Princess Luisa Cristina of Savoy (27 July 1629 – 12 May 1692) was a Princess of Savoy by birth and the eldest daughter of

Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus I ( it, Vittorio Amedeo I di Savoia; 8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also known as the ''Lion of Susa''.Prince Maurice of Savoy Maurice of Savoy (10 January 1593 – 4 October 1657, Turin) was a Prince of Savoy and a 17th-century cardinal. Life He was the son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain. Aged 14, in 1607, he became c ...

but had no children. She was the owner of the future ''

Villa della Regina The Villa della Regina is a palace in the city of Turin, Piedmont, Italy. It was originally built by the House of Savoy in the 17th century. In 1997, it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list along with 13 other residences of the Hou ...

''. She was a first cousin of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

and Charles II of England.

Biography

Luisa Cristina was born at the

Castello del Valentino The Valentino Castle ( it, Castello del Valentino) is a historic building in the northwestern Italian city of Turin. It is located in Parco del Valentino, and is the seat of the Architecture Faculty of the Polytechnic University of Turin. It is on ...

in Turin. She was the eldest daughter of the future

Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus I ( it, Vittorio Amedeo I di Savoia; 8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also known as the ''Lion of Susa''.Christine Marie of France Christine of France (10 February 1606 – 27 December 1663) was the sister of Louis XIII and Duchess of Savoy by marriage. Upon the death of her husband Victor Amadeus I in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648. Daughter of ...

. Her birth was greeted with excitement as prior to her birth, her parents had lost a son and heir and were expecting another son.Osborne, Toby. ''Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy: Political Culture and the Thirty Years' War''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

. 2007. 236. However, being a female and due to the Salic law, she was barred from succeeding to the Duchy of Savoy which at the time of her birth was ruled by her grandfather

Charles Emmanuel I 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 ...

. Luisa Cristina was said to have been illegitimate and the fruit of her mother's supposed affair with a French courtier named "Pommeuse". As a child, two of Luisa Cristina's brothers succeeded their father, who became ruler of Savoy in 1630. Her father died in 1637 and was succeeded quickly by her brother Francis Hyacinth who died in 1638 and was followed to the throne by another brother

Charles Emmanuel II Charles Emmanuel II ( it, Carlo Emanuele II di Savoia); 20 June 1634 – 12 June 1675) was Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675 and under regency of his mother Christine of France until 1648. He was also Marquis of Saluzzo, Count of Aosta, Geneva, M ...

. Her mother, Christine Marie, took over as regent, a development which was disputed by Luisa Cristina's uncles

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 Cardinal Maurice. The two brothers conspired against Christine Marie as regent, claiming the regency between the two of them. This led to a civil war in Savoy. The war resulted in Thomas Francis and Maurice fleeing to Spain in the vain hope of finding support. Luisa Cristina's mother was soon victorious in the ensuing wars thanks to French support in the form of her brother,

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

. Returning to Savoy, Luisa Cristina was soon engaged to Maurice as part of a reconciliation between Christine Marie. Luisa Cristina married Maurice in Turin on 18 August 1642. Maurice had previously been a cardinal and had to receive permission from Pope Urban VIII who consented to the match. The thirteen-year-old bride and forty-nine-year-old Maurice moved to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

where Maurice was the governor of the city – another part of the reconciliation. Her husband died in 1657 of a stroke leaving Luisa Cristina a widow aged twenty seven. Her husband willed her his large art collection as well as his huge debts. In Turin she lived at her husband's villa outside Turin. She also did much to improve the structure under the direction of

Amedeo di Castellamonte Amedeo Cognengo di Castellamonte (1618 – 17 September 1683) was an Italian architect, civil and military engineer. Biography He was born in Castellamonte (in what is now the province of Turin, then in the Duchy of Savoy). His father Carlo bec ...

. She also commissioned Guarino Guarini to carry out works on churches in Savoy. Luisa Cristina died at the villa and left the property to her nephew's consort, the French born

Anne Marie d'Orléans Anne Marie d'Orléans (27 August 1669 – 26 August 1728) was Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. She served as regent of Savoy during the absence of her spouse in 1686 and during the War of the Spanish Succession. ...

.Williams, H. Noel. ''A Rose of Savoy, Marie Adelaide of Savoy, duchesse de Bourgogne, Mother of Louis XV''. New York. 1909. 342.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luisa Cristina Of Savoy, Princess 1629 births 1692 deaths Nobility from Turin Princesses of Savoy 17th-century Italian nobility Italian people of French descent Italian people of Hungarian descent Italian people of Spanish descent Italian people of Portuguese descent Italian people of Polish descent Italian people of English descent Italian people of Austrian descent Italian people of German descent