by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittorio Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Kings of Sardinia (1720 – 1861)

• Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia (reigned 1720 – 1730), King of Sicily (reigned 1713 – 1720), Duke of Savoy (reigned 1675 – 1730)
• Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1730 – 1773)
• Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1773 – 1796)
• Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1796 – 1802)
• Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1802 – 1821)
• Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1821 – 1831)
• Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1831 – 1849)
• Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (reigned 1849 – 1861), King of Italy (1861 – 1878)

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All photos are from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted.

Basilica of Superga

The Basilica of Superga, now in Turin, Italy, is located at the top of the Superga, a 2,205 ft/672-meter hill. During the 117-day 1706 Siege of Turin in the War of the Spanish Succession, over 44,000 French soldiers surrounded the fortified citadel of Turin defended by about 10,500 Savoy soldiers. On August 28, 1706, Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy (later the first King of Sardinia) and his cousin Prince Eugenio of Savoy-Carignano climbed the Superga hill to better examine the position of troops so they could develop battle strategies. On September 2, 1706, Vittorio Amedeo II and Eugenio once again climbed the Superga. They entered a small church on the hill where Vittorio Amedeo II prostrated himself in front of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary and vowed that if the Virgin Mary allowed him to be victorious in, the Siege of Turin, he would build a magnificent church at the top of the hill dedicated to her. On September 7, 1706, the forces of Vittoria Amadeo II and Eugenio won a victory.

The Basilica of Superga was designed by Italian architect Filippo Juvarra and was constructed from 1717 to 1731. On November 1, 1731, the Basilica of Superga was consecrated and dedicated to Our Lady of Grace whose original wooden statue that Vittorio Amadeo had prostrated himself before is kept in the Chapel of the Vow.

The Royal Crypt, built under the Basilica of Superga, is the traditional burial place of the members of the House of Savoy. Two Kings of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I, were interred in the Pantheon in Rome. The earlier generations of the House of Savoy as well as Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia and Umberto II, the last King of Italy, are buried in Hautecombe Abbey, the ancestral burial site of the House of Savoy, now in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille near Aix-les-Bains in Savoy, France.

The Royal Crypt is divided into five rooms, including the Hall of Kings, the Queens Hall, and the Hall of Infants. While there are some tombs, most burials are in niches along the walls of the rooms as seen in the above photo. Traditionally, at the death of the sovereign, his remains were placed in the center of the Hall of Kings. Upon the next death of a sovereign, the previous sovereign’s remains were then moved to one of the niches surrounding the room. The last sovereign buried at the Basilica of Superga was Carlo Alberto, King of Sardinia, whose tomb remains in the center of the Hall of Kings.

• Unofficial Royalty: Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy
• Official Website: The Basilica of Superga
• Wikipedia: Burials at the Basilica of Superga

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Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia
(reigned 1720 – 1730), King of Sicily (reigned 1713 – 1720), Duke of Savoy (reigned 1675 – 1730)

• Unofficial Royalty: Vittorio Amadeo II, King of Sardinia

Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia was born on May 14, 1666, in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. He was the son of Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne of Savoy. In 1684, Vittorio Amadeo married Anne Marie d’Orléans. They had eight children but only three survived to adulthood. Anne Marie predeceased her husband, dying in 1728. In 1730, Vittorio Amedeo married his former mistress Anna Canalis di Cumiana. Two months after his second wedding, Vittorio Amedeo abdicated in favor of his son Carlo Emanuele III. In February 1732, Vittorio Amedeo II suffered a stroke and his health deteriorated. He died on October 31, 1732, aged 66, at the Castle of Moncalieri near Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia

Born on August 27, 1669, at the Château de Saint-Cloud in France, Anne Marie d’Orléans was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of King Louis XIV of France, and Henrietta of England, the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England. Anne Marie was important to the Jacobites, whose goal was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart heirs of King James II of England/VII of Scotland to the thrones of England and Scotland. After the deaths of James Francis Edward Stuart, his elder son Charles Edward Stuart, and his younger son, Henry Benedict Stuart, the male line of the British Royal House of Stuart became extinct. The descendants of Anne Marie d’Orléans then inherited the Jacobite claim. Anne Marie died of heart failure on August 26, 1728, the day before her 59th birthday, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

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Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia
(reigned September 3, 1730 – February 20, 1773)

• Unofficial Royalty: Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia

Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia was born in Turin, Duchy of Savoy on April 27, 1701. His parents were Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie d’Orléans. In 1730, his father abdicated the throne and retired from the royal court. Charles Emmanuel married three times, but all of his three wives died young. Out of the ten children from his three wives, only six survived childhood. Carlo Emmanuele outlived all three of his wives, his five siblings, and six of his ten children, dying on February 20, 1773, aged 71, in Turin. He was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Anna Christine of Palatine Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont

• Unofficial Royalty: Anna Christine of Palatine Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont

Anna Christine of Palatine Sulzbach, the daughter of Theodore Eustace, Prince Palatine of Sulzbach and Eleonore of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, was born on February 5, 1704, at the Palace of Sulzbach-Rosenberg, now in Bavaria, Germany. On March 15, 1722, she married Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont, the future King of Sardinia. Anna Christine died on March 12, 1723, at the age of nineteen, after giving birth to a son who died at the age of 17 months. Anna Christine was first buried at Turin Cathedral and was moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin in 1786.

