The Italian royal family was exiled in 1946 and returned with little fanfare in 2002. Their lives as monarchs may have ended, but the legacy of the House of Savoy persists.
Founded in the 11th century, the House of Savoy helped establish the monarchy that once was, having had a direct hand in the process of Italian Unification. The Savoys united the states of Italy, formed alliances, and attempted to play their hand in the cutthroat European stage.
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The Origins of the House of Savoy
The House of Savoy is one of the oldest noble houses in European history. It was established in the 11th century and formerly based in the county of Maurienne of Upper Burgundy.
Through cunning political maneuvers, marriages, and persistence, the House of Savoy went from a mighty regional power in the Western Alps to Kings of Italy.
Key Figures
The House of Savoy, though later holding titles as Kings of Italy, began as Counts and Dukes of Savoy.
Umberto I (Umberto Biancamano) (980–1047)
Umberto I is the man who founded the House of Savoy over 1,000 years ago. He is alternatively remembered as Humbert the White-Handed (or Humbert Whitehand). Given the family’s close ties with the Burgundian nobility, it is thought that Umberto and his kin were from Burgundy.
In 1032 Umberto became the Count of Savoy, whose lands were once regions of Maurienne, Aosta, and Valais. We’re not too sure how he managed to impress the Holy Roman Empire into granting him that much land, but Umberto likely got rid of some of the Empire’s rivals in France. From this new land claim surrounding the Alps came the foundation of the royal house of Savoy and its Savoyard State.
Amadeus VI (1334–1383)
Amadeus VI, known as the “Green Count” due to his preference for the color, is best remembered for his territorial expansion of the Savoyard State. He secured Savoy’s place in Europe, thereby giving the family better recognition and standing amongst other noble houses. Thanks to Amadeus, the Savoys were taken seriously.
What more could a medieval high house desire?
Well, we should probably add that Amadeus’ cousin, John V Palaiologos, became the Byzantine Holy Roman Emperor around the same time. To be fair, the House of Savoy wasn’t in poor standing.
The rule of Amadeus in Savoy is marked by territorial warfare and the ravagings of the Black Death. He, however, through unexpected leadership maintained an otherwise favorable reign.
The Role of the House of Savoy in Italian Unification
Italian Unification (Risorgimento) was a 19th-century social and political movement. The aftermath of Risorgimento saw the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. As you’d expect, any politically hungry noble house would desire to have a hand in the newfound government. The House of Savoy was no different. It was the cadet branch, the Savoy-Carignano, who led the charge.
Italy was somewhat – fine, more than somewhat – divided following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. They had the Ostrogoths rule for a time, then the Lombards, until the Frankish conquest came knocking. However, Italy was never truly unified under a single ruler, even after conquest. These peculiar arrangements proceeded into the Renaissance, which saw the emergence of nation-states and Papal States.
Throw in some proxy wars here, and some revolutionary ideas there, and soon enough Italy became under the thrall of the First French Empire. Thanks, Napoleon. But, in all seriousness, the ripple effect of the French Revolution in Europe led to the first Italian Tricolor (il Tricolore) being developed. This Tricolor, the flag of the Cispadane Republic, was held onto by Italian nationalists who desired the unification of Italian states. When Napoleon’s hold on Italy began to fade, Joachim Murat, then King of Naples, issued the Rimini Proclamation.
The Rimini Proclamation is amongst the earliest texts to call for Italian unification. More specifically, the Proclamation called for the establishment of a self-governed, united Italy.
Did Murat see himself as the leader of this united Italy? Probably. Nevertheless, that isn’t how the Italian populace took it.
In the 1820s, revolutions took place in the Italian states. Political groups such as the Carbonari and La Giovine Italia became forces to be reckoned with in the 1830s. The revolutionaries Guiseppe Garibaldi and Guiseppe Mazzini were willing to shake things up to make a change, and the Italian people were here for it. Members of the House of Savoy, then kings of Sicily (1713-1720) and Sardinia (1720–1861), allied themselves to other European powers and revolutionaries while warding off the ever-expanding Habsburgs.
Key Figures
Here are the key figures of the House of Savoy during Risorgimento and their roles in the unification of Italy.
King Charles Albert (1798–1849)
King Charles Albert of the House of Savoy was the King of Sardinia. He led Sardinian and Italian forces in the First Italian War of Independence in 1848 against the Austrian Empire. This was one of the stepping stones of Risorgimento.
Before the First Italian War of Independence, there was the Sicilian Revolution months prior. In the days leading up to the war, riots spread throughout Milan and Venice in rebellion against the Imperial Austrian occupation. The war led by Charles Albert is considered to be a royal war, rather than a people’s war, referring to how Italy would have been united – i.e., by a king instead of the common man. Unfortunately, the First Italian War of Independence was lost by Charles Albert and the then-in-place Roman Republic.
Charles Albert would draft the Albertine Statute in 1848 as a response to growing political unrest in Italian states. The document that would later act as the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy. It had modifications, of course, but regardless remained the basis of the Italian government until World War II.
King Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878)
King Victor Emmanuel II, the son of King Charles Albert of Sardinia, became the first King of Italy post-Unification. Having been the first king of an independent Italy since the 6th century, Victor Emmanuel was referred to by the epithet “Father of the Fatherland.” The epithet is a direct call back to the Old Latin title emperors of Rome would be known as Pater Patriae.
Victor Emmanuel would support Guiseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand, which aimed to topple the rule of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Sicily. This was a success and opened the possibility of a unified Italy in the southernmost regions of the would-be kingdom. During his attempts to shake off the Austrian Empire, Victor Emmanuel had to dance around France and the Papacy to get what he wanted. He was excommunicated in 1860 as a result of his ambitions when he faced off with the Papal Army. In the Third Italian War of Independence (a second failed revolution happened in 1859), Italian forces were victorious. Following the Venetian Plebiscite of 1866, Italy gained the region of Venetia and, finally, independence.
The Kings of Italy
In World War II, the Italian monarchy collapsed under the rise of Fascism. The inaction of the reigning monarchs, and the pardoning of fascist sentiments throughout Italy, led to the monarchy being abolished by 1946.
The following Kings of Italy hail from the House of Savoy. This short list follows key members of the family from the mid-19th century to the 20th.
King Umberto I (1844–1900)
King Umberto I was king from 1878 until his assassination in 1900. He entered into the political Triple Alliance of Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary and oversaw Italian presence and expansion into the Horn of Africa. Before his reign, Umberto was militarily involved in the Risorgimento, starting in the Second Italian War of Independence when he was only 14. He also commanded a regiment in the Third Italian War of Independence.
Thought to be unpopular, Umberto maintained strict conservative policies that the Italian people were opposed to. He didn’t really crack down on organized crime, nor did he defend the people from Austrian occupiers that they literally staged rebellions against just decades before. He also entered into military agreements without consulting anyone so…yeesh. Working within Umberto’s government would have been a pain.
To be frank, his reign was wholly unfavorable and ended with his assassination.
One of the worst things done in Umberto’s reign was the Bava Beccaris Massacre in 1898. There were wars in Africa and a rising price of bread. Civilians in Milan rioted, only to be shut down by General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris after he ordered rifle and artillery use against those demonstrating. The death toll was anywhere between 82 and 400, with upwards of 2,000 wounded. Umberto’s would-be assassin, Gaetano Bresci, claimed that he sought justice for those killed in the massacre.
King Victor Emmanuel III (1869–1947)
King Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy during both World Wars. He made the call for Italy to enter World War I, which was terribly unpopular amongst politicians, because of previous political alliances. Although Italy suffered majorly in WWI and was hit with a massive recession afterward (most involved countries were), Victor Emmanuel remained somewhat popular. Not by the working class, though. No, the working class was stressed.
The stress placed on Italy’s working class allowed a certain guy, Benito Mussolini, to rise to power within the Italian government. The king didn’t want to use violence against Mussolini’s Fascists, so instead of repelling Mussolini when he came to Rome – you know, a normal thing for someone to do in this position – Victor Emmanuel made him Prime Minister. His continued inaction and unwillingness to resist Mussolini’s extremist ideals caused the monarchy’s image to plummet.
King Umberto II (1904–1983)
King Umberto II became a king in exile only 34 days into his reign. Well, not quite. An Italian referendum in 1946 ended the rule of the Savoyard kings of Italy and introduced the Italian Republic. His father’s attempt to save the monarchy failed, leaving the once-powerful House of Savoy obsolete in the modern era. So Umberto wasn’t really a king anymore by the time he and his family entered exile.
The Italian Royal Family in Exile
The Italian monarchy was abolished in 1946 after Victor Emmanuel III abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Umberto. The royal family was then exiled by the Italian Constitution, with male members of the Savoy line being forbidden from returning to the country. Queen Consorts were also placed in exile. Thus began the 56 years in exile.
The exile came to an end in 2002, though not without impacting the defunct royal descendants of the House of Savoy.
Key Figures
The royal family of Italy went into exile after the 1946 referendum. Those primarily in the limelight during this period were none other than the ex-king and queen themselves: Umberto and Marie-José. The couple only ruled for 34 days before the Savoy monarchy was abolished.
Umberto II (1904–1983)
Umberto II was the only son of Victor Emmanuel III and his wife, Elena of Montenegro. As the heir apparent, he was given a military education fit with all the trappings of a future king. In 1944, his father unofficially passed the reins to Umberto. Victor Emmanuel granted him the title “Lieutenant General of the Realm” and hoped that his son could fix the Savoy family image he so recklessly ruined with Fascist associations. Such high hopes were dashed with the election of a republic and the monarchy’s abolition in the 1946 Constitutional Referendum.
Umberto remained exiled in Portugal for the remainder of his life. His reign was so painfully short, that he became known as the May King.
