Did King Victor Emmanuel II have a wife?
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
In addition to his morganatic second wife, Victor Emmanuel II had several other mistresses:
Victor, Duke of Münsterberg
Victor was the second son of the Bohemian king George of Poděbrady and his wife Kunigunde of Sternberg. In 1463 he married Margaret Ptáčková, the only daughter of Hynek Ptáček of Pirkstein, who died in 1472. Two years later he married Sophie, daughter of Duke Boleslaw II of Cieszyn. After her death in 1479, he married in 1480 Margarete Palaiologa of Montferrat (d. 1496). From these marriages, he had several daughters:and two sons:
List of Sicilian consorts
During the War against John II, there were three who claimed his throne, though this never included the Kingdom of Valencia. One of the three was Peter V of Aragon who remained a bachelor. The others Henry IV of Castile and René of Anjou had wives during their reign as pretenders. The wive of Henry IV was Joan of Portugal, a Portuguese infanta daughter of King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon. The first wive of Rene died prior to 1462; his second wife was Jeanne de Laval, a French noblewoman and daughter Guy XIV de Laval, Count of Laval and Isabella of Brittany.
Joan of Kent
Edmund was always a loyal supporter of his elder half-brother, King Edward II of England, which placed him in conflict with the queen, Isabella of France (who was Edmund's cousin), and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Edmund was executed after Edward II was deposed, and his wife and four children (including Joan, who was only two years old) placed under house arrest in Arundel Castle. It was a time of great strain for the widowed countess of Kent and her four children. They received respite after the new King, Edward III (Joan's first cousin), attained adulthood and took charge of affairs. He took on the responsibility for the family and looked after them well. Incidentally, his wife, Queen Philippa, was Joan's second cousin; both were descended from Philip III of France.
Anna Canalis di Cumiana
The couple made their marriage public on 3 September 1730, much to the dismay of the court. A month later, Victor Amadeus announced his wish to abdicate the throne and did so in a ceremony at the Castle of Rivoli on the day of his marriage. His son succeeded him as Charles Emmanuel III.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
Wilhelm's most contentious relationships were with his British relations. He craved the acceptance of his grandmother, Queen Victoria, and of the rest of her family. Despite the fact that his grandmother treated him with courtesy and tact, his other relatives found him arrogant and obnoxious, and they largely denied him acceptance. He had an especially bad relationship with his Uncle Bertie, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Between 1888 and 1901 Wilhelm resented his uncle, himself a mere heir to the British throne, treating Wilhelm not as Emperor of Germany, but merely as another nephew. In turn, Wilhelm often snubbed his uncle, whom he referred to as "the old peacock" and lorded his position as emperor over him. Beginning in the 1890s, Wilhelm made visits to England for Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight and often competed against his uncle in the yacht races. Edward's wife, the Danish-born Alexandra, first as Princess of Wales and later as Queen, also disliked Wilhelm, never forgetting the Prussian seizure of Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark in the 1860s, as well as being annoyed over Wilhelm's treatment of his mother. Despite his poor relations with his English relatives, nevertheless, when he received news that Queen Victoria was dying at Osborne House in January 1901, Wilhelm traveled to England and was at her bedside when she died, remaining for the funeral. He also was present at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910.
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
In 1905, King Alfonso XIII of Spain made an official state visit to the United Kingdom. Victoria Eugenie's uncle, King Edward VII, hosted a dinner in Buckingham Palace, in honour of the Spanish king. Alfonso was seated between Queen Alexandra and Princess Helena, King Edward's sister. He noticed Victoria Eugenie and asked who the dinner guest with almost white hair was. Everybody knew that King Alfonso was looking for a suitable bride and one of the strongest candidates was Princess Patricia of Connaught, another niece of King Edward. As Princess Patricia seemed not to be impressed by the Spanish monarch, Alfonso indulged his interest in Victoria Eugenie, and so the courtship began. When Alfonso returned to Spain he frequently sent postcards to Victoria Eugenie and spoke of her approvingly. His mother, Queen Maria Cristina, did not like her son's choice, in part because she considered the Battenbergs non-royal because of the obscure origin of Prince Henry's mother, and in part because she wanted her son to marry within her own family. Another obstacle to a marriage was religion: Alfonso was Roman Catholic, and Victoria Eugenie was Anglican. Another potential problem was haemophilia, the disease that Victoria had transmitted to some of her descendants. Eugenie's brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50% probability that Victoria Eugenie would be a carrier, although the degree of risk was not yet known. Still, if Alfonso married her, their issue could be affected by the disease. Nonetheless, Alfonso was not dissuaded.
Henry the Young King
The young Henry played an important part in the politics of his father's reign. On 2 November 1160, he was betrothed to Margaret of France, daughter of King Louis VII of France and his second wife, Constance of Castile, when he was 5 years of age and she was at least 2. The marriage was an attempt to finally settle the struggle between the counts of Anjou and the French kings over possession of the frontier district of the Norman Vexin, which Louis VII had acquired from Henry's grandfather, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, in around 1144. By the terms of the settlement, Margaret would bring the castles of the Norman Vexin to her new husband. However, the marriage was pushed through by Henry II when Young Henry and Margaret were small children so that he could seize the castles. A bitter border war followed between the kings.
Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly married Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, on 22 February 1804 at Coburg. Through this marriage he was the brother-in-law of King Leopold I of Belgium and the uncle of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the United Kingdom, and of King Ferdinand II of Portugal.
Victor, Prince Napoléon
He was born in the Palais Royal of Paris during the Second French Empire the son of the Prince Napoleon and his wife, Princess Marie Clothilde of Savoy, daughter of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. Two younger siblings would soon follow: Prince Louis (1864–1932) and Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte (1866–1926), later the Duchess of Aosta. At the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession to the throne behind the Prince Imperial and his father. The Empire came to an end in 1870 with the abdication of the Emperor Napoleon III.
List of prime ministers of King Victor Emmanuel III
King Victor Emmanuel III was the monarch of the Kingdom of Italy, from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946 and of Albania from April 1939 until May 1943.
