Category Archives: Former Monarchies

The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

After James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, a son of King Charles I, lost his throne via the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland.

The current Jacobite pretender is Franz, Duke of Bavaria (born 1933) who is also the pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Because Franz never married, his heir presumptive in the Jacobite line of succession is his younger brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria (born 1937). Prince Max’s heir presumptive is his daughter Sophie, Duchess in Bavaria, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, and then her eldest son Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein, who is second in the line of succession to the throne of Liechtenstein after his father Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein.

For more information see The Jacobite Heritage

Why did James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots lose his throne?

On February 6, 1685, Charles II, King of England, King of Scots died. Having no legitimate children, Charles was succeeded by his brother James, who reigned in England and Ireland as King James II, and in Scotland as King James VII. James and his second wife Mary Beatrice of Modena, both Catholics, were crowned on April 23, 1685, following the Church of England rite but omitting Holy Communion. The previous day, they had been privately crowned and anointed in a Catholic rite in their private chapel at the Palace of Whitehall.

James II’s nephew James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 11, 1685, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, the eldest of the illegitimate children of King Charles II, claimed the throne as the Protestant champion. Monmouth’s forces were defeated by his uncle’s forces at the Battle of Sedgemoor. The Duke of Monmouth was beheaded for treason on July 15, 1685.

King James II was now set on a course of restoring Catholicism to England. He issued a Declaration of Indulgence removing restrictions imposed on those that did not conform to the Church of England. England might have tolerated King James II knowing that his heirs were the Protestant daughters of his first wife Anne Hyde, the future Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. However, on June 10, 1688, his Catholic second wife Maria Beatrice of Modena, who so far had no surviving children, gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward who would be raised Catholic. Immediately, false rumors swirled that the infant had been smuggled into the queen’s chambers in a warming pan.

William III, Prince of Orange, later King William III of England, James II’s nephew and son-in-law; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 5, 1688, William III, Prince of Orange, the nephew and son-in-law of King James II, landed in England vowing to safeguard the Protestant interest. He marched to London, gathering many supporters. James panicked and sent his wife and infant son to France. He tried to flee to France about a month later but was captured. William III, Prince of Orange had no desire to make his uncle a martyr, so he allowed him to escape. James was received in France by his first cousin King Louis XIV, who offered him a palace and a pension.

Back in England, Parliament refused to depose James but declared that having fled to France, James had effectively abdicated the throne and the throne had become vacant. James’s elder daughter Mary was declared Queen Mary II and was to rule jointly with her husband and first cousin William III, Prince of Orange, who would be King William III. At that time, William, the only child of King James II’s deceased elder sister Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange, was third in the line of succession after his wife and first cousin Mary and her sister Anne. This overthrow of King James II is known as the Glorious Revolution.

What happened to James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots and his family?

Mary Beatrice and her son James Francis Edward Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

James II, his wife Maria Beatrice of Modena, and his son James Francis Edward Stuart settled at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France, provided by James II’s first cousin King Louis XIV of France, where a court in exile, composed mainly of Scots and English Catholics, was established. James II was determined to regain the throne and landed in Ireland with a French force in 1689. He was defeated by his nephew William III, King of England at the Battle of the Boyne on July 1, 1690, and was forced to withdraw once again to France. James II spent the rest of his life in France, planning invasions that never happened. He died from a stroke on September 16, 1701, at St. Germain.

Battle of the Boyne between James II and his nephew William III, July 11, 1690; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon his father’s death, James Francis Edward was recognized by King Louis XIV of France as the rightful heir to the English and Scottish thrones. Spain, the Vatican, and Modena recognized him as King James III of England and VIII of Scotland and refused to recognize William III, Mary II, or Anne as legitimate sovereigns. As a result of James Francis Edward claiming his father’s lost thrones, he was attainted for treason in 1702 and his titles were forfeited under English law.

In 1708, James Francis Edward, with the support of King Louis XIV, attempted to land in Scotland, but the British Royal Navy intercepted the ships and prevented the landing. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht forced King Louis XIV of France to recognize the British 1701 Act of Settlement settling the succession on the Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England, and her non-Roman Catholic heirs. Upon the death of Queen Anne in August 1714, George, Elector of Hanover, son of Electress Sophia of Hanover, ascended the British throne as King George I. With the death of King Louis XIV in 1715, the French government found James Francis Edward an embarrassment and he was no longer welcome in France. In 1715, Scottish Jacobites started “The ‘Fifteen” Jacobite rising, an unsuccessful attempt to put “James III and VIII” on the throne.

The Battle of Culloden; Credit – Wikipedia

After James Francis Edward failed to regain the throne, attention fell upon his son Charles Edward, The Young Pretender, whose Jacobite Rising of 1745 culminated in the final devastating loss for the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden. After the disastrous Battle of Culloden, there were no further Jacobite uprisings. James Francis Edward Stuart died at his home, the Palazzo Muti in Rome, on January 1, 1766, and was buried in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The Vatican had recognized James Francis Edward as King of England and Scotland as “James III and VIII”, but did not give his son Charles Edward the same recognition. 67-year-old Charles Edward Stuart died of a stroke on January 31, 1788, at the Palazzo Muti in Rome. He was initially buried in the Cathedral of San Pietro in Frascati, Italy where his brother Henry Benedict Stuart was Cardinal Bishop.

Memorial to the three Stuart pretenders, ‘James III’, and his sons, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict, above their place of interment in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican; Credit – By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20417324

Upon the death of his elder brother Charles Edward Stuart in 1788, Henry Benedict assumed the style “King Henry IX”, but no government considered him the legal King. After the French Revolution, Henry Benedict lost the funds that the French Royal Family had been paying his exiled family, and lost any French property he owned, causing him financial problems. In 1800, King George III granted Henry Benedict a pension of £4,000 per year. For many years the British government had promised to return the dowry of his grandmother Maria Beatrice of Modena, but never did so. Henry Benedict considered the £4,000 per year an installment on money legally owed him. Henry Benedict Stuart died on July 13, 1807, at the age of 82. He was buried in the crypt at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican where his father had been buried and Charles Edward’s remains were transferred to the same crypt in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The Jacobite Pretenders

In 1807, with the extinction of the Stuart line descended from James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, the Jacobite succession proceeded to the House of Savoy. The Jacobite pretender became Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia, the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the younger sister of James II/VII. The Jacobite succession proceeded to the House of Austria-Este and then to the House of Wittelsbach. It likely will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein. However, unlike the Stuart pretenders, none of the later pretenders have claimed the thrones of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom or incorporated the arms of these countries in their coats-of-arms. Nevertheless, since the 19th century, there have been groups advocating the restoration of the Jacobite succession to the throne.

