavy duties. The "mainmorte" system allowed a lord to inherit all the property of a peasant who died childless. This caused the estates of the lords to grow larger and larger. Both peasants and lords had little incentives to invest in agricultural or industrial improvements.
In 1720, Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, the duke of Savoy, had financial problems. To increase his income, he expropriated all estates held by lords who could not produce title to their lands. Subsequently, he began levying taxes on the nobility. These were the first steps in reducing the power of the feudal lords.
His son Charles Emmanuel III continued his reforms, and in 1762 he abolished all "mainmorte" on the royal estates and personal mainmorte on private estates. In 1771 he also abolished real-estate mainmorte on private estates. In this year he also declared that all duties of peasants towards their lords could be redeemed on terms to be set by negotiation between peasant and seigneur. If no agreement was reached, the duke himself would set the terms. This provision gave leverage to the peasants.
Negotiations were long and slow, but by 1792, when the French Revolution came to Savoy, all estates had been at least partially emancipated. At 1793, the Revolutionary Government of France declared full emancipation with no further redemption price.
The Savoyan League (, ) was a regionalist and populist political party based in Savoy, France.
Founded in 1995, the party supported the independence of Savoy from France and the unification of the two departments of Savoy, named Savoie and Haute-Savoie, which have belonged to France since the Treaty of Turin in 1860. Formerly a member of the European Free Alliance, the party was generally pro-European in outlook, while lying on the right of the political spectrum. The League co-operated with the Savoy Region Movement, which does not support independence but rather federalism and Savoyard autonomism.
In the 1998 regional elections, the League won 5.39% in Savoy (4.42% in Savoie and 6.05% in Haute-Savoie) and therefore won a seat in the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council. It did not participate in the 2004 regional elections.
At the party's 17th Congress on 21 October 2012, the Savoyan League suspended its activities.
Samuel Guichenon (18 August 1607, Mâcon - 8 September 1664) was a French lawyer, historian and genealogist.
He was one of three sons born to Grégoire Guichenon and Claudine Chaussat, a Calvinist family originating in Châtillon-les-Dombes. His father was a surgeon at Bourg-en-Bresse and his mother was the daughter of a rich merchant from Bourg-en-Bresse, but they settled in Mâcon to be closer to the Protestant community at Pont-de-Veyle. He had an active adolescence "with prodigious humour and a tender heart" and studied law in Annonay before completing his doctorate in Lyon.
He displeased the House of Savoy by disputing traditional chroniclers and disproving its hereditary rights to several lost territories such as Geneva and Cyprus. He clarified certain obscure points in its history and revealed some well-kept secrets, which led to many polemical disputes with other historians. Finally, under pressure, he recognized the House's traditional claim to Saxon origins and a dynastic link with the Holy Roman Emperor and endorsed the Duke of Savoy's policy of regional expansion towards Italy and of renouncing its claims to lands in western Europe which were too difficult to capture or hold onto due to French pressure.
In 1658 Louis XIV of France ennobled Guichenon and made him official historian of France. His "Histoire généalogique de la Royale Maison de Savoie" was published in Lyon in 1660 and presented to Christine of France - it marked the start of a new age in history-writing in which research was founded on the authenticity of sources and rational study. He was awarded the Cross of Saint Maurice. Never published, his last work was "Le Soleil en son apogée", a panegyric of Christine, edited during the last months of his life. He is buried in the église des Jacobins at Bourg-en-Bresse. He was highly thought of until the end of the 18th century.
The Medulli were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper valley of Maurienne, in the modern region of Savoie, during the Roman period.
They are mentioned as "Medullorum" by Vitruvius (late 1st c. BC), "Méd(o)ulloi" (Μέδ<ο>υλλοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), "Medulli" by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as "Medoúllous" (Μεδούλλους) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).
The Gaulish ethnonym "Medulli" is generally derived from the Celtic root "medu"-, meaning 'mead, alcoholic drink' (cf. Olr. "mid", MW. "medd", OBret. "medot"), and thus may be translated as 'those inebriated by mead'. This interpretation is encouraged by the mention, in Vitruvius' "De architetura", of a "kind of water" ("genus aquae") drunk by the Medulli. Alternatively, Javier de Hoz has proposed to glose the name as 'those who lived in the middle', or 'in the border woods', by connecting it to the root *"medhi/u"- ('middle').