Italian Egyptians
Italian-Egyptian relations were so strong and deemed so important that when the King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in 1946 after Italy's defeat in World War II, Egyptian King Faruk invited Victor Emmanuel III to live in Alexandria. Victor Emmanuel III died in Alexandria in December 1947 and was buried there, behind the altar of St Catherine's Cathedral.
William II, Count of Flanders
In November of that year, William married Beatrice of Brabant, daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen. They had no children. Meanwhile, the fight continued over Namur between the Dampierres and the Avesnes. On 19 May 1250, peace was signed. On 6 June the next year, William died at a tournament in Trazegnies. The war began anew with Guy, William's younger brother, taking up Flanders and the Dampierre claim.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
Wilhelm and his first wife, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, were married on 27 February 1881. They had seven children:
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
With the Treaty of Bruzolo (25 April 1610), Charles Emmanuel allied with France against Spain, but the assassination of Henry IV changed the situation, as the treaty was not recognized by Marie de' Medici, who immediately assumed regency for Henry's son Louis XIII, a minor. Nevertheless, Charles Emmanuel obtained the help of French troops to free Alba from the Spaniards (January 1617), as the new king resumed his father's alliance with Savoy. His sister Christine Marie was married to Charles Emmanuel's son, Victor Amadeus in 1619.
In the First Genoese-Savoyard War of 1625, Charles Emmanuel tried with the help of France to obtain access to the Mediterranean Sea at the expense of Genoa. After Spanish intervention, the status-quo was restored in the Treaty of Monçon.
However, when the French occupied Casale Monferrato during the War of the Mantuan Succession, Charles Emmanuel allied with Spain. When Richelieu invaded Piedmont and conquered Susa, the duke changed sides again and returned to an alliance with France. However, when Philip IV of Spain sent two invasion forces from Genoa and Como, Charles Emmanuel declared himself neutral, and in 1630 Richelieu ordered a French army to march into Savoy to force the duke to comply with the pacts. The French troops, soon backed by another army, occupied Pinerolo and Avigliana. The Savoy army under Victor Amadeus was defeated in Lower Valsusa.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
His distant relationship with his mother was always strained and has been blamed on her ambition to keep power to herself. Marie Jeanne spent most of her time relegated to state business which she enjoyed and had little time for her only child whom she kept under close supervision in order to make sure he would try to assume power. Anne Marie gave her husband six children but also had two stillbirths of each gender one in 1691 and again in 1697. Three of these children would go on to have further progeny including the eldest Maria Adelaide who was the mother of Louis XV of France. His second daughter Maria Luisa known in the family as "Louison" would marry Philip V of Spain in 1701 and was also regent of Spain for various periods. These two marriages were tactics used by Louis XIV to keep Victor Amadeus close to France prior to the War of the Spanish Succession.
Victor Amadeus I, Prince of Carignano
Made a Knight of the Annunciation in 1696, he married, at Moncalieri on 7 November 1714, Marie Victoire Françoise of Savoy (1690–1766), legitimised daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, King of Sardinia and of Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, Countess of Verrue.
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
Several women were lined up as possible brides for Albert Victor. The first, in 1889, was his cousin Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, but she did not return his affections and refused his offer of engagement. She would later marry Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, another of Albert Victor's cousins, in 1894. The second, in 1890, was a love match with Princess Hélène of Orléans, a daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne who was living in England after being banished from France in 1886.
Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo
On 30 May 1867 in Turin, she married Prince Amadeo of Savoy, the Duke of Aosta and second son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. An urban legend circulates claiming that numerous tragedies befell the wedding of Maria Vittoria and the Duke of Aosta.
Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia
On 7 March 1802 Charles Emmanuel's wife Marie Clothilde died. He was so moved by her death that he decided to abdicate, June 4, 1802 in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel. Charles Emmanuel retained the personal title of King. He lived in Rome and in the nearby town of Frascati.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
—Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, who, as the mistress of Napoleon III, pleaded the case for Italian unification.
William IV, Count of Ponthieu
Talvas was married on August 20, 1195 to Alys, Countess of the Vexin, the daughter of King Louis VII of France. She was some eighteen years older than he, and was said by some to have been seduced by King Henry II of England while betrothed to his son, King Richard the Lionheart. Richard sent her back to her brother, King Philip II of France, refusing to marry his father's mistress.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; , ; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he held the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–41) and King of the Albanians (1939–43). During his reign of nearly 46 years, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two world wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism.
Princess Isabella of Bavaria
As Duke and Duchess of Genoa, Isabella and her husband often attended other royal functions as representatives of the House of Savoy. For instance, in 1911 they attended the unveiling of a large monument of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy in Rome. The event had nearly one million witnesses, and was also attended by dowager queens Maria Pia of Portugal and Margherita of Italy and the Duke and Duchess of Aosta.
House of Plantagenet
Edward I married Eleanor of Castile, daughter of King Ferdinand of Castile, a great grandson of Henry II through his second daughter Eleanor in 1254. Edward and Eleanor had sixteen children; five daughters survived to adulthood, but only one son survived Edward:Following Eleanor's death in 1290, Edward married Margaret of France, daughter of Philip III of France, in 1299. Edward and Margaret had two sons, who both lived to adulthood, and a daughter who died as a child:Evidence for Edward's involvement in legal reform is hard to find but his reign saw a major programme of legal change. Much of the drive and determination is likely to have come from the king and his experience of the baronial reform movement of the late 1250s and early 1260s. With the Statutes of Mortmain, Edward imposed his authority over the Church; the statutes prohibited land donation to the Church, asserted the rights of the Crown at the expense of traditional feudal privileges, promoted the uniform administration of justice, raised income and codified the legal system. His military campaigns left him in heavy debt and when Philip IV of France confiscated the Duchy of Gascony in 1294, Edward needed funds to wage war in France. When Edward summoned a precedent-setting assembly in order to raise more taxes for military finance, he included lesser landowners and merchants. The resulting parliament included barons, clergy, knights, and burgesses for the first time.
Frederick William II of Prussia
His marriage with Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Crown Princess of Prussia, daughter of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, contracted 14 July 1765 in Charlottenburg, was dissolved in 1769. He then married Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt on 14 July 1769 also in Charlottenburg. Although he had seven children by his second wife, he had an ongoing relationship with his mistress, Wilhelmine Enke (created Countess Wilhelmine von Lichtenau in 1796), a woman of strong intellect and much ambition, and had five children by her—the first when she was still in her teens.
