Editing House of Savoy (section)

=== Expansion, retreat, and prosperity ===
[[File:Italy 1494.svg|left|thumbnail|A map of Italy in 1494]]
By the time [[Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy|Amadeus VIII]] came to power in the late 14th century, the House of Savoy had gone through a series of gradual territorial expansions and he was elevated by [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], the [[Holy Roman Emperor]], to the Duke of Savoy in 1416.<ref>''Introduction:The Sabaudian Lands and Sabaudian Studies'', Matthew Vester, Sabaudian Studies: Political Culture, Dynasty, and Territory (1400–1700), ed. Matthew Vester, (Truman State University Press, 2013), 1.</ref> In 1494, [[Charles VIII of France]] passed through Savoy on his way to Italy and Naples, which initiated the [[Italian War of 1494–1495]].<ref>''Sabaudian Studies'', Matthew Vester, Sabaudian Studies: Political Culture, Dynasty, and Territory (1400–1700), (Truman State University Press, 2013), 6.</ref> During the outbreak of the [[Italian War of 1521–1526|Italian war of 1521–1526]], the Holy Roman Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] stationed imperial troops in Savoy.<ref>Michael Mallett and Christine Shaw, ''The Italian Wars, 1494-1559'', (Pearson Educational Limited, 2012), 154.</ref> In 1536, Francis I of France invaded Savoy and Piedmont, taking Turin by April of that year.<ref name="Mallett230-231">Michael Mallett and Christine Shaw, ''The Italian Wars, 1494-1559'', 230-231.</ref> [[Charles III, Duke of Savoy|Charles III Duke of Savoy]], fled to Vercelli.<ref name="Mallett230-231" />

When [[Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy|Emmanuel Philibert]] came to power in 1553, most of his family's territories were in French hands, so he offered to serve France's leading enemy the [[House of Habsburg]] in the hope of recovering his lands. He served [[Philip II of Spain]] as Governor of the Netherlands (then part of the [[Seventeen Provinces]]) from 1555 to 1559.<ref>Henry Kamen, ''Philip of Spain'', (Yale University Press, 1997), 64.</ref> In this capacity, he led the Spanish invasion of northern France and won a victory in the [[Battle of St. Quentin (1557)|battle of St. Quentin]] in 1557.<ref>Henry Kamen, ''Philip of Spain'', 67.</ref> He took advantage of various squabbles in Europe to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of Turin. He moved the capital of the duchy from [[Chambéry]] to Turin.

The 17th century brought about economic development to the Turin area and the House of Savoy took part in and benefitted from that. [[Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy|Charles Emmanuel II]] developed the port of [[Nice]] and built a road through the Alps towards France, and through skillful political manoeuvres the territorial expansion continued. In the early 18th century during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], future King [[Victor Amadeus II]] switched sides to assist the Habsburgs, and via the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] they rewarded him with large pieces of land in northeastern Italy and a Crown in Sicily. [[Savoy rule over Sicily]] lasted only seven years (1713–1720).