Charles II or Charles John Amadeus (''Carlo Giovanni Amedeo'' in Italian) (23 June 1489,

Turin Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

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

– 16 April 1496), was the

Duke of Savoy The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at th ...

from 1490 to 1496 but his mother

Blanche of Montferrat Blanche of Montferrat ( it, Bianca di Monferrato; 1472 – 30 March 1519) was Duchess of Savoy as the wife of Charles I of Savoy.Bianca di Monferrato, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. She acted as reg ...

(1472–1519) was the actual ruler as a regent. In 1485 his father

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

had received the hereditary rights to the Kingdoms of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

which were inherited by young Charles.

Biography

Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1890)

During his reign,

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (french: l'Affable; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.Paul Murray Kendall, ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider'' (New ...

invaded Italy and conquered

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

; and the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

, under Blanche's regency, allowed Charles free passage through the duchy.Michael Mallett and Christine Shaw, ''The Italian Wars, 1494–1559'', (Pearson Education Limited, 2012), 6. Born in

, Duke Charles died in

Moncalieri Moncalieri (; pms, Moncalé ) is a town and ''comune'' of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy. It is the most populous suburb of Turin and it is ...

at about seven, falling by his bed. His duchy was therefore inherited by his granduncle Philip II (reigned 1496–1497), the male heir of the Savoy line. Charles's heir-general was his underage sister Violante Ludovica, who was married to Philip's eldest son

Philibert the Handsome Philibert II (10 April 1480 – 10 September 1504), nicknamed the Handsome or the Good, was the Duke of Savoy from 1497 until his death. Biography Born in Pont-d'Ain, Philibert was the son of Philip (Filippo) the Landless and his first wife ...

. Violante however died in 1499, 12 years old and childless, leaving the 18-year-old Philibert (who had succeeded his elderly father as Duke in 1497) a widower. Charles's and Violanta's next heir general was their first cousin Princess

Charlotte of Naples Charlotte of Naples ( – 1506), also known as Charlotte of Aragon and Princess of Taranto This is a list of the Princesses of Taranto, a principality in Southern Italy. Countess consort of Taranto Princess consort of Taranto House ...

(1479–1506), daughter of their aunt Anne of Savoy. The next year, Charlotte married Nicolas Guy de Montfort, Count of Laval (as Guy XVΙ). Their female descendants claimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem, although ''de jure'' their claims to the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Ana ...

and

(as well as the rights of René of Valois-Anjou) belong to the line of the heir general, not to the line of

Philip II, Duke of Savoy Philip II (5 February 1438 – 7 November 1497), surnamed the Landless, was the Duke of Savoy for a brief reign from 1496 to 1497. Biography Philip was the granduncle of the previous duke Charles II, and the youngest surviving son of Duke Lou ...

References

1489 births 1496 deaths 15th-century Dukes of Savoy Nobility from Turin Counts of Geneva Claimant Kings of Jerusalem Accidental deaths from falls Italian people of Cypriot descent Rulers who died as children Medieval child rulers {{Italy-noble-stub