Editing Charles Emmanuel III (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Carlo Emanuele III with the future Vittorio Amedeo III.jpg|296x296px|left|thumb|Charles Emmanuel and his son [[Victor Amadeus III]].]]

=== Early life ===
Charles Emmanuel was born in [[Turin]] to [[Victor Amadeus II of Savoy]] and his first wife the French [[Anne Marie d'Orléans]]. His maternal grandparents were [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Prince Philippe of France]] and his first wife [[Henrietta Anne Stuart|Princess Henrietta]], the youngest daughter of [[Charles I of England]] and [[Henrietta Maria of France]]. Charles Emmanuel was the oldest surviving brother of [[Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy|Princess Maria Adelaide of Savoy]] – the mother of [[Louis XV]] of France; he was also the brother of [[Maria Luisa of Savoy]], Queen of Spain as wife [[Philip V of Spain]].

At the time of his birth, when he was known as [[Duke of Aosta]], Charles Emmanuel was not the heir to Savoy; his older brother [[Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont]], was the [[heir apparent]]. Charles Emmanuel was the second of three sons that would be born to his parents. His older brother died in 1715 and Charles Emmanuel then became heir apparent.

As a result of his aid in the War of the Spanish Succession, Victor Amadeus II was made [[Kingdom of Sicily|king of Sicily]] in 1713 under the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] which ended the war. Victor Amadeus was forced to exchange Sicily for the less important [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] in 1720 after objections from an [[War of the Quadruple Alliance|alliance of four nations]], including some of his former allies.

On 3 September 1730, Victor Amadeus who, in his later years had exhibited reticence and melancholy, abdicated the throne and retired from the royal court. His son became King Charles Emanuel III. He had not been a favorite of his father's, who had neglected his education except on the military field, where the son had sometimes accompanied the father.

After some time spent at his residence in [[Chambéry]], however, the former king started to intervene in his son's government. Victor Amadeus reclaimed the throne, accusing his son of incompetence. He established himself in [[castle of Moncalieri|Moncalieri]], but Charles Emmanuel managed to have the former king arrested by the Crown Council, in order to prevent him from attacking [[Milan]] and probably causing an invasion of Piedmont. Victor Amadeus was then confined to the [[Castle of Rivoli]], where he later died without further interference with his son's regime.

===The War of Polish Succession===
In the [[War of the Polish Succession]] Charles Emmanuel sided with the French-backed king [[Stanislaw I]]. After the treaty of alliance signed in Turin, on 28 October 1733, he marched on Milan and occupied [[Lombardy]] without significant losses. However, when France tried to convince [[Philip V of Spain]] to join the coalition, he asked to receive [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]] and [[Duchy of Mantua|Mantua]] in exchange. This was not acceptable for Charles Emmanuel, as it would recreate a Spanish domination in Italy as it had been in the previous centuries. While negotiations continued about the matter, the Savoy-French-Spanish troops attacked Mantua under the supreme command of Charles Emmanuel himself.
[[File:Domenico Duprà - Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia.png|left|thumb|298x298px|Charles Emmanuel in armour]]
Sure that in the end [[Mantua]] would be assigned to [[Spain]], he voluntarily thwarted the expedition. The Franco-Piedmontese army was victorious in two battles at [[Battle of San Pietro|Crocetta]] and [[battle of Guastalla|Guastalla]]. In the end, when [[Austria]] and France signed a peace, Charles was forced to leave Lombardy. In exchange, he was given some territories, including [[Langhe]], [[Tortona]] and [[Novara]].

===War of the Austrian Succession===
[[File:La mort du chevalier de Belle-Isle.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The [[battle of Assietta]] during the War of the Austrian Succession 1747]]
Charles Emmanuel sided with [[Maria Theresa of Austria]] in the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], receiving financial and naval support from Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. After noteworthy but inconclusive initial successes, he had to face the French-Spanish invasion of Savoy and, after a failed allied attempt to conquer the [[Kingdom of Naples]], the [[County of Nice]]. When the enemy army invaded Piedmont, in 1744 he defended [[Cuneo]] against the Spanish-French besiegers. The following year, with some 20,000 men, he was faced with an invasion of two armies with a total of some 60,000 troops. The important strongholds of [[Alessandria]], [[Asti]] and [[Casale Monferrato|Casale]] fell. In 1746, after receiving reinforcements from Austria, he was able to recapture Alessandria and Asti. In 1747, he obtained a crushing victory over the French at the [[Battle of Assietta]], and his territories were saved when the main battleground moved northwards to the Netherlands.

The outcome was the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]], which revealed his qualities as a negotiator, in as much as he both regained the lost provinces of [[Nice]] and [[Savoy]], and obtained [[Vigevano]] as well as other lands in the [[Pianura Padana]]. Ties with [[Spain]] were re-established with the marriage of his son [[Victor Amadeus III|Prince Victor Amadeus]] to the Infanta [[Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain]] in 1750.

He declined to participate in the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–63), preferring to concentrate on administrative reforms, maintaining a well-disciplined army and strengthening his fortresses. In an attempt to improve the poor condition of the newly acquired [[Sardinia]], he also restored the Universities of [[Sassari]] and [[Cagliari]].

Charles Emmanuel died in [[Turin]] in 1773. He was buried in the [[Basilica of Superga]].<ref name="huberty1">{{cite book | title=''L'Allemagne Dynastique, [[Tome IV]] – Wittelsbach'' | publisher=Laballery |author1=Huberty, Michel |author2=Giraud, Alain |author3=Magdelaine, F. and B. | year=1985 | location=France | pages=82, 141, 166, 202, 273, 310–311| isbn=2-901138-04-7}}</ref>