VICTOR AMADEUS I, DUKE OF SAVOY

DUPRÉ, Guillaume: France, 1636, Bronze, 105 mm
Obv: Bust of Victor Amadeus    VICTOR AMEDEVS DVX SAB. PRINC. PED. REX. CIPR (Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, King of Cyprus)
Rev: Uniface, copper shell
Signed:  G. DUPRE F 1636
Ref: see Jones Vol 2, 113/74 (but in Jones it is signed A. Dupré, not G. Dupré). See also Mazerolle II no. 708, 715.

The House of Savoy was a dynasty which ruled over the territory of Savoy and Piedmont for nine centuries, and since 1860 over the kingdom of Italy. Victor Amadeus (1587-1637) was the son of Charles Emmanuel I. He became Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy on the death of his father in 1630. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont and King of Cyprus. He succeeded to little more than a title, but by his alliance with France – his wife Christina Bourbon (whom he married in 1619), being the daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici – he managed to regain most of his territories.   He proved to be a wise and popular ruler but died at an early age in 1637.  His son was Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy.

HOME PAGE