Editing Charles Emmanuel III

{{Short description|King of Sardinia from 1730 to 1773}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Charles Emmanuel III
| image        = Clementi - Charles Emmanuel III in coronation robes, Palazzo Madama (1).jpg
| caption      = Charles Emmanuel in his coronation robes, {{Circa|1740s}}
| reign        = 3 September 1730 &ndash; {{nowrap|20 February 1773}}
| succession   = [[House of Savoy|King of Sardinia]]<br/>[[Duke of Savoy]]
| predecessor  = [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia|Victor Amadeus II]]
| successor    = [[Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia|Victor Amadeus III]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1701|04|27|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Turin]], [[Duchy of Savoy|Savoy]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1773|02|20|1701|04|27|df=y}}
| death_place  = Turin, Savoy
| burial_place = [[Basilica of Superga]]
| spouses      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Anne Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont|Anne Christine of Palatine Sulzbach]]|1722|1723|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg]]|1724|1735|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine]]|1737 |1741|end=died}}
}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro of Savoy|Prince Vittorio Amedeo]]
*[[Victor Amadeus III]]
*[[Princess Eleonora of Savoy|Princess Eleonora Maria]]
*[[Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy (1729–1767)|Princess Maria Luisa]]
*[[Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy|Princess Maria Felicita]]
*[[Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy (1731–1735)|Prince Emanuele Filiberto]]
*[[Prince Carlo Francesco of Savoy|Carlo, Duke of Aosta]]
*[[Princess Maria Vittoria Margherita of Savoy|Princess Maria Vittoria]]
*[[Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais|Benedetto, Duke of Chablais]]}}
| issue-link   = #Marriages and issue
| house        = [[House of Savoy|Savoy]]
| father       = [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia]]
| mother       = [[Anne Marie d'Orléans]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church]]
| signature    = 1751 Carlo Emanuele III signature.JPG
}}

'''Charles Emmanuel III''' (27 April 1701 &ndash; 20 February 1773) was [[Duke of Savoy]], [[List of monarchs of Sardinia|King of Sardinia]] and ruler of the [[Savoyard state]]s from his [[Victor Amadeus II|father]]'s abdication on 3 September 1730 until his death in 1773. He was the paternal grandfather of the last three mainline kings of Sardinia. In the [[War of the Polish Succession]], he initially gained [[Lombardy]] but later ceded it for smaller territorial gains. During the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], he defended [[Piedmont]] against a Franco-Spanish army, winning the [[Battle of Assietta]]. The [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]] restored lost lands and expanded his territory. He strengthened ties with Spain through marriage alliances. He chose not to get involved in the [[Seven Years' War|Seven Years War]] and instead focused on administrative reforms and maintaining a well-disciplined army.

==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>

==Art collector==
Charles Emmanuel's ancestors were avid art collectors. He added many new paintings to the collection he inherited from his ancestors. He also received paintings from the collection of [[Prince Eugene of Savoy]] who had remained childless. The collection contained many works of Flemish and Dutch painters. As a result, the [[Sabauda Gallery]] in Turin was the largest collection in [[Italy]] of 16th and 17th-century Flemish and Dutch paintings. In 1731 he established a tapestry workshop in Turin. The Flemish battle painter [[Jan Peeter Verdussen]] was his court painter and painted many of his military victories.<ref>[https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/444472 [[Carlo Emanuele di Savoia (III)]] at the [[Netherlands Institute for Art History]] {{in lang|nl}}</ref>