Victor Amadeus, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
He was the sixth (but second surviving) son of Christian II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, by his wife Eleonore Sophie, daughter of John the Younger, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Prior to his government's invasion of Ethiopia, Victor Emmanuel travelled in 1934 to Italian Somaliland, where he celebrated his 65th birthday on November 11. In 1936, Victor Emmanuel assumed the crown as Emperor of Ethiopia. His decision to do this was not universally accepted. Victor Emmanuel was only able to assume the crown after the Italian Army invaded Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
Vitale II Michiel
Doge Vitale Michiel II's rule had lasted 16 years. For 15 years of those years, he had led the Most Serene Republic well in a difficult period, balancing Venice between the Western and Eastern Empires. He was married to the daughter of Bohemund of Antioch, Felicita Maria di Boemodo. His son, Nicolo, married the Hungarian princess Maria, daughter of Ladislaus II.
Victor II, Duke of Ratibor
Victor was born at Schloss Rauden, Kingdom of Prussia, eldest son of Victor I, Duke of Ratibor (1818–1893), (son of Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and Princess Constanze of Hohenlohe-Langenburg) and his wife, Princess Amélie of Fürstenberg (1821–1899), (daughter of Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg and Princess Amalie of Baden).
Stephen II of Hungary
According to the "Illuminated Chronicle", Stephen had no "wish to marry a lawful wife but took to himself concubines and harlots". However, his advisors, "grieving that the kingdom was in a sorry state and the King without a heir", persuaded him to marry. They chose a daughter of the late Robert I of Capua as their monarch's wife, although her name was not recorded. Stephen died childless.
Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu
Enguerrand II was the eldest son and heir of Hugh II, Count of Ponthieu and his wife Bertha of Aumale, heiress of Aumale.
Enguerrand was married to Adelaide, daughter of Robert I, Duke of Normandy and sister of William the Conqueror. But at the Council of Reims in 1049, when the proposed marriage of Duke William with Matilda of Flanders was prohibited based on consanguinity, so was Enguerrand's existing marriage to Adelaide, causing him to be excommunicated. The marriage was apparently annulled c.1049/50. He had given her in dower, Aumale, which she retained after the dissolution of their marriage.
Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia
Maria Theresa married on 25 April 1789 at the age of 15 with the 29-year-old Victor Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta future King Victor Emmanuel I. Their relationship was a happy one. She was a good friend of Marie Clotilde of France, the childless consort of Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont. She was also close to the Duchess of Chablais. At the time of her marriage, her spouse was the Duke of Aosta as such she was styled as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Aosta till she became Queen. The couple had six daughters and one son, who died young. Upon the invasion of Savoy by Napoleon in 1798, she left with her family first to Tuscany and then to Sardinia.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
The Italian monarchy enjoyed popular support for decades. Foreigners noted how even as late as the 1940s newsreel images of King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Elena evoked applause, sometimes cheering, when played in cinemas, in contrast to the hostile silence shown toward images of Fascist leaders.
Charles Albert of Sardinia
Maria Theresa had two miscarriages – the second in 1819 as a result of a carriage accident – but gave birth to a son on 14 March 1820, Victor Emmanuel, the future king of Italy.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
The king subsequently met with Garibaldi at Teano, receiving from him the control of southern Italy. Another series of plebiscites in the occupied lands resulted in the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel as the first King of Italy by the new Parliament of unified Italy, on 17 March 1861. He did not renumber himself after assuming the new royal title, however. Turin became the capital of the new state. Only Rome, Veneto, and Trentino remained to be conquered.
Anna Komnene Doukaina
Anna, known as Agnes in French, was William's third wife. William was childless with his first two wives, but Anna bore him two daughters, Isabella and Margaret. After William II's death in 1278, per the Treaty of Viterbo, the princely title passed to the King of Sicily, Charles of Anjou. Anna inherited the Villehardouins' patrimonial domain, the Barony of Kalamata, and the fortress of Chlemoutsi, which she had received as a dowry from William. She also became guardian of her youngest daughter Margaret, while Isabella had been married to Charles' son Philip and had gone to Italy, where she remained even after her husband died in 1277.
William II of Sicily
In 1174 and 1175 William made treaties with Genoa and Venice and his marriage in February 1177 with Joan, daughter of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, marks his high position in European politics. This was not his first attempted marriage; an earlier effort by Bertrand II, archbishop of Trani, to negotiate the hand of a Byzantine princess yielded no fruit.
Eudokia Komnene, wife of William VIII of Montpellier
Eudokia Komnene was sent to Provence by Manuel in 1174 to be betrothed to a son of the royal family of Aragon-Barcelona. According to untrustworthy troubadour narrative, her projected husband was to be their eldest son, King Alfonso II of Aragon (who had just married Sancha of Castile). The Annals of the city of Pisa report that the intended bridegroom was to be Alfonso's younger brother, Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence. The projected marriage aimed at thwarting the influence of the Emperor Barbarossa through an Aragonese and Provençal alliance with Emperor Manuel I of Constantinople. However the betrothal was terminated by Emperor Frederick I as the liege lord over the Comté de Provence, the emperor proposing Guilhem of Montpellier as a suitable alternative to become her husband. The betrothal with Raymond Berenger was at end in 1179 at latest. Count Raymond died in 1181, incidentally in Montpellier.
Queen Victoria
Victoria's eldest daughter became Empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she was widowed within the year, and Victoria's grandchild Wilhelm became German Emperor as Wilhelm II. Under Wilhelm, Victoria and Albert's hopes of a liberal Germany were not fulfilled. He believed in autocracy. Victoria thought he had "little heart or "Zartgefühl" [tact] – and ... his conscience & intelligence have been completely wharped ".
Tvrtko II of Bosnia
Stephen Tvrtko II was married during his first reign; his wife was mentioned by the Ragusans in 1409 as "the Queen, wife of King Tvrtko of Bosnia", but her name was not recorded. During his second reign, he considered it very important to marry a Catholic noblewoman and entertained the idea of choosing a bride from the Italian House of Malatesta. The collapse of his alliance with Venice meant that the plan was never realized.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 at the Crown Prince's Palace, Berlin, to Victoria, Princess Royal, the wife of Prince Frederick William of Prussia (the future Frederick III). His mother was the eldest daughter of Britain's Queen Victoria. At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Frederick William IV was king of Prussia, and his grandfather and namesake Wilhelm was acting as regent. He was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, but more importantly, the first son of the crown prince of Prussia. From 1861, Wilhelm was second in the line of succession to Prussia, and also, after 1871, to the newly created German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the Prussian king. At the time of his birth, he was also sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, after his maternal uncles and his mother.
Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours
Her husband also had various mistresses and illegitimate children, who Marie Jeanne Baptiste was obliged to ignore. In 1672 Hortense Mancini, on the run from her husband, sought and received the protection of Charles Emmanuel II. Much to Marie Jeanne Baptiste's annoyance, she became a regular mistress and was given the Château de Chambéry. Marie Jeanne Baptiste was unable to remove her from there until Charles Emmanuel died. On 12 June 1675 Charles Emmanuel suddenly died in Turin at the age of forty after a series of convulsive fevers. On his death bed he pronounced his wife as Regent of Savoy over his son and heir.
Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
They had six daughters and one son who died very young:
Italian cruiser Amalfi
In the period between the end of the Italo-Turkish War in 1912 and Italy's entry into the First World War in 1915, "Amalfi" is mentioned in several news accounts that offer hints of her peace-time activities. In June 1913, "Amalfi" escorted King Victor Emmanuel III and his wife, Queen Elena, on the royal yacht "Trinacria" to the annual regatta at Kiel, Germany. While there, Victor Emmanuel met with Kaiser Wilhelm II, to discuss—it was speculated in a contemporary news report—the ongoing Balkan War. After departing from Kiel, "Amalfi" escorted the King and Queen on "Trinacria" to their next stop at Stockholm.
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Vittorio Emanuele unilaterally declared himself King of Italy on 15 December 1969. He argued that by agreeing to submit to a referendum on his place as head of state, his father (Umberto II) had thereby abdicated. Vittorio Emanuele took this action after his father allegedly called for Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta to visit him in Portugal to name him his heir. Under his self-assumed powers as King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele conferred the title of Duchess of Sant'Anna di Valdieri on his then fiancée, Marina Doria.
Umberto I of Italy
Because of the upheaval the Savoys caused to a number of other royal houses (all the Italian ones, and those related closely to them, such as the Bourbons of Spain and France) in 1859–60, only a minority of royal families in the 1860s were willing to establish relations with the newly founded Italian royal family. It proved difficult to find any royal bride for either of the sons of king Victor Emmanuel II. (His younger son Amedeo, Umberto's brother, married ultimately a Piedmontese subject, princess Vittoria of Cisterna.) Their conflict with the papacy did not help these matters. Not many eligible Catholic royal brides were easily available for young Umberto.
William II of England
Emma Mason has noted that while during his reign William himself was never openly accused of homosexuality, in the decades after his death numerous medieval writers spoke of this and a few began to describe him as a "sodomite". Modern historians cannot state with certainty whether William was homosexual or not; however, he never took a wife or a mistress or fathered any children. As a bachelor king without an heir, William would have been pressed on all sides to take a wife and would have had numerous proposals for marriage. The fact that he never accepted any of these proposals nor had any relations with women may show that he either had no desire for women, or he may have taken a vow of chastity or celibacy.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation, King of Italy, King of Sardinia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia, Duke of Savoy, count of Maurienne, Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy; Prince of Piedmont, Carignano, Oneglia, Poirino, Trino; Prince and Perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire; prince of Carmagnola, Montmellian with Arbin and Francin, prince bailliff of the Duchy of Aosta, Prince of Chieri, Dronero, Crescentino, Riva di Chieri and Banna, Busca, Bene, Brà, Duke of Genoa, Monferrat, Aosta, Duke of Chablais, Genevois, Duke of Piacenza, Marquis of Saluzzo (Saluces), Ivrea, Susa, of Maro, Oristano, Cesana, Savona, Tarantasia, Borgomanero and Cureggio, Caselle, Rivoli, Pianezza, Govone, Salussola, Racconigi with Tegerone, Migliabruna and Motturone, Cavallermaggiore, Marene, Modane and Lanslebourg, Livorno Ferraris, Santhià Agliè, Centallo and Demonte, Desana, Ghemme, Vigone, Count of Barge, Villafranca, Ginevra, Nizza, Tenda, Romont, Asti, Alessandria, del Goceano, Novara, Tortona, Bobbio, Soissons, Sant'Antioco, Pollenzo, Roccabruna, Tricerro, Bairo, Ozegna, of Apertole, Baron of Vaud and of Faucigni, Lord of Vercelli, Pinerolo, of Lomellina, of Valle Sesia, of Ceva Marquisate, Overlord of Monaco, Roccabruna and 11/12th of Menton, Noble patrician of Venice, patrician of Ferrara.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Other candidates included Maria Antonia of Austria, a Countess Palatine of Neuburg and Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici. Victor Amadeus was keen on the match with Tuscany and negotiations were kept secret from France even though the match never happened. Under the influence of Louis XIV and Marie Jeanne, Victor Amadeus was forced to marry a French princess Anne Marie d'Orléans. His mother was keen on the match and had always promoted French interests having been born in Paris a member of a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. He asked for Anne Marie's hand in March 1684, Victor Amadeus, who had been using political allies to gain support to end his mother's grip on power, succeeded in 1684 when she was banished from further influence in the state.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
In 1866 Victor Emmanuel allied himself with Prussia in the Third Italian War of Independence. Although not victorious in the Italian theater, he managed anyway to receive Veneto after the Austrian defeat in Germany. The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Clarendon, visited Florence in December 1867 and reported to London after talking to various Italian politicians: "There is universal agreement that Victor Emmanuel is an imbecile; he is a dishonest man who tells lies to everyone; at this rate he will end up losing his crown and ruining both Italy and his dynasty." In 1870, after two failed attempts by Garibaldi, he also took advantage of the Prussian victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War to capture Rome after the French withdrew. He entered Rome on 20 September 1870 and set up the new capital there on 2 July 1871, after a temporary move to Florence in 1864. The new Royal residence was the Quirinal Palace.
