Editing Charles Albert of Sardinia (section)

==Pro-Austrian period (1831–1845)==
Thus Charles Albert came to the throne aged 33. His health was poor; he had liver disease. His faith added to his suffering; he wore a [[cilice]] and slept alone on an iron bed, waking at 5:00 am every morning and celebrating two masses per day. He worked from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm every day without interruption. He ate little and suffered from frequent religious crises, but never renounced extramarital affairs even so. The most significant of these was his relationship with Maria Antonietta di Robilant (1804–1882), daughter of Friedrich Truchsess zu Waldburg (1776–1844), the [[Prussia]]n ambassador to Turin<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=164–167}}</ref> and wife of Maurizio di Robilant (1798–1862).<ref>Maria Antonietta i Robilant was mother of [[Carlo Felice Nicolis, conte di Robilant]], diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Italy.</ref>

=== Conflict with Louis Philippe's France ===
[[File:Nieznany malarz polski - Portraif of Charles Albert, king of Sardinia - MP 2089 MNW - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg|thumb|upright|Charles Albert at the time of his accession to the throne]]
[[File:La Duchesse de Berry.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de Berry]], whom Charles Albert assisted in a failed attempt to place a Bourbon on the French throne. ''[[Portrait of the Duchess of Berry]],'' [[Thomas Lawrence]], 1825.]]
The new king was affected by the [[July Revolution]], which had deposed Charles X of France and led to the accession of [[Louis Philippe]], an ex-revolutionary, and as a result, he decided to make an alliance with the [[Austrian Empire]]. The treaty, signed on 23 July 1831 and ratified in 1836, entrusted the defence of the Kingdom of Sardinia to Austria. However, in the event of war, the commander of the joint forces was to be Charles Albert. He wrote to the Austrian ambassador, Ludwig Senfft von Pilsach (1774–1853), "... the most beautiful day of my life will be the day on which there is war with France and I have the good fortune to serve in the Austrian army."<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=173–174}}</ref>

In accordance with this [[legitimist]] position, Charles Albert lent support to his close friend [[Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de Berry]] in December 1823 when she sought to place her son, [[Henri, Count of Chambord|Henri]], on the French throne. She was the widow of the [[Duc de Berry]], second son of Charles X, whose eldest son, [[Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême|Louis Antoine]] had renounced the throne. Henri's claim to the throne had been denied by the king.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=174–175}}</ref>

Despite the advice of the French ambassador to exercise prudence, in 1832, Charles Albert loaned Marie-Caroline a million francs and placed a steamer at her disposal for transporting legitimist volunteers to France. The plot was discovered and failed; the steamer was stopped at Marseille and the volunteers were defeated at [[Vendée]] in a few hours. Marie-Caroline fled, but was soon arrested in Nantes and imprisoned in the Citadel of [[Blaye]], near [[Bordeaux]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=175–176}}</ref>

=== Philosophy of rule ===
Charles Albert displayed similar conservativism in internal politics. When the minister of war, Matteo Agnès Des Geneys (1763–1831) died, he replaced him with Carlo San Martino d'Aglie, who was not very popular at the time. He retained {{ill|Vittorio Amedeo Sallier della Torre|it}} as Minister of Foreign Affairs until 1835, when he replaced him with the extremely conservative [[Clemente Solaro, Count La Margherita|Clemente Solaro]]. These appointments were made with the intent of restoring a ministerial oligarchy. In 1831 he appointed Gaudenzio Maria Caccia, Count of Romentino (1765–1834) as minister of Finance, {{ill|Giuseppe Barbaroux|it}} as Minister of Justice, and the reformer, Antonio Tonduti, Count of Escarèna (1771–1856), as minister of the Interior. On 5 April 1832, d'Aglie was replaced as Minister of War by {{ill|Emanuele Pes di Villamarina|it}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=177}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Maria Alberta Sarti, Barbaroux. Un talento della diplomazia e della scienza giuridica alla corte sabauda, CEDAM, Milano, 2011, p. 71.|isbn = 9788813322502|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b6ViFaqhLkwC&q=conte+de+la+tour+esteri+carlo+alberto&pg=PA71 |access-date=8 January 2016|last1 = Sarti|first1 = Maria Alberta|year = 2011| publisher=CEDAM }}</ref>

In June 1831, [[Giuseppe Mazzini]], who was in exile in Marseille, addressed a letter to Charles Albert as "an Italian," in which he encouraged him to focus on the unification of Italy, in vain. For the moment, the new King of Sardinia cleaved to almost the same ideas as his predecessors.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=178, 181}}</ref>

