1.
Humbert I, Count of Savoy
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Humbert I, better known as Humbert the White-Handed or Humbert Whitehand was the founder of the House of Savoy. Humbert was the son of Amadeus, who may or may not have preceded him as count of Maurienne and his brother was Bishop Otto of Belley. Humbert is the progenitor of the dynasty known as the House of Savoy, the origins of this dynasty are unknown, but Humberts ancestors are variously said to have come from Saxony, Burgundy or Provence. Humbert initially held lands around Belley and in the county of Sermorens, before gaining lands in Aosta, after Rudolf III’s death, Humbert I swore fealty to Emperor Conrad II. He supported Conrad II in his campaigns against Odo II, Count of Blois, in return, Conrad II appointed Humbert count of Savoy and granted him Maurienne, Chablais and perhaps Tarentaise. These imperial grants to a loyal supporter secured key passes through the Alps and she may have been Ancilla of Lenzburg, the daughter of the master of ceremonies of Burgundy. Alternatively, Ancilla may have been a daughter of Anselm and Aldiud, Humbert is often said to have died c. 1047/8 at Hermillon, a town in the Maurienne region of present-day Savoie, France. More recently, it has suggested that he died by 1042. Humbert was buried in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Cathedral, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. Ducourthial, ‘Géographie du pouvoir en pays de Savoie au tournant de l’an Mil, guilleré, J- M. Poisson, L. Ripart and C. Le royaume de Bourgogne autour de l’an mil, pp. 207–246, history of House of Savoy Humbert Weißhand, Graf von Savoyen Humbert Biancamano, Conte di Savoia
2.
King of Italy
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King of Italy was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a military leader, in the late 5th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, the last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, although Napoleon I used the title from 1805 to 1814, it was not until the Unification of Italy in the 1860s that a Kingdom of Italy was restored. From 1861 the House of Savoy held the title as monarchs of the peninsula until the last King of Italy, Umberto II. After the deposition of the last Western Emperor in 476, Heruli leader Odoacer was appointed Dux Italiae by the reigning Byzantine Emperor Zeno. Later, the Germanic foederati, the Scirians and the Heruli, as well as a segment of the Italic Roman army. In 493, the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great killed Odoacer, Ostrogothic rule ended when Italy was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in 552. In the 8th century, estrangement between the Italians and the Byzantines allowed the Lombards to capture the remaining Roman enclaves in northern Italy. However, in 774, they were defeated by the Franks under Charlemagne, after the death of Charles III the Fat in 887, Italy fell into instability and a number of kings attempted to establish themselves as independent Italian monarchs. During this period, known as the Feudal Anarchy, the title Rex Italicorum was introduced, after the breakup of the Frankish empire, Otto I added Italy to the Holy Roman Empire and continued the use of the title Rex Italicorum. The last to use this title was Henry II, subsequent emperors used the title king of Italy until Charles V. At first they were crowned in Pavia, later Milan, in 1805, Napoleon I was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at the Milan Cathedral. The next year, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his imperial title, from the deposition of Napoleon I until the Italian Unification, there was no Italian monarch claiming the overarching title. The Risorgimento successfully established a dynasty, the House of Savoy, over the peninsula, uniting the kingdoms of Sardinia. The monarchy was superseded by the Italian Republic, after a referendum was held on 2 June 1946 after the World War II. The Italian monarchy formally ended on 12 June of that year, Guy of Spoleto opponent of Berengar, ruled most of Italy but was deposed by Arnulf. Lambert of Spoleto subking of his father Guy before 894, reduced to Spoleto 894–895, Arnulf of Carinthia Ratold In 896, Arnulf and Ratold lost control of Italy, which was divided between Berengar and Lambert, Berengar I seized Lamberts portion upon the latters death in 898
3.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
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The Italians gave him the epithet Father of the Fatherland. Victor Emmanuel was born the eldest son of Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano and his father succeeded a distant cousin as King of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1831. He lived for years of his youth in Florence and showed an early interest in politics, the military. In 1842, he married his cousin Adelaide of Austria and he was styled as the Duke of Savoy prior to becoming King of Sardinia-Piedmont. He took part in the First Italian War of Independence under his father King Charles Albert, fighting in the front line at the battles of Pastrengo, Santa Lucia, Goito and Custoza. He became King of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1849 when his father abdicated the throne after a military defeat by the Austrians at the Battle of Novara. Victor Emmanuel was immediately able to obtain a rather favorable armistice at Vignale by the Austrian imperial army commander Radetzky, after new elections, the peace with Austria was accepted by the new Chamber of Deputies. In 1849 Victor Emmanuel also fiercely suppressed a revolt in Genoa, defining the rebels as a vile, in 1852, he appointed Count Camillo Benso of Cavour as Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia. This turned out to be a choice, since Cavour was a political mastermind. Victor Emmanuel II soon became the symbol of the Risorgimento, the Italian unification movement of the 1850s and he was especially popular in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont because of his respect for the new constitution and his liberal reforms. Following Victor Emmanuels advice, Cavour joined Britain and France in the Crimean War against Russia, Cavour was reluctant to go to war due to the power of Russia at the time and the expense of doing so. Victor Emmanuel, however, was convinced of the rewards to be gained from the alliance created with Britain and, more importantly, the Italo-French campaign against Austria in 1859 started successfully. After several quarrels about the outcome of the war, Cavour resigned, later that same year, Victor Emmanuel II sent his forces to fight the papal army at Castelfidardo and drove the Pope into Vatican City. His success at these goals led him to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, then, Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples, and Sardinia-Piedmont grew even larger. On 17 March 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was officially established, Victor Emmanuel supported Giuseppe Garibaldis Expedition of the Thousand, which resulted in the rapid fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy. However, the king halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome, still under the Papal States, in 1860, through local plebiscites, Tuscany, Modena, Parma and Romagna decided to side with Sardinia-Piedmont. Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in the Marche and Umbria after the battle of Castelfidardo over the Papal forces. The king subsequently met with Garibaldi at Teano, receiving from him the control of southern Italy, another series of plebiscites in the occupied lands resulted in the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel as the first King of Italy by the new Parliament of unified Italy, on 17 March 1861
4.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
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Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he claimed the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia and King of the Albanians, during his long reign, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in 1946 in favour of his son Umberto II, hoping to strengthen support for the monarchy against an ultimately successful referendum to abolish it. He then went in exile to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died and was buried the following year. He was called by the Italians Il Re soldato for having led his country during both the wars, and, after Italys victory in the First World War Il Re vittorioso. He was also nicknamed Sciaboletta due to his height of 1.53 m, Victor Emmanuel was born in Naples, Italy. He was the child of Umberto I, King of Italy. Margherita was the daughter of the Duke of Genoa, from birth until his accession, Victor Emmanuel was known by the title of the Prince of Naples. On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro, on 29 July 1900, at the age of 30, Victor Emmanuel acceded to the throne upon his fathers assassination. The only advice that his father Umberto ever gave his heir was Remember, to be a king, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse. His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, indeed, even though his father was killed by an anarchist, the new King showed a commitment to constitutional freedoms. Though parliamentary rule had been established in Italy, the Statuto Albertino, or constitution. For instance, he had the right to appoint the Prime Minister even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Deputies, when World War I began, Italy at first remained neutral, despite being part of the Triple Alliance. However, in 1915, Italy signed several secret treaties committing her to enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente, most of the politicians opposed war, however, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies forced Prime Minister Antonio Salandra to resign. At this juncture, Victor Emmanuel declined Salandras resignation and personally made the decision for Italy to enter the war and he was well within his rights to do so under the Statuto. Popular demonstrations in favor of the war were staged in Rome, with 200,000 gathering on 16 May 1915 and it was at this time, the period of World War I, that the King enjoyed the genuine affection of the majority of his people. Still, during the war he received about 400 threatening letters from people of social background. The economic depression which followed World War I gave rise to much extremism among Italys sorely tried working classes and this caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable
5.
Prime Minister of Italy
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The office of Prime Minister is established by Articles 92 through to 96 of the Constitution of Italy. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic after each general election, prior to the establishment of the Italian Republic, the position was called President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel III removed Mussolini from office in 1943 and the position was restored with Marshal Pietro Badoglio becoming Prime Minister in 1943, Alcide De Gasperi became the first Prime Minister of the Italian Republic in 1946. The Prime Minister is the President of the Council of Ministers—which holds executive power, the position is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems. The formal Italian order of precedence lists the office as being ceremonially the fourth most important Italian state office, as the President of the Council of Ministers the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet. In addition the Prime Minister leads a political party and generally commands the majority in the Parliament. Article 95 of the Italian constitution provides that the Prime Minister directs, the Prime Ministers activity has often consisted of mediating between the various parties in the majority coalition, rather than directing the activity of the Council of Ministers. The office was first established in 1848 in Italys predecessor state, the Kingdom of Sardinia—although it was not mentioned in its constitution, from 1848 to 1861 ten Prime Ministers governed the Kingdom, most of them being right-wing politicians. After the Unification of Italy and the establishment of the kingdom, in fact the candidate for office was appointed by the king, and presided over a very unstable political system. The first Prime Minister was Camillo Benso di Cavour, who was appointed on 23 March 1861, from 1861 to 1911 Historical Right and Left Prime Ministers alternatively governed the country. One of the most famous and influential Prime Ministers of this period was Francesco Crispi, a patriot and statesman. He led the country for six years, from 1887 until 1891, Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Bismarck, Gladstone and Salisbury. Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, he went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister, ally, and admirer of Bismarck. His career ended amid controversy and failure due to becoming involved in a banking scandal. He is often seen as a precursor of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, in 1892 Giovanni Giolitti, a young leftist politician, was elected Prime Minister by king Umberto I, but after less than a year he was forced to resign and Crispi returned to power. In 1903 after a period of instability he was appointed head of the government. Giolitti was the Prime Minister five times between 1892 and 1921 and the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history, after Mussolini, under his influence, the Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party. They were instead a series of informal personal groupings with no links to political constituencies
6.
