Philibert II of Savoy



Born in Pont-d'Ain, Philibert of Savoy was the son of Philip 'the Landless' of Savoy, a junior member of the ducal family of the Italian Savoy, and his first wife Marguerite de Bourbon. Philibert would have 2 other full-blooded siblings, his elder sister Louis, who married the French Count of Angouleme, and Girolamo, his short lived elder brother. He would also have 6 half-blooded siblings by his stepmother, Claudine de Brosse: Charles of Savoy, Louis of Savoy, Philip of Savoy, Assolone of Savoy, Giovanni Amedeo of Savoy and Philiberta of Savoy.

In 1496, Philibert's father succeeded as Duke, when his young grandnephew Duke Charles II of Savoy died. This death left Philip the Landless as the first male line heir. In this same year, Philip had his son Philibert, who was 16-year-old at the time, marry the 9-year-old Yolande Louise of Savoy, his cousin and the only sister of the deceased young duke. She was daughter of Duke Charles I 'the Warrior' of Savoy and Blanche of the Montferrat. Yolande Louise was also, after the death of her brother, was the succession of the kingdoms of Cyprus, Jerusalem an Armenia, although Philibert's father took those titles. Philip II of Savoy would die shortly after ascending to the Dukedom. Philibert then became Philibert II of Savoy.

In 1499, 3 years after ascending to the throne, Philibert's bride Yolande Louise died at the age of 12, leaving her cousin Charlotte of Naples as her heir. Philibert would continue to use her titles. Due to his widower state, Philibert searched for a new spouse and eventually settled on Margaret of Austria in 1500, sister to the Duke of Burgundy and daughter to the Holy Roman Emperor. With this connection Philibert was able to protect himself against the French, who continued to war through Italy and thus were always on the cusp of attacking Savoy.

The couple would be childless for the first few years of marriage and in 1504 Philibert took ill, leaving the possibility Margaret would again be a widow. However, he pulled through and by the end of 1504 was healthier than ever.
 


In September of 1505 Philibert welcomed his first child, Philip Charles of Savoy. However, this child was sickly and by November Philip Charles had died, though the exact date is unrecorded and sources claim the child may have died a early as the 28th of September, rather than the commonly referred of 3rd of November. Whatever the date of death, Philip Charles was followed by 2 sisters who did not survive to adulthood: Margaret of Savoy (b.1506: d.1506) and Isabelle of Savoy (b.1507: d.1507). Finally, in 1510, the Duke of Savoy was left a widower for a third time as his bride suffered a miscarriage that left her weak and, finally, dead.

The death of Margaret of Austria meant the 30 year old Duke was in need of a bride again and he formally requested the hand of Mary of England, who refused. He then applied for the hand of the widowed Juana I of Castile and eventually the widowed Joanna of Naples. With this marriage to Joanna, Philibert would have 3 further children: Louise of Savoy (b.1512), Charles of Savoy (b.1514: d.1516) and Philibert of Savoy (b.1518). Finally with an heir, Philibert began pushing for his younger brother to marry, for the good of the family. Charles of Savoy was nothing if not loyal to his brother and in 1517 married the spinster Princess Anne of Navarre. The two would have 3 children: Joan of Savoy (b.1520), Charles of Savoy (b.1522) and Claudia of Savoy (b.1523).

Of Phlibert's other siblings, Philip (b.1490) became the Bishop of Geneva at the age of 5 and, when in 1510 he showed interest in leaving this position, Philibert made it clear that he was not meant to be anything but a priest. This created tensions between the brothers but ultimately Philip would listen to his elder brother. Meanwhile, his only there surviving younger sibling was Philiberta, who married Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours. Giuliano married Philiberta in 1515 and unfortunately died the next year, leaving Philiberta a widow. Unperturbed, Philibert replaced his sister on the marriage market and in 1522 she was finally married to Louis, Count of Vaudémont, a claimant to the Throne of Naples. This couple would be childless and in 1526 Philiberta died of food poisoning.

Upon the death of Claude of France in 1524, Philibert put forth his eldest daughter, the beautiful Louise of Savoy. Described as a dark paradise by contemporaries for her dark hair and eyes, Louise captured the French King's interest and the widower married the young girl in 1525, when the bride had reached the age of 13. The couple would have 4 children: Catherine de Valois (b.1528: d.1529), Louise de Valois (b.1530), Jean de Valois, Duke of Anjou (b.1533) and Marie Claude de Valois (b.1531). Upon their marriage Louise's uncle, Charles of Savoy, was created Duke of Nemours and moved to enter the French court.

In 1521 Joanna of Naples died, leaving Philibert a widower again. However, he did not move to immediately remarry again and instead looked for brides that would benefit his son. After being rejected again by the English royal family for a Mary of England, he instead looked towards France. While his sit for Madeline de Valois seemed initially unsuccessful and he began to cultivate a marriage between his son and either Marie or Renee of Guise, in 1528, after the health of Madeline had shown itself to not be robust and the French King feared anywhere else would upset his delicate daughter, the betrothal was agreed to.
 
4f35817d07167c9fcfbada72a41e9554.jpg


In 1536 Philibert married for the 4th and final time to the former proposed bride of his son, Renee of Guise. This union was extremely happy and Philibert would call her "my one beloved above all those before and after". This marriage would last until Philibert's death in 1559 and would produce 1 child, a daughter named Christine of Savoy (b.1536).

In 1535 Philibert watched his son marry Madeline de Valois. The couple would be happy and their only two children would be born in 1539: Philip of Savoy and Joanna of Savoy. After these twins Madeline would be extremely sickly and never conceived again.

Philibert would, in 1545, begin negotiations to betroth his youngest daughter to Edward, Prince of Wales. While Christine was not the preferred candidate, her main competition Elisabeth de Valois would died that year of a childhood illness, though three were rumours the Duchess of Savoy had helped the little girl along to her grave.

In 1551, when the bride was 15 and the groom 14, Edward VI of England and Christine of Savoy were married. While they consummated the marriage, there was long periods where the couple were separated and would be until early 1553, when Edward made moves to be with his Queen. Christine would fall pregnant around this time, just as her husband fell sick. She would give birth on October 18th to Edward VII 'the Posthumous'. She would befriend her sister-in-law Mary Tudor, who shared the young woman's extreme piousness and the two lived during her son's regency (lead by John Dudley until 1559, then by Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, under the patronage of Christine of Savoy and Mary Tudor of England). Ultimately the regency was a time of instability for England and in 1567, at the age of 14, the religiously atheist Edward VII broke out from his handlers and ended the regency. As a way of securing his position his mother was married to his mother to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford (both sides of this couple had entered there 30s and would have only one child: Mary Seymour (b.1570) to show for what would be 40 years of marriage) and his sister Elizabeth married to Jean de Valois, Duke of Anjou (this coupling would be childless and rumours would persist the marriage was never even consummated.

Philibert would end his life quietly, slowly relinquishing power to his son and finally, at the age of 79, he fell into that final slumber. His son ascended as Philibert III of Savoy and would stay in tat position until 1570, when he himself would die.
 
Top