Charles I of England → his daughter Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans → her daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia → her son Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia → his son Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia → his son Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia → his brother Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia → his daughter Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena and Reggio → her son Francesco V, Duke of Modena and Reggio → his niece Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria → her son Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria → his son Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria → his son Franz, Duke of Bavaria

House of Stuart

James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

James II of England & James VII of Scotland (1633 – 1701)
Reigned: February 6, 1685 – December 11, 1688
Claim: December 11, 1688 – September 16, 1701
James lawfully succeeded his brother King Charles II to the thrones of England and Scotland on February 6, 1685, as Charles II did not have legitimate children. When James fled England in 1688, the English Parliament declared that he had abdicated and the Scottish Convention of Estates declared he had forfeited his crown. However, James and his supporters denied that he had abdicated and claimed that the declaration of forfeiture had been by an illegal Scottish Convention. They maintained that James continued to be the rightful king.

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James Francis Edward Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

James Francis Edward Stuart (1688 – 1766)
Son of James II of England & James VII of Scotland
“James III & James VIII”
The Old Pretender
Claim: September 16, 1701 – January 1, 1766 as James II/VII’s only surviving legitimate son

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Charles Edward Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles Edward Stuart (1720 – 1788)
Elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart
“Charles III”
The Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie
Claim: January 1, 1766 – January 31, 1788 as James Francis Stuart’s elder son

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Henry Benedict Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart (1725 – 1807)
Younger son of James Francis Edward Stuart
“Henry IX & Henry I”
Claim: January 31, 1788 – July 13, 1807 as the only brother of Charles Edward Stuart. Henry Benedict was the last surviving legitimate descendant of James II/VII.

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House of Savoy

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia (1751 – 1819)
Great-great-grandson of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, daughter of King Charles I of England
“Charles IV”
Claim: July 13, 1807 – October 6, 1819 as the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans who was the youngest sister of James II/VII and the daughter of King Charles I.
Henry Benedict died childless and no other legitimate descendants of James II/VII survived. At Henry Benedict’s death, there were no surviving siblings of King James II/VII, son of King Charles I, or their legitimate descendants, except for the descendants of his youngest sister Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans. Henrietta married Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and they had one son who died in infancy and two daughters. Only their daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, who married Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, had children.

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Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia (1759 – 1824)
Brother of Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia
“Victor”
Claim: October 6, 1819 – January 10, 1824 as the next eldest brother of his predecessor, Carlo Emanuele who had died childless

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Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena (1792 – 1840)
Eldest surviving daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia
“Mary II”
Claim: January 10, 1824 – September 15, 1840 as the eldest surviving daughter of her predecessor Vittorio Emanuele who had no surviving sons

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House of Austria-Este

Francesco V, Duke of Modena; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco V, Duke of Modena (1819 – 1875)
Eldest son of Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena
“Francis I”
Claim: September 15, 1840 – November 20, 1875 as the eldest son of his predecessor Maria Beatrice

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Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria (1849 – 1919)
Niece of Francesco V, Duke of Modena
“Mary III”
Claim: November 20, 1875 – February 3, 1919 as the niece of her predecessor, Francesco V who died childless. She was the only child of Francesco’s only brother Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este, who pre-deceased Francesco.

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House of Wittelsbach

Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria (1869 – 1955)
Eldest son of Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria
“Robert I & IV”
Claim: February 3, 1919 – August 2, 1955 as the eldest son of his predecessor Maria Theresa.

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Albrecht with his younger half-brother, Prince Heinrich; Credit – Wikipedia

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (1905 – 1996)
Eldest surviving son of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
“Albert”
Claim: August 2, 1955 – July 8, 1996, as the eldest surviving son of his predecessor Rupprecht.

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Franz, Duke of Bavaria; Credit – By Christoph Wagener – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22663494

Franz, Duke of Bavaria (born 1933)
Eldest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
“Francis II”
Claim: July 8, 1996 – present pretender as the eldest son of his predecessor Albrecht.
Franz’s heir presumptive is his younger brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Prince Max’s heir presumptive is his daughter Sophie, Duchess in Bavaria, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, and then her eldest son Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein, who is second in the line of succession to the throne of Liechtenstein after his father Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein. Franz is also the pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

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Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Jacobite succession – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_succession> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Charles Edward Stuart, The Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/charles-edward-stuart/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/cardinal-henry-benedict-stuart/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2017. King James II of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-james-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. James Francis Edward Stuart, The Old Pretender. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/james-francis-edward-stuart-the-old-pretender/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
Jacobite.ca. 2021. The Jacobite Heritage. [online] Available at: <http://www.jacobite.ca/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain was born on November 17, 1729, at the Royal Alcázar in Seville, Spain. She was the youngest of the three daughters and the youngest of the six children of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma.

Maria Antonia’s father was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou at the Palace of Versailles in France. He was the second of the three sons of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. At the time of Philippe’s birth, his grandfather Louis XIV was King of France. In 1700, Carlos II, King of Spain died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain, in his will, named 16-year-old Philippe of Anjou, Duke of Anjou as his successor. He took the Spanish version of his name Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Spanish King of the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain.

Maria Antonia’s mother Elisabeth Farnese of Parma was the only surviving child of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg. Because of the lack of male heirs to succeed to the Duchy of Parma, changes were legally made for the succession of the Duchy of Parma in the female line through Elisabeth Farnese. Her second son Felipe became the Duke of Parma and founded the House of Bourbon-Parma.

“The Family of Felipe V”; (L-R) Mariana Victoria, Barbara, Princess of Asturias; Fernando, Prince of Asturias; King Felipe V; Luis, Count of Chinchón; Elisabeth Farnese; Infante Felipe; Louise Élisabeth of France; Infanta Maria Teresa; Infanta Maria Antonia (Queen of Sardinia); Maria Amalia, Queen of Naples and Sicily; Carlo, King of Naples and Sicily. The two children in the foreground are Princess Maria Isabella Anne of Naples and Sicily and Infanta Isabella of Spain (daughter of the future Duke of Parma); Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia had five siblings:

Carlos III, King of Spain (1716 – 1788), married Maria Amalia of Saxony, had thirteen children including Carlos IV, King of Spain
Mariana Victoria, Infanta of Spain (1718 – 1781), married José I, King of Portugal, had four daughters
Felipe, Infante of Spain, Duke of Parma, founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma (1720 – 1765), married Louise Élisabeth of France, had three children
Maria Theresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain (1726 – 1746), married Louis, Dauphin of France, had one daughter who did not survive childhood
Louis, Count of Chinchón (1727 – 1785), Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain and Cardinal renounced his ecclesiastical titles, married morganatically María Teresa de Vallabriga, had four children

Maria Antonia had four half-brothers from her father’s first marriage to Maria Luisa of Savoy, daughter of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie d’Orléans. Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Only two of Maria Antonia’s half-brothers survived childhood and both became Kings of Spain.

