The Seventeenth Century - Piemonte Feel

The seventeenth century represents the era in which the Savoy state was formed. It was a highly centralised state, which created often unfair laws and taxes to justify and pay for new wars. As a further sign of their power, the Savoys’ undertook a policy of constructing sumptuous palaces and castles such as the Reggia of Venaria Reale, the Castle of Rivoli, the Hunting Lodge at Stupinigi, the Castle of Agliè, the Castle of Moncalieri, the Castle of Racconigi. All the Savoy residences are open to the public and in 1997 were declared “heritage of Mankind” by Unesco. The protagonist of the latter part of the century was Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy who gained the throne thanks to a coup d’état in which he deposed his mother, Giovanna Battista of Savoy-Nemours. Feeling the ties with the French court to be too tight, Vittorio Amedeo II decided to enter into an alliance with the Empire, and so he turned to Vienna where his cousin Prince Eugenio of Savoy-Carignano-Soissons had escaped from the power of Versailles and had won fame as a great general, thanks to his part in turning back the Turks at the battle of Zenta (1697). Vittorio Amedeo II joined the League of Augsburg, alongside the principal anti-French powers, the majority of which were Protestant: Great Britain, Holland, the Principalities of Hanover, Saxony, Bavaria and Brandenburg, Spain, Sweden and the German Empire. The struggle with France came to a head at the battle of Marsaglia (1693).