Luisa Cristina was born at the
Castello del Valentino in Turin. She was the eldest daughter of the future
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and his wife
Christine Marie of France. Her birth was greeted with excitement as prior to her birth, her parents had lost a son and heir and were expecting another son. However, being a female and due to the
Salic law, she was barred from succeeding to the
Duchy of Savoy which at the time of her birth was ruled by her grandfather
Charles Emmanuel I. Luisa Cristina was said to have been illegitimate and the fruit of her mother's supposed affair with a French courtier named "Pommeuse". Luisa Cristina married Maurice in Turin on 18 August 1642. Maurice had previously been a cardinal and had to receive permission from
Pope Urban VIII who consented to the match. The thirteen-year-old bride and forty-nine-year-old Maurice moved to
Nice where Maurice was the governor of the city – another part of the reconciliation. Her husband died in 1657 of a
stroke leaving Luisa Cristina a widow aged twenty seven. Her husband willed her his large art collection as well as his huge debts. In Turin she lived at her
husband's villa outside Turin. She also did much to improve the structure under the direction of
Amedeo di Castellamonte. She also commissioned
Guarino Guarini to carry out works on churches in Savoy. Luisa Cristina died at the villa and left the property to her nephew's consort, the French born
Anne Marie d'Orléans. ==Ancestry==