Luis I, King of Spain (1707 – 1724), married Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, no children
Felipe, Infante of Spain (born and died 1709)
Felipe, Infante of Spain (1712 – 1719)
Fernando VI, King of Spain (1713 – 1759), married Bárbara of Portugal, no surviving children

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda married the future Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia. The marriage was arranged by Maria Antonia’s half-brother Fernando VI, King of Spain to strengthen relations between Spain and Sardinia/Savoy as they had fought on opposing sides during the War of the Austrian Succession. As a wedding gift from her father-in-law, Maria Antonia’s apartments at the Royal Palace of Turin were remodeled by the architect Benedetto Alfieri. Her half-brother Ferdinand VI, King of Spain provided a dowry of 3,500,000 Piedmontese Lires and Spanish possessions in Milan. Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 12, 1750, and were married in person on May 31, 1750, at Oulx, near Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda and Vittorio Amedeo with their family in 1760; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda and Vittorio Amedeo had twelve children:

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia (1751 – 1819), married Princess Marie Clotilde of France, no children
Maria Elisabetta Carlotta of Savoy (1752 – 1755), died in childhood
Maria Giuseppina of Savoy (1753 – 1810) married Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, the future King Louis XVIII of France, no children, died before her husband became King of France
Amedeo Alessandro of Savoy (1754 – 1755), died in infancy
Maria Teresa of Savoy (1756 – 1805), married Charles, Count of Artois, the future King Charles X of France, had four children, died before her husband became King of France
Maria Anna of Savoy (1757 – 1824), married her uncle Prince Benedetto of Savoy, no issue
Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia (1759 – 1824), married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, had six daughters and one son who died at age three from smallpox
Maria Cristina Ferdinanda of Savoy (1760 – 1768), died in childhood
Maurizio of Savoy, Duke of Montferrat (1762 – 1799) died unmarried from malaria
Maria Carolina of Savoy (1764 – 1782), married Anton, Electoral Prince of Saxony, no issue, Maria Carolina died from smallpox, her husband became King of Saxony after her death
Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia (1765 – 1831), married Princess Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, no children
Giuseppe of Savoy, Count of Asti (1766 – 1802), died unmarried from malaria

Upon the death of her father-in-law Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia in 1773, Maria Antonia’s husband succeeded him as Vittorio Amedeo III. She was the first Queen Consort of Sardinia since the death of Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine in 1741. In 1773 her son Carlo Emanuele married Maria Clotilde of France, the sister of King Louis XVI of France. Maria Clotilde and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda had a very close relationship.

Basilica of Superga in Turin; Credit – By Incola – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32157893

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda died on September 19, 1785, aged 55, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. Vittorio Amedeo III survived her by eleven years, dying from a stroke, aged 70, on October 16, 1796, also at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin. They were both buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Farnese – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Farnese> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_Ferdinanda_of_Spain> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Felipe V, King of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amadeo-iii-king-of-sardinia-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia di Borbone-Spagna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_di_Borbone-Spagna> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Мария Антония Испанская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%98%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 21 June 2021].

Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy was born at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy on June 26, 1726. He was the eldest of the two sons and the eldest of the six children of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. Vittorio Amedeo’s paternal grandparents were Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans. Ernst Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg and Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort were his maternal grandparents. His maternal grandmother Anne Marie d’Orléans was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, son of King Louis XIII of France, and his first wife Princess Henrietta of England, daughter of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France.

Vittorio Amedeo with his three sisters Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III had five younger siblings:

Princess Eleonora of Savoy (1728 – 1781), unmarried
Princess Luisa of Savoy (1729 – 1767), unmarried
Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy (1730 – 1801), unmarried
Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Duke of Aosta (1731 – 1735), died in childhood
Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais (born and died 1733)

Vittorio Amedeo III had one elder half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Anna Christine of Sulzbach, who died giving birth to her son:

Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro of Savoy (1723 – 1725), died in early childhood before Vittorio Amedeo III was born

Vittorio Amedeo with his sister Eleanora and his mother Polyxena; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo’s mother Polyxena fell seriously ill in June 1734 and died at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on January 13, 1735, aged 28. Her eldest son Vittorio Amedeo was only eight years old. Two years after Polyxena’s death, Vittorio Amedeo’s father married Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, the daughter of King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte.

Vittorio Amedeo III had three half-siblings from his father’s third marriage to Elisabeth. Sadly, like Carlo Emanuele III’s first two wives, Elisabeth Therese also died young, dying in 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to her third child Benedetto:

Prince Carlo Francesco of Savoy (1738 – 1745), died in childhood.
Princess Maria Vittoria of Savoy (1740 – 1742), died in infancy
Prince Benedetto of Savoy (1741 – 1808) married his niece Princess Maria Anna of Savoy, no children

Vittorio Amedeo’s wife Maria Antonia Ferdinanda; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese. The marriage was arranged by Maria Antonia Ferdinanda’s half-brother Ferdnando VI, King of Spain to strengthen relations between Spain and Sardinia/Savoy as they had fought on opposing sides during the War of the Austrian Succession. Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 12, 1750, and then were married in person on May 31, 1750, at Oulx, near Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

Vittorio Amedeo III was a great-great-grandson of King Charles I of England from the House of Stuart. After King James II, a son of King Charles I, lost his throne via the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland. When the line of the deposed King James II of England died out in 1807, the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from the line of his sister Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans. In 1807, Vittorio Amedeo’s son Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia became the Jacobite heir from the House of Savoy.

Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda with their family in 1760; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda had twelve children:

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia (1751 – 1819), married Princess Marie Clotilde of France, no children
Maria Elisabetta Carlotta of Savoy (1752 – 1755), died in childhood
Maria Giuseppina of Savoy (1753 – 1810) married Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, the future King Louis XVIII of France, no children, died before her husband became King of France
Amedeo Alessandro of Savoy (1754 – 1755), died in infancy
Maria Teresa of Savoy (1756 – 1805), married Charles, Count of Artois, the future King Charles X of France, had four children, died before her husband became King of France
Maria Anna of Savoy (1757 – 1824), married her uncle Prince Benedetto of Savoy, no issue
Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia (1759 – 1824), married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, had six daughters and one son who died at age three from smallpox
Maria Cristina Ferdinanda of Savoy (1760 – 1768), died in childhood
Maurizio of Savoy, Duke of Montferrat (1762 – 1799) died unmarried from malaria
Maria Carolina of Savoy (1764 – 1782), married Anton, Electoral Prince of Saxony, no issue, Maria Carolina died from smallpox, her husband became King of Saxony after her death
Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia (1765 – 1831), married Princess Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, no children
Giuseppe of Savoy, Count of Asti (1766 – 1802), died unmarried from malaria

Vittorio Amedeo III became King of Sardinia in 1773 following his father’s death. His wife Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain died on September 19, 1785, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin. In 1786, Vittorio Amedeo III moved the remains of many of his ancestors and relatives to the Basilica of Superga, which became the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy.

