VICTOR AMADEUS I

born May 8, 1587, Turin, Savoy died Oct. 7, 1637 duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637, son of Charles Emmanuel I. The French were again occupying Savoy when his father died in 1630, but by an alliance with France (his wife Christine was a daughter of King Henry IV), Victor Amadeus managed to recover Savoy and obtain one-third of Montferrat by the Treaty of Cherasco (1631). At the same time, he had to yield the Piedmontese fortress of Pinerolo to the French, who thereby held a threat of domination over Savoy for 65 years. Victor Amadeus was a wise and popular ruler. His eldest son, Francis Hyacinth (Francesco Giacinto), a minor, died within a year of his own death, and his second son, Charles Emmanuel II, also a minor, remained long under the regency of his mother during a period of civil war.