Charles Albert of Sardinia
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Charles Albert (October 2, 1798 – July 28, 1849) was the King of Sardinia from 1831 to 1849. He succeeded his distant cousin Charles Felix, and his name is bound with the first Italian statute and the First War of Independence (1848–1849). He abdicated after his forces were defeated by the Austrian army at the Battle of Novara (1849), and died in exile soon thereafter.
[edit] Biography
He was born in Paris in 1798, to Carlo Emanuele (1770-1800), 6th Prince of Carignano and Albertina Maria Cristina of Saxony (1779-1851). His father was a fifth-generation descendant of Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, founder of the Savoy-Carignano line of the House of Savoy. Because none of the sons of King Victor Amadeus III themselves had sons, Charles Albert was throughout his life known to be their likely successor on the throne of Sardinia.
He was educated in the intellectually liberal and Francophile atmosphere of Geneva, then in Paris during the First French Empire. After the fall of Napoleon I of France, Charles Albert returned to Turin. He married Maria Teresa of Tuscany (1801-1855) in 1817 and displayed some sympathies with liberals. In 1821, as regent for the kingdom in the absence of the new king, Charles Felix, he conceded a constitution that was disavowed by the king, who sent him to join the French army in Spain to suppress the liberal revolution there and restore Ferdinand VII. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Trocadero in 1823, which annihilated hopes of a constitutional monarchy for Spain.
Carlo Alberto succeeded Charles Felix to the throne of Sardinia in 1831. Although an Italian patriot opposed to Austrian hegemony in Northern Italy, he put down the Mazzini conspiracy. He introduced a series of reforms that abolished domestic customs barriers within the kingdom, promulgated a constitutional law code (Statuto Albertino) along Napoleonic lines and supported the arts and sciences.
During the Revolutions of 1848 he agreed to a constitutional regime that remained in place for the century that the Kingdom of Italy lasted. The same year he declared war on absolutist Austria. However, he was defeated at Battle of Custozza in 1848, and then, when he attempted to resume the war the next year, at Novara. Rather than redrawing the Statute, he abdicated in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel.
He then left for exile in Porto, Portugal, where he died the same year.
For all hereditary titles, check Victor Amadeus III.
[edit] Family and children
With Maria Teresa of Tuscany he had children including:
- Vittorio Emanuele II (1820-1878)
- Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855), 1st Duke of Genoa who had 2 children:
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- Margherita Teresa Giovanna, Princess of Savoy (1851–1926), married Umberto I.
- Thomas, Duke of Genoa (1854–1931), 2nd Duke of Genoa, who had children including:
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- Ferdinando, (1884-1963) 3rd Duke of Genoa
- Philiberto, (1895-1990) Duke of Pistoia, then 4th Duke of Genoa.
- Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo (1898-1982) unmarried.
- Eugenio, (1906-1996) Duke of Ancona, then 5th Duke of Genoa.
- Maria Bona Margherita, (1896-1971) married Prince Conrad of Bavaria (1883-1969)
- Maria Adelaide, (1904-1979) married Don Leone Massimo, Prince of Arsoli, Duke of Anticoli Corrado (1896-1979)
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Charles Felix |
King of Sardinia 1831-1849 |
Succeeded by: Victor Emmanuel II |