Battle of Millesimo; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III’s daughters Maria Giuseppina and Maria Teresa married French princes and at the start of the French Revolution, Vittorio Amadeo III allowed his two sons-in-law and their families to stay in the Kingdom of Sardinia under his protection. Vittorio Amedeo’s troops were defeated by the French at the 1796 Battle of Milessimo during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Italian campaign. Vittorio Amedeo was forced to sign the 1796 Treaty of Paris, abandoning the First Coalition against the French Republic. The treaty stipulated that Vittorio Amedeo recognize the French Republic, cede the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, and give the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest of Italy.

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Paris Orlando – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74180727

Five months after signing the devastating Treaty of Paris, Vittorio Amadeo III died from a stroke, aged 70, on October 16, 1796, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin. He was buried in the Hall of the Kings at the Basilica of Superga in Turin. Vittorio Amedeo III was succeeded by his eldest son Carlo Emanuele IV, leaving him an economically damaged kingdom because of the results of the 1796 Treaty of Paris. In 1814, during the reign of Vittorio Emanuele I, the second surviving son of Vittorio Amedeo III, two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia following Napoleon’s abdication.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_Ferdinanda_of_Spain> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Amadeus_III_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Vittorio Amedeo III di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Amedeo_III_di_Savoia> [Accessed 21 June 2021].

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine was the third of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. She was born on October 15, 1711, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France. Elisabeth Therese was the eleventh of fourteen children and the seventh of the nine daughters of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans. Her paternal grandparents were Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and Eleonora of Austria. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France, and Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, known as Liselotte, were her maternal grandparents.

Elisabeth Therese had thirteen siblings but ten of her siblings did not survive to adulthood. Three of her siblings died from smallpox in 1711, within a week. Her father Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperors of Austria.

Léopold, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1699 – 1700) died in infancy
Élisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine (1700 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox
Louise Christine of Lorraine (born and died 1701), died in infancy
Marie Gabrièle Charlotte of Lorraine (1702 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox.
Louis, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1704 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox
Joséphine Gabrièle of Lorraine (1705 – 1708) died in childhood
Gabrièle Louise of Lorraine (1706 – 1710), died in childhood
Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1707 – 1723), died in his teens
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708 – 1765), married Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, had sixteen children including Archduchess Maria Antonia who married King Louis XVI of France, became Queen Marie Antoinette of France
Eléonore of Lorraine (born and 1710 – 1710), died in infancy
Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712 – 1780), married Maria Anna of Austria, no children
Anne Charlotte of Lorraine (1714 – 1773), Abbess of Remiremont Abbey in Remiremont, Vosges, France
Marie Louise of Lorraine (1716 – 1723), died in childhood

Elisabeth Therese’s mother first attempted to marry her to the 15-year-old King Louis XV of France. Louis XV had been engaged to marry 7-year-old Mariana Victoria of Spain but she was sent back to Spain because she was too young to have children. A marriage with Elisabeth Therese was opposed by Louis XV’s chief minister Louis Henri I, Prince of Condé, Duke of Bourbon who said that the House of Lorraine was too closely related to the House of Habsburg and marriage with Elisabeth Therese caused conflict with the French nobility. In 1729, marriage negotiations with Elisabeth Therese’s recently widowed first cousin Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Orléans fell apart when her father died.

Elisabeth Therese’s husband Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1736, Elisabeth Therese’s brother Francis, who had succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine, married the Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter and heiress apparent of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor’s territories of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. This marriage between the House of Lorraine and the House of Habsburg allowed a more prestigious marriage for Elisabeth Therese. In late 1736, the twice-widowed 35-year-old Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia asked to marry the 25-year-old Elisabeth Therese. Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese were half-first cousins as their mothers were half-sisters. After a proxy marriage on March 5, 1737, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France, Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese married in person on April 1, 1737, in Lyon, France.

Carlo Emanuele’s four surviving children from his second marriage to Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg were Elisabeth Therese’s stepchildren:

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia (1726 – 1796), married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, had twelve children
Princess Eleonora of Savoy (1728 – 1781), unmarried
Princess Luisa of Savoy (1729 – 1767), unmarried
Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy (1730 – 1801), unmarried

Elisabeth Therese with her eldest son Carlo Francesco: Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese and Carlo Emanuele III had three children but only the third child Benedetto survived childhood. Sadly, Elisabeth Therese died at the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on July 3, 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to Benedetto.

Prince Carlo Francesco of Savoy (1738 – 1745), died in childhood.
Princess Maria Vittoria of Savoy (1740 – 1742), died in infancy
Prince Benedetto of Savoy (1741 – 1808) married his niece Princess Maria Anna of Savoy, no children

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Bruce The Deus at Italian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75926656

Elisabeth Therese was first buried in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. In 1786, her remains were moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin by her stepson Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Therese_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold,_Duke_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 19 June 2021].

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

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Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the second of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Given the names Polyxena Christina Johanna, she was born on September 21, 1706, in Langinswalbach, Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now Bad Schwalbach in the German state of Hesse. Polyxena was the eldest of the six daughters and the second of the ten children of Ernst II Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg and Eleonore Maria Anna von Löwenstein-Wertheim.

Polyxena had nine siblings:

Joseph, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1705 – 1744); married Princess Christina of Salm, had four children
Magdalene Leopoldina of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1707 – 1708), died in infancy
Wilhelm of Hesse- Rheinfels-Rotenburg (born and died 1708), died in infancy
Sophie of Hesse- Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1709 – 1711), died in infancy
Franz Alexander of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1710–1739), unmarried, killed in the Battle of Grocka
Eleonora of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1712 – 1759), married Johann Christian, Count Palatine of Sulzbach, no children
Caroline of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1714 – 1741), married Louis Henri, Prince of Condé, Duke of Bourbon, had one son
Constantine, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, (1716 – 1778), his father’s successor, married (1) Sophia von Starhemberg, had eleven children (2) Countess Johanna Henriette de Bombelles
Christine of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1717 – 1778), married Luigi Vittorio of Savoy, 4th Prince of Carignano, had nine children including Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princesse de Lamballe whose close friendship with Marie Antoinette, Queen of France led to her brutal death during the French Revolution

Polyxena’s husband Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1723, Carlo Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, the future Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, proposed marriage with Polyxena. Carlo Emanuele’s first wife Anna Christine of Sulzbach, a cousin of Polyxena, died of childbirth complications on March 12, 1723, shortly after the birth of her only child Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro of Savoy. After a proxy marriage on July 23, 1724, in Rotenburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now in Hesse, Germany, Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele were married in person on August 20, 1724, in Thonon-les-Bains, Chablais, then a province of the Duchy of Savoy, now in France. When her husband became King of Sardinia in 1730, Polyxena became Queen of Sardinia.