=== Reforms and cultural initiatives ===
[[File:Palazzo madama torino, piano nobile 08.JPG|thumb|A room in the [[Turin City Museum of Ancient Art]] in the Palazzo Madama, founded by Charles Albert in 1832, as the ''Pinacoteca Regia e della Galleria Reale'']]
[[File:Carlo Alberto 1833.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Charles Albert in 1833]]
Notwithstanding this conservatism, Charles Albert established a Council of State of 14 members who were to investigate the laws and make some moves to modernize the country. He abrogated the special exemptions on import duty for members of the royal family and royal officials, abolished torture, prohibited the mutilation of the corpses of executed criminals and the confiscation of the property of criminals. He also gave notable attention to culture. In 1832, he established the ''Pinacoteca Regia e della Galleria Reale'' in the [[Palazzo Madama, Turin|Palazzo Madama]] (now the [[Turin City Museum of Ancient Art]]) and the library of the [[Royal Palace of Turin|Palazzo Reale]], he built several monuments and palaces, refounded the Academy of Art as the [[Accademia Albertina]] in 1833 and established the "Royal Foundation for the Study of the History of the Fatherland", which would become the model for all the similar foundations for historical studies established in the nineteenth century, in the same year.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=181–182}}</ref>

Charles Albert accompanied these measures with an economic policy of liberalization of commerce. In 1834, the tax on grain was reduced and the next year, the export of [[raw silk]] was made legal. Duties on the import of raw materials (coal, metals, textiles) were subsequently reduced and the acquisition of industrial machinery from abroad was supported. Despite having impinged on some minor sources of state income, the balance of the kingdom was positive from 1835, and it was possible to entertain ambitions for the improvement of agriculture, roads, railroads, and ports.<ref name =Dizionario-Biografico-Treccani>{{cite web|title=Carlo Alberto re di Sardegna in Dizionario Biografico Treccani|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/carlo-alberto-re-di-sardegna_(Dizionario-Biografico)/|access-date=8 January 2016}}</ref>

Charles Albert also reformed the army, reformed the law codes, instituted a [[Court of cassation]], and eliminated feudalism in Sardinia, in 1838. He enabled the opening of institutes of credit, reformed the public agencies and the state, and reduced the control of the religious hierarchy somewhat. The royal court was full of clerics—at least fifty of them—and the court was sumptuous for such a small kingdom. There were a great number of cooks, butlers, waiters, carpenters, squires, stallers, pages, footmen, masters of ceremonies, etc.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=182}}</ref><ref name =Piccola-Treccani>"Carlo Alberto re di Sardegna" in ''La Piccola Treccani'', Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani, Milano, 1995, Vol. II.</ref>

=== Support for Spanish and Portuguese reactionaries ===
After the death of king [[Ferdinand VII of Spain]], the nation was divided into two factions: the anti-liberal reactionaries who supported the legitimist aspirations of [[Don Carlos]] and the constitutionalists who defended [[Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies|Maria Christina's]] regency on behalf of [[Isabella II]]. The [[Holy Alliance]] of [[Imperial Russia|Russia]], [[Austrian Empire|Austria]], and [[Prussia]] supported Don Carlos; [[Great Britain]], [[July Monarchy|France]] and [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]] supported the constitutionalists. Charles Albert sides with the former group, but in the [[Carlist War]] of 1833–1840, the constitutionalists prevailed.<ref name =Bertoldi-184>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=184}}</ref> Similarly, in the Portuguese [[Liberal Wars]] (1828–1834), which followed the death of [[John VI of Portugal|John VI]], Charles Albert sided with the absolutists under [[Dom Miguel]], who spent time in Piedmont. In this case, too, the liberals, led by Dom Miguel's brother [[Dom Pedro]], enjoyed the support of Great Britain and Louis-Philippe's France and were ultimately successful.<ref name="Bertoldi-184" />

=== Opposition to "Young Italy" ===
[[File:First meeting between Giuseppe Garibaldi.jpg|thumb|The meeting of [[Giuseppe Mazzini|Mazzini]] and [[Giuseppe Garibaldi|Garibaldi]] at the headquarters of "Young Italy" in Marseille 1833. Both of them plotted against Charles Albert and his kingdom and were condemned to death ''in absentia''.]]
At the time of Charles Albert's ascent to the throne in 1831, there were riots in Rome, the [[carbonari]] revolt of [[Ciro Menotti]] in Modena, and an insurrection in [[Bologna]] and [[Parma]] which led to the flight of [[Francis IV, Duke of Modena|Francis IV]] and [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie Louise]]. Austria was able to restore order and Charles Albert decided that his alliance with the Habsburgs was essential. The Kingdom of Sardinia was also troubled by the plots of revolutionaries in these years, and even by an attempted invasion. In April 1833, in Genoa, two low-ranking officers were arrested for a scuffle and it was discovered that they belonged to [[Giuseppe Mazzini]]'s [[Young Italy (historical)|Young Italy]]. They supplied various names and investigations were expanded to other garrisons. Charles Albert, who considered Mazzini's association the "most terrible and bloody", ordered the investigation to continue until it got to the bottom of the matter, acting in accordance with the law but with the utmost severity.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=187–191}}</ref>

