fwo_748862 - SAVOIE - DUCHÉ DE SAVOIE - VICTOR-AMÉDÉE II Demi-Lire (mezza lira) 1678 Turin

SAVOY - DUCHY OF SAVOY - VICTOR-AMADEUS II

(1675-1730)

Victor-Amédée II was born in 1666 from the union of Charles-Emmanuel II and Marie-Jeanne Baptiste de Savoie-Nemours. He succeeded his father in 1675 and was the fifteenth Duke of Savoy and the first King of Sardinia. In 1684, he married his cousin, Anne d'Orléans, daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIV and Henrietta of England. In 1690, Victor-Amédée II broke off relations with Louis XVI during the War of the League of Augsburg and allied himself with Spain and Austria. In 1693, he reconciled with the King of France. In 1723, he ordered the cadastration of his kingdom. In 1714, he built the Basilica of the Superga in Turin. In 1730, he abdicated in favor of his son but reversed his decision in 1731 and was arrested and imprisoned in Moncalieri where he died in 1732. He was buried at the Superga.