.
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
Prince Philippe of France and his first wife
Princess Henrietta, the youngest daughter of
Charles I of England and
Henrietta Maria of France. Charles Emmanuel was the oldest surviving brother of
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
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 in 1720 after objections from an
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
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
Milan and
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. 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
Crocetta and
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 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 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, 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
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. ==Art collector==