Marie-José of Belgium (1906–2001)
Marie-José of Belgium was the last Queen of Italy by her marriage to Umberto II. Her father was the King of the Belgians and her mother, Elisabeth, was related to the Bavarian royal family. Her mother belonged to the House of Wittelsbach. Given the brevity of her reign, she became known as the May Queen.
During WWII, Marie-José was known to have sympathized with the Italian Resistance Movement and partisan brigades. Although exiled to Switzerland, she did her best to smuggle arms and food to the Resistance. Marie-José additionally did what she could to finance the partisans. Her and her husband’s efforts saw a spike in the popularity of the royals amongst the Italian public. Unfortunately, her father-in-law’s dismal reputation seriously harmed the possibility of the monarchy continuing and by 1946 the referendum was out.
The Current Status of the Italian Royal Family
The modern descendants of the House of Savoy are a glamorous bunch. Exile notwithstanding, members of the family were able to find fame and fortune using defunct royal titles and aristocratic ties to other European royal houses.
Men of the House of Savoy are no longer in exile, which some individuals, such as Prince Emanuele Filiberto, have taken full advantage of. Others have kept a low profile as private citizens. In more recent years, dynastic struggles have taken the forefront, with the family divided as to who the true head of the House of Savoy is.
Prince Emanuele Filiberto (b. 1972)
Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Venice is the son of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, who was the son of the last King of Italy, Umberto II. After the abolition of the monarchy in 1946 and the ratification of the Constitution of the Italian Republic in 1947, Emanuele Filiberto and his father – as well as other male members of the House of Savoy – lived in exile.
Unsurprisingly, thanks to the disastrous state Italy was brought to in World War II, no one in the Italian government wanted a Savoy in politics (or the country, for that matter). The exile was only lifted in 2002.
Since 2002, Emanuele Filiberto has remained a public figure. Whether it is in media or on social media, Emanuele Filiberto has been a vocal advocate of the Savoy legacy. As of 2022, the pretender prince has petitioned to repossess the Savoyard Royal Regalia as heirlooms of the House of Savoy. Moreover, he has even publicly entertained the idea of attempting to reinstate the monarchy, whether through him or his eldest daughter.
As of 2024, Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice, is one of the disputed heads of the House of Savoy. The other contender is his cousin, Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, 6th Duke of Aosta.
Prince Vittorio Emanuele (1937–2024)
Prince Vittorio Emanuele was the only son of Italy’s last king, Umberto II, and his wife, Marie-José of Belgium. He lived in Switzerland in exile from when he was 9 years old until his death. During this period he claimed to be the rightful head of the House of Savoy and styled himself as the Duke of Savoy. Such claims were denied by his third cousin, Prince Amadeo of Savoy-Aosta, 5th Duke of Aosta.
Vittorio Emanuele remained a scandalous figure throughout his life. He had been charged with murder in France and, in 2006, was arrested on various other charges. Although he was acquitted in 2007 and 2010 respectively, Vittorio Emanuele’s supposed connection to the criminal underbelly did not go unnoticed by the public.
On February 3, 2024, in Geneva, Switzerland, Prince Vittorio Emanuele died. He was 86 years old.
Connections with Other European Royal Families
The House of Savoy is heavily related to other European royal houses through both marriages and alliances. Those relationships forged played an essential role in times of war, especially during the Risorgimento and on the eve of the World Wars of the 20th century.
The House of Savoy is related to the…
- Duchy of Aosta
- Duchy of Nemours
- House of Habsburg
- House of Bourbon
- House of Orléans
- House of Hesse
- Portuguese royal family
- Greek royal family
- Belgian royal family
- Bulgarian royal family
- Spanish royal family
Key Figures
Below you’ll find some of the key ladies that married into the House of Savoy.
Queen Elena of Italy (1873–1952)
The daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro, Elena of Montenegro was married to King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. They were the monarchs of Italy until 1946. By marrying Elena, Victor Emmanuel held a degree of influence in the Balkans that affected the progression of Fascism in Italy during the Second World War.
Princess Clotilde of Savoy (b. 1969)
Princess Clotilde Courau of Savoy is the wife of Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, the current (disputed) head of the House of Savoy. She is descended from French nobility as a member of the Pontavice family through her mother. The Pontavices themselves were originally from Brittany and date back to the 15th century.
READ MORE: French Royal Family Tree: The Lineage of French Monarchs
Wrapping Up the Italian Royal Family Tree
The House of Savoy is integral to understanding the Italian monarchy post-Unification. These Counts and Dukes ascended to kingship, first in Sicily, then in Italy. The alliances they formed with other European nations drastically impacted the history of the world as we know it. The House of Savoy maintained rule in the Kingdom of Italy for nearly a century until the Italian referendum of 1946 saw that the monarchy came to an end.
We should remember that the House of Savoy is far from perfect. Questionable decisions were made throughout its extensive history, especially once the throne of Italy was obtained. This rings especially true in the early 20th century. We, despite this, cannot ignore the remarkable origins of the Savoys from their humble start in the Alps. After all, it isn’t every day a Count becomes a King.