House of Savoy

The House of Savoy (Casa Savoia) was 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 from 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 Italian unification in 1860 and ruled the Kingdom of Italy 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 reigned for a few weeks before being deposed following the institutional 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 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.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (23)

Piedmont

Piedmont (ˈpiːdmɒnt ; Piemonte pjeˈmonte; Piemont pjeˈmʊŋt) is a region of Northwest Italy, one of the 20 regions of Italy. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the northwest; it also borders Switzerland to the north and France to the west. It has an area of making it the second largest region of Italy after Sicily; as of 31 January 2021, the population was 4,269,714.

Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia, ˈreɲɲo diˈtaːlja) was a state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 2 June 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and form the modern Italian Republic. The kingdom was established through the unification of several states over a decades-long process, called the Risorgimento. That process was influenced by the Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered Italy's legal predecessor state.

Savoy

Savoy (səˈvɔɪ; Savouè saˈvwɛ; Savoie savwa; Italian: Savoia) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savoy emerged as the feudal County of Savoy ruled by the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries.