VICTOR AMADEUS H. (1666-1732), duke of Savoy and first king of Sardinia, was the son of Duke Charles Emmanuel II. and Jeanne de Savoie-Nemours. Born at Turin, he lost his father in 1675, and spent his youth under the regency of his mother, known as "Madama Reale" (madame royale), an able but ambi tious and overbearing woman. He assumed the reigns of govern ment at the age of sixteen, and married Princess Anne, daughter of Philip of Orleans and Henrietta of England, and niece of Louis XIV., king of France. His first sign of independence was his visit to Venice in 1687, where he met Prince Eugene of Savoy and other personages, without consulting Louis. Louis now tried to precipitate hostilities by demanding his participation in a second expedition against the Waldensians. The duke unwillingly com plied, but when the French entered Piedmont and demanded the cession of the fortresses of Turin and Verrua, he refused, and while still professing to negotiate with Louis, joined the league of Austria, Spain and Venice. War was declared in 169o, but at the battle of Staffarda (Aug. 18, 1691), Victor was defeated by the French. A treaty with France was signed in 1696, and Victor ap pointed generalissimo of the Franco-Piedmontese forces in Italy operating against the imperialists. By the treaty of Ryswick (1697) a general peace was concluded.
On the outbreak of the war of the Spanish Succession in 1700 the duke was again on the French side, but the insolence of Louis and of Philip V. of Spain towards him induced him, at the end of the two years for which he had bound himself to them, to go over to the imperialists (1704). After some successes the French were completely defeated by Victor and Prince Eugene (1706). By the peace of Utrecht (1713) the Powers conferred the
kingdom of Sicily on Victor Amadeus, whose government proved efficient and at first popular. But after a brief stay in the island he returned to Piedmont and left his new possessions to a viceroy ; when the Quadruple Alliance decreed in 1718 that Sicily should be restored to Spain, Victor was unable to offer any opposition, and had to content himself with receiving Sardinia in exchange.
The last years of Victor Amadeus's life were saddened by domestic troubles. After his wife's death, he married the Contessa di San Sebastiano, abdicated the crown and retired to Chambery to end his days (173o). But his second wife, an ambitious intrigante, induced him to return to Turin and attempt to revoke his abdication. This led to a quarrel with his son, Charles Em manuel III., who arrested his father and confined him at Rivoli and later at Moncalieri; there Victor died on Oct. 31, 1732.
Victor Amadeus, not only won for his country a high place in the council of nations, but he doubled its revenues and increased its prosperity and industries.
See D. Carutti, Storia del Regno di Vittorio Amedeo 11. (Turin, 1856) ; and E. Parri, Vittorio Amedio II. ed Eugenio di Savoia (Milan, i888) ; C. A. Garufi, Rapporte diplomatici tra Filippo V. e Vittorio Amedeo di Savoia . . . 1712-1720 (Palermo, 1914). The Marchesa Vitelleschi's work, The Romance of Savoy (2 vols., London, 1905), is based on original authorities, and is the most complete monograph on the subject.