Polyxena was entrusted with the care of her stepson Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro. She became very attached to him and greatly mourned his death on August 11, 1725. Polyxena had had a close relationship with her mother-in-law Anne Marie d’Orléans. The two often stayed at the Villa della Regina outside the capital of Turin, where Anne Marie died in 1728.

Polyxena with her two eldest children, Eleonora and Vittorio Amedeo; Credit – Wikipedia

Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele had six children:

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia (1726 – 1796), married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, had twelve children
Princess Eleonora of Savoy (1728 – 1781), unmarried
Princess Luisa of Savoy (1729 – 1767), unmarried
Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy (1730 – 1801), unmarried
Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Duke of Aosta (1731 – 1735), died in childhood
Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais (born and died 1733)

The children of Carlo Emanuele and his second wife Polyxena; (L-R) Eleonora; Vittorio Amedeo; Maria Felicita and Luisa; Credit – Wikipedia

Polyxena was active in charity work, founding a home for young mothers in Turin in 1732. She worked with Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, the architect of the great Basilica of Superga in Turin, to remodel and renovate buildings including the Villa della Regina and the Palazzina di Stupinigi. She was also the patroness of the painter Giovanni Battista Crosato.

In 1733, Polyxena gave birth to her last child Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais, who lived a little over five months. She fell seriously ill in June 1734, and died at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on January 13, 1735, aged 28. Polyxena was first buried in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin and was moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin in 1786.

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Paris Orlando – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74180727

Two years after Polyxena’s death, her widower married Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, the daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth C harlotte d’Orléans the daughter of King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. Sadly, like Carlo Emanuele III’s first two wives, Elisabeth Therese also died young, dying in 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to her third child, her only child who survived childhood.

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ernst II. Leopold (Hessen-Rotenburg) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_II._Leopold_(Hessen-Rotenburg)> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyxena_of_Hesse-Rotenburg> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Polissena d’Assia-Rheinfels-Rotenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polissena_d%27Assia-Rheinfels-Rotenburg> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Поликсена Гессен-Рейнфельс-Ротенбургская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%93%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81-%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 19 June 2021].

Anna Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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Anna Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont; Credit – Wikipedia

Countess Palatine Anna Christine of Sulzbach was the first of the three wives of Carlo Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Sardina, and, after Anna Christine’s death, Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. The eighth of the nine children and the youngest of the five daughters of Theodor Eustach, Count Palatine of Sulzbach (1659 – 1732) and Maria Eleonore of Hesse-Rothenburg (1675 – 1720), Anna Christine was born on February 5, 1704, at Sulzbach Castle in the Palatinate-Sulzbach, a state of the Holy Roman Empire, now in Bavaria, Germany. Her father was the head of a Roman Catholic cadet branch of Bavaria’s House of Wittelsbach.

Sulzbach Castle, Anna Christine’s birthplace; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna Christine had eight siblings:

Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Sulzbach (1693 – 1762), from 1714, a nun at the Carmelite Monastery of St. Maria in the Free Imperial City of Cologne
Count Palatine Joseph Karl of Sulzbach (1694 – 1729), married Elisabeth Auguste of Neuburg, had seven children
Countess Palatine Franziska Christine of Sulzbach (1696 – 1776), Princess Abbess of Essen Abbey and Thorn Abbey
Countess Palatine Ernestine Theodora of Sulzbach (1697 – 1775), married Wilhelm II, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels, no children
Count Palatine Johann Wilhelm of Sulzbach (1698 – 1699), died in infancy
Johann Christian, Count Palatine and Duke of Sulzbach (1700 – 1733), married (1) Marie Henriette de La Tour d’Auvergne, had two children (2) Eleonore of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, had no children
Countess Palatine Elisabeth Eleonore of Sulzbach (1702 – 1704), died in early childhood
Count Palatine Johann Wilhelm August of Sulzbach (1706 – 1708), died in early childhood

Carlo Emanuele, Anna Christine’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 15, 1722, in Vercelli, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Anna Christine married Carlo Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Sardina, and the son of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans. The couple had one son:

Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodor of Savoy (1723 – 1725), died in early childhood

On March 12, 1723, a few days after giving birth to her son, Anna Christine, aged nineteen, died of childbirth complications, at the Royal Palace of Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. She was first buried in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin and was moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin in 1786. In 1724, Anna Christine’s widower married her cousin Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg.

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Theodor Eustach (Pfalz-Sulzbach) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Eustach_(Pfalz-Sulzbach)> [Accessed 18 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Christine_of_Sulzbach,_Princess_of_Piedmont> [Accessed 18 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 18 June 2021].

Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele III was the King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death in 1773. Born on April 27, 1701, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, he was the fifth of the six children and the second of the three sons of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans. His paternal grandparents were Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours and his maternal grandparents were King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Princess Henrietta of England, the daughter of King Charles I of England. At birth, he was given the title Duke of Aosta, which came to be the traditional title of the second son of the reigning monarch of the House of Savoy.

Carlo Emanuele had five siblings:

Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (1685 – 1712), married Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin of France had three sons, only one son King Louis XV of France survived childhood
Princess Maria Anna of Savoy (1687 – 1690), died in childhood
Princess Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (1688 – 1714), married King Felipe V of Spain, had four sons, only two survived childhood and both became Kings of Spain
Vittorio Amadeo, Prince of Piedmont (1699 – 1715), died in his teens from smallpox
Prince Emanuele Philibert of Savoy (born and died 1705), died in infancy

Carlo Emanuele’s elder brother Vittorio Amedeo was the heir to the throne and bore the title Prince of Piedmont, the traditional title of the heir of the House of Savoy. Vittorio Amedeo II favored his eldest son and neglected Carlo Emanuele’s education except on the military field, where he sometimes accompanied the father. On March 22, 1715, fifteen-year-old Vittorio Amedeo died from smallpox and his younger brother Carlo Emanuele became the heir to the throne and the Prince of Piedmont.

Carlo Emanuele married three times but all three wives died young.

