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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

[October 16] Victor Amadeus III, king of Sardinia

Parents: Charles Emmanuel III, king of Sardinia, and Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg
Born: 26 June 1726
House: Savoy
Spouse(s): Maria Antonietta, daughter of Felipe V, king of Spain, and Elisabeth Farnese
Predecessor: Charles Emmanuel III
Reign: 1773 – 1796
Brief: Victor Amadeus was raised in the manner of a military general, though he surrounded himself with intellectuals. He was not overly public and he was highly religious, but his people loved him since he was kind and generous. As king of Sardinia, he maintained a conservative government that focused on strengthening the bureaucracy and reorganizing the military. When the French Revolution broke out, his two son-in-laws, the count of Artois and the count of Provence, to settle in Sardinia as a means to protect them. At the Battle of Montenotte, and then the battles of Millesimo and Mondovi—all in 1796—Sardinia lost most of its continental possessions, which were declared the Republic of Alba. Victor Amadeus was forced to become a French vassal, abandoning the First Coalition, and had to cede Nice and Savoy to France via the Treaty of Paris. He died a few months later with the knowledge that his ancestral lands in Savoy were under French occupation and his country was in economic ruin.
Date of Death: 16 October 1796
Successor: Charles Emmanuel IV

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
  • Nicholas V, antipope of Rome (1333)
  • Louis, king of Sicily (1355)
  • Gregory XIV, pope of Rome (1591)

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