Louis Victor of Savoy, 4th Prince of Carignano (25 September 1721 – 16 December 1778) headed a

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, t ...

of the Italian dynasty which reigned over the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, being known as the

Prince of Carignano The House of Savoy-Carignano ( it, Savoia-Carignano; french: Savoie-Carignan) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of Carignano (1596–1656), an Italian military commander who was t ...

from 1741 till his death. Upon extinction of the senior line of the family, his great-grandson succeeded to the royal throne as King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia, while his great-great-grandson,

Victor Emmanuel II en, Victor Emmanuel Maria Albert Eugene Ferdinand Thomas , house = Savoy , father = Charles Albert of Sardinia , mother = Maria Theresa of Austria , religion = Roman Catholicism , image_size = 252px , succession ...

, became King of Italy.

Biography

Louis Victor was born at the Hôtel de Soissons, the Parisian home of his ancestor

Marie de Bourbon, Countess of Soissons Marie de Bourbon (3 May 1606 – 3 June 1692) was the wife of Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, and thus a princess of Savoy by marriage. At the death of her brother in 1641, she became Countess of Soissons in her own right, passing the titl ...

, to

Victor Amadeus I, Prince of Carignano Victor Amadeus of Savoy, 3rd Prince of Carignano (1 March 1690 – 4 April 1741) was an Italian nobleman who was Prince of Carignano from 1709 to 1741. He was the son of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano and his wife, the Maria ...

and his wife Maria Vittoria di Savoia. His father was a grandson of

Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano Thomas Francis of Savoy, 1st Prince of Carignano (; ; 21 December 1596 – 22 January 1656) was an Italian military commander and the founder of the Carignano branch of the House of Savoy, which reigned as kings of Piedmont-Sardinia from 1831 ...

and thus a descendant of

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I ( it, Carlo Emanuele di Savoia; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630. He was nicknamed (, in context "the Hot-Headed") for his rashness and military aggression. Being ...

and

Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain Catherine Michaela of Spain (; 10 October 1567 – 6 November 1597) was Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Charles Emmanuel I. She ruled the Duchy several times as regent in Charles Emmanuel's absence, notably during his campaign in 1594.Dizio ...

. He was doubly descended from the latter pair, as his mother was a legitimated daughter of

Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice. Louis X ...

and his mistress

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, ''comtesse de Verrue'' (18 January 1670 – 18 November 1736) was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia. Biography The daughter of Louis Charles d'Albert, Duke of Luynes (1620 ...

. One of five children, he was the second son of his parents; his older brother Joseph Victor died an infant in 1716. Louis Victor was thus heir to the

of the

House of Savoy-Carignano The House of Savoy-Carignano ( it, Savoia-Carignano; french: Savoie-Carignan) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of Carignano (1596–1656), an Italian military commander who was t ...

from birth. His older sister Anne Thérèse married the Frenchman Charles de Rohan and was Princess de Soubise by marriage. Anne Thérèse was the mother of

Madame de Guéméné Victoire Armande Josèphe de Rohan, ''Princess of Guéméné'' (28 December 1743 – 20 September 1807) was a French noblewoman and court official. She was the governess of the children of Louis XVI of France. She is known better as ''Madame de ...

, official governess to the children of

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

and

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. Louis Victor grew up in Paris, where his father was both a courtier and an inveterate gambler. Heavily in debt in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, and sued by his sisters whose dowries he had gambled away, he had fled to France where he lived so luxurious a life that his son was forced to sell significant family assets in that country. He later moved to Piedmont, between

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and

Racconigi Racconigi ( pms, Racunis) is a town and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy. It is located in the province of Cuneo, south of Turin, and north of Cuneo by rail. History The town was founded in medieval times. It was a possession of the marquisses of ...

. On 4 May 1740 Louis Victor married Princess Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg-Rheinfels, a sister of the Sardinian king's deceased wife Queen Polyxena (1706–1736). The couple had nine children. The most renowned of their children, Marie Thérèse, is known to history as the Princesse de Lamballe whose close friendship with

led to her brutal death during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. In 1741, Louis Victor's father died and he became the Prince of Carignano. The

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

Carignano Carignano may refer to: Places * Carignano, Piedmont, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy * Palazzo Carignano, a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy * Teatro Carignano, a theatre in Turin, Italy People * Hou ...

had belonged to the Savoys since 1418, but the fact that it was part of

, only twenty km south of Turin, meant that it could be a "princedom" for Thomas in name only, being endowed neither with independence nor revenues of substance. Louis Victor lost his wife in September, 1778 and died himself on 16 December 1778 at the

Palazzo Carignano Palazzo Carignano is a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy, which houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. It was a private residence of the Princes of Carignano, after whom it is named. Its rounded façade is different from other f ...

, the Turin residence of the Savoy-Carignano family. Since 1835 his wife's grave has been in Turin's Basilica of Superga, as is that of Louis Victor. His descendants include

Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples , house = Savoy , spouse = , issue = Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice , father = Umberto II of Italy , mother = Princess Marie-José of Belgium , birth_date = , birth_place = Naples, Kingdo ...

and Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta, rival claimants for the defunct throne of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

, as well as Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, head of a

of the former imperial

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of ...

Issue

*Princess Charlotte (Turin, 17 August 1742 - 20 February 1794) died unmarried; was a nun; *

Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignano Victor Amadeus of Savoy, 5th Prince of Carignano (31 October 1743 – 10 September 1780) was a member of the House of Savoy and Prince of Carignano. He was the brother of the murdered ''princesse de Lamballe'' and grandfather of King Charles ...

(Turin, 31 October 1743 - September 1780) married Joséphine de Lorraine and had issue; * Princess Leopoldina (Turin, 21 December 1744 – Rome, 17 April 1807) married Andrea IV

Doria-Pamphili-Landi The House of Doria Pamphilj Landi (also called simply Doria Pamphilj) was a princely Roman family of Genoese extraction. Legend has it that the origins of the Doria family date from the early 11th century, but the authentic pedigree is traced to ...

, 8th Prince di Melfi, and had issue; *Princess Polyxena (Turin, 31 October 1746 - 20 December 1762) died unmarried; *Princess Gabrielle (Turin, 17 May 1748 - Vienna, 10 April 1828) married Ferdinand Philipp Josef, Prince of Lobkowicz and had issue; ancestor of the current

House of Lobkowicz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the G ...

; * Princess Maria Teresa (Turin, 8 September 1749 – Paris, 3 September 1792) married Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Prince de Lamballe; *Prince Tommaso (Turin, 6 March 1751 - 23 July 1753) * Prince Eugenio, Count of Villafranca (Turin, 21 October 1753 - 30 June 1785) married Elisabeth Anne Magon Boisgarin, and had issue; *Princess Caterina (Turin, 4 April 1762 - 4 September 1823) married Don Filippo Giuseppe Francesco

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and pol ...

, 9th Prince di Paliano; had issue, from which the current Princes di Paliano descend.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor, Louis, Prince Of Carignan 18th-century Italian nobility Louis Victor Burials at the Basilica of Superga 1721 births 1778 deaths Nobility from Paris 18th-century people from Savoy