==Marriages and issue==
Charles Emmanuel married three times, but all of his three wives died young. There were plans for him to marry his cousin [[Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans]], but his mother declined the offer. [[Amalia d'Este]], daughter of [[Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena|Rinaldo, Duke of Modena]], and [[Infanta Francisca Josefa of Portugal]], daughter of [[Pedro II of Portugal]], were also candidates.
[[Image:Armoiries Sardaigne 1720.svg|125px|thumb|right|Coat of Arms of Kings of Sardinia of House of Savoy after 1720.]]
*[[Anne Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont|Countess Palatine Anne Christine of Sulzbach]] (1704–1723), daughter of [[Theodore Eustace, Count Palatine of Sulzbach|Theodore Eustace of Sulzbach]] and [[Landgravine Maria Eleonore of Hesse-Rotenburg|Princess Maria Eleonore of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg]].<ref name="huberty1"/> She died a few days after giving birth to a son:
#[[Prince Vittorio Amedeo Theodore of Savoy]] (1723–1725) died in infancy.
[[File:Enfants de Charles-Emmanuel III.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The children of Charles and his second wife; (L-R) [[Eleonora Maria Teresa of Savoy|Eleonora]]; [[Victor Amadeus III of Savoy|Victor Amadeus]]; [[Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy|Maria Felicita]] and [[Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy (1729–1767)|Maria Luisa Gabriella]].]]
*[[Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg|Princess Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg]] (1706–1735), daughter of [[Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg]] (maternal uncle of his first spouse) and his wife Maria Anna of [[Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort]].<ref name="huberty2">Huberty, Michel. Giraud, Alain. Madeleine, F. and B. ''L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome I – Hesse-Reuss-Saxe''. Laballery. France. 1976 pp. 108-109, 129-130, 146-147, 153-154. {{ISBN|2-901138-01-2}}</ref> Polyxena bore him six children:
#[[Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia]] (1726–1796); married [[Infante|Infanta]] [[Maria Antonietta of Spain]] and had issue. 
#[[Princess Eleonora of Savoy|Princess ''Eleonora'' Maria Teresa of Savoy]] (1728–1781), unmarried.
#[[Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy (1729–1767)|Princess ''Maria Luisa'' Gabriella of Savoy]] (1729-1767), a nun.
#[[Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy]] (1730–1801), unmarried.
#[[Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy (1731–1735)|Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy]], [[Duke of Aosta]] (1731–1735) died in infancy.
#Prince Carlo Francesco Romualdo of Savoy, [[Duke of Chablais]] (23 July 1733 - 28 December 1733) died in infancy.
*[[Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine|Princess Elisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine]] (1711–1741) daughter of [[Leopold, Duke of Lorraine]] and his wife [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans]], a niece of [[Louis XIV]] of France. Elisabeth Thérèse was a younger sister of [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor]], the husband of Empress [[Maria Theresa]] of Austria. The couple married in 1737, and Elisabeth Thérèse bore him three children:
#[[Prince Carlo Francesco of Savoy]], Duke of Aosta (1738–1745) died in childhood.
#[[Princess Maria Vittoria Margherita of Savoy]] (1740–1742) died in infancy.
#[[Benedetto, Duke of Chablais|Prince Benedetto of Savoy]] (1741–1808), Duke of Chablais (-1796) and Marquis of Ivrea (1796–1808). He married his niece [[Princess Maria Ana of Savoy]] (1757–1824), daughter of [[Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia]], no issue.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|align=center|collapsed=yes |ref=<ref>{{cite book|title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans| trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA24|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|page=24}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia'''
|2= 2. [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia]]
|3= 3. [[Anne Marie of Orléans]]
|4= 4. [[Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy]]
|5= 5. [[Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy]]
|6= 6. [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans]]
|7= 7. [[Henrietta of England]]
|8= 8. [[Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy]]
|9= 9. [[Christine of France]]
|10= 10. [[Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours]]
|11= 11. [[Élisabeth de Bourbon]]
|12= 12. [[Louis XIII]] of France
|13= 13. [[Anne of Austria]]
|14= 14. [[Charles I of England]]
|15= 15. [[Henrietta Maria of France]]
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |last=Raggi |first=Giuseppina |title=The Lost Opportunity: Two Projects of Filippo Juvarra Concerning Royal Theaters and the Marriage Policy between the Courts of Turin and Lisbon (1719-1722) |journal=Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography |volume=44 |issue=1–2 |date=2019 |pages=119–137 |issn=1522-7464 }}

{{Princes of Savoy}}
{{Dukes of Aosta}}
{{Princes of Piedmont}}
{{Kings of Sardinia (House of Savoy)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Commons category|Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Emmanuel 03 of Savoy}}
[[Category:1701 births]]
[[Category:1773 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century kings of Sardinia]]
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[[Category:Claimant kings of Jerusalem]]
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[[Category:Dukes of Aosta]]
[[Category:18th-century dukes of Savoy]]
[[Category:Princes of Piedmont]]
[[Category:Italian military personnel of the War of the Polish Succession]]
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