Agostino Depretis
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Agostino Depretis was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy for several times between 1876 and 1887, Depretis was born at Bressana Bottarone, near Stradella, now in the province of Pavia. From early manhood he was a disciple of Giuseppe Mazzini and affiliated with the La Giovine Italia and he took an active part in the Mazzinian conspiracies and was nearly captured by the Austrians while smuggling arms into Milan. Elected deputy in 1848, he joined the Left and founded the journal Il Diritto, but held no official position until appointed governor of Brescia in 1859. In 1860 he went to Sicily on a mission to reconcile the policy of Cavour with that of Giuseppe Garibaldi, though appointed pro-dictator of Sicily by Garibaldi, during the dictatorial government, he failed in his attempt. Accepting the portfolio of public works in Urbano Rattazzis cabinet, in 1862, but he also refused to give to admiral Persano detailed orders about the expedition in the Adriatic Sea against the fleet led by Wilhelm von Tegetthoff. Upon the death of Rattazzi in 1873, Depretis became leader of the Left and he prepared the advent of his party to power and was called upon to form the first cabinet of the Left in 1876. Prior to this, Depretis was a journalist-politician who had allied himself in parliament with the Left. When he came into power it was as the leader of the Left, in November 1879 he entered the Cairoli cabinet as minister of the interior, and in May 1881 succeeded to the premiership, retaining that office until his death. A few weeks before his death he repented of his transformist policy and he argued that a wider suffrage would give citizens a moral dignity and sense of responsibility. Discorsi parlamentari di Agostino Depretis Vol
7.
Benedetto Cairoli
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Benedetto Cairoli was an Italian statesman. Cairoli was born at Pavia, Lombardy and he commanded a volunteer company under Garibaldi in 1859 and 1860, being wounded slightly at Calatafimi and severely at Palermo in the latter year. The prestige personally acquired by Benedetto Cairoli was augmented by that of his four brothers, who fell during the wars of the Risorgimento and his refusal of all compensation or distinction further endeared him to the Italian people. After his marriage with the countess Elena Sizeo of Trent, he permitted the Irredentist agitation to carry the country to the verge of a war with Austria. On 3 July 1879 Cairoli returned to power, and in the following November formed with Depretis a coalition ministry, in which he retained the premiership and the foreign office. Confidence in French assurances, and belief that Britain would never permit the extension of French influence in North Africa, in view of popular indignation he resigned in order to avoid making inopportune declarations to the chamber. Thenceforward he practically disappeared from political life, in 1887 he received the knighthood of the Annunziata, the highest Italian decoration, and on 8 August 1889 died while a guest of King Umberto in the royal palace of Capodimonte near Naples
8.
Francesco Crispi
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Francesco Crispi was an Italian patriot and statesman. Crispi served as Italys Prime Minister for six years, from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896, Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Bismarck, Gladstone and Salisbury. Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal he went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister and ally, due to his authoritarian policies and style, Crispi is often regarded as a strongman and seen as a precursor of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Crispi’s paternal family originally from the small agricultural community of Palazzo Adriano. It had been founded in later fifteenth century by Orthodox Albanians and his grandfather was an Arbëreshë Orthodox priest, the parish priests were married men, and Arbëreshë was the family language down to the lifetime of the young Crispi. Crispi himself was born in Ribera, Sicily, to Tommaso Crispi, belonging to a family of Arbëreshë descent, he spoke Italian as his third or fourth language. His uncle Giuseppe wrote the first monograph on the Albanian language, at the age of 5 years old he was sent to a family in Villafranca, where he could receive an education. In 1829, at 11 years old, he attended a seminary in Palermo, the rector of the institute was Giuseppe Crispi, his uncle. Crispi attended the seminary until 1834 or 1835, when his father, after becoming mayor of Ribera, encountered difficulties in health. In the same period Crispi became a friend of the poet and doctor Vincenzo Navarro. In 1835 he studied law and literature at the University of Palermo receiving a law degree in 1837, in the year he fell in love with Rosina DAngelo. Despite his fathers ban, Crispi married Rosina in 1837, when she was already pregnant, in May Crispi became father of his first daughter, Giuseppa, who was named after his grandmother. Anyway it was a marriage, in fact Rosina died on 29 July 1839, the day after giving birth to her second son, Tommaso. Between 1838 and 1839, Crispi founded his own newspaper, LOreteo and this experience brought him into contact with a number of political figures including the Neapolitan liberal activist and poet, Carlo Poerio. In 1845 Crispi took up a judgeship in Naples, where he distinguished himself for his liberal, the revolution started on 12 January 1848, and therefore was the very first of the numerous revolutions to occur that year. Three revolutions had previously occurred on the island of Sicily starting from 1800 against Bourbon rule, the uprising was substantially organized from, and centered in, Palermo. The popular nature of the revolt is evident in the fact that posters, the timing was deliberately planned, by Crispi and the other revolutionaries, to coincide with the birthday of Ferdinand II. Vincenzo Fardella was elected president of Sicilian Parliament, the idea was also put forward for a confederation of all the states of Italy
9.
Giovanni Giolitti
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Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921 and he is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history, after Benito Mussolini. He was a prominent leader of the Historical Left and the Liberal Union, under his influence, the Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party, they were, instead, a series of informal personal groupings with no formal links to political constituencies. Besides putting in place several tariffs, subsidies and government projects, Giolitti also nationalized the private telephone, Liberal proponents of free trade criticized the Giolittian System, although Giolitti himself saw the development of the national economy as essential in the production of wealth. However his highly complex legacy continues to stimulate debate amongst writers. His father Giovenale Giolitti had been working in the avvocatura dei poveri and he died in 1843, a year after Giovanni was born. The family moved in the home of his mother Enrichetta Plochiù in Turin and his mother taught him to read and write, his education in the gymnasium San Francesco da Paola of Turin was marked by poor discipline and little commitment to study. He did not like mathematics and the study of Latin and Greek grammar, preferring the history and reading the novels of Walter Scott, at sixteen he entered the University of Turin and, after three years, he earned a law degree in 1860. His uncle was a member of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia and a friend of Michelangelo Castelli. However Giolitti did not appear interested in the Risorgimento and differently to many of his fellow students. Subsequently, he pursued a career in administration in the Ministry of Grace and Justice. In 1869 he moved to the Ministry of Finance, becoming an official and working along with important members of the ruling Right, like Quintino Sella. In the same year he married Rosa Sobrero, the granddaughter of Ascanio Sobrero, a famous chemist, who discovered nitroglycerine. In 1877 Giolitti was appointed to the Court of Audit and in 1882 to the Council of State At the 1882 Italian general election he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the Historical Left. This election was a victory for the ruling Left of Agostino Depretis. As deputy he chiefly acquired prominence by attacks on Agostino Magliani, following Depretis’s death on 29 July 1887 Francesco Crispi, a notable politician and patriot, became the leader of the Left group and was also appointed Prime Minister by King Umberto I. On 9 March 1889 Giolitti was selected by Crispi as new Minister of Treasury, but in October 1890, Giolitti resigned from his office due to contrasts with Crispis colonial policy. Menelik informed the press and the scandal erupted
10.
Luigi Pelloux
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Luigi Gerolamo Pelloux was an Italian general and politician, born of parents who retained their Italian nationality when Savoy was annexed to France. He was the Prime Minister of Italy from 29 June 1898 to 24 June 1900, Pelloux was born in La Roche-sur-Foron, Savoy, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He entered the war office in 1870, and in 1880 became General Secretary and he was elected to the Chamber in 1881 as deputy for Livorno, which he represented until 1895, and joined the party of the Left. After a succession of military commands he received the appointment of Chief of the General Staff in 1896. He was Minister of War in the Rudinì and Giolitti cabinets of 1891–1893, in July 1896 he resumed the portfolio of War in the Rudinì cabinet, and was appointed Senator. He resigned office in May 1899 over his Chinese policy, but was entrusted with the formation of a government. His new cabinet was essentially military and conservative, the most decisively conservative since 1876 and he took stern measures against the revolutionary elements in Italy. The Radicals and Socialist start an obstructionist campaign against the new coercive law using the filibuster, points of order, endless speeches, the growing opposition succeeded in forcing General Pelloux to dissolve the Chamber in May 1900, and to resign office after the general election in June. In the autumn of 1901 he was appointed to the command of the Turin army corps, Pelloux died at Bordighera in 1924. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Pelloux. Modern Italy,1871 to the present, Harlow, Pearson Education, ISBN 1-4058-2352-6 Seton-Watson, Italy from liberalism to fascism, 1870-1925, New York, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-416-18940-7
11.
Giuseppe Saracco
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Giuseppe Saracco was an Italian politician, financier and Knight of the Annunziata. Giuseppe Saracco was born at Bistagno, after qualifying as an advocate, he entered the Piedmontese parliament in 1849. He was a supporter of Cavour, after Cavour died in 1861, Saracco joined the party of Rattazzi and became under-secretary of state for public works in the Rattazzi cabinet of 1862. In 1864 Sella appointed Saracco as secretary-general of finance, and after being created senator in 1865, in 1879 he succeeded in postponing the total abolition of the grist tax, and was throughout a fierce opponent of Maglianis loose financial administration. After February 1901 Saracco resumed his functions as president of the senate, Saracco received the supreme honour of the knighthood of the Annunziata from King Umberto in 1898. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Saracco
12.
Turin
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Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
13.
