Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, the history of the first king of Italy and “father of the homeland”

Vittorio Emanuele IIborn in Turin in 1820 and died in Rome in 1878, was the First King of Italy. It belonged to the family of Savoywho reigned on the kingdom of Sardinia, and ascene to the throne in 1849. He promoted the process of Italian unification together with his prime minister, Camillo Benso di Cavour, despite the fact that the two men did not run good blood. In 1861 he was proclaimed king of Italy, choosing to continue to be called “second”, and in the following years “accompanied” the completion of the national unity with the Conquest of Veneto and Rome. Upon death, the “true father” left the throne to the eldest son Umberto.

Birth and youth

Vittorio Emanuele II was the eldest son of Carlo Albertoking of Sardinia belonging to the Savoy dynasty. The March 14, 1820 And he spent his childhood in Florence together with his father, miraculously escaping a fire of his home. In 1831, when Carlo Alberto became king of Sardinia, he returned with him to Turin and became hereditary prince. Little inclined to study, as a young man Vittorio Emanuele mainly dedicated himself to horses, weapons and mountain excursions. He therefore entered the army, soon reaching the degree of general soon. In 1842 he married his cousin, Maria Adelaide of Austriathat his wife would remain until death in 1855. Even during the marriage, however, Vittorio Emanuele did not give up on extramarital relationships. In 1847 he undertook the relationship with Rosa Vercellana, known as “La Bela Rosin” (La Bella Rosina), who would have remained next to him all his life.

The rise to the throne and the unit of Italy: what did he do

Vittorio Emanuele became King of Sardinia In 1849, when he was less than thirty years old, because his father, defeated by the Austrians, was forced to abdicate. Assumed the throne of a kingdom that included the Piedmontthe Sardiniathe Liguriathe Valle d’AostaNice and the region of Savoy (The last two territories would have been sold to France in 1859).

Despite the pressures of the Austrians, Vittorio Emanuele He did not withdrew the Albertine Statutethe Constitution issued by the Father, thus showing himself more progressive than many other European monarchs, which did not recognize a constitution that limited their power. Vittorio Emanuele, however, melted the Parliament twice, inviting voters to vote for moderate candidates. The king did not like Camillo Benso di Cavour, who in the early 1950s emerged as one of the most views of the government of Massimo D’Azeglio. Nonetheless, in 1852 I accepted to appoint him Prime Minister And in the following years he approved all the most important political choices. The kingdom of Sardinia thus set out at the head of the Italian unification processwith the participation in the Crimea war of 1853-55 and, above all, with the Second War of Independence Against Austria-Hungary of 1859. Vittorio Emanuele stated that his kingdom was not “insensitive to the cry of pain that from many parts of Italy rises” and supported the unification process. In 1860, while the shipment of the thousand was underway, he reached Garibaldi and, in the famous Meeting of Teanode facto possession of the southern regions. On 17 March 1861 Parliament, gathered in Turin, officially proclaimed King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II.

Vittorio Emanuele II becomes king of Italy

The sovereign chose to continue to do Call “Second” And not first. It was in fact the second “Vittorio Emanuele” of the Kingdom of Sardinia, but, logically, the first for Italy. Furthermore, taking up the formula used in the kingdom of Sardinia, he defined himself as “king of Italy for the grace of God and will of the nation”. The king carefully followed the “Completion” of the unit. In 1866 he reached the army engaged in the third war of independence, which allowed the annexation of the Veneto, and in 1870 he sponsored, albeit with some doubts, the conquest of Rome. By reaction, the Pope excommunicated him and all his descendants.

After the taking of Rome, Vittorio Emanuele moved to the new capital, taking accommodation at the Palace of Quirinale. Rosa Vercellana also moved to Rome, which in 1869 the king had married with Morganatic wedding (ie a marriage between people of “different condition”, foreseen in some monarchical systems, in which the wife and children do not inherit the titles and qualifications of her husband). The king continued to devote himself to hunting, which was his passion from a young age, and died precisely because of the consequences of a joke: the humidity of the Lazio countryside (or, according to another interpretation, malaria), caused him a strong fever, which brought him to the death on January 9, 1878at the age of 58. He was buried in the Pantheon of Rome after solemn funeral.

The descendants and myth

Vittorio Emanuele had numerous childrenpartly not recognized. His wife Maria Adelaide gave birth to it, among which Umbertofuture king of Italy with the name of Umberto I, e Amedeoprogenitor of the Savoy-Aosta branch. The king also had two children from his wife Morganatica Rosa Vercellana and various illegitimate children by the numerous lovers with whom he entertained adulterine relationships. After death, Vittorio Emanuele was immediately celebrated and paid homage. There are no streets and squares entitled to him, nor the monuments that depict him, partly erected when he was still alive. In 1911, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the unit, the Victorianthe large white marble monument in Piazza Venezia. Even today, despite the establishment of the Republic, the Italian peninsula is full of monuments and names for Vittorio Emanuele II.