The Medulli dwelled in the upper Maurienne valley, along the upper course of the Arc river, near the modern town of Modane. Their territory was located east of the Graioceli (themselves east of the Vocontii), north of the Brigianii and Quariates, west of the Segusini, and south of the Ceutrones (themselves south of the Allobroges).
They belonged to the tribes governed by Cottius in Alpes Taurinae and were later integrated into the province of Alpes Cottiae.
The Medulli were subjugated by Augustus (27 BC–14 AD). They are mentioned in the Trophy of the Alps.
According to Vitruvius, they were particularly prone to suffer from goitre.
The Treaty of Turin concluded between France and Piedmont-Sardinia on 24 March 1860 is the instrument by which the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice were annexed to France.
Emperor Napoleon III of France and the Count of Cavour, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, met in secret at Plombières-les-Bains on 21 July 1858. They agreed that France would support the unification of Italy by Sardinia, provided that the pope should retain control of Rome. In return Sardinia was asked to cede the Duchy of Savoy to France along with, more contentiously, the predominantly Italian speaking County of Nice.
In April 1859, Austria, complaining that Sardinia had been supplying arms to Lombard separatists, declared war on Sardinia. The Franco-Sardinian forces defeated the Austrians in several battles: Palestro, Montebello, Magenta, and Solferino.
But Napoleon III, who had taken personal command of his army, professed himself horrified by the extent of the bloodshed involved and resolved to end the war. The fighting ended with the armistice of Villafranca on 12 July 1859. The armistice led to the Treaty of Zurich of 10 November 1859, which transferred Lombardy to Sardinia. Complete Italian unification was deferred, though as matters turned out, not for long.
The late King Charles Albert of Sardinia (1798–1849) had been an active Italian nationalist. Among the liberal elites in francophone Savoy, the idea had grown up that the "House of Savoy" in Turin had little concern for their province beyond Mont Blanc. In practical terms, at a time when the extent of state activity was increasing across Europe, this was manifest in a perceived discrimination against French speakers when making government appointments. On 25 July 1859 about 30 leading citizens of Chambéry presented an address to Napoleon III, calling for Savoy to be annexed to France.
Elsewhere in Savoy, especially in the north, opposition to the idea of French annexation began to mobilise. The formerly Savoyard province of Carouge, adjacent to Geneva, had been transferred to Switzerland in 1816 under an earlier Treaty of Turin, as part of the unbundling of Napoleon I's First French Empire. Scenarios now under discussion included continuing with Savoy as a province of Sardinia, or joining more or even all of the territory with Switzerland, an outcome favored by Great Britain. There was very little support for the idea of a totally autonomous Savoy, the vulnerability of small quasi-autonomous territories having been vividly demonstrated within living memory by Napoleon I.
Art. 1. His Majesty the King of Sardinia consents to the annexation ("réunion") of Savoy and of the "arrondissement" of Nice ("circondario di Nizza") to France, and renounces for himself and all his descendants and successors his rights and claims to the said territories. It is agreed between their Majesties that this "réunion" shall be effected without any constraint upon the wishes of the populations, and that the Governments of the Emperor of the French and of the King of Sardinia shall concert together as soon as possible on the best means of appreciating and taking note of ("constater") the manifestations of those wishes.
Art. 2. It is also understood that His Majesty the King of Sardinia cannot transfer the neutralized portions of Savoy except upon the conditions upon which he himself possesses them, and that it will appertain to His Majesty the Emperor of the French to come to an understanding on that subject as well with the Powers represented at the Congress of Vienna as with the Helvetic Confederation, and to give them the guarantees which result from the stipulations alluded to in the present article.
Art. 3. A mixed commission will determine, in a spirit off equity, the frontiers of the two States, taking into account the configuration of the mountains and the necessity of defence.
