Carlo Emanuele II
Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Savoy after Victor Amadeus I
() (20 June 1634 – 12 June 1675) was the
Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675 and under regency of his mother
Christine Marie of France until 1663. He was also
Marquis of
Saluzzo,
Count of
Aosta,
Geneva,
Moriana and
Nice, as well as claimant king of
Cyprus and
Jerusalem.
Biography
He was born in
Turin to
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and
Christine Marie of France. His maternal grandparents were
Henry IV of France and his second wife
Marie de' Medici.
His mother governed in his place, and even after reaching adulthood, Charles Emmanuel continued a life of pleasure, far away from the affairs of state.
He became notorious for his persecution of the
Vaudois (
Waldensians) culminating in the massacre of 1655. The massacre was so brutal that it prompted the English poet
John Milton to write the
sonnet On the Late Massacre in Piedmont. Protector
Oliver Cromwell called for a general fast in England and proposed to send the British Navy if the massacre was not stopped while gathering funds for helping the
Waldensians. Sir
Samuel Morland was commissioned with that task. He later wrote
The History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piemont (1658).
Only after the death of his mother in 1663, he really assumed power.
He was not successful in gaining a passage to the sea at the expense of
Genoa (Second Genoese-Savoyard War, 1672-1673), and had difficulties in retaining the influence of his powerful neighbour France.
But he greatly improved commerce and wealth in the Duchy, developing the port of
Nice and building a road through the
Alps towards France. He also reformed the army, which until then was mostly composed of mercenaries: he formed instead five Piedmontese regiments and recreated cavalry, as well as introducing uniforms. He also restored fortifications. He constructed many beautiful buildings in
Turin, for instance the
Palazzo Reale.
Marriage and issue
Charles Emmanuel married
He also had a number of illegitimate children.
