, circa 1700; note the
County of Nice and
Duchy of Savoy, today part of France
Northern Italy had been contested by
France and the
Habsburgs for
centuries. Often referred to as 'Savoy', the
Savoyard state was split into two main geographic segments;
Piedmont, which contained the capital
Turin, and the
Duchy of Aosta, on the Italian side of the
Alps, with the
Duchy of Savoy and
County of Nice in Transalpine France. French control of Piedmont prevented foreign powers from gaining access to the restive southern provinces of the
Dauphiné and
Vaunage, former
Huguenot strongholds with a long history of rebellion. It also allowed them to threaten the
Spanish-held
Duchy of Milan, part of the
Spanish Road, an overland route connecting the
Spanish Netherlands to Habsburg possessions in Italy, a primary source of recruits for the
Army of Flanders. Although Spain was then the most powerful state in Europe, its reliance on long exterior lines of communication was a potential weakness.
Cardinal Richelieu sought to weaken Spain by attacking it wherever possible, which led to French involvement in the 1628 to 1631
War of the Mantuan Succession. That ended with their candidate,
Charles I Gonzaga, confirmed as ruler of the
Duchy of Mantua, and French garrisons were installed in the Savoyard fortresses of
Pinerolo and
Casale. Their possession protected the Alpine passes into southern France and allowed France to threaten Milan at will. Since these positions were also vital to the security of Savoy, it was a way of controlling
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, whose wife
Christine Marie of France was sister to
Louis XIII. Like many rulers, Victor Amadeus tried to balance both sides; his younger brother,
Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, was a military leader of considerable ability, who commanded Spanish troops against France at
Les Avins in May 1635. The other,
Prince Maurice of Savoy was a
Catholic Cardinal; the former French
representative at the
Roman Curia switched allegiances to the
Holy Roman Empire in 1636. , whose death in October 1637 precipitated the war After the outbreak of the
Franco-Spanish War in 1635, Richelieu supported Savoyard-led operations against Milan in order to tie down Spanish resources. These included an unsuccessful attack on
Valenza in 1635, plus minor victories at
Tornavento and
Mombaldone (see Map). In June 1637,
Leganés, Spanish governor of Milan, captured the Savoyard town of
Vercelli; the anti-Habsburg alliance in Northern Italy fell apart when Charles of Mantua died in September, followed by Victor Amadeus in October. As his heir,
Francis Hyacinth, was only five years old, Charles's will appointed Christine as regent. Despite her French connections, she attempted to preserve Savoyard independence, although her options were restricted by the presence of French troops and a chronic lack of money. Her two brothers-in-law suspected that France intended to annex Savoy, a concern that had some basis in reality since control of the duchy was part of Richelieu's anti-Habsburg policy. In October 1638, Francis died, and was succeeded by his four-year-old brother,
Charles Emmanuel. Although Christine continued as regent, that was not covered by Victor Amadeus's will. Maurice and Thomas argued her position had to be approved by the Savoy Estates or by the
Holy Roman Emperor, who was technically the
overlord of the duchy. The Princes, or 'Principisti', had considerable support among ordinary Piedmontese, who resented the French presence; those who backed Christine, known as 'Madamisti', included a number of powerful families, notably the d'Aglié clan. However, that simplifies an extremely complex reality; the 'Principisti' were equally concerned by Spanish intentions towards Savoy, and some of them supported Maurice, rather than Thomas, and there were many individual links between the factions. At the end of 1638, Thomas went to
Madrid to negotiate for Spanish support; he was not entirely trusted since his wife,
Marie de Bourbon, was a member of the French royal family. As a result, she and their children lived in Madrid as hostages for his good behaviour. In March 1639, Richelieu ordered his commanders to arrest Thomas if he entered Savoy, and Louis wrote to Christine to demand that she bar both Thomas and Maurice from Piedmontese territory. ==Phase I: 1639 to 1640==