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia

Born on September 21, 1706 in Langenschwalbach in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now in Hesse, Germany, Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the daughter of Ernst Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg and Princess Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. She married Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont, the future King of Sardinia, on August 20, 1724. Polyxena gave birth to six children, including her husband’s successor Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia. She was ill for six months before she died at the age of 28 on January 13, 1735, at the Royal Palace of Turin. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

​Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia

Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine was born on October 15, 1711, at the Château de Lunéville, Duchy of Lorraine, now in France. Her parents were Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, brother of King Louis XIV of France, and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine. On April 1, 1737, Elisabeth Thérèse married Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. The couple had three children but only one survived childhood. After giving birth to her third child,29-year-old Elisabeth Thérèse died from puerperal fever (childbed fever) on July 3, 1741, at the Palace of Venaria in Turin. She was first buried in the Cathedral of Saint Giovanni Battista in Turin and was moved to the Royal Basilica of Superga in Turin in 1786.

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Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia
(reigned February 20, 1773 – October 16, 1796)

• Unofficial Royalty: Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia

Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia was born on June 26, 1726, at the Royal Palace of Turin. He was the son of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. On May 31, 1750, he married Infanta Maria Antonia of Spain. Vittorio Amadeo and Maria Antonia had 13 children including three Kings of Sardinia. Two of their daughters married French princes and at the start of the French Revolution, Vittorio Amadeo III allowed his two sons-in-law and their families to stay in the Kingdom of Sardinia under his protection. On October 16, 1796, Vittorio Amadeo III, died from a stroke, aged 70, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin. He was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia Ferdinanda  of Spain, Queen of Sardinia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda was the daughter of King Felipe V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. She was born on November 17, 1729, at the Royal Alcázar in Seville, Spain. On May 31, 1750, she married Vittorio Amadeo, Duke of Savoy, the future Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda was the first queen of Sardinia in over thirty years since the death of Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine in 1741. She died on September 19, 1785, aged 55, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin and was buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga. Her husband survived her by eleven years.

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Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia
(reigned October 16, 1796 – June 4, 1802)

• Unofficial Royalty: Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia

Born May 24, 1751, at the Royal Palace of Turin, Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia was the son of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. In 1775, Carlo Emanuele married Marie Clotilde of France. The couple had no children. Carlo Emanuele succeeded his father in 1796 but he only reigned for six years. When his wife died in 1802, he was so moved by her death that he decided to abdicate the throne of the Kingdom of Sardinia in favor of his brother Vittorio Emanuele I. However, Carlo Emanuele did not abdicate the throne of the Duchy of Savoy. He settled in Rome, where he joined the Jesuit order in 1815. He lived as a novice until his death on October 6, 1819, and is buried in the Church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, built for the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill.

Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia

Marie Clotilde of France was the elder daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France, the only son of King Louis XV of France, and Maria Josepha of Saxony. She was born on September 23, 1759,
at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. As her father had predeceased his father King Louis XV, her brother succeeded their grandfather as King Louis XVI of France. Marie Clotilde’s brother King Louis XVI, her sister-in-law Marie Antoinette and her sister Élisabeth were all guillotined during the French Revolution. Marie Clotilde followed strict Catholic devotion and wished to follow the example of her aunt Madame Louise and become a nun with the Order of the Carmelites. Instead, her brother married her off to Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont, the future Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia but they had no children. Marie Clotilde died on March 7, 1802, aged 42, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. She was buried at the Church of Santa Caterina a Chiaia in Naples. Pope Pius VII, who had personally known Marie Clotilde, declared her The Venerable Marie Clotilde of France in 1808. In the Catholic Church, after a deceased Catholic has been declared a Servant of God by a bishop and proposed for beatification by the Pope, they may next be declared venerable (“heroic in virtue”) during the investigation and process leading to possible canonization as a saint.

