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| Victor Emmanuel I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait of Victor Emmanuel I in coronation robes, by Luigi Bernero | |||||
| King of Sardinia Duke of Savoy | |||||
| Reign | 4 June 1802 – 12 March 1821 | ||||
| Predecessor | Charles Emmanuel IV | ||||
| Successor | Charles Felix | ||||
| Born | (1759-07-24)24 July 1759 Royal Palace of Turin,Turin,Kingdom of Sardinia | ||||
| Died | 10 January 1824(1824-01-10) (aged 64) Castle of Moncalieri, Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia | ||||
| Burial | Basilica of Superga, Turin | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue among others... | |||||
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| House | House of Savoy | ||||
| Father | Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia | ||||
| Mother | Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
Victor Emmanuel I (Italian:Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was theDuke of Savoy,King of Sardinia and ruler of theSavoyard states from 4 June 1802 until his reign ended in 1821 uponabdication due to a liberal revolution. Shortly thereafter, his brotherCharles Felix ascended the throne as the new king of Sardinia. Victor Emmanuel was the son of KingVictor Amadeus III of Sardinia andMaria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. In 1789, he marriedMaria Theresa of Austria-Este, with whom he had seven children, includingthe future Empress of Austria. He was the King of Sardinia during theNapoleonic Wars, where he regained Piedmont after Napoleon's defeat in 1814.
Victor Emmanuel was born on 24 July 1754 at theRoyal Palace of Turin inTurin, Italy. He was the second son of KingVictor Amadeus III of Sardinia, son of KingCharles Emmanuel III of Sardinia andPolyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg, and his wife,Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, daughter of KingPhilip V of Spain andElisabeth Farnese.
Victor Emmanuel was known from birth as theDuke of Aosta. From 1792 to 1796, Victor Emmanuel’s father had taken an active part in the struggle of the old powers against the revolutionary forces in France but was defeated and forced to make peace, signing theTreaty of Paris. The old king died shortly thereafter, and in December 1798, his eldest son and successor,Charles Emmanuel IV, was faced with a French occupation and eventually annexation, of his mainland territories.
Charles Emmanuel and his family were forced to withdraw toSardinia, which was the only part of his domains not conquered by the French. Charles Emmanuel himself took little interest in the rule of Sardinia, living with his wife on the mainland inNaples andRome until his wife's death in 1802, which led the childless Charles Emmanuel to abdicate the throne in favour of his younger brother.
Victor Emmanuel took the throne on 4 June 1802 as Victor Emmanuel I. He ruled Sardinia fromCagliari for the next twelve years, during which time he constituted theCarabinieri, aGendarmerie corps, still existing as one of the main branches of theItaly's Armed Forces.
In 1814,Napoleon was defeated, and Victor Emmanuel was able to return to Turin. His realm was reconstituted by theCongress of Vienna, with the addition of the territories of the formerRepublic of Genoa, and well he also wanted to annexMonaco, but it only became a protectorate of his Kingdom.[1] The latter became the seat of the Sardinian Navy. Victor Emmanuel abolished all the freedoms granted by the Napoleonic Codices and restored a fiercely oppressive rule: he restored theRegie Costituzioni ofVictor Amadeus II and theJus commune, strengthenedcustoms barriers, refused to grant a liberal constitution, entrusted education to the Church and reintroduced laws concerning labour and the justice system which discriminated againstJews andWaldensians.
He nurtured expansionist ambitions inLombardy, where nationalist anti-Austrian sentiments had developed, promoted largely by the bourgeoisie. This led to conflict with Austria. In March 1821, a liberal revolution exploded in Italy, largely the work of theCarbonari and it seemed that the anti-Austrian attitude of the revolutionaries matched that of Victor Emmanuel.
On Sunday 11 March 1821, the King called a meeting with the council of the crown, of which the members also included one of his distant cousins,Charles Albert. However, Victor Emmanuel was not willing to grant a liberal constitution as desired by the revolutionaries, so heabdicated the next day in favour of his brother,Charles Felix, on 12 March 1821. Because Charles Felix was inModena at the time, Victor Emmanuel temporarily entrusted the regency to Charles Albert, who was second in line to the throne.
Since his abdication, Victor Emmanuel lived in several cities until 1824, when he returned to theCastle of Moncalieri, where he died. He is buried in theBasilica of Superga.
On 21 April 1789, he marriedArchduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este, daughter ofFerdinand, Duke of Modena (who was the son ofFrancis I, Holy Roman Emperor).
They had six daughters and one son who died very young:
As a descendant ofHenrietta of England, he carried theJacobiteclaim to the thrones of England and Scotland.
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Victor Emmanuel I Born: 24 July 1759 Died: 10 January 1824 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by | King of Sardinia 1802–1821 | Succeeded by |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1819–1824 | Succeeded by |
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