Art. 4. One or more mixed commissions will be charged to examine and to resolve, within a brief delay, the divers incidental questions to which the annexation will give rise,–such as the decision of the contribution of Savoy and of the arrondissement of Nice to the public debt of Sardinia, and the execution of the obligations resulting from contracts entered into with the Sardinian Government, which, however, engages to terminate itself the works commenced for cutting a tunnel through the Alps (Mont Cénia).
Art. 5. The French Government will take into account, as regards functionaries of the civil and military order belonging by their birth to the province of Savoy, or to the "arrondissement" of Nice, and who will become French subjects, the rights which they have acquired by services rendered to the Sardinian Government; they will especially enjoy the benefits of life appointments in the magistrature and of the guarantees assured to the army.
Art. 6. Sardinian subjects originally of Savoy, or of the "arrondissement" of Nice, or domiciled actually in those provinces, who would wish to maintain the Sardinian nationality, will enjoy during the period of one year, dating from the exchange of the ratifications, and in virtue of a previous declaration made to the competent authorities, the faculty of removing their domicile to Italy, and settling there, in which case their qualifications as Sardinian citizens will remain to them. They will be at liberty to keep their landed property situate on the territory annexed to France.
Art. 7. For Sardinia the present treaty will become law as soon as the necessary legislative sanction has been given by the Parliament.
Art. 8. The present treaty shall be ratified and the ratifications exchanged at Turin within the delay of ten days, or earlier if possible.
In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it and affixed their seals thereunto.
Done in duplicate at Turin the 24th day of the month of March of the year of grace 1860.
Such were some of the indications of public sentiment at the time when the French garrisons were taking their places. It was evident that the people were not to be easily overawed.
But the efforts of the government had only just begun. Immediately after the occupation of the country by French troops, there was published an order transferring the civil government of the provinces to France. The French provisional governor, Lubonis, made haste to use the power thus placed in his hands for the advantage of his imperial master, and his example was speedily followed by Lachinal. Many of the mayors and local authorities were utterly opposed to the idea of French annexation, and without their co-operation it was felt that a vote of the people in favor of the measure could not be insured. Accordingly, the following circular, filled out as might in each case be required, was issued:
Considering that Monsieur ——— , mayor of the commune of ——— , seems not to have accepted favorably the consequences of the Treaty of the 24th of March last; considering that it is important, under the present circumstances, to have at the head of the administration of each commune men devoted to the new order of things;
1. Monsieur ——— , present mayor of the commune of ———— , is dismissed from his functions.
2. The municipal counselor ——— is charged, until a new order, with the administration of said commune.
3. The above will be transmitted to Messieurs ——— and ——— , for their guidance.
In commenting upon this transfer of civil authority to the sole interests of the Emperor, the French journals gave evidence of abundant zeal. One of them, "Le Bon Sens", remarked:
The military and civil machinery thus in order, the authorities now devoted themselves to the more immediate work of manufacturing the requisite majority. First of all, the public was informed not only that it was prohibited to hold any meetings to discuss the affairs of Nice, but also that no canvassing on the part of those opposed to French annexation would be permitted, and that no placards or circulars would be allowed to be issued by the Italian party. At the same time, documents of various kinds were issued by the officers in authority, appealing to their subordinates and to the people. The provisional governor, Lubonis, issued a proclamation, of which the following is the most important portion:
A proclamation similar to this of Lubonis was issued by Malaussena, Mayor of Nice; and finally, as if to crown all, the Bishop came forward in the same interest, appealing to all loyal members of the Church to vote for annexation. Nor, indeed, was this all. The French Committee sent to all the officials a circular bearing the government seal, and appealing for support to all the authorities in town and country. Referring to the advantages to be derived from annexation, the Committee used these words:
The "necessary measures" to which the committee alluded were amply provided for. A sum of money had been placed at their disposal by the French government; and of this it is stated on good authority that 3,000,000 francs were used in the direct work of bribery, exclusive of the expenses of the government on the day of voting. Drinking booths and "cafés" were erected especially for the purpose by the officials, and a tri-colored cockade or a voting ticket with "oui" upon it entitled the bearer to the gratuitous enjoyment of all their privileges.

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