
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy

Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Savoy after Emmanuel Philibert
Emmanuel Philibert (in
Italian Emanuele Filiberto; known as "Testa di ferro" in English "Ironhead," because of his military career, 8 July 1528 – 30 August 1580) was
Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580.
Born in
Chambéry, Emmanuel Philibert was the only child of
Charles III, Duke of Savoy and
Beatrice of Portugal to reach adulthood. His mother was sister-in-law to
Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor, and the future duke served in Charles's army during the war against
Francis I of France, distinguishing himself by capturing
Hesdin in July 1553. A month later, he became duke on the death of his father, but this was a nearly empty honour, as the vast majority of his hereditary lands had been occupied and administered by the French since 1536. Instead, he continued to serve the
Habsburgs in hopes of recovering his lands, and served his maternal first cousin King
Philip II as
Governor of the Netherlands from 1555-1559.
In this capacity he personally led the
Spanish invasion of northern France and won a brilliant victory at
Saint-Quentin in August 1557. He was a suitor to
Lady Elizabeth Tudor, the future Queen Elizabeth I. He had barely any money at that time.
By the
Peace of Cateau Cambrésis between France and Spain, (1559) the duchy was restored to Emmanuel Philibert and he married his half-first cousin once removed
Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (1523-1574), daughter of King
Francis I of France and sister to King
Henry II. Their only child was
Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy.
Following his uncle's,
Henry I of Portugal, death (
31 January 1580) Emmanuel Philibert fought to impose his rights as a claimant to the Portuguese throne. However, he soon realised that he had quite a fragile position due to his cousin,
Philip II of Spain claims who, in the end, managed to conquer the country and the Crown.
Emmanuel Philibert spent his rule regaining what had been lost in the costly wars with France. A skilled political strategist, he took advantage of various squabbles in
Europe to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of
Turin. He also purchased two territories. Internally, he moved the capital of the duchy from
Chambéry to Turin and replaced
Latin as the duchy's official language with
Italian. He was attempting to acquire the marquisate of
Saluzzo when he died in
Turin.