Kingdom of Sardinia
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The Kingdom of Sardinia was a state in Southern Europe which existed from the early 14th until the mid-19th century. It was the state of todays Italy. When it was acquired by the Duke of Savoy in 1720, however, the Savoyards united it with their possessions on the Italian mainland and, by the time of the Crimean War in 1853, had built the resulting kingdom into a strong power. The formal name of the entire Savoyard state was the States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia and its final capital was Turin, the capital of Savoy since the Middle Ages. Beginning in 1324, James and his successors conquered the island of Sardinia, in 1420 the last competing claim to the island was bought out. After the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, Sardinia became a part of the burgeoning Spanish Empire, in 1720 it was ceded by the Habsburg and Bourbon claimants to the Spanish throne to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. While in theory the traditional capital of the island of Sardinia and seat of its viceroys was Cagliari, the Congress of Vienna, which restructured Europe after Napoleons defeat, returned to Savoy its mainland possessions and augmented them with Liguria, taken from the Republic of Genoa. In 1847–48, in a fusion, the various Savoyard states were unified under one legal system, with the capital in Turin, and granted a constitution. There followed the annexation of Lombardy, the central Italian states and the Two Sicilies, Venetia, in 238 BC Sardinia became, along with Corsica, a province of the Roman Empire. The Romans ruled the island until the middle of the 5th century, when it was occupied by the Vandals, in 534 AD it was reconquered by the Romans, but now from the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium. It remained a Byzantine province until the Arab conquest of Sicily in the 9th century, after that, communications with Constantinople became very difficult, and powerful families of the island assumed control of the land. Starting from 705–706, Saracens from north Africa harassed the population of the coastal cities, information about the Sardinian political situation in the following centuries is scarce. There is a record of another massive Saracen sea attack in 1015–16 from the Balearics, the Saracen attempt to invade the island was stopped by the Judicatus with the support of the fleets of the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa, free cities of the Holy Roman Empire. Pope Benedict VIII also requested aid from the republics of Pisa. Even the title of Judices was a Byzantine reminder of the Greek church and state, of these sovereigns only two names are known, Turcoturiu and Salusiu, who probably ruled in the 10th century. The Archons still wrote in Greek or Latin, but one of the first documents of the Judex of Cagliari, their successor, was written in romance Sardinian language. The realm was divided into four kingdoms, the Judicati, perfectly organized as was the previous realm, but was now under the influence of the Pope. That was the cause of leading to a long war between the Judices, who regarded themselves as kings fighting against rebellious nobles
14.
Monza
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Monza listen is a city and comune on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about 15 kilometres north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza, Monza is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, which hosts the Formula One Italian Grand Prix. On 11 June 2004 Monza was designated the capital of the new province of Monza and Brianza, the new administrative arrangement came fully into effect in summer 2009, previously, Monza was a comune within the province of Milan. Monza is the third-largest city of Lombardy and is the most important economic, industrial and administrative centre of the Brianza area, supporting a textile industry, Monza also hosts a Department of the University of Milan Bicocca, a Court of Justice and several offices of regional administration. Monza Park is one of the largest urban parks in Europe, Monza is located in the high plains of Lombardy, between Brianza and Milan, at an altitude of 162 metres above sea level. It is 15 kilometres from the centre of the capital, although when considering the cities borders. Monza is about 40 km from Lecco and Como, Monza shares its position with Milan in the same metro area, and is a big part of its new province. Monza is crossed north to south by the River Lambro. The river enters Monza from the north, between Via Aliprandi and Via Zanzi streets and this is an artificial fork of the river, created for defensive purposes in the early decades of the 14th century. The fork is known as Lambretto and it rejoins the main course of the Lambro as it exits to the south, another artificial stream is the Canale Villoresi, which was constructed in the late 19th century. Precipitation is abundant, with most occurring in the autumn and the least in winter and summer, despite this, during the Roman Empire, Monza was known as Modicia. During the 3rd century BCE, the Romans subdued the Insubres, a Gallo-Celtic tribe, perhaps the Insubres themselves, founded a village on the Lambro. The ruins of a Roman bridge named Ponte dArena can be seen near todays Ponte dei Leoni, Theodelinda, daughter of Garibald I of Bavaria and wife of the Lombard king Authari, chose Monza as her summer residence. Here in 595 she founded an oraculum dedicated to St. John the Baptist, according to this legend, the medieval name of Monza, Modoetia, is derived from these two words. She also had a palace built here, berengar I of Italy located his headquarters in Monza. A fortified castrum was constructed to resist the incursions of the Hungarians, under Berengars reign, Monza enjoyed a certain degree of independence, it had its own system of weights and measures, and could also seize property and mark the deeds with their signatures. Berengar was very evident by the donation of numerous works to the Monza Cathedral, including the famous cross. In 980 Monza hosted Emperor Otto II inside the walled city, the Glossary of Monza, one of the earliest examples of the evolution of Italian language, probably dates to the early 10th century
15.
Kingdom of Italy
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The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
16.
Pantheon, Rome
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The Pantheon is a former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD and he retained Agrippas original inscription, which has confused its date of construction as the original Pantheon burnt down so it is not certain when the present one was built. The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under a pediment, a rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheons dome is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome, the height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same,43.3 metres. Mary and the Martyrs but informally known as Santa Maria Rotonda, the square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a property, ruled by Italys Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. The Pantheons large circular domed cella, with a temple portico front, is unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, Pantheon is derived from the Ancient Greek Pantheion meaning of, relating to, or common to all the gods. His uncertainty strongly suggests that Pantheon was merely a nickname, not the name of the building. In fact, the concept of a dedicated to all the gods is questionable. The only definite pantheon recorded earlier than Agrippas was at Antioch in Syria and it seems highly significant that Dio does not quote the simplest explanation for the name—that the Pantheon was dedicated to all the gods. Godfrey and Hemsoll maintain that the word Pantheon need not denote a group of gods, or, indeed, even all the gods. Certainly the word pantheus or pantheos, could be applicable to individual deities…, bearing in mind also that the Greek word θεῖος need not mean of a god but could mean superhuman, or even excellent. It seems likely that the Pantheon and the Basilica of Neptune were Agrippas sacra privata and this less solemn designation would help explain how the building could have so easily lost its original name and purpose in such a relatively short period of time. However, archaeological excavations have shown that the Pantheon of Agrippa had been destroyed except for the façade. Lise Hetland argues that the present construction began in 114, under Trajan and her argument is particularly interesting in light of Heilmeyers argument that, based on stylistic evidence, Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajans architect, was the obvious architect. The form of Agrippas Pantheon is debated and this description was widely accepted until the late 20th century. The only passages referring to the decoration of the Agrippan Pantheon written by an eyewitness are in Plinys Natural History, from him we know that the capitals, too, of the pillars, which were placed by M
17.
Margherita of Savoy
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Princess Margherita of Savoy, was the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Italy by marriage to Umberto I. Margherita was born to Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa and Princess Elisabeth of Saxony and her father died in 1855, and her mother remarried morganatically to Major Nicholas Rapallo. She was educated by countess Clelia Monticelli di Casalrosso and her Austrian governess Rosa Arbesser, reportedly, she was given a more advanced education than most princesses at the time, and displayed a great deal of intellectual curiosity. As a person, she was described as sensitive, proud and with a force of will without being hard. To her appearance, she was described as a tall, stately blonde, initially, she was suggested to marry prince Charles of Romania. After the wedding, the crown prince settled in Naples. On 11 November 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, later Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and their son was therefore to remain their only child. Margherita was raised with the idea of monarchy with the ideal of enlightened despotism. She became an asset in this role with her ability to say and do the right things to effectively arouse public enthusiasm. In January 1871, after the unification of Italy and the proclamation of Rome as the capital of Italy. Margherita became queen of Italy upon the succession of Umberto to the throne 9 January 1878, in the critical situation that year, with the king and the pope as well as an assassination attempt against the new king, Umberto reportedly asked Margherita of politic advise. She founded cultural institutions, notably the Società del Quartetto, Queen Margherita also fostered loyalty toward the monarchy by social and charitable work. She frequently visited and acted as the benefactor of hospitals, schools and institutions for children, the queen, however, was close to her son and strengthen her relation to him even further after his wedding. Queen Margherita was also involved in affairs, viewing democracy as a potential threat to the monarchy. As a nationalist, she did not hesitate to support First Italo-Ethiopian War in 1896, in contrast to Umberto, as a center figure of the conservative forces, she supported the repressive actions toward the rioters in Milan in 1898, which lead to the Bava-Beccaris massacre. At 4,554 metres the Capanna Regina Margherita, remains the highest hut in Europe, Margherita later accepted the position of Honorary President of the Ladies Alpine Club. On 29 July 1900 Umberto I, after the murders by anarchists Giovanni Passannante and Pietro Acciarito, was killed by another anarchist. Margherita was met with an amount of sympathy as the widow of an assassinated monarch
18.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
19.
House of Savoy
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The House of Savoy is one of the oldest royal families in the world, being founded in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to the attainment of the rank of king in 1713, the Savoyard kings of Italy were Victor Emmanuel II, Umberto I, Victor Emmanuel III, and Umberto II. The last monarch ruled for a few weeks before being deposed following the Constitutional Referendum of 1946, 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, from rule of a small region on the French/Italian border, the dynastys realm included nearly all of the Italian Peninsula by the time of its deposition. The house descended from Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia, Humberts family are thought to have originated from near Magdeburg in Saxony, with the earliest recording of the family being two 10th century brothers, Amadeus and Humbert. Though Sabaudia was originally a county, later counts were diplomatically skilled. Two of Humberts sons were bishops at the Abbey of Saint Maurice on the River Rhone east of Lake Geneva and this diplomatic skill caused the great powers such as France, England, and Spain to take the counts opinions into account. Piedmont was later joined with Sabaudia, and the name evolved into Savoy, the people of Savoy were descended from the Celts and Romans. In 1494, Charles VIII of France passed through Savoy on his way to Italy and Naples, during the outbreak of the Italian war of 1521-1526, Emperor Charles V stationed imperial troops in Savoy. In 1536, Francis I of France invaded Savoy and Piedmont taking Turin by April of that year, Charles III, Duke of Savoy, fled to Vercelli. He served Philip II as Governor of the Netherlands from 1555 to 1559, in this capacity he led the Spanish invasion of northern France and won a victory at St. Quentin in 1557. He took advantage of various squabbles in Europe to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of Turin and he moved the capital of the duchy from Chambéry to Turin. The 17th century brought economic development to the Turin area. Charles Emmanuel II developed the port of Nice and built a road through the Alps towards France, and through skillful political manoeuvres territorial expansion continued. Savoy rule over Sicily lasted only seven years, the crown of Sicily, the prestige of being kings at last, and the wealth of Palermo helped strengthen the House of Savoy further. In 1720 they were forced to exchange Sicily for Sardinia as a result of the War of the Quadruple Alliance, on the mainland, the dynasty continued its expansionist policies as well. In 1798, Joubert occupied Turin and forced Charles Emmanuel IV to abdicate, eventually, in 1814 the kingdom was restored and enlarged with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa by the Congress of Vienna. In the meantime, nationalist figures such as Giuseppe Mazzini were influencing popular opinion, the Kingdom of Italy was the first Italian state to include the Italian Peninsula since the fall of the Roman Empire
20.