England in the High Middle Ages
In 1002 King Æthelred II of England married Emma, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, succeeded to the English throne in 1042. This led to the establishment of a powerful Norman interest in English politics, as Edward drew heavily on his former hosts for support, bringing in Norman courtiers, soldiers, and clerics and appointing them to positions of power, particularly in the Church. Childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandy's ambitions for the English throne.
Victoria of France
Victoria of France (; 24 June 1556 – 17 August 1556) and her twin sister Joan were the last children born to King Henry II of France and his wife, Catherine de' Medici.
1946 Italian institutional referendum
However, Victor Emmanuel retained the title of king until his abdication in May 1946. Umberto then formally ascended the throne as Umberto II. It has been said that the abdication had been imposed by opponents, but the royal house, too, had an interest in the manoeuvre. It was convenient for the House of Savoy, in fact, to have a popular king "on stage" at that crucial moment. Umberto was more acceptable to the Italian people: he and his wife Maria José were young, elegant and cultivated, and presented a stark contrast to the old, rough Victor Emmanuel who was unknown for any particular activity, apart from his collection of coins (114,000 items). Umberto was relatively well received by the people from the moment of his crowning, even if his wife (a foreigner) was kept at some distance. He was commonly called "Il Re di Maggio" (the King of May), with reference to his brief rule of forty days.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
A domestic triumph for Wilhelm was when his daughter Victoria Louise married the Duke of Brunswick in 1913; this helped heal the rift between the House of Hanover and the House of Hohenzollern, which followed the annexation of Hanover by Prussia in 1866.
Franciszka Korwin-Krasińska
As the young couple lived separate lives, Franciszka Korwin-Krasińska, now Wettin, often stayed with her aunt and uncle. She visited Warsaw with her aunt during the Radom Confederation and accompanied her on a trip to Zofia's estate in Opole, where Franciszka was reunited with Charles in 1775. Later that year, in response to Charles's own persistence and that of other supporters at the Saxon royal court, the marriage was finally recognized, though only as a "morganatic marriage" - an alien concept in the Republic of Two Nations where all nobles counted as members of a single class. However Franciszka's hereditary title of "princess" was arranged and granted by Emperor Joseph II and not by the Prussian court. Franciszka and her daughter moved to Saxony to live with Charles in his castle. She was accorded an annuity by the Polish Sejm.
The couple had two daughters: Maria Theresia (born and died 1767) and Maria Christina (1770–1851), who went on to become grandmother to Victor Emmanuel II, crowned King of Italy in 1861.
Franciszka likely died of breast cancer.
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
Second marriage with Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska of Poland, daughter of King John III Sobieski:He had an illegitimate child with his French mistress Agnes Françoise Louchier;
Maria Angela Caterina d'Este
Maria Angela Caterina d'Este (1 March 1656 – 16 July 1722) was an Italian born Princess of Modena who was later the Princess of Carignano by marriage. She was the wife of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano. In France she was known as "Angélique Catherine d'Este" and in Modena and Savoy she was known as "Maria Caterina d'Este". She is an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and thus the whole present pretending Italian Royal Family. She is also an ancestor of the pretender of France.
Anna (Anisia)
Anna's actual time as empress was rather short-lived. Not long after taking the throne in 1218, Ivan Asen arranged his politically motivated marriage to Hungarian princess Anna Maria, daughter of King Andrew II (r. 1205–1235). Ivan Asen effectively demanded the marriage by prohibiting Andrew and his forces from passing through Bulgarian territory on their way back from the Fifth Crusade. After the future marriage of Ivan Asen and Anna Maria was settled, his first wife Anna was retired to a monastery and became a nun under the name Anisia. In a later Bulgarian Orthodox text, she was praised as an Orthodox empress of Bulgaria. Ivan Asen married Anna Maria three years later, in 1221, because the marriage required the personal approval of the Pope. As common with ex-consorts, Ivan Asen's first wife finished her life exiled to a monastery.
Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
He married Infanta Maria Antonietta of Spain (1729–1785), youngest daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. They were married on 31 May 1750 at Oulx and later had twelve children. He had a loving relationship with his wife who exerted little influence over her husband. The marriage had been arranged by Maria Antonietta's half brother, the ruling Ferdinand VI of Spain. The Spanish Infanta had been previously rejected by Louis, Dauphin of France. The union was used to strengthen relations between Madrid and Turin having fought on opposing sides in the War of the Austrian Succession. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war.
Victor Emmanuel Railway
At the time both Savoy and Piedmont were ruled by Victor Emmanuel who was also Duke of Savoy and soon to be King of Italy. Victor Emmanuel was a constitutional monarch. He and his prime minister Count Camille Cavour were both keen to introduce railways in the interests of modernising and unifying Italy. At the time Italy consisted of small states and many of these were under Austrian control but the King and his Prime Minister hoped to change this.
List of big-game hunters
Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878) was King of Sardinia from 1849 to 1861 and King of Italy from 1861 to 1878. The King is credited with saving the Alpine ibex from extirpation from the Alps by creating the Royal Hunting Reserve of the Gran Paradiso in 1856. At the time of its creation there were estimated to be only 60 animals remaining in the Alps, the creation of the park and the appointment of a staff of 55 game keepers to watch and ward the remaining animals saw their numbers climb to between 500 and 1,000 head by 1877, this in spite of the King shooting on average 50 head a year. In 1920 the Royal Hunting Reserve formed the basis of Gran Paradiso National Park by which time it held over 4,000 head of ibex. An enthusiastic alpine sportsman, the King is believed to have shot around 232 male ibex, 22 female ibex and over 700 chamois in his life.
Marie José of Belgium
Following Italy's defection to the Allied side in the war, her discredited father-in-law, King Victor Emmanuel III, withdrew from government. Her husband became acting monarch under the title of Lieutenant General of the Realm. He and Marie José toured war torn Italy, where they made a positive impression. However, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to abdicate until only weeks before the referendum.