Anna Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 15, 1722, in Vercelli, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Carlo Emanuele married Anna Christine of Sulzbach, daughter of Theodor Eustach, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Eleonore of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. They had one child and a few days later, on March 12, 1723, Anna Christine died of childbirth complications, aged nineteen. Anna Christine died before her husband became King of Sardinia and so she was titled Princess of Piedmont.

Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro of Savoy (1723 – 1725), died in early childhood

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele’s second wife was Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, daughter of Ernst Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg and Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. Polyxena was the first cousin of Carlo Emanuele’s first wife and belonged to the only Roman Catholic branch of the reigning House of Hesse. After a proxy marriage on July 23, 1724, in Rotenburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now in Hesse, Germany, the couple was married in person on August 20, 1724, in Thonon, Chablais, then a province of the Duchy of Savoy, now in France. When her husband became King of Sardinia in 1730, Polyxena became Queen of Sardinia. She died on January 13, 1735, aged 28, having been ill since June 1734. Carlo Emanuele and Polyxena had six children.

The children of Carlo Emanuele and his second wife Polyxena; (L-R) Eleonora; Vittorio Amedeo; Maria Felicita and Luisa; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia (1726 – 1796), married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, had twelve children
Princess Eleonora of Savoy (1728 – 1781), unmarried
Princess Luisa of Savoy (1729 – 1767), unmarried
Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy (1730 – 1801), unmarried
Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Duke of Aosta (1731 – 1735), died in childhood
Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais (born and died 1733)

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine was the third wife of Carlo Emanuele. She was the daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth C harlotte d’Orléans the daughter of King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese were half-first cousins as their mothers were half-sisters. After a proxy marriage on March 5, 1737, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France, Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese married in person on April 1, 1737, in Lyon, France. The couple had three children but only the third child Benedetto survived childhood. Sadly, Elisabeth Therese died on July 3, 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to Benedetto.

Prince Carlo Francesco of Savoy (1738 – 1745), died in childhood.
Princess Maria Vittoria of Savoy (1740 – 1742), died in infancy
Prince Benedetto of Savoy (1741 – 1808) married his niece Princess Maria Anna of Savoy, no children

Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia in his coronation robes; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 26, 1728, Carlo Emanuele’s mother Queen Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks the day before her 59th birthday. Two years later, Carlo Emanuele’s father Vittorio Amedeo II secretly married Anna Canalis di Cumiana, a former mistress. To the surprise and dismay of the court, Vittorio Amedeo II and Anna Canalis di Cumiana made their marriage public on September 3, 1730. At the same time as the marriage announcement, Vittorio Amedeo II abdicated and retired from the royal court. His son succeeded him as Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. However, in 1731, Vittorio Amedeo attempted to reclaim the throne, accusing his son of incompetence. Carlo Emanuele III thwarted this power play by having his father arrested and confined for the remainder of his life. Anna Canalis di Cumiana was also separately confined for the rest of her life.

Carlo Emanuele was a soldier-king who gained territory for his kingdom by fighting on the French side in the War of the Polish Succession and then on the Austrian side in the War of the Austrian Succession. His ancestors were avid art collectors and Carlo Emanuele was no different. He added many new paintings to the collection of the House of Savoy.

Tomb of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; https://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/collino/filippo/carloem3.html

On February 20, 1773, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia died at the age of 71. He is buried in the Royal Crypt of the Basilica of Superga in Turin in a monumental tomb, the work of the sculptor Ignazio Collino. He survived his three wives, his five siblings, and six of his ten children.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Christine_of_Sulzbach,_Princess_of_Piedmont> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Emmanuel_III_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Therese_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyxena_of_Hesse-Rotenburg> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Carlo Emanuele III di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Emanuele_III_di_Savoia> [Accessed 17 June 2021].

Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia

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Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne Marie d’Orléans was the first wife of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. She was born on August 27, 1669, at the Château de Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, France, near Paris, France. Anne Marie had an impeccable royal genealogy. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger of the two sons of Louis XIII, King of France and Anne of Austria, and the only sibling of Louis XIV, King of France. Her mother was Princess Henrietta of England, the youngest child of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France. Philippe’s father Louis XIII and Henrietta’s mother Henrietta Maria were siblings, the children of Henri IV, King of France and Marie de Medici from the famous House of Medici. As the granddaughter of Louis XIII, King of France, Anne Marie was entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Petite-fille de France (Granddaughter of France).

Anne Marie had two siblings:

Marie Louise of Orléans (1662 – 1689), married Carlos II, King of Spain, no children
Philippe Charles d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1664 – 1666) died in early childhood

On June 30, 1670, when Anne Marie was only ten months old, her mother died at the age of 26. King Louis XIV wanted a male heir to continue the Orléans line and looked for a second wife for his brother Philippe himself. King Louis XIV rejected many potential second brides for his brother before settling on the Protestant Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Liselotte’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe on November 19, 1671.

Anne Marie’s father Philippe I, Duke of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

Due to the attitude of the court, as well as the homosexual relations of her husband Philippe, which he did not hide, Liselotte devoted much attention to Philippe’s daughters. Liselotte acted as a mother to Anne Marie and her elder sister Marie Louise and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. As with his first marriage, Philippe had homosexual affairs but was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Liselotte had three children who were the half-siblings of Anne Marie:

Alexandre Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1673 – 1676), died in childhood
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674 – 1723) married his cousin Françoise Marie de Bourbon, a legitimized daughter of King Louis XIV and one of his mistresses Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan, had eight children
Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans (1676 – 1744) married Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, had thirteen children, were the grandparents of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria

Anne Marie’s husband Vittorio Amdedeo II, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Always eager to maintain his influence in the Duchy of Savoy which bordered France, King Louis XIV of France offered his niece Anne Marie as a bride to Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy, the future King of Sardinia, and he agreed to the match. The proxy marriage of Vittorio Amedeus and Anne Marie took place at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on April 10, 1684. Anne Marie’s cousin Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine stood in for the groom and King Louis XIV gave Anne Marie a huge dowry of 900,000 livres. Philippe, Duke of Orléans accompanied his daughter as far as Juvisy-sur-Orge, 18 kilometers south of Paris, and then Christine d’Estrées, Comtesse de Lillebonne accompanied Anne Marie to Savoy. Anne Marie and Vittorio Amedeo met at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry where the marriage ceremony was performed by Étienne Le Camus, Archbishop of Grenoble on May 6, 1684. Two days later, the newlyweds made their “Joyous Entry” into Turin.