In the end, twelve people were executed by firing squad, and two committed suicide in jail. Twenty-one were condemned to death but could not be executed because they had escaped or, like Mazzini, had been abroad the whole time. Charles Albert granted no pardons, and the ambassadors of France and Britain in Turin protested at court about the severity of the punishment and the lack of any mercy. The King of Sardinia showed his gratitude to the investigators by granting honours to those who had played a leading role in the repression.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=192–194}}</ref>

Since the insurrections had failed, Mazzini began to plan a military expedition. In 1834, he attempted to organize a force in [[Switzerland]], which would attack [[Savoy]] (then part of the [[Savoyard state]]) and the population would simultaneously rise against the king. But information about this plan was leaked and Charles Albert arranged an ambush.<ref>He wrote to Francis IV of Modena in November 1833, "I am tired of the state of anxiety that "Young Italy" keeps me in, with its repeated threats of invasion, doubting that there is anything its members won't do... given that the Great Powers have decided not to eliminate the evil at the root, I ordered a secure agent, about six weeks ago, to encourage the heads of "Young Italy" to organize a movement against me, letting them think that a major in the [[Fenestrelle Fort]] shared their views. Then they arrived there in great numbers with [[Gerolamo Ramorino|Ramorino]], Mazzini, [Carlo] Bianco [di Saint Jorioz], and their other major leaders: ... the possibility of going there myself with considerable forces in a few hours, induces me to attempt this trick in order to capture their major leaders..."</ref> The invasion, undertaken on 2 February 1834, failed completely. This was partly due to disorganization, and partially to Swiss efforts to prevent Mazzini's expedition. Only a few conspirators attacked a barracks in [[Les Échelles]]. Two of them were captured and executed by firing squad. [[Carabinieri|Carabiniere]] {{ill|Giovanni Battista Scapaccino|it}} was killed in the process, and to honour him Charles Albert instituted the first gold medal in Italian history. Meanwhile, [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]], who was preparing to lead a rising in the city, received a report that it was all over and fled. He was condemned to death ''in absentia''.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|pp=194–198}}</ref>

=== Law reform ===
In these circumstances, Charles Albert realized the necessity of granting reforms to make the kingdom more modern and to satisfy the needs of the populace. Immediately on ascending to the throne he had named a commission which had been tasked with creating new civil, criminal, commercial and procedural laws. This process of reform took a very long time, but eventually, on 20 June 1837, the new civil code, partially inspired by the [[Napoleonic Code]], was promulgated. The king also participated in the drafting of the new criminal code, which was published on 26 October 1839. During the process, Charles Albert insisted on the concept of [[corrective justice]], limiting the death penalty as much as possible. Nevertheless, he ordained very severe penalties for those guilty of sacrilege or suicide (whose last wills and testaments had no legal power). In 1842, finally, the commercial code and the code of criminal procedure, with innovative guarantees of the rights of the accused, were promulgated.<ref name="Dizionario-Biografico-Treccani" />

=== Beginning of crisis with Austria ===
In 1840 the [[Oriental Crisis of 1840|Oriental Crisis]], which placed Louis Philippe's France in conflict with the other European great powers, inspired Charles Albert to begin thinking about a program of territorial expansion in the Po valley.<ref name =Piccola-Treccani/> In the same year, a commercial crisis erupted between Turin and Vienna, regarding an old treaty in which the Kingdom of Sardinia undertook not to provide salt to Switzerland. Following the breach of this treaty, Austria increased the customs duty on Piedmontese wine entering Lombardy-Veneto by 100%. Charles Albert's response was to threaten to build a railroad from Genoa to [[Lake Maggiore]], in order to capture the German commerce which sustained the Austrian port of [[Trieste]] for the Ligurian ports.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|p=201}}</ref>

These were still only minor disputes and diplomatic relations between the two states continued to be generally good, culminating in the magnificent wedding of Charles Albert's eldest son, Victor Emmanuel and [[Adelaide of Austria]], daughter of [[Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria|Ranier Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine]], who was the Austrian Viceroy in Lombardy-Veneto and Charles Albert's brother-in-law, since he had married his sister [[Princess Elisabeth of Savoy|Elisabeth]] in 1820. Victor Emmanuel and Adelaide were thus first cousins.