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Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia
(reigned June 4, 1802 – March 12, 1821)

• Unofficial Royalty: Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia

Born on July 24, 1759, at the Royal Palace of Turin in Turin, Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia was the son of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. He married Maria Teresa of Austria-Este and the couple had six daughters and one son. Two of the daughters died in childhood and the son died in infancy. Vittorio Emanuele I abdicated in favor of his brother Carlo Felice after the outbreak of a liberal revolution in 1821 because he was unwilling to grant a liberal constitution. He died on January 10, 1824, aged 64, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este was the daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and Maria Beatrice d’Este. She was born at the Royal Palace of Milan on November 1, 1773. On April 25, 1789, 15-year-old Maria Theresa married 29-year-old Vittorio Emanuele, Duke of Aosta, the future King Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia. Maria Theresa gave birth to six daughters and one son but her son died in infancy, leaving her husband without a male heir. Her husband abdicated in 1821 and died three years later. Maria Theresa was accused of trying to convince her childless brother-in-law Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia to name Francesco IV, Duke of Modena, her brother and the husband of her eldest daughter, as the heir to the throne of Sardinia. Because of this, much hostility was directed toward her and she was not allowed to return to Turin for ten years. Maria Theresa died, aged 58, on March 29, 1832, in Geneva, Switzerland, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

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Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia
(reigned March 12, 1821 – April 27, 1831)

• Unofficial Royalty: Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia

Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia was born at the Royal Palace of Turin on April 6, 1765. His parents were Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. Carlo Felice married Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily but their marriage remained childless. Upon the abdication of his brother Vittorio Emanuele I, Carlo Felice succeeded to the throne of Sardinia. In 1824, he acquired Hautecombe Abbey, now in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, France, where many of his ancestors were buried and began a restoration project. Carlo Felice died on April 27, 1831, at the Palazzo Chablais in Turin which had been given to him by his sister Princess Maria Anna, Duchess of Chablais. He was buried at Hautecombe Abbey. Upon the death of Carlo Felice, the main line of the House of Savoy became extinct. He was succeeded by the senior male member of the House of Savoy-Carignano, Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia.

Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, Queen of Sardinia

Born on January 17, 1779, at Caserta Palace in the Kingdom of Naples, Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria. She married Prince Carlo Felice of Sardinia, Duke of Genoa, the future King Carlo Felice of Sardinia, on April 6, 1807. The couple had no children. After a reign of ten years, Maria Cristina’s husband died. She survived him by eighteen years, dying on March 11, 1849, aged 70, in Savona, Kingdom of Sardinia, and was buried with her husband at Hautecombe Abbey, now in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, France.

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Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia
(reigned April 27, 1831 – March 23, 1849)

• Unofficial Royalty: Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia

Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia was born as a prince of the House of Savoy-Carignano, a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. The son of Carlo Emanuele, 6th Prince of Carignano and Maria Christina of Saxony, Carlo Alberto was born at the Palazzo Carignano in Turin on October 2, 1798. He married Maria Theresa of Austria and the couple had three children including his successor Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later the first King of a united Italy. Carlo Alberto became King of Sardinia in 1831 on the death of his distant cousin Carlo Felice who had no heir. After he led his forces against the Imperial Austrian army in the First Italian War of Independence and was defeated in 1849 at the Battle of Novara, Carlo Alberto abdicated in favor of his son Victor Emmanuel II. He died a few months later on July 28, 1849, at the age of 50, in exile in Porto, Portugal, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

Born in Vienna, Austria on March 21, 1801, Maria Theresa of Austria was the daughter of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Luisa of Naples and Sicily. In 1817, she married Carlo Alberto of Sardinia and became the Queen of Sardinia upon her husband’s accession to the throne in 1831. Maria Theresa and Carlo Alberto had three children including Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later the first King of a united Italy.  She survived her husband by six years, dying at the age of 53, on January 12, 1855, in Turin and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

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Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia (reigned March 23, 1849 – March 17, 1861), King of Italy (reigned March 17, 1861 – January 9, 1878)

• Unofficial Royalty: King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy

Vittorio Emanuele II  was born on March 14, 1820, at the Palazzo Carignano in Turin, the eldest son of Carlo Alberto, Prince of Carignano, and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria. In 1831, his father became King Carlo Alberto I of Sardinia, having succeeded a distant cousin. On April 12, 1842, he married Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, and the couple had eight children. He became King of Sardinia upon his father’s death in 1849. After his wife’s death in 1855, Vittorio Emanuele married a second time, morganatically, to his longtime mistress, Rosa Vercellana, with whom he already had two children. On March 17, 1861, Vittorio Emanuele proclaimed himself King of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy. After a reign of nearly 17 years, he died at the Quirinal Palace in Rome on January 9, 1878, aged 57, and is buried at the Pantheon in Rome, Italy.

Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

• Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

Adelheid of Austria was born at the Royal Palace of Milan on June 3, 1822, to Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria and Elisabeth of Savoy. She married the future King Vittorio Emanuele II on April 12, 1842, and had eight children. In 1849 she became Queen of Sardinia when her husband succeeded to the throne. Sadly, shortly after giving birth to her youngest child, Adelheid died on January 28, 1855, at the Royal Palace of Turin. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

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