98 



SARDINIA. 



served with BO much distinction us the general of 

 Philip II. of Spain, in the war against France, that 

 by the peace of Chateau Cambresis (1559), Savoy 

 and Piedmont were restored to him. Meanwhile 

 Protestantism had crept into the country. At the 

 exhortation of the pope, Philibert determined to 

 convert the Protestants, among whom were many 

 "NValdenses, by force; but he was several times de- 

 feated by them in the mountains; on one of which 

 occasions he lost 7000 men, and was obliged to 

 grant them freedom of religious worship. This 

 prince encouraged manufactures among his subjects, 

 and laid the foundation for the present extensive 

 culture of silk by the introduction of mulberry 

 trees. He also began the construction of several 

 fortresses, and built the citadel of Turin. In 1476, 

 he acquired the principality of Oneglia by exchange, 

 and the county of Tenda by purchase. In the war 

 for the Spanish succession, duke Victor Amadeus 



II. acquired possession of a part of Milan (Ales- 

 sandria, Val di Sesia, &c.) as an imperial fief, and 

 of the duchy of Montferrat, which had been ori- 

 ginally (twelfth century) a German marquisate, 

 and which should have devolved to Piedmont by 

 descent in 1631. The peace of Utrecht (1713) 

 added Sicily, with the royal title; but, in 1720, 

 the new king was obliged to receive Sardinia in 

 lieu of that island. 



II. The second period, from 1720 to the present 

 time, embraces three distinct divisions in Sardinian 

 history. 



1. The forty-three Years' Reign of King Charles 

 Emanuel III.(\130 73), who was equally distin- 

 guished as a general and a ruler. By the peace of 

 Vienna (1735), as the ally of France and Spain 

 against Austria, he obtained a second fragment of 

 Milan (Tortona and Novara), as an imperial fief, 

 and by the treaty of Worms (1743), during the war 

 for the Austrian succession, a third fragment (An- 

 ghiera, Vigevavo, &c.), likewise as fiefs of the 

 empire. In 1762, he was the mediator of the peace 

 between France and England. By the wisdom of 

 bis government, the country was placed in a most 

 prosperous condition ; and also the new code of 

 laws (Corpus Carolinum, promulgated in 1770,) is 

 an honourable monument of his reign. In his dis- 

 putes with the pope, Charles Emanuel maintained 

 the rights of the state, as acknowledged by the 

 concordate of 1726 (confirmed by Benedict XIV. in 

 1742), made all ecclesiastical appointments, sub- 

 jected the clergy to taxation, arid made his sanction 

 requisite to give validity to the papal bulls. 



2. The unfortunate Reigns of Victor Amadeus 



III. (died 1796), and of Charles Emanuel IV. (abdi- 

 cated 1802). The former joined Austria against 

 France, July 25, 1792, and was stripped of Savoy 

 and Nizza in September of the same year. The 

 latter entered into an alliance with France against 

 Austria (April 5, 1797) ; but his territory was ne- 

 vertheless, invaded by the French directory, which 

 made the complaints of the Sardinian people against 

 the burden of taxes and the privileges of the nobility 

 a pretext, and he was compelled to cede all his con- 

 tinental dominions (Dec. 9, 1798) to France. He 

 retained only the island of Sardinia, whither he was 

 obliged to retire with his family. June 4, 1802, he 

 abdicated in favour of his brother, Victor Emanuel 

 I. and lived as a private individual at Rome, where 

 he died in 1818, having entered the order of Jesuits 

 in 1817. From 1806, Piedmont with Genoa was 

 incorporated with the French empire. 



3. The Restoration and Extension of the Sardi- 



nian Monarchy by the Congress of Vienna. Victor 

 Eraanuel returned, May 20, 1814, to Turin, h'ls 

 continental territories having been restored by the 

 peace of Paris. Half of Savoy was left in the hands 

 of the French ; which, however, was restored by 

 the treaty of Paris in 1815 (November 20), toge- 

 ther with Monaco. On the other hand, Carouge 

 and Chesne, with 12,700 inhabitants, were ceded 

 to Geneva (October 23, 1816). The congress of 

 Vienna was desirous of strengthening the kings of 

 Sardinia, as holders of the passes of the Alps, and 

 Britain wished to establish a commercial inter- 

 course with the court of Turin. Genoa therefore 

 was annexed as a duchy to the Sardinian monarchy, 

 December 14, 1814. Victor Emanuel restored, as 

 far as was practicable, the old constitution, re-ad- 

 mitted the Jesuits, subscribed the holy alliance, and 

 established a rigorous censorship. In 1818, he con- 

 firmed the sales of the royal domains made by the 

 French, and appropriated an annual sum of 400,000 

 lire for the indemnification of the emigrants, who 

 had lost their estates. As an ally of England, he 

 obtained a permanent and honourable peace with the 

 Barbary powers, through the British admiral lord 

 Exmouth. In March, 1821, in consequence of the 

 troubles which resulted in the occupation of the 

 country by the Austrians, he abdicated the crown 

 in favour of his brothei , Charles Felix. (See Pied- 

 montese Revolution.} The measures which were 

 adopted subsequently to the suppression of the in- 

 surrection, \vere directed to realize the plan of the 

 congress of Vienna in erecting Sardinia into a parti- 

 tion wall between Austria and France. In compli- 

 ance with the terms of the convention concluded 

 between the Sardinian general della Torre, and the 

 Austrian, Prussian, and Russian ambassadors, Sardi- 

 nia was occupied by Austrian troops, for which 

 Austria was to receive 281,250 a year, be- 

 sides provisions. Rigorous measures were taken to 

 extirpate " revolutionary principles," as they were 

 styled. In the universities of Turin and Genoa, 

 and other institutions of education, a strict super- 

 vision over the conduct of the students was main- 

 tained ; the Jesuits were admitted into Savoy and 

 the island of Sardinia ; the royal schools were com- 

 mitted to their care, and, in 1823, the provincial col- 

 lege was put under their direction. The Jews were 

 subjected to severe burdens and great disabilities. 

 To protect the Genoese commerce against the Bar- 

 bary corsairs, the whole navy of Sardinia (consist- 

 ing of one frigate and eight smaller vessels) was 

 ordered to sea, but effected nothing. Through the 

 mediation of Great Britain, however, a peace was 

 concluded in 1825, Sardinia agreeing to make cer- 

 tain presents to the dey of Algiers and the bey of 

 Tunis. The congress of Verona (1822) provided 

 for the gradual evacuation of the country by foreign 

 troops, which was completed towards the close of 

 1823 ; but, at the same time, as apprehensions were 

 entertained from the Piedmontese fugitives in Swit- 

 zerland, such representations were made to the 

 federal diet as not only to effect their removal, but 

 to impose restrictions upon the Swiss press. Inter- 

 course with Spain was broken even previously to 

 the invasion of that country by the French, and the 

 prince of Carignan (the present king), who had 

 been banished from court on account of his conduct 

 during the Piedmontese insurrection, served as a 

 volunteer under the duke d'Angouleme. Still Sar- 

 dinia embraced the Austrian politics with more cor- 

 diality than the French, both in regard to her do- 

 mestic administration, and her Italian policy in 



