Charles died in 1675 and was suc ceeded by his only son, Victor Amadeus II. (q.v.). The French king's arrogant treatment of Victor Amadeus spurred the lat ter to join the league of Austria, Spain and Venice against him in 1690. The campaign was carried on with varying success, but usually to the advantage of Louis, and the French victory at Marsiglia and the conduct of the allies induced Victor to come to terms with France (1696). By the treaty of Ryswick a general peace was concluded. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1700) Victor fought on the French side, until, dissatisfied with the con tinued insolence of Louis XIV. and of Philip of Spain, he went to the Austrians in 1704. The French invaded Piedmont, but were totally defeated at the siege of Turin by Victor Amadeus and Prince Eugene of Savoy (1706), and eventually driven from the country. By the treaty of Utrecht (1713) Victor received the long-coveted Montferrat and was made king of Sicily; but in 1718 the powers obliged him to exchange that kingdom for Sar dinia, which conferred on the rulers of Savoy and Piedmont the title subsequently borne by them until they assumed that of kings of Italy. In 1730 he abdicated in favour of his son, Charles Em manuel.
Charles Emmanuel III. (1730 '773), a born soldier, took part in the War of the Polish Succession on the side of France against Austria, and for his victory at Guastalla (1734) was awarded the duchy of Milan, which, how ever, he was forced to relinquish at the peace of Vienna (1736), retaining only Novara and Tortona. In the War of the Austrian Succession, which broke out on the death of the Emperor Charles VI., he took the side of Maria Theresa (1742). By the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, following on the defeat of the French, Savoy gained some further accessions of territory in Piedmont. The reign of Charles's son, Victor Amadeus III. (1773-1796), was a period of decadence; the king was incapable and extrav agant, and he chose equally incapable ministers. On the outbreak of the French Revolution he sided with the royalists and was eventually brought into conflict with the French republic. The army being demoralized and the treasury empty, the kingdom fell an easy prey to the republican forces. Savoy became a French province, and, although the Piedmontese troops resisted bravely for four years in the face of continual defeats, Victor at last gave up the struggle and signed the armistice of Cherasco. On his death in 1796, he was succeeded in turn by his three sons, Charles Emmanuel IV., Victor Emmanuel I. and Charles Felix.
IV.—Charles Emmanuel (1796-1802), believing in Bonaparte's promises, was induced to enter into a con federation with France and give up the citadel of Turin to the French, which meant the end of his country's independence. Realizing his folly he abdicated on Dec. 6, 1796, and retired to Sardinia, while the French occupied the whole of Piedmont. After the defeat of the French by the Austro-Russian armies during Bonaparte's absence in Egypt, Charles Emmanuel landed at Leghorn, hoping to regain his kingdom; but Napoleon returned, and by his brilliant victory at Marengo he reaffirmed his position in Italy. The king retired to Naples, abdicated once more (1802),
and entered the Society of Jesus; he died in Rome in 1819. Victor Emmanuel I. (1802-182o) remained in Sardinia until by the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna (June 9, 1815) his dominions were restored to him, with the addition of Genoa.
From this time the fortunes of the house of Savoy are bound up with those of Italy. (See ITALY : History.) Victor Emmanuel I. abdicated in 1821 in favour of his brother Charles Felix (1821-1831). The latter being without a son, the succession devolved upon Charles Albert, of the cadet line of the princes of Carignano, who were descended from Thomas, youngest son of Charles Emmanuel I. Charles Albert abdicated, on the evening of his defeat at Novara (April 20, 1849), in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel II. (1849-1878), 1 who on Feb. 18, 1861, was proclaimed king of Italy. Victor Emmanuel had married in 1842 Maria Adelaide, daughter of the archduke Rainer, who bore him several children, viz., Princess Clothilde (1843-1891), who married Prince Napoleon ; Humbert (q.v.), who succeeded him ; Amadeus, duke of Aosta
1890) ; Oddone, duke of Montferrat (1846-1866) ; and Princess Maria Pia (1847-1911). Humbert was succeeded by his only son, Victor Emmanuel III. (q.v.).
The second son of Victor Emmanuel II., Amadeus, duke of Aosta, was offered the crown of Spain by the Cortes in 187o, which he accepted, but, finding that his rule was not popular, he abdicated in 1873 rather than cause civil war. In 1867 he married Princess Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo della Cisterna, who bore him three sons, viz., Emmanuel Philibert, duke of Aosta (1869-1931), Victor Emmanuel, count of Turin, and Louis Amadeus, duke of the Abruzzi (1873-1933), an Italian naval officer and a distin guished traveller, explorer and man of science. The first wife of Amadeus, duke of Aosta, having died in 1876, he married Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte in 1888, who bore him a son, Humbert, count of Salemi (1889-1918). (L. V.)
Cibrario, Storia della monarchic di Savoia (Turin, 1840), for the early history ; E. Ricotti, Storia della monar chia Piemontese, in 6 vols. (Florence, 1861, etc.), for the period from 1504 to 1675 ; D. Carutti, Storia della diplomazia delta torte di Savoia (7 vols., Rome, 1875, etc.), from 1494; Nicomede Bianchi, Storia delta monarchia Piemontese (Turin, 1877), for the period from Victor Amadeus III. onward; id., Storia della diplomazia europea in Italia (8 vols., Turin, 1865), very important for recent history ; A. Wiel, The Romance of the House of Savoy (London, 1898), a popular and somewhat disjointed work. S. Hellman, Die Grafen von Savoyen (Innsbruck, 1900) ; F. de Angeli, Storia di Casa Savoia (Milan, 1906) ; C. W. P. Orton, Early History of the House of Savoy (1912).