Rosa Vercellana
Their affair caused a great scandal in 1849 when Victor Emanuel was crowned King of Sardinia. When his Queen died in 1855, the King named Rosa Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda by royal decree in 1858. The King also recognized their two children and assigned them the surname Guerrieri. In 1860 Victor Emmanuel established her in a new residence in a restored castle of La Mandria, near Venaria.
Caterina Visconti
Early in 1379, a possible marriage was discussed between Caterina and King Richard II of England. The King's tutor and advisor, Sir Simon Burley went to Milan to negotiate, but he had misgivings about the match. Bernabò also rejected it, as he favoured another alliance for his daughter. On 2 October 1380, in the Church of San Giovanni in Conca, at the age of about nineteen, Caterina married her first cousin, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, whose first wife Isabelle of Valois had died in 1373 in childbirth, leaving him three sons who all died young, and a daughter, Valentina Visconti, who, in 1389, married Louis, Duke of Orleans. From Isabelle, Gian Galeazzo had inherited the title of Count of Vertus in Champagne.
Territorial evolution of France
The struggle against the Norman and Angevin kings of England was the opportunity for the kings of France to extend their authority. They had, it is true, to face up to the formidable challenge with which they were presented.
The Duke of Normandy William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066 through his victory at Hastings over the Saxons. On the extinction of his male line of descent, his heir was the Duke of Anjou, Henry Plantagenet, grandson by his mother of Henry I of England. Two months before he ascended to the English throne, as Henry II, he married Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, the richest heiress in the French kingdom and ex-wife of the King of France. The kings of France nevertheless, held some trump cards: the prestige and prerogatives of their position, the dissent at the heart of the Plantagenet family and the difficulty the latter had in exacting obedience in the South-West.
Umberto II of Italy
In 1943, the Crown Princess Marie José involved herself in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the United States, and her interlocutor from the Vatican was Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, a senior diplomat who later became Pope Paul VI. Her attempts were not sponsored by the king and Umberto was not (directly, at least) involved in them. Victor Emmanuel III was anti-clerical, distrusting the Catholic Church, and wanted nothing to do with a peace attempt made through papal intermediaries. More importantly, Victor Emmanuel was proudly misogynistic, holding women in complete contempt as the king believed that it was a scientific fact that the brains of women were significantly more underdeveloped compared to the brains of men. Victor Emmaneul simply did not believe that Marie José was competent to serve as a diplomat. For all these reasons, the king vetoed Marie José's peace attempt. After her failure – she never met the American agents – she was sent with her children to Sarre, in Aosta Valley, and isolated from the political life of the Royal House.
Roger II of Sicily
Roger's first marriage was in 1117 to Elvira, a daughter of King Alfonso VI of Castile. When she died, rumors flew that Roger had died as well, as his grief had made him a recluse. They had six children:Roger's second marriage was in 1149 to Sibylla, daughter of Hugh II, Duke of Burgundy. They had two children:Roger's third marriage was in 1151 to Beatrice of Rethel, a grandniece of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. They had one daughter:Roger also had five known illegitimate children:
Norman conquest of England
In 1002 English king Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, succeeded to the English throne in 1042. This led to the establishment of a powerful Norman interest in English politics, as Edward drew heavily on his former hosts for support, bringing in Norman courtiers, soldiers, and clerics and appointing them to positions of power, particularly in the Church. Childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandy's ambitions for the English throne.
Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg
King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia approached her family and proposed a union between Polyxena and Victor Amadeus II's son and heir Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont. A previous match orchestrated by Agostino Steffani with a daughter of Rinaldo, reigning Duke of Modena had come to nothing. His first wife, Countess Palatine Anne Christine of Sulzbach died on 12 March 1723, less than a year after her marriage and barely a week after giving birth to a son, Victor Amadeus, Duke of Aosta (7 March 1723 – 1 August 1725).
Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme
He married on 12 February 1896 in Brussels with Princess Henriette of Belgium, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders (1837–1905) and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1845–1912). King Albert I of Belgium was his brother-in-law.
Palazzo Carignano
The Palazzo was the birthplace of Marie Thérèse, "Princesse de Lamballe" in 1749 – confidant of Marie Antoinette and for whom she died in 1792. Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano was born there in 1770. It was also the birthplace of the first King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II in 1820.
Victor I, Duke of Ratibor
Wilhelm married 19 April 1845 at Donaueschingen to Princess Amélie of Fürstenberg (1821–1899), third child of Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg, and his wife, Princess Amalie of Baden.
Monarchy of the Netherlands
The 58-year reign of Queen Wilhelmina was dominated by the two World Wars. She married a German prince, Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who was not happy with his unrewarding role of husband-to-the-queen. Wilhelmina's strong personality and unrelenting passion to fulfill her inherited task overpowered many men in position of authority, including ministers, Prime Ministers and her own husband. She is mostly remembered for her role during World War II. The initial disappointment of many Dutch people because of her quick withdrawal to London faded (though it was never forgotten and by some was never forgiven) when she proved to be of great moral support to the people and the resistance in her occupied country. Hendrik and Wilhelmina had one daughter, Juliana, who came to the throne in 1948. They lived in The Hague and in Palace 't Loo (Paleis 't Loo) in Apeldoorn.
She died in 1962.
For her early reign and character, the letters of Queen Victoria give a good perspective.
Maximilian II of Bavaria
As a king Maximilian he was hampered by constant ill health, which compelled him to be often abroad, and when at home to live much in the country. The relationship with his father, who also has persisted in his architectural projects after his abdication, was mostly tense. By his wife, Marie Friederike Franziska Hedwig, daughter of Prince William of Prussia, whom he married in 1842, he had two sons:
both of whom became king, were declared insane, and deposed.
Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel first met Marie Jeanne of Savoy in 1659 and fell in love with her. However, his mother disagreed with the pairing, and encouraged him to marry Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans, daughter of his maternal uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of his mother Christine Marie. They were married 3 April 1663. The couple had no issue. His mother died at the end of 1663, and his first wife died at the start of 1664. This left him free to get married on 20 May 1665 to Marie Jeanne of Savoy. They had one son:
Charles Emmanuel II also recognized five of his illegitimate children by three different mistresses.
Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont
In 1713, at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, by the Treaty of Utrecht, Sicily was ceded to the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus's father. As such, Victor Amadeus became the heir to a kingdom rather than just a duchy. In September his parents set off for Palermo in Sicily in order to be crowned officially. Victor Amadeus II asked his mother, Marie Jeanne of Savoy, to maintain a regency in his absence but she declined and the younger Victor Amadeus was give the post. Victor Amadeus's regency ended when his father returned in September 1714. Strained relations between Savoy and Austria caused plans for the Prince of Piedmont to wed Maria Amalia, a daughter of the late Emperor Joseph I, but plans were ignored by his father. There were also negotiations for Victor Amadeus to wed Infanta Francisca Josefa of Portugal or Elisabeth Farnese.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
He became King of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1849 when his father abdicated the throne, after a humiliating military defeat by the Austrians at the Battle of Novara. Victor Emmanuel was immediately able to obtain a rather favorable armistice at Vignale by the Austrian imperial army commander, Radetzky. The treaty, however, was not ratified by the Piedmontese lower parliamentary house, the Chamber of Deputies, and Victor Emmanuel retaliated by firing his Prime Minister, Claudio Gabriele de Launay, replacing him with Massimo D'Azeglio. After new elections, the peace with Austria was accepted by the new Chamber of Deputies. In 1849, Victor Emmanuel also fiercely suppressed a revolt in Genoa, defining the rebels as a "vile and infected race of canailles."
In 1852, he appointed Count Camillo Benso of Cavour ("Count Cavour") as Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia. This turned out to be a wise choice, since Cavour was a political mastermind and a major player in the Italian unification in his own right. Victor Emmanuel II soon became the symbol of the "Risorgimento", the Italian unification movement of the 1850s and early 60s. He was especially popular in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont because of his respect for the new constitution and his liberal reforms.
Following Victor Emmanuel's advice, Cavour joined Britain and France in the Crimean War against Russia. Cavour was reluctant to go to war due to the power of Russia at the time and the expense of doing so. Victor Emmanuel, however, was convinced of the rewards to be gained from the alliance created with Britain and, more importantly, France.
House of Savoy
Victor Emmanuel II, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation, King of Italy, King of Sardinia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia, Duke of Savoy, Count of Maurienne, Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy; Prince of Piedmont, Carignano, Oneglia, Poirino, Trino; Prince and Perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire; Prince of Carmagnola, Montmellian with Arbin and Francin, Prince bailliff of the Duchy of Aosta, Prince of Chieri, Dronero, Crescentino, Riva di Chieri e Banna, Busca, Bene, Brà, Duke of Genoa, Monferrat, Aosta, Duke of Chablais, Genevois, Duke of Piacenza, Marquis of Saluzzo (Saluces), Ivrea, Susa, del Maro, Oristano, Cesana, Savona, Tarantasia, Borgomanero e Cureggio, Caselle, Rivoli, Pianezza, Govone, Salussola, Racconigi con Tegerone, Migliabruna e Motturone, Cavallermaggiore, Marene, Modane e Lanslebourg, Livorno Ferraris, Santhià Agliè, Centallo e Demonte, Desana, Ghemme, Vigone, Count of Barge, Villafranca, Ginevra, Nizza, Tenda, Romont, Asti, Alessandria, del Goceano, Novara, Tortona, Bobbio, Soissons, Sant'Antioco, Pollenzo, Roccabruna, Tricerro, Bairo, Ozegna, delle Apertole, Baron of Vaud e del Faucigni, Lord of Vercelli, Pinerolo, della Lomellina, della Valle Sesia, del marchesato di Ceva, Overlord of Monaco, Roccabruna and 11/12th of Menton, Noble patrician of Venice, patrician of Ferrara.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro.
Eleanor of Castile
The young couple were married at the monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos, on 1 November 1254. Edward and Eleanor were second cousins once removed, as Edward's grandfather King John of England and Eleanor's great-grandmother Eleanor of England were the son and daughter of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Following the marriage they spent nearly a year in Gascony, with Edward ruling as lord of Aquitaine. During this time Eleanor, aged thirteen and a half, almost certainly gave birth to her first child, a short lived daughter . She journeyed to England alone in late summer of 1255. Edward followed her a few months later.
Richard II, Duke of Normandy
Richard attempted to improve relations with England through his sister Emma of Normandy's marriage to King Ethelred. This marriage was significant in that it later gave his grandson, William the Conqueror, the basis of his claim to the throne of England. The improved relations proved to be beneficial to Ethelred when in 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard invaded England. Emma with her two sons Edward and Alfred fled to Normandy followed shortly thereafter by her husband king Ethelred. Soon after the death of Ethelred, Cnut, King of England forced Emma to marry him while Richard was forced to recognize the new regime as his sister was again Queen. Richard had contacts with Scandinavian Vikings throughout his reign. He employed Viking mercenaries and concluded a treaty with Sweyn Forkbeard who was en route to England.
Vettor Pisani-class cruiser
"Carlo Alberto" acted as the royal yacht for King Victor Emmanuel III when he attended the coronation ceremony for King Edward VII of the United Kingdom in 1902. Victor Emmanuel invited Guglielmo Marconi to accompany him and conduct radio experiments en route. When the coronation was delayed by Edward's illness, the ship took Victor Emmanuel to meetings with Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in Kronstadt. She then ferried Marconi across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia for experiments transmitting radio messages across the ocean. After 15 December, when Marconi successfully transmitted messages from Canada to England, "Carlo Alberto" was sent to Venezuelan waters during the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–03, when an international force of British, German, and Italian warships blockaded Venezuela over the country's refusal to pay foreign debts. From 1907 to 1910 she served as a gunnery and torpedo training ship.
Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia was the daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy, by his wife Adelaide of Austria. Her sister Maria Clotilde was the "princesse Napoléon" as wife of Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte and her brothers were King Umberto I of Italy and King Amadeo of Spain.