Anne Marie and Vittoria Amedeo had six children:

Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (1685 – 1712), married Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin of France had three sons, only one son King Louis XV of France survived childhood
Princess Maria Anna of Savoy (1687 – 1690), died in childhood
Princess Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (1688 – 1714), married King Felipe V of Spain, had four sons, only two survived childhood and both became Kings of Spain
Vittorio Amadeo, Prince of Piedmont (1699 – 1715), died in his teens from smallpox
Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia (1701 – 1773), married (1) Anne Christine of Sulzbach, had one son who died in infancy (2) Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, had six children, two died in infancy (3) Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine, had three children, only one survived childhood
Prince Emanuele Philibert of Savoy (born and died 1705), died in infancy

Upon arrival at the court of Savoy, Anne Marie fell under the influence of her pro-French mother-in-law Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours who had been born at the Hôtel de Nemours in Paris and was a half-first cousin once removed of King Louis XIV of France. Vittorio Amadeus did not appreciate the close relationship between his wife and his mother. When Vittorio Amedus severed ties with France in 1690, Anne Marie, her children, and her mother-in-law left Turin, the capital of Savoy, for a period of time in protest. Vittorio Amedeo had extramarital affairs which Anne Marie quietly accepted. His longest affair, eleven years, was with Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes with whom he had two children.

Vittorio Amadeo II and Anne Marie, King and Queen of Sardinia, circa 1723-1728; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 26, 1728, the day before her 59th birthday, at the Villa della Regina in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Anne Marie is an important link in the Jacobite succession to the thrones of England and Scotland, and now to the United Kingdom. In 1688, Anne Marie’s maternal uncle James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots was deposed. After James II lost his throne, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland.

When the line of the deposed King James II of England died out the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from the line of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, James II’s sister and Anne Marie’s mother. Since Anne Marie’s elder sister had died and had no children and her brother died in childhood, the Jacobite claims descended through Anne Marie. Her great-grandson Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia was the first Jacobite heir from the House of Savoy. All subsequent Jacobite heirs have been descendants of Anne Marie. Although no Jacobite heirs after James II’s son and grandsons made a claim on the British throne, the Jacobite line of succession has proceeded over the years from the House of Savoy to the House of Austria-Este, and to the House of Wittelsbach (Bavaria). It appears in the future, that it will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein.

Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

Kingdom of Sardinia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Kingdom of Sardinia Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Marie d’Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Marie_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philippe-i-duke-of-orleans/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Maria di Borbone-Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_di_Borbone-Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Jacobite.ca. 2021. The Jacobite Heritage. [online] Available at: <http://www.jacobite.ca/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Анна Мария Орлеанская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 17 June 2021].

Crown Princess Susan of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Crown Princess Susan of the Albanians; photo: Albanian Royal Court

Crown Princess Susan was the wife of Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians, the only son of King Zog I and Queen Geraldine. She was born Susan Barbara Cullen-Ward on January 28, 1941 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, one of five children of Alan Cullen-Ward and Phyllis Murray-Prior.

Raised on her family’s sheep farm in New South Wales, Australia, Susan attended the Ladies Presbyterian College in Orange, before attending the University of the Academy of Arts in Sydney, studying art, history, and architecture. She returned to teach art at Ladies Presbyterian College and then ran her own interior design company in Sydney. An avid Egyptologist, she received a scholarship to attend Sorbonne University in France. At the Sorbonne, Susan first met Crown Prince Leka I, who later invited her to Spain where she studied tourism. The couple was engaged in 1974.

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On April 8, 1975, Susan married Crown Prince Leka I in a civil ceremony in Biarritz, France. A religious ceremony was held in October 1975 in Toledo, Spain where the couple received the blessing of the Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican religious leaders.

They had one son:

Crown Prince Leka II (born 1982), married Elia Zaharia, had one daughter, couple separated in 2024

As Crown Princess, Susan supported her husband and his efforts to restore the Albanian monarchy and improve life for the Albanian people. She established the Queen Susan Cultural Foundation in the United States, which worked to assist Albanians through medical aid and education. In that role, the Crown Princess traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America to promote and gain support.

Embed from Getty Images

The Royal Family was invited to return to Albania in June 2002. Arriving with her husband, son, and Queen Geraldine, Susan continued improving conditions for the Albanian people and remained steadfast in her unyielding support for her husband’s efforts. Sadly, just two years later, having been diagnosed with lung cancer, Crown Princess Susan died in a village near Tirana on July 17, 2004, and was buried alongside her mother-in-law in the Sharra cemetery. In 2012, her remains were moved to the newly rebuilt Royal Mausoleum in Tirana, along with the remains of her husband and his parents.

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Albanian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo II reigned as King of Sardinia from 1720 – 1730 but he had also reigned as King of Sicily from 1713 – 1720, and was Duke of Savoy from the death of his father in 1675 until his abdication in 1730. Vittorio Amedeo Francesco was born on May 14, 1666, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Piedmont in northern Italy. He was the only child of Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours. His father’s maternal grandparents were Henri IV, King of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici. His mother’s maternal great-grandparents were Henri IV, King of France and his mistress Gabrielle d’Estrées. From birth, Vittorio Amedeo was styled as Prince of Piedmont, the traditional title of the heir apparent to the Duchy of Savoy.

The infant Vittoria Amedeo with his parents; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy died on June 12, 1675, at the age of 40 and nine-year-old Vittorio Amedeo became Duke of Savoy. Marie Jeanne Baptiste served as regent during her son’s minority. She did a capable job, continuing the policies and projects of her husband. Because of her French background – she had been born at the Hôtel de Nemours in Paris and was a half-first cousin once removed of King Louis XIV of France – Marie Jeanne Baptiste promoted French interests.

In 1677, Marie Jeanne Baptiste began the search for a wife for Vittorio Amedeo who would reach his majority on his 14th birthday in 1680. There were several possibilities, but Marie Jeanne Baptiste pushed for her sister’s daughter Infanta Isabel Luísa of Portugal, the only daughter of King Pedro II of Portugal. The marriage was opposed by most of the Savoy court as it meant that Vittorio Amedeo would live in Portugal and his mother would remain in power after his majority. Openly disliking the possible marriage and approaching his majority, Vittorio Amedeo decided to postpone the marriage for two years.

Anne Marie d’Orléans, first wife of Vittoria Amedeo II; Credit – Wikipedia

Always eager to maintain his influence in the Duchy of Savoy which bordered France, King Louis XIV of France offered his niece Anne Marie d’Orléans as a bride. Anne Marie was the daughter of Louis XIV’s only sibling Philippe, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England, the daughter of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henri IV of France. Vittorio Amedeo agreed to the match. Marie Jeanne Baptiste had not given up her position of regent when her son reached his majority. Now that Vittorio Amedeo was to marry, he gained more power and enacted a kind of coup d’état, forcing his mother to yield her power to him.

