King Amedeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2018

King Amedeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta; Credit – Wikipedia

Born an Italian prince, Amedeo briefly reigned Spain as the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy. Born on May 30, 1845, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy, he was the second of the three surviving sons and the third of the eight children of King Vittorio Emanuele II (King of Piedmont-Sardinia and later first King of Italy) and Archduchess Adelheid of Austria. Soon after his birth, Amedeo was given the title Duke of Aosta, which he was known as for most of his life.

Amedeo had seven siblings but only four survived to adulthood:

Amedeo with his parents and siblings, 1854; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1859, Amedeo entered the Royal Italian Army with the rank of captain. By 1866, he had risen to the rank of major-general and took part in the Third Italian War of Independence of 1866 and was wounded at the Battle of Custoza.

On May 30, 1867, Amedeo married Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, the elder of the two daughters of Italian noble Carlo Emmanuele dal Pozzo, 5th Prince of Cisterna and his wife Countess Louise de Merode. Upon her father’s death in 1864, Maria Vittoria inherited her father’s titles in her own right.

Maria Vittoria and Amedeo; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Amedeo and Maria Vittoria had three children. Their descendants through their eldest son have been claimants to the disputed headship of the House of Savoy along with descendants of Amedeo’s brother King Umberto I of Italy.

In Spain, Queen Isabella II had reigned since 1833, when she was not quite three years old. Isabella’s authoritarianism, her religious fanaticism, her alliance with the military, and the chaos of her reign — sixty different governments — helped bring about the Revolution of 1868 that eventually exiled her to Paris. On November 16, 1870, the Spanish Cortes (Parliament) elected Amedeo the new King of Spain. He swore to uphold the constitution and was proclaimed King in Madrid on January 2, 1871.

King Amedeo I of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

During Amedeo’s reign, there were many republican uprisings. After an attempt to assassinate him on July 19, 1872, Amedeo I declared his frustration with the complications of Spanish politics: “I do not understand anything. We’re in a mad cage.” Lacking popular support, Amedeo abdicated the Spanish throne on February 11, 1873. The First Spanish Republic was declared but it lasted a little less than two years. After the First Spanish Republic collapsed, Queen Isabella’s 17-year-old son became King Alfonso XII.

Completely disgusted, Amedeo returned to Turin where he assumed the title Duke of Aosta. On November 8, 1876, Amedeo’s wife Maria Vittoria died from tuberculosis at the age of 29. Amedeo again became active in the Royal Italian Army and held various positions during the reign of his brother who succeeded as King Umberto I of Italy in 1878.

In 1888, twelve years after the death of his first wife, Amedeo married again. His second wife was Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte, his niece, the daughter of his sister Marie Clotilde and Prince Napoléon Joseph Bonaparte. The betrothal announcement caused a great scandal in the Italian court because Amedeo was twenty-two years older than Maria Letizia and was also her uncle. Nevertheless, the necessary papal dispensation for the marriage was obtained.

Maria Letizia in 1888; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Amedeo and Maria Letizia had one child:

  • Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, Count of Salemi (1889 – 1918), unmarried, served in the Royal Italian Army during World War I; the official court bulletin recorded that he was killed in action, but apparently, he died from influenza

Amedeo was married to his second wife for less than two years. He died from pneumonia in Turin, Italy on January 18, 1890, at the age of 44. He was buried at the Basilica of Superga near Turin, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy.

Basilica of Superga; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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