Margherita of Savoy
Margherita signed the wedding contract with her first cousin, Umberto, Prince of Piedmont, on 21 April 1868 in the ballroom of the royal palace in Turin, followed the next day by one civilian and one religious wedding ceremony. After the wedding, the crown prince couple settled in Naples. On 11 November 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, later Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, in Capodimonte in Naples.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Later that same year, Victor Emmanuel II sent his forces to fight the papal army at Castelfidardo and drove the Pope into Vatican City. His success at these goals led him to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Then, Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples, and Sardinia-Piedmont grew even larger. On 17 March 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was officially established and Victor Emmanuel II became its king.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
His relationship with his younger son and eventual successor Charles Emmanuel was a cold one and the two were never close. Victor Amadeus organised the first two marriages of Charles Emmanuel the first one being to Anne Christine of Sulzbach, daughter of the Count Palatine of Sulzbach which produced a son which died in infancy. The second marriage was to Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg a first cousin of Anne Christine and mother of six children including the future Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia.
Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel and his family were forced to withdraw to Sardinia, which was the only part of his domains not conquered by the French. Charles Emmanuel himself took little interest in the rule of Sardinia, living with his wife on the mainland in Naples and Rome until his wife's death in 1802, which led the childless Charles Emmanuel to abdicate the throne for of his younger brother.
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
In 1584 he married his first cousin-once-removed, Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain, daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth of Valois, who bore him ten children:In Riva di Chieri on 28 November 1629, he secretly married his long-time and official mistress, Marguerite de Rossillon, "Marchesa" di Riva di Chieri (bap. 24 December 1599 – 10 November 1640), with whom he had four children, legitimized after the wedding but without succession rights:In addition he had several illegitimate children:
Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym
In Weilburg on 29 October 1793 Victor Karl Frederick married Princess Amelia of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (b. Kirchheimbolanden, 7 August 1776 - d. Schaumburg, 19 February 1841), daughter of Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg, and through her mother, Princess Carolina, a great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain. They had four daughters:
Emilie Ortlöpp
Emilie was the second daughter of the goldsmith Johann Christian Ortlöpp and his wife Agnes Louise Sophie, née Weißenberg from Berlin, and from 1812, the mistress of the Elector William II of Hesse, whom she had met during a stay in Berlin. He brought her to Kassel in 1813, leading to a de facto termination of his marriage with Princess Augusta of Prussia, but for political reasons, he was not allowed to divorce his wife. In 1815, William and Augusta were separated from bed and board.
Elena of Montenegro
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena had 5 children:
Marie of France, Countess of Champagne
She was the elder daughter of King Louis VII of France and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. Her parents' marriage was annulled in 1152, and custody of Marie and her sister, Alix, was awarded to their father. Both Louis and Eleanor remarried quickly, with Eleanor becoming Queen of England as the spouse of King Henry II. Marie had numerous half-siblings, including kings Philip II of France and John and Richard I of England.
Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
Victor Emmanuel I (Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1802–1821).
Genevieve of Brabant
In the "Karlamagnus-saga" the innocent wife is Oliva, sister of Charlemagne and wife of King Hugo, and in the French Carolingian cycle the emperor's wife Sibille ("La Reine Sibille") or Blanchefleur ("Macaire"). Other forms of the legend are to be found in the story of Doolin's mother in "Doon de Mayence", the English romance of "Sir Triamour", in the story of the mother of Octavian in "Octavian the Emperor", in the German folk book "Historic von der geduldigen Königin Crescentia", based on a 12th-century poem to be found in the "Kaiserchronik"; and the English "Erl of Toulouse" (c. 1400). In the last-named romance it has been suggested that the story gives the relations between Bernard I, Count of Toulouse, son of the Guillaume d'Orange of the Carolingian romances, and the empress Judith, second wife of Louis the Pious—who were indeed charged with adultery and purged themselves by an oath and an offer for trial by combat, although the historical situation has been embellished with romantic incident.
Viola, Duchess of Opole
Arguments for Viola's Bulgarian origin involve her marriage to Casimir I, because she was not mentioned in any Polish source before the duke's departure on the Fifth Crusade. According to one hypothesis, the marriage of Casimir I and Viola may have been arranged by King Andrew II of Hungary. On his way home, the Hungarian King arranged several marriage contracts at the courts he visited for various of his children. One such contract may have been the engagement of his daughter Anna Maria to the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II. As a near kinswoman of the Tsar of Bulgaria, Viola could have become engaged to Casimir I, a close associate of King Andrew II, and returned with the King to meet her future husband.
Villa Ludovisi
The villa passed to the ownership of the Boncompagni Ludovisi family, which in 1872 rented it to King Victor Emmanuel II. The King used the villa as residence for his lover, Rosa Vercellana.
Eudokia Komnene, wife of William VIII of Montpellier
William VIII and Eudokia had one daughter, Maria of Montpellier, born in 1182. In April 1187 her husband divorced her (because she encouraged the advances of Folquet de Marselha, according to the "Biographies des Troubadours"; because William VIII wanted a male heir, according to documents likely to be more reliable). Eudokia was thereafter held at the monastery of Aniane and took the veil as a Benedictine nun. She died about 1203, shortly before her daughter's third marriage to King Peter II of Aragon.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Having succeeded in ending his mother's power in Savoy, Victor Amadeus looked to his oncoming marriage with the youngest child of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (brother of Louis XIV) and Henrietta of England. The contract of marriage between Anne Marie and the Duke of Savoy was signed at Versailles on 9 April; On 10 April 1684, Anne Marie was married at Versailles, by proxy, to Victor Amadeus. The couple were married in person on 6 May 1684.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
In 1896 he married princess Elena of Montenegro (1873–1952), daughter of Nicholas I, King of Montenegro. Their issue included:Reference 4: James Rennell Rodd [British Ambassador to Italy before and during the Great War].
Social and Diplomatic Memories. Third Series. 1902-1919. London, 1925.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
In 1913, Wilhelm hosted a lavish wedding in Berlin for his only daughter, Victoria Louise. Among the guests at the wedding were his second cousin once removed and third cousin Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, who also disliked Wilhelm, and his English cousin, King George V and his wife, Queen Mary.