The proxy marriage of Vittorio Amedeus and Anne Marie d’Orléans took place at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on April 10, 1684. Anne Marie’s cousin Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine stood in for the groom and King Louis XIV gave Anne Marie a huge dowry of 900,000 livres. Philippe, Duke of Orléans accompanied his daughter as far as Juvisy-sur-Orge, 18 kilometers south of Paris, and then Christine d’Estrées, Comtesse de Lillebonne accompanied Anne Marie to Savoy. Anne Marie and Vittorio Amedeo met at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry where the marriage ceremony was performed by Étienne Le Camus, Archbishop of Grenoble on May 6, 1684. Two days later, the newlyweds made their “Joyous Entry” into Turin.

Vittorio Amedeo and Anne Marie had six children:

Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (1685 – 1712), married Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin of France had three sons, only one son King Louis XV of France survived childhood
Princess Maria Anna of Savoy (1687 – 1690), died in childhood
Princess Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (1688 – 1714), married King Felipe V of Spain, had four sons, only two survived childhood and both became Kings of Spain
Vittorio Amadeo, Prince of Piedmont (1699 – 1715), died in his teens from smallpox
Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia (1701 – 1773), married (1) Anna Christine of Sulzbach, had one son who died in infancy (2) Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, had six children, two died in infancy (3) Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine, had three children, only one survived childhood
Prince Emanuele Philibert of Savoy (born and died 1705), died in infancy

The Duchy of Savoy was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. However, when Vittorio Amedeo’s mother Marie Jeanne Baptiste, who was French, was Regent, the Duchy of Savoy became closely linked with and heavily dependent upon France, more or less becoming a French satellite. Vittorio Amedeo severed this link by joining alliances against France in both the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession. The Duchy of Savoy was considered a valuable ally in both wars due to its geographical position – a border with southern France – enabling a second front to be opened against France in the south. The Duchy of Savoy relied heavily on foreign subsidies, particularly from England and the Dutch Republic, in both wars to maintain its armies.

As a reward for his aid in the War of the Spanish Succession, Vittorio Amadeo II received the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 under the Peace of Utrecht which ended the war. In October 1713, Vittorio Amedeo and his wife Anne Marie traveled with a British squadron from Nice to Palermo to take personal possession of their new kingdom. They were crowned King and Queen of Sicily on December 24, 1713, at the Cathedral of Palermo in Sicily. After an eleven-month stay in Sicily, Vittoria Amedeo returned to Turin, in the Duchy of Savoy, leaving a viceroy to represent him and maintain the government in his place.

Coronation of Vittorio Amedeo II as King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish invaded Sicily in 1718 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718 – 1720) in which Spain attempted to recover territories lost due to the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. The Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Austria, and the Dutch Republic) won the war. Under the conditions of the 1720 Treaty of The Hague, Vittorio Amedeo II was forced to exchange with Austria his Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia. The island Sardinia was closer to Turin in the Duchy of Savoy than the island of Sicily but it was less rich and less populated.

On August 26, 1728, at the Villa della Regina in Turin, Queen Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks at the age of 58. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin. Vittorio Amedeo II had extramarital affairs which his wife quietly accepted. His longest affair, eleven years, was with Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes with whom he had two children:

Maria Vittoria of Savoy (1690 – 1766), married Vittorio Amedeo I, Prince of Carignano, had four children
Vittorio Francesco of Savoy (1694 – 1762), married Maria Lucrezia Franchi di Pont, had no children

Anna Canalis di Cumiana, second wife of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardina; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 12, 1730, in a private ceremony at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace in Turin, Vittorio Amedeo morganatically married Anna Canalis di Cumiana (1680 – 1769), after obtaining the permission of Pope Clement XII. Because the marriage was morganatic, Anna did not become Queen of Sardina but rather was created Marchioness of Spigno. Anna had been his mistress when she was a lady-in-waiting to Vittoria Amedeo’s mother. It is widely believed that Anna’s first child Paola Novarina, born in 1708, was Vittorio Amedeo’s child although Anna’s husband recognized the child as his. After her husband died in 1724, Anna was called back to court and became a lady-in-waiting to Polyxena, Princess of Piedmont, wife of Carlo Emanuele Prince of Piedmont, the son and heir apparent of Victor Amedeo II. To the surprise and dismay of the court, Vittorio Amedeo II and Anna Canalis di Cumiana made their marriage public on September 3, 1730.

At the same time as the marriage announcement, Vittorio Amedeo abdicated and retired from the royal court. His son succeeded him as Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Vittorio Amedeo favored his eldest son, also named Vittorio Amadeo, who died from smallpox at the age of sixteen. Vittorio Amedeo neglected Carlo Emanuele’s education except on the military field, where he sometimes accompanied the father. Vittorio Amadeo II and Anna moved into the Château de Chambéry in Chambéry, Duchy of Savoy, now in France. The couple had a small retinue of servants, and Vittorio Amdeo was kept informed of matters of state.

In 1731, Vittorio Amedeo attempted to reclaim the throne, accusing his son of incompetence. Carlo Emanuele III had his father arrested and confined to the Castle of Rivoli in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. However, Anna Canalis di Cumiana was brought to the Fortress of Ceva, which was extremely humiliating because the fortress was used as a reformatory for prostitutes. Eventually, Anna received permission to leave the Fortress of Ceva and go to the Castle of Rivoli to be with her husband.

Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy; Credit – Di Paris Orlando – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74180727

On February 5, 1732, Vittorio Amedeo II suffered a stroke, and his health drastically deteriorated. He asked to move to the Castle of Moncalieri near Turin and was transported there on a litter guarded by a company of soldiers. Former King Vittorio Amedeo II of Sardinia died at the Castle of Moncalieri on October 31, 1732, aged 66, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin with his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans. After her husband’s death, Anna Canalis di Cumiana was confined at the Convent of San Giuseppe di Carignano. She was later moved to the Convent of the Visitation in Pinerolo where she died, aged 88, on April 13, 1769, thirty-seven years after Vittorio Amedeo died. Anna Canalis di Cumiana was buried in a grave without a headstone at the Convent of the Visitation in Pinerolo.

Kingdom of Sardinia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Kingdom of Sardinia Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Viktor Amadeus II. – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Amadeus_II.> [Accessed 14 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Emmanuel_II,_Duke_of_Savoy> [Accessed 14 June 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Amadeus_II_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 14 June 2021].
It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Amedeo_II_di_Savoia> [Accessed 14 June 2021].

Why did James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots lose his throne?

What happened to James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots and his family?

The Jacobite Pretenders

House of Stuart

House of Savoy

House of Austria-Este

House of Wittelsbach

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