Adelaide of Austria
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Adelaide of Austria was the Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia, future King of Italy, from 1849 until 1855 when she died as a result of childbirth. She was the mother of Umberto I of Italy and she was born at the Royal Palace of Milan to Rainer Joseph of Austria and his wife Elisabeth of Savoy. Named Adelaide, or known as Adele in the family, she held the title of Archduchess of Austria and her father was the Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia and was a son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. Her mother was a member of the House of Savoy and a daughter of the Prince of Carignano and her younger brother Archduke Rainer Ferdinand later acted as Minister President of Austria. Both of her brothers contracted morganatic marriages, on 12 April 1842, at the Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi, she married Victor Emmanuel of Savoy. The marriage was used to cement relations between the House of Savoy and that of the House of Habsburg but was viewed by people of the time to increase Austrian power in Italy. Victor Emmanuel was her first cousin and heir apparent to the King of Sardinia and he was styled the Duke of Savoy prior to succession. Adelaide thus took on the style of Duchess of Savoy and she maintained her style of Imperial & Royal Highness till she became Queen. Her husbands mother Maria Theresa of Austria retained great influence over her son throughout his life and her mother-in-law was also her first cousin, both she and Adelaide being grandchildren of Emperor Leopold II. Adelaide and her husband of thirteen years had eight children, four of these went on to have further progeny. Her husband had various extramarital affairs throughout the marriage, Adelaide was a quiet and pious woman and had had a strict upbringing. She was a wife and frequently would give to charity. In March 1849 her father-in-law King Charles Albert abdicated after the events of the Revolutions of 1848 and her husband succeeded as Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia. During her tenure as queen consort she had three children all of which died in infancy. On 8 January 1855 she gave birth to a son who was styled the Count of Genevois, days later Queen Maria Theresa died on 12 January 1855. Adelaide went to the queens funeral on 16 January and returning to the palace caught a cold. She died four days later at the Royal Palace of Turin having had an attack of Gastroenteritis. Another story says that Adelaide died of her burns after stepping on a match set fire to her clothes
21.
Monarchy of Italy
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King of Italy was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a military leader, in the late 5th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, the last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, although Napoleon I used the title from 1805 to 1814, it was not until the Unification of Italy in the 1860s that a Kingdom of Italy was restored. From 1861 the House of Savoy held the title as monarchs of the peninsula until the last King of Italy, Umberto II. After the deposition of the last Western Emperor in 476, Heruli leader Odoacer was appointed Dux Italiae by the reigning Byzantine Emperor Zeno. Later, the Germanic foederati, the Scirians and the Heruli, as well as a segment of the Italic Roman army. In 493, the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great killed Odoacer, Ostrogothic rule ended when Italy was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in 552. In the 8th century, estrangement between the Italians and the Byzantines allowed the Lombards to capture the remaining Roman enclaves in northern Italy. However, in 774, they were defeated by the Franks under Charlemagne, after the death of Charles III the Fat in 887, Italy fell into instability and a number of kings attempted to establish themselves as independent Italian monarchs. During this period, known as the Feudal Anarchy, the title Rex Italicorum was introduced, after the breakup of the Frankish empire, Otto I added Italy to the Holy Roman Empire and continued the use of the title Rex Italicorum. The last to use this title was Henry II, subsequent emperors used the title king of Italy until Charles V. At first they were crowned in Pavia, later Milan, in 1805, Napoleon I was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at the Milan Cathedral. The next year, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his imperial title, from the deposition of Napoleon I until the Italian Unification, there was no Italian monarch claiming the overarching title. The Risorgimento successfully established a dynasty, the House of Savoy, over the peninsula, uniting the kingdoms of Sardinia. The monarchy was superseded by the Italian Republic, after a referendum was held on 2 June 1946 after the World War II. The Italian monarchy formally ended on 12 June of that year, Guy of Spoleto opponent of Berengar, ruled most of Italy but was deposed by Arnulf. Lambert of Spoleto subking of his father Guy before 894, reduced to Spoleto 894–895, Arnulf of Carinthia Ratold In 896, Arnulf and Ratold lost control of Italy, which was divided between Berengar and Lambert, Berengar I seized Lamberts portion upon the latters death in 898
22.
Princess Marie Clothilde of Savoy
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Maria Clotilde of Savoy was born in Turin to Vittorio Emanuele II, later King of Italy and his first wife Adelaide of Austria. She was the wife of Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, Maria Clotilde was the eldest of eight children born to Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia by his first wife and cousin Archduchess Adelaide of Austria. Her father would become the King of a united Italy as Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. Maria Clotildes paternal grandparents were Charles Albert of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Tuscany and her maternal grandparents were Archduke Rainer of Austria and Elisabeth of Savoy. Rainer was a son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. On 30 January 1859 she was married in Turin to Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, another factor in their unhappy marriage were the circumstances leading up to their espousal. Maria Clotilde had been only 15 when they were married, while he had been over 37 years old, in the events leading up to their marriage, she had been vehemently against it, and had unhappily agreed to it. The marriage had also been negotiated out of political reasons during the conference of Plombières. As Maria Clotilde was too young at the time for marriage, Napoléon Joseph had had to wait until the following year and her husband was unfaithful, and she was active within charities. Maria Clotilde was described as proud, bigoted and dutiful. During a discussion of the way of dressing, Maria Clotide pointed out to Empress Eugenie that she should not forget that she was born. When Eugenie complained of the fatigue of the French Court on one occasion, Maria Clotilde replied We do not mind, you see and she was also described however as pious and modest. For Frances part, Napoléon Joseph was ill-regarded and had known to carry on a number of affairs both before and during his marriage. Their official reception into Paris on 4 February was greeted very coldly by Parisians, not out of disrespect for a daughter of the King of Savoy, but instead out of dislike for her new husband. Indeed, all her life, public sympathy tended to lean in her favor, she was regarded as retiring, charitable, pious. They were forced to flee, however, and their family enjoyed an estate in the town of Prangins near Lake Geneva that they resided in. After Maria Clotildes father Victor Emmanuel died in 1878, she returned to Turin, during this period, their daughter mostly resided with her mother in the Castle of Moncalieri, but her two sons stayed mainly with their father. It was in Italy that their mother withdrew herself from society to dedicate herself to religion, after the revolution, she lived the rest of her life in Moncalieri, where she spent her days devoting herself to religion
23.
Amadeo I of Spain
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Amadeo I was the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy. He was the son of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and was known for most of his life as the Duke of Aosta. He was elected by the Cortes as Spains monarch in 1870, following the deposition of Isabella II, amadeos reign was fraught with growing republicanism, Carlist rebellions in the north, and the Cuban independence movement. He abdicated and returned to Italy in 1873, and the First Spanish Republic was declared as a result, Prince Amedeo of Savoy was born in Turin. He was the son of King Vittorio Emanuele II and of Archduchess Adelaide of Austria. He was styled the Duke of Aosta from birth, in 1867 his father yielded to the entreaties of parliamentary deputy Francisco Cassins, and on 30 May of that year, Amedeo was married to Donna Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo. The King initially opposed the match on the grounds that her family was of insufficient rank, despite her princely title, Donna Maria Vittoria was not of royal birth, belonging rather to the Piedmontese nobility. In March 1870, the Duchess appealed to the King to remonstrate with his son for marital infidelities that caused her hurt and embarrassment. But the King wrote in reply that, while understanding her feelings, he considered that she had no right to dictate her husbands behaviour and that her jealousy was unbecoming. The wedding day of Prince Amedeo and Donna Maria Vittoria was marred by the death of a stationmaster who was crushed under the wheels of the honeymoon train, after the Spanish revolution deposed Isabella II, the new Cortes decided to reinstate the monarchy under a new dynasty. The Duke of Aosta was elected King as Amadeus on 16 November 1870 and he swore to uphold the constitution in Madrid on 2 January 1871. The election of the new King coincided with the assassination of General Marqués de los Castillejos and he could count on the support of only the progressive party, whose leaders were trading off in the government thanks to parliamentary majority and electoral fraud. The progressives divided into monarchists and constitutionalists, which made the instability worse, there was a Carlist uprising in the Basque and Catalan regions, and after that, republican uprisings happened in cities across the country. The artillery corps of the went on strike, and the government instructed the King to discipline them. With the possibility of reigning without popular support, Amadeus issued an order against the artillery corps, at ten oclock that same night, Spain was proclaimed a republic, at which time Amadeo made an appearance before the Cortes, proclaiming the Spanish people ungovernable. Completely disgusted, the ex-monarch left Spain and returned to Italy and they had one child, Umberto, who died of the flu during the First World War. Amadeo remained in Turin, Italy until his death on 18 January 1890 and his friend Puccini composed the famous elegy for string quartet Crisantemi in his memory. Lake Amadeus in central Australia is named after him, as is the Philippine municipality of Amadeo, by Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta Marshal of Italy married to Princess Hélène of Orléans and had issue
24.
