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Lot Essay
The eldest son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and his wife the Infanta Antonia of Spain, Carlo Emanuele acceded to the throne on the death of his father in 1796, his kingdom at the time including not only the island of Sardinia, but also significant territories in north-west Italy including all of Piedmont. At the time of his succession to the throne, however, Sardinia was at war with the French Republic, and by 1798 Carlo Emanuele had been forced to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia. The following year he tried unsuccessfully to regain Piedmont. He and his wife lived in Rome and in Naples as guests of the wealthy Colonna family.
In 1775 Carlo Emanuele had married Marie Clotilde, sister of King Louis XVI of France. Although the union was arranged for political reasons, the couple became devoted to each other and when Marie Clothilde died in 1802, Carlo Emanuele was so moved by her death that he abdicated in favour of his brother Vittorio Emanuele. He retained the personal title of king and lived in Rome and Frascati, where he was a frequent guest of his cousin Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York. On the latter's death in 1807 Carlo Emanuele became the senior Jacobite claimant to the British throne and, although he himself made no attempt to pursue that by then irrelevant claim, was recognised by the few remaining Jacobites as King Charles IV of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. In 1815 he took simple vows in the Society of Jesus and, although never ordained to the priesthood, lived the rest of his life at the Jesuit novitiate in Rome.
In 1775 Carlo Emanuele had married Marie Clotilde, sister of King Louis XVI of France. Although the union was arranged for political reasons, the couple became devoted to each other and when Marie Clothilde died in 1802, Carlo Emanuele was so moved by her