Duchy of Savoy

Lore & Background

The duchy was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. It was an Imperial fief, subject of the Holy Roman Empire, until 1792, with a vote in the Imperial Diet.

From the 16th century, Savoy belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. Its territory included the current French departments of Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and the Alpes-Maritimes, the current Italian region of Aosta Valley, a large part of Piedmont and the County of Geneva in Switzerland, which was then lost to the Old Swiss Confederacy. The main Vulgar languages spoken were Franco-Provençal and Piedmontese.

Reader's Guide

The Duchy of Savoy was the central and most prominent of the territories possessed by the House of Savoy. The Savoys ruled a complex array of different entities and titles, including the Duchy of Aosta, Principality of Piedmont, and County of Nice, which were distinct and not juridically part of the Duchy of Savoy. The Savoys referred to their possessions as 'the States of the Duke of Savoy'. Historians use the term Savoyard state to indicate this composite monarchy.

Did You Know?

• Amadeus VIII withdrew to the Château de Ripaille in 1434 and founded the Order of St. Maurice.
• Emmanuel Philibert moved the capital from Chambéry to Turin in 1562.
• The duchy lost all its possessions north and south-east of Lake Geneva to the Swiss as a consequence of the Burgundian Wars.