Prince Oddone, Duke of Montferrat
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Oddone of Savoy was an Italian humanist and philanthropist. He was the child and third eldest son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. He was a Prince of Savoy, from birth, Prince Oddone was marginalized due to the precarious state of his health. Other pieces Oddone collected and donated are present at Genoas Gallery of Modern Art which is named for the prince. Oddone lived the last four years of his life in Genoa, the prince chose Genoa for his residence for its mild climate that benefited his ailing physical condition. As a scholar, the prince had come in contact with leading figures including the sculptor Santo Varni, who served as his adviser and friend, Tammar Luxoro. Oddone died at age 19 at the Royal Palace of Genoa shortly before dawn on 22 January 1866,11 July 1846 –22 January 1866 His Royal Highness the Duke of Montferrat Odone of Savoy 1846-1866. Collections of a prince for Genoa, Mazzotta, Milan,1996
25.
Maria Pia of Savoy
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Dona Maria Pia of Savoy was a Portuguese Queen consort, spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon. She was the mistress of the Order of Saint Isabel. Maria Pia was the daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy and her sister Maria Clotilde was the princesse Napoléon as wife of Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte and her brothers were King Umberto I of Italy and King Amadeo of Spain. As Queen, Maria Pia was considered by some as extravagant and she was known by the Portuguese people as an angel of charity and mother of the poor for her compassion and work on social causes. At a masquerade ball in 1865, she changed her costume three times, when the Portuguese parliament discussed her expenses, she replied saying if you want a Queen, you have to pay for her. As Queen, she was responsible for the interiors of the Ajuda Royal Palace in Lisbon. Maria Pia did not involve herself in politics, but at a conflict with João Carlos Saldanha de Oliveira Daun, 1st Duke of Saldanha in 1870, she stated, If I were the king, King Luís died on 19 October 1889 and Maria Pia became Queen Dowager. She remained very active and continued with her projects while holding a dominating position at court. She served as regent during the absence of the king and queen abroad, during her last years in Portugal, she withdrew from the public eye. She was deeply saddened after the coup that deposed her remaining grandson. Maria Pia left Portugal with the rest of the family on board the royal yacht into exile in 1910. She returned to her native Italy, where she died on 5 July 1911 and her remains are interred in the royal mausoleum in the Basilica of Superga, near Turin, with most members of the House of Savoy since the 18th century
26.
Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta
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Prince Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta was an Italian general and member of the House of Savoy. He was Crown Prince of Spain from 1870 to 1873 and a cousin of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Filiberto was also commander of the undefeated Italian Third Army during World War I, which earned him the title of the Undefeated Duke. After the war he became a Marshal of Italy and he was born in Genoa the eldest son of Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta and his first wife Donna Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo della Cisterna. In 1870 his father was elected king of Spain and Emanuele Filiberto became the Prince of Asturias and his time as heir apparent would be short lived as his father abdicated and returned to Italy in 1873 after three years on the throne. In 1890 he succeeded to the title of Duke of Aosta and he began his career in the Italian Army at Naples, in 1905, as commander. During the First World War the Duke of Aosta commanded the Italian Third Army, following the war he was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy by Benito Mussolini in 1926. Prince Emanuele Filiberto died in 1931 at Turin, accordingly to his will, he was buried in the cemetery of Redipuglia. He was married to Princess Hélène of Orléans and she was a daughter of Prince Philippe of Orléans and the Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain. They had two sons, Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, married Princess Anne of Orléans, aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta who briefly reigned as King Tomislav II of Croatia. Married Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, united Kingdom, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter -15 July 1902 Encyclopædia Britannica Genealogy of the Royal House of Italy Biography of the Duke of Aosta
27.
Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin
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Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy-Aosta, Infante of Spain, Count of Turin was a grandchild of King Victor Emmanuel II and a member of the House of Savoy. He was a cousin of Victor Emmanuel III, Vittorio Emanuele was born in Turin just before his father Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta was about to leave for Spain where he had been elected king. His mother was Maria Victoria al Pozzo della Cisterna, with his fathers accession to the Spanish throne he gained the additional title Infante of Spain. The dispute was widely echoed in Italy and Europe and it was agreed on the use of the sword as weapon of choice, as the Italians thought duels with pistols, favored by the French, were worthy of betrayed husbands, not of princes of royal blood. The duel with swords, directed by the Count Leontieff and the Count Avogadro, lasting 26 minutes, took place at 5,00 am on 15 August 1897 in the Bois de Marechaux at Vaucresson, Vittorio Emanuele defeated Henri after five reprises. The public response for Vittorio Emanuele in Italy was triumphant, in Turin King Umberto I welcomed him saying, I want to be the first to congratulate you with all my heart on the example you set and the success you scored. In April 1898 Vittorio Emanuele set out on a tour of world and his first stop was New York City in the United States of America. After spending a day at the Newport Country Club he presented the club with a cup which is presented to the winner of the annual Count of Turin golf tournament. After his stay in America he visited China and Japan on the leg of his world tour. Vittorio Emanuele pursued a career in the Royal Italian Army and became the Commander in Chief of the Italian Cavalry and he held this position during the First World War. Following the armistice he was awarded the Croix de guerre by France, Vittorio Emanuele died in Brussels four months after the proclamation of the Italian Republic. He was the last surviving son of Amadeo I
28.
Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi
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Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi was an Italian mountaineer and explorer, member of the royal House of Savoy and cousin of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III. He is known for his Arctic explorations and for his expeditions, particularly to Mount Saint Elias. He also served as an Italian admiral during World War I and he was born in Madrid, Spain as the third oldest son of Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta and his first wife Donna Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo della Cisterna. Prince Luigi Amedeo was a grandson of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and he was born during his fathers brief reign as King Amadeo of Spain. His siblings are Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, shortly after his birth his father, who had reigned in Spain since 1870, abdicated and returned to Italy in 1873. Prince Luigi Amedeo was a member of the House of Savoy and his uncle became King Umberto I of Italy in 1878, and his cousin became King Vittorio Emanuele III in 1900. The title Duke of the Abruzzi was created by King Umberto I in 1890 for Luigi Amedeo and his ducal title referred to the central Italian region of Abruzzo. From 1893 to 1896, Luigi Amedeo traveled around the world, including Eritrea, then an Italian possession and he had begun to train as a mountaineer in 1892 on Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa, in 1897 he made the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias. There the expedition searched for a mirage, known as the Silent City of Alaska, another witness wrote in The New York Times, We could plainly see houses, well-defined streets, and trees. Here and there rose tall spires over huge buildings which appeared to be ancient mosques or cathedrals, in 1899, Prince Luigi Amedeo organized an expedition towards the North Pole. In spring he arrived in the Norwegian capital Christiania with 10 companions, the duke acquired the Jason, a steam whaler of 570 tons. Renamed Stella Polare the ship took the expedition through the frozen sea, on 12 June they headed for Archangel. On 30 June the Stella Polare dropped anchor in the docks of Arkhangel’sk, the same day, Prince Luigi Amedeo was invited to meet the local authorities and the present foreign diplomats. On 7 July, a newspaper wrote, The city theatre arranged an extraordinary spectacle in the presence of the Duke of the Abruzzi. The drama The princess of Baghdad, consisting of three acts, was performed, before the curtain was raised the orchestra had played the Italian royal anthem… Later the duke himself wrote about his stay in Arkhangel’sk, Our departure was set for July 12. Early in the morning the church was open to us and we, in the afternoon all the dogs were brought back on board to their kennels. In the evening the Stella Polare put out and was escorted by two steamers down the Dvina, I still remained on shore, as well as Doctor Cavalli, in order to spend the evening together with our Italian friends. During the whole journey we saw flags being hoisted to welcome us… Twenty men took part in the expedition, among them Captain Umberto Cagni, Lieutenant F. Querini and Doctor A. Cavalli Molinelli
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Prince Umberto, Count of Salemi
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Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta was a member of the Aosta branch of the House of Savoy and was styled the Count of Salemi. His father, a king of Spain, died when he was just a year old. He had three older half-brothers, the Duke of Aosta, the Count of Turin and the Duke of the Abruzzi, in 1908 Umberto began studies at the Naval Academy in Livorno. In May 1911, while still at the academy, he was accused of theft and his cousin King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy wanted him arrested, but his mother took him to Turin and challenged the king to carry out the arrest. During the First World War Umberto volunteered to serve in the Royal Italian Army and he joined the Army as a Lieutenant and served in a Catania Cavalry regiment. During the war he was awarded a medal for bravery displayed while acting as a bombing officer. Umberto died a month before the end of the war, the official court bulletin recorded that he was killed in action, but in fact he died of Spanish flu. He was buried in the cemetery of Crespano del Grappa, in 1926 his remains were moved to the Sacrario Militare del Monte Grappa
30.
Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
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Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta was the third Duke of Aosta and a first cousin, once removed of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. During World War II, he was the Italian Viceroy of Italian East Africa, Amedeo was born in Turin, Piedmont, to Prince Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta and Princess Hélène. His great-grandfather was King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, making him a member of the House of Savoy and he was known from birth by the courtesy title of Duke of Apulia. Amedeo was a tall man. According to Amedeo Guillet, he was referred to by a journalist as your highness. The Duke replied in jest,198 centimetres, Amedeo was educated at St Andrews School in England. He cultivated British mannerisms, spoke Oxford English, and even enjoyed the pastimes of fox hunting, Amedeo entered the Italian Royal Army and fought with distinction in the artillery during World War I. He left the army in 1921 and traveled widely in Africa, Amedeo subsequently rejoined the Italian armed forces and became a pilot. In 1932, he joined the Italian Royal Air Force, Amedeo served under Marshall Rodolfo Graziani and Libyan Governor Pietro Badoglio during later stages of the pacification of Libya. Amedeo and his fellow airmen harried the Senussi forces of Omar Mukhtar from the sky, on 4 July 1931, upon the death of his father, Amedeo became the Duke of Aosta. In 1937, after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and it was generally conceded that he was a vast improvement over Graziani. As Viceroy and Governor-General, the Duke of Aosta was also the Commander-in-Chief of all Italian military forces in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland. When Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France on 10 June 1940 and he oversaw the initial Italian advances into the Sudan and Kenya and, in August, he oversaw the Italian invasion of British Somaliland. In January 1941, the British launched a counter-invasion and the Italians went on the defensive in East Africa, but, after fierce resistance, the Battle of Keren ended in Italian defeat, the rest of Eritrea, including the port of Massawa, fell quickly. On 31 January, the Duke of Aosta reported that the Italian military forces in East Africa were down to 67 operational aircraft with limited fuel stocks. With supplies running low and with no chance of re-supply, the Duke of Aosta opted to concentrate the remaining Italian forces into several strongholds, Gondar, Amba Alagi, Dessie and he himself commanded the 7,000 Italians at the mountain fortress of Amba Alagi. Due to the gallant resistance of the Italian garrison, the British allowed them to surrender with honours of war, shortly after his surrender, the Duke of Aosta was interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Nairobi, Kenya. He was placed in command of his prisoners, but never saw the end of World War II
31.
Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta
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Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta was a prince of Italys reigning House of Savoy and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy. The second son of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta he was granted the title Duke of Spoleto on 22 September 1904. He inherited the title Duke of Aosta on 3 March 1942 following the death of his brother Prince Amedeo, from 18 May 1941 to 31 July 1943 he was designated king of the Independent State of Croatia though he never ruled there. He formally accepted the position and took the name Tomislav II, later however he refused to assume the kingship in protest at the Italian annexation of the Dalmatia region, and is therefore referred to in some sources as king designate. Regardless, many refer to him as Tomislav II King of Croatia. After the dismissal of Mussolini on 25 July 1943, the prince abdicated on 31 July as king on the orders of Victor Emmanuel III. Prince Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino of Savoy-Aosta was born in Turin the second son of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta, as his patrilinal great-grandfather was King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, he is a member of the House of Savoy. On 22 September 1904, he was given the title Duke of Spoleto for life, on 1 April 1921, Prince Aimone became a member of the Italian Senate. Princes of the House of Savoy became members of the Senate at age 21, in 1929, twenty years after his uncle Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi had attempted to climb K2 in Karakoram, Prince Aimone led an expedition to Karakorum. A member of the expedition was Ardito Desio, due to the failure to climb K2 twenty years earlier, Prince Aimones expedition concentrated solely on scientific work. He was afterwards awarded the 1932 Royal Geographical Societys Patrons Gold Medal for his work, Aimone was then officially named King by his cousin Victor Emmanuel III. On assuming the Crown of Zvonimir he took the regnal name Tomislav II in memory of Tomislav, the Italian Foreign Minister and Benito Mussolinis son in law Count Cianos informants said of Aimone The Duke doesnt give a damn about Croatia and wants only money, money and more money. Aimone felt that Dalmatia was a land that could never be Italianized and was an obstacle to Italian-Croatian reconciliation, other reasons why he never went to Croatia were because of an ongoing insurgency, and that his safety could not be guaranteed. In spite of this he did have some powers such as the ability to grant noble titles. Count Gyula István Cseszneky de Milvány et Csesznek was the counselor to the King for Croatian affairs, Prince Aimone also established a Croatian office in Rome where he received confidential reports, official documents, and military, political and economic information from Croatia. After the dismissal of Mussolini, Aimone abdicated as king of Croatia on 31 July 1943 on the orders of Victor Emmanuel III. Prince Aimone succeeded to the title Duke of Aosta on 3 March 1942, following the death of his elder brother Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, in a British Prisoner of War camp in Tanganyika. In the Autumn of 1942, Aimone contacted Allied forces via his courier, secret talks would continue into 1943, motivated in part by the aim of preserving the royal dynasty of Savoy
32.
Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este
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Margherita, Dowager Archduchess of Austria-Este is the first-born child of the late Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta and Princess Anne dOrléans. Margheritas family announced her engagement to Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este on 20 October 1953 and they married on 29 December 1953 in Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain, France and 29 December 1953, in Brou, France. He was the son of former Emperor Charles I of Austria. Robert was 38, and Margherita was 23, as the royal couple arrived for the first ceremony, hundreds of Austrians and Italians stood outside the town hall where the marriage was held. The wedding was attended by former King Umberto II of Italy and Roberts older brother Otto of Habsburg. At six feet tall, Margherita was, according to some witnesses and she wore an ivory gown made out of satin with a long train hung from a diamond tiara. The couple took up residence in Paris, where Robert was a bank clerk and they had five children, Archduchess Maria Beatrice Anna Felicitas Zita Charlotte Adelheid Christina Elisabeth Gennara. Married Count Riprand of Arco-Zinneberg, a great-grandson of the last Bavarian king, Ludwig III, married 22 September 1984 at Brussels, Princess Astrid of Belgium only daughter of King Albert II of the Belgians
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Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (b. 1943)
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Prince Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta is a claimant to the headship of the House of Savoy, the family which ruled Italy from 1861 to 1946. Until 7 July 2006 Amedeo was styled Duke of Aosta, on that date he declared himself Duke of Savoy, in fact, Prince Amedeo is still referred to as Duke of Aosta. Amedeo was born at Villa della Cisterna in Florence, the child of Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, formerly designated king of Croatia as Tomislav II. Only three weeks before Amedeos birth, Italy had surrendered to the Allies and his father, then king-designate of Croatia, abdicated. Italys former ally, Germany, thereupon launched an operation to occupy Italy. The infant Amedeo was arrested by the Nazis along with his mother, aunt, and two cousins, and sent to an internment camp in Austria. When Amedeo was only four years old, his father died in exile in Buenos Aires, and he succeeded as Duke of Aosta, Prince della Cisterna e Belriguardo, Marchese di Voghera, Amedeo studied at the Collegio Navale Morosini in Venice and in England. He then attended the Naval Academy in Livorno from which he graduated as an officer in the Italian Navy and he is an Honorary Companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He was assigned insignia number 21015 and he is eligible for hereditary descent in MOLLUS by right of his descent from his great grandfather, Prince Philippe, Count of Paris. On 22 July 1964 Amedeo married Princess Claude of Orléans in Sintra and she was the ninth child and fifth daughter of Henri, comte de Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne, and of Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza, Princess of Brazil. The religious marriage took place on 27 September 2008 at Patmos, anna Lombardo di San Chirico Nob. Carlo Lombardo di San Chirico Nob, elena Lombardo di San Chirico Amedeo and Claude officially separated from each other 20 July 1976. They received a civil divorce 26 April 1982, and an annulment from the Roman Rota 8 January 1987. On 30 March 1987 Amedeo married Silvia Paternò di Spedalotto in the chapel of Villa Spedalotto in Bagheria and she is the daughter of Vincenzo Paternò di Spedalotto, Marchese di Reggiovanni, and of Rosanna Bellardo Ferrari. Amedeo and Silvia have no children, Amedeo has two illegitimate children, a son by Nerina Corsini dei Principi di Sismano, Piero Incisa della Rochetta who was recognized as his own by his mothers husband, Enrico Incisa della Rochetta. A daughter by Kyara van Ellinkhuizen, Ginevra Maria Gabriella van Ellinkhuizen, on 4 August 2006, he legally recognized his daughter, but did not provide for her welfare until ordered to do so by a judge. The attendant scandal diminished the stature of the House of Savoy, Amedeo and his wife Silvia live in the village of San Rocco near the town of Castiglion Fibocchi in Tuscany. He is involved in agricultural activities including the production of wine marketed under the name Vini Savoia Aosta
34.
Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia
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Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, Duke of Apulia is the second child and first son of Prince Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta, one of the two claimants to the former throne of Italy. In 2006, his father declared himself Duke of Savoy and head of the House of Savoy, however, because the headship of the royal house is disputed between his father and Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, he is still referred to as Duke of Apulia. Prince Aimone was born in Florence the second child and only son of Prince Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta and his first wife, Aimone attended the Francesco Morosini Naval Military School and Bocconi University. After he completed his education, Aimone worked at JPMorgan Chase in the United Kingdom and he also served a period in the Italian Navys special forces. Since 2000, Aimone has worked in Russia as president of the Italian company Pirelli, Aimones engagement to Princess Olga of Greece, daughter of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, was announced in May 2005. Olga and Aimone are second cousins, both being great-grandchildren of the French pretender Jean dOrléans, duc de Guise and they are also second cousins-once-removed, as George I of Greece is Olgas patrilineal great-grandfather and Aimones great-great-grandfather. Several falsely reported wedding dates marked what was to become a three-year engagement, the couple finally wed on 16 September 2008 at the Italian embassy in Moscow, the city in which Aimone is employed. Their religious marriage took place on 27 September 2008 at Patmos, Prince Aimone and Princess Olga have three children, two sons and one daughter, Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, born on 7 March 2009 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. On 9 March 2009, Prince Umberto was granted the title Prince of Piedmont by his paternal grandfather, Prince Amedeo Michele of Savoy-Aosta, born on 24 May 2011 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. A day after his birth Amedeo was granted the title Duke of the Abruzzi by his paternal grandfather, Princess Isabella Vita Marina of Savoy-Aosta, named in honor of Princess Isabelle of Orléans, born on 14 December 2012 in Paris, France. Since then Aimone has used the title Duke of Aosta
35.
Princess Yolanda of Savoy
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Princess Yolanda of Savoy was the eldest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and his wife Princess Elena of Montenegro, and the sister of Umberto II, the last king of Italy. She was born Principessa Iolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria di Savoia in Rome, as a young woman she was a great sportswoman, particularly interested in swimming and riding. After her marriage Yolanda lived in the town of Pinerolo, southwest of Turin, in 1946, Yolanda and her family went into voluntary exile with her father in Alexandria, Egypt. After King Victor Emmanuels death, Yolanda and her returned to Italy. Yolanda died in a hospital in Rome and is buried in Turin, on 9 April 1923 at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, she married Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count of Bergolo. Giorgio Calvi di Bergolo, died of pneumonia at six days old, Vittoria Calvi di Bergolo, married Guglielmo. Guia-Anna Calvi di Bergolo, married in 1951 to Carlo Guarienti, had issue, Maria Faldivia Guarienti, Delfinella Guarienti, married Ranieri Randaccio and had issue. Pier Francesco Calvi, Count of Bergolo, married in 1958 to Marisa Allasio, had issue, Carlo Giorgio Calvi, Count of Bergolo, Anda Calvi di Bergolo. Iolanda and Calvi Meet Italian Court, New York Times, April 9,1923, Iolanda Wedded to Her War Hero While Crowd Cheers, New York Times, April 10,1923, p.1 and 3. Royal Wedding in Rome, The Times, April 10,1923, Princess Yolandas Wedding, The Times, April 12,1923, p.16. Princes Jolanda, New York Times, October 18,1986, p.9
36.
Princess Mafalda of Savoy
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Princess Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana of Savoy was the second daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and his wife Elena of Montenegro. The future King Umberto II of Italy was her younger brother, in childhood she was close to her mother, from whom she inherited a love for music and the arts. During World War I, she accompanied her mother on her visits to Italian military hospitals, on 23 September 1925, at Racconigi Castle, Mafalda married Prince Philipp of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and grandson of German Emperor Frederick III. Prince Philipp and his brother Christoph, were members of the National Socialist party, Prince Philipps marriage to Princess Mafalda put him in position to act as intermediary between the National Socialist government in Germany and the Fascist government in Italy. On the evening of the 26th March 1935 she was present at an informal diplomatic dinner given by Adolf Hitler in the Reich Presidents House in Berlin and she sat next to Anthony Eden. However, during World War II, Adolf Hitler believed Princess Mafalda was working against the war effort, so did Hitlers Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, who called her the worst bitch in the entire Italian royal house. Early in September 1943, Princess Mafalda travelled to Bulgaria to attend the funeral of her brother-in-law, King Boris III. While there, she was informed of Italys surrender to the Allied Powers, that her husband was being held under house arrest in Bavaria, on her arrival at the German embassy, Mafalda was arrested, ostensibly for subversive activities. Princess Mafalda was transported to Munich for questioning, then to Berlin, on 24 August 1944, the Allies bombed an ammunition factory inside Buchenwald. The conditions of the camp caused her arm to become infected. She died during the night of 26–27 August 1944, her body was reburied after the war at Kronberg Castle in Hesse. After the air raid of 24 August 1944, the princess was wounded in the arm and Dr. Schiedlausky, camp medical office, performed the arm amputation, but his patient did not survive due to loss of blood. Her naked body was dumped into the crematorium, where Father Joseph Thyl, dug it out of the heap, covered her up. Thyl cut off a lock of the hair, which was smuggled out of camp to be kept in Jena. Her death was not confirmed until after Germanys surrender to the Allies in 1945, in 1997, the Italian government honored Princess Mafalda with her image on a postal stamp. Princess Mafalda married Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse on 23 September 1925 at Racconigi Castle near Turin and they had the following children, Prince Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse married Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Had issue. Prince Heinrich Wilhelm Konstantin Viktor Franz, Unmarried-no issue, Prince Otto Adolf Married 1st on 5 April 1965 in Munich and 6 April 1965 in Trotsberg Angela Mathilde Agathe von Doering. Married 2nd on 28 December 1988 to Elisabeth Marga Dorothea Bönker, Princess Elisabeth Margarethe Elena Johanna Maria Jolanda Polyxene, married 26 Feb and 28 Feb 1962 in Frankfurt am Main to Count Friedrich Karl von Oppersdorf
37.
Umberto II of Italy
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Umberto II or Humbert II, was the last King of Italy, reigning for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. However, he was de facto head of state from 1944 to 1946 and he was nicknamed the May King. Umberto was the son of the five children of King Victor Emmanuel III. In an effort to repair the image after the fall of Benito Mussolinis regime. As a referendum was in preparation on the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, however, the referendum passed, Italy was declared a republic, and Umberto lived out the rest of his life in exile in Cascais, Portugal. Umberto was born at the Castle of Racconigi in Piedmont and he was the third child, and the only son, of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena of Montenegro. As such, he became heir apparent upon his birth as the Italian throne was limited to male-line descendants only and he was the first cousin of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. He was accorded with the title of Prince of Piedmont, which was formalised by Royal Decree on 29 September, Umberto was married in Rome on 8 January 1930 to Marie José of Belgium, daughter of King Albert I of Belgium. They had four children, Maria Pia Vittorio Emanuele Maria Gabriella Maria Beatrice As Prince of Piedmont, Umberto visited South America, with his preceptor, Bonaldi, he went to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. This trip was part of the plan of Fascism to link the Italian people living outside of Italy with their mother country. The Prince of Piedmont was educated for a career and in time became the commander in chief of the Northern Armies. However, his role was merely formal, the de facto belonging to Benito Mussolini. By mutual agreement, Umberto and Mussolini always kept a distance, an attempted assassination of the prince took place in Brussels on 24 October 1929, the day of the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Marie José. The Prince was about to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Belgian Unknown Soldier at the foot of the Colonne du Congrès, with a cry of Down with Mussolini. The culprit, Fernando de Rosa, fired a shot that missed the Prince of Piedmont. De Rosa was arrested and under interrogation claimed to be a member of the Second International and his trial became a major political event, and although he was found guilty of attempted murder, he was given a light sentence of five years in prison. This sentence caused an uproar in Italy and a brief rift in Belgian-Italian relations. Following the Savoyards tradition, he kept apart from politics until he was finally named Lieutenant General of the Realm
38.
Giovanna of Italy
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Giovanna of Italy was the Tsaritsa of Bulgaria. Giovanna was born in Rome, the daughter and fourth child of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena. Upon her Roman Catholic christening, she was given the names Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria and her older brother was the future Italian king Umberto II of Italy. Giovanna married Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria in the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, Assisi in October 1930, in a Roman Catholic ceremony, bulgarians deemed her a good match, partly because her mother, Elena of Montenegro, was of Slavic ethnicity. At a second ceremony in Sofia, Giovanna was married in an Eastern Orthodox Church ceremony, Giovanna adopted the Bulgarian version of her name, Ioanna. Giovanna knew the Popes Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria, Archbishop Angelo Roncalli and she and Boris had two children, Marie Louise of Bulgaria, born in January 1933, and then the future Simeon II of Bulgaria in 1937. In the years prior to World War II, Tsaritsa Ioanna became heavily involved in charities, during the war she counterbalanced her husband consigning Bulgaria to the Axis by obtaining transit visas to enable a number of Jews to escape to Argentina. Tsar Boris also proved less malleable than Hitler had hoped, and following a meeting in Berlin in August 1943, stress and a heart condition were the official reasons for his death. Ioannas son, Simeon, became the new tsar and a regency was established, led by his uncle Prince Kyril, in the dying days of the Second World War, Bulgaria was invaded by the Soviet Union. Prince Kyril was tried by a Peoples Court and subsequently executed, Giovanna and her son Simeon remained under house arrest at Vrana Palace, near Sofia, until 1946, when the new Communist government gave them 48 hours to leave the country. After initially fleeing to Alexandria in the Kingdom of Egypt, to join her father, King Victor Emmanuel III, during this last visit to Bulgaria she received a cordial welcome, and thousands of people went on the streets to greet her. She is buried in the Communal Cemetery of Assisi, Italy, where she had married King Boris III in 1930
39.
Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy
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Princess Maria of Savoy was the youngest daughter of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Elena of Montenegro. She was a sister of Umberto II of Italy and of Queen Giovanna of Bulgaria. She was born in Rome where, on 23 January 1939, Maria married Prince Luigi Carlo of Bourbon-Parma, a son of Robert I, Duke of Parma. Her husband was a brother of Zita, Empress of Austria, the couple moved to Cannes, where all four of their children were born. Maria was interned with her husband and two children by the Nazis during World War II. After the war lived in Italy for a while, later returning to France where they took up permanent residence in Mandelieu. They had four children, Prince Guy Sixte Louis Robert Victor of Bourbon-Parma married Brigitte Peu-Duvallon on 11 November 1964, divorced 17 September 1981, Prince Rémy François of Bourbon-Parma married firstly Laurence Dufresne dArganchy 10 February 1973, divorced 1983, with issue. He wed secondly Elisabeth Tardif 5 July 2003, princess Chantal Marie of Bourbon-Parma married firstly Panayotis Skinas on 1 July 1977, divorced 1987, with issue. She wed secondly Francois-Henri Georges 24 September 1988 Prince Jean Bernard Rémy of Bourbon-Parma married Virginia Roatta 26 March 1988, with issue
40.
Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma
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Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma is the eldest daughter of Umberto II of Italy and Marie-José of Belgium. She is the sister of Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples. She is the cousin of former King Albert II of Belgium, Maria Pia Elena Elisabetta Margherita Milena Mafalda Ludovica Tecla Gennara di Savoia was the first-born child of the Prince and Princess of Piedmont, born in Naples, Italy in 1934. Her parents, married since 1930, were together, as her mother confessed in an interview many years later. Exiled, the family gathered briefly in Portugal, and she, being devout Catholics, her parents never divorced. Not long after their wedding, Maria Pia gave birth to the set of fraternal twin sons. He was remarried to Eleonora Rajneri on 18 September 2004, Princess Helene Olga Lydia Tamara Maria of Yugoslavia, married Thierry Alexandre GaubertMilena Gaubert Nastasia Gaubert Leopold Gaubert The couple were divorced in 1967. Through him she was a sister-in-law of Queen Anne of Romania, Maria Pias ex-husband, Prince Alexander was also remarried, to Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein, a cousin of that principalitys monarch, and they had one son, Prince Dušan Paul. La mia vita, i miei ricordi
41.
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
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Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples is the only son of Umberto II, the last King of Italy, and his wife, Marie-José of Belgium. Vittorio Emanuele also uses the title Duke of Savoy and claims the headship of the House of Savoy and these claims are disputed by supporters of his third cousin, Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta. He has lived for most of his life in exile – following the referendum of 1946 which affirmed the abolition of the monarchy. On several occasions he has been the centre of controversy in Italy and abroad due to a series of incidents and he was revealed to be a member of Propaganda Due, the state within a state responsible for high-level corruption and political manipulation. In France he was tried on a charge, of which he was cleared of unlawful killing. A trial on these began in Potenza, Italy on 21 December 2009. Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia was acquitted of all charges in 2007 and 2010, Vittorio Emanuele was born 12 February 1937 in Naples to Umberto, Prince of Piedmont, who would later become the last King of Italy as Umberto II, and Princess Marie-José of Belgium. Following the separation of the exiled ex-King and ex-Queen, Prince Vittorio Emanuele lived with his mother in an estate in Merlinge, Vittorio Emanuele and his family currently reside in Geneva. Vittorio Emanuele has worked as a banker and an aircraft salesman, Vittorio Emanuele has one son, Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice, born on 22 June 1972, who has two daughters. When King Umberto II, left Italy, he purported to take the hereditary Grand Masterships of the orders of his royal house with him. These orders were the Ordine supremo della Santissima Annunziata and the Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro, Umberto II claimed to hold these until his death in 1983. Amedeo has received the support of the President of the Council of the Senators of the Kingdom Aldo Alessandro Mol, Vittorio Emanuele and his son have applied for judicial intervention to forbid Amedeo from using the title Duke of Savoy. An initial hearing was scheduled in the court of Arezzo, with a ruling expected by 6 June 2006, in line with certain other countries that were formerly monarchies, Italian law restricted the male line of the House of Savoy from entering Italy. This was enacted via a special constitutional temporary disposition, in force from 1948, Vittorio Emanuele lobbied the Parliament of Italy over the years in which the law prohibiting his return was in force, to be allowed to return to his homeland after 56 years in exile. In 1999, he filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights, in September 2001, the court decided to hold a hearing on the case at a date later to be fixed. In order to achieve a return to his homeland, he renounced any claim to the defunct throne and he publicly assured the Italian government that the nation and the crown properties, confiscated by the State in 1946, are no longer ours, referring to the House of Savoy. For that matter we have no claim on the Crown jewels and we have nothing in Italy and we are not asking for anything. Vittorio Emanuele also dropped his case at the European Court of Human Rights, in February 2002, Vittorio Emanuele and his son Emanuele Filiberto wrote a signed letter, published through a law firm, in which they formally expressed their loyalty to the Constitution of Italy
42.
Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy
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Maria Gabriella di Savoia was the third child of the Prince and Princess of Piedmont, born in Naples, Italy in 1940. Her older siblings were Princess Maria Pia and Prince Vittorio Emanuele, while the younger was Princess Maria Beatrice. Her parents, married since 1930, were together, as her mother confessed in an interview many years later. Being Catholics, her parents never divorced, educated in Switzerland, Maria Gabriella also took courses in a school associated with the Louvre in Paris. After her fathers death, and with her brothers approval, she launched the King Umberto II Foundation in Lausanne, dedicated to preserving the history and she participated in numerous cultural presentations and organized an exhibit in Albertville during the 1992 Olympics. At the beginning of the 21st century she co-authored a number of books, in the 1950s, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, then divorced from his second wife, indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion, in an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess, the Vatican newspaper, LOsservatore Romano, wrote that the match constituted a grave danger. She married Robert Zellinger de Balkany on 12 February 1969 in Sainte-Mesme, the religious wedding was celebrated later on 21 June 1969 at Eze-sur-Mer. The couple separated in 1976 and divorced in November 1990 and they had one child, Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany, married Olivier Janssens on 31 October 2002 and has three children, Gabriella Luise Maria Janssens, Tommaso Janssens. Diario di una monarchia, co-written with Romano Brancalini, gioielli di Casa Savoia, co-written with Stefano Papi. Vita di corte in casa Savoia, co-written with Stefano Papi, ISBN 978-8837024130 Jewellery of the House of Savoy, co-written with Stefano Papi
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Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy
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Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy is the youngest daughter of Italys last King, Umberto II, and his wife, Queen Marie José. When she was three years old, her father ruled Italy as Umberto II for slightly over a month, the family was then exiled and briefly gathered in Portugal, where her parents decided to separate. She and her siblings went with their mother to Switzerland while their father remained in Portugal, princess Maria Beatrice attempted to marry Italian actor Maurizio Arena in 1967 but was prevented by her family, who filed a lawsuit claiming that she was mentally unfit to marry. The lawsuit was dropped in early 1968 when the relationship ended, titti married Luis Rafael Reyna-Corvalán y Dillon, son of Cesar Augusto Reyna-Corvalán and Amalia Maria Dillon Calvo, on 1 April 1970 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. They were also married in a ceremony on January 1971 in Córdoba. Azaea Beatrice Corvalán-Reyna y de Saboya, married Arturo Pando y Mundet in 1996 in Mexico, now divorced and has one daughter, Marie José Pando y Corvalán-Reyna. For some time, her mother lived with her and her children in Mexico and her eldest son died, aged 23, on 29 April 1994 in Boston, Massachusetts, falling from the terrace of the building where he lived. As for her husband, he was murdered on 17 February 1999 in Cuernavaca, Mexico
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Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice
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Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice, is an Italian television personality, a member of the House of Savoy and the son and heir of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples. He is the only grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy. As one of the two heirs of the headship of the House of Savoy, Emanuele Filiberto styles himself as Prince of Piedmont. However, due to the dispute, he does not hold the title of Prince of Piedmont. Since returning to Italy he has many appearances on national television, including his participation as a contestant in Ballando con le stelle. He is married to French actress Clotilde Courau, Emanuele Filiberto was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the only child of Vittorio Emanuele, a disputed head of the House of Savoy, and his wife, Marina Ricolfi Doria, a Swiss former water ski champion. On the three-day trip, he accompanied his parents on a visit to the Vatican for a 20-minute audience with Pope John Paul II and he also appeared in a TV commercial for a brand of olives, in which he said they made you feel like a king. On 10 July 2003, the engagement of Emanuele Filiberto to Clotilde Courau, the couple married on 25 September of that year at the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome, the bride was pregnant by about six months. There were some 1200 guests at the wedding, among them were Pierre Cardin and Valentino Garavani and she had earlier publicly confronted him on camera with a copy of a book on the murder by Hamers sister, whose preface she had written. Emanuele Filiberto and his father applied for judicial intervention to forbid Amedeo from using the title Duke of Savoy. In February 2010, the court of Arezzo ruled that the Duke of Aosta and his son must pay damages totalling 50,000 euros to their cousins, the Duke of Aosta appealed the ruling and the dynastic dispute is still unresolved. Alexander Nevsky Abanyiginya Dynasty, Knight Grand Collar of the Royal Order of the Drum Official website of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy
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Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
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Horn of Africa
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The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in Northeast Africa. It juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, the area is the easternmost projection of the African continent. The Horn of Africa denotes the region containing the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and it covers approximately 2,000,000 km2 and is inhabited by roughly 115 million people. Regional studies on the Horn of Africa are carried out, among others, shell middens 125,000 years old have been found in Eritrea, indicating the diet of early humans included seafood obtained by beachcombing. According to both genetic and fossil evidence, archaic Homo sapiens evolved to modern humans solely in Africa between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago. Evidence to support the theory that recent modern humans originated in East Africa is not conclusive, today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about 12 miles wide, but 50,000 years ago it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower. Though the straits were never closed, there may have been islands in between which could be reached using simple rafts. It has been estimated that from a population of 2,000 to 5,000 individuals in Africa, according to linguists, the first Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic era from the familys proposed urheimat in the Nile Valley, or the Near East. Other scholars propose that the Afro-Asiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, genetic analysis also indicates that, beginning in the pre-agricultural period, settlers from the Near East founded communities in Northeast Africa. These early settlements eventually gave rise to the Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations in the Horn, dʿmt was a kingdom located in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, which existed during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. With its capital at Yeha, the kingdom developed irrigation schemes, used plows, grew millet, the Kingdom of Aksum was an ancient state located in the highlands of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, which thrived between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. A major player in the commerce between the Roman Empire and Ancient India, Aksums rulers facilitated trade by minting their own currency. Under Ezana, the kingdom of Aksum became the first major empire to adopt Christianity, northern Somalia was an important link in the Horn, connecting the regions commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Somali sailors and merchants were the suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices. The Romans consequently began to refer to the region as Regio Aromatica, in the classical era, several flourishing Somali city-states such as Opone, Mosylon and Malao also competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and Axumites for the rich Indo-Greco-Roman trade. The city of Mogadishu came to be known as the City of Islam, the Sultanate of Showa, established in 896, was one of the oldest local Muslim states. It was centered in the former Shewa province in central Ethiopia, the polity was succeeded by the Sultanate of Ifat around 1285. Ifat was governed from its capital at Zeila in northern Somalia and was the easternmost district of the former Shewa Sultanate, the Adal Sultanate was a medieval multi-ethnic Muslim state centered in the Horn region
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Austria-Hungary:
Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (19 August 1863)[9]
German Empire: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle
Kingdom of Hawaii: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Kamehameha I (1878)
Sweden: Knight of the Order of the Seraphim (14 March 1862)
United Kingdom: Knight of the Order of the Garter (16 March 1878)[10]
Steed, Henry Wickham (1911). "Humbert, Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio, King of Italy". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 872–873.
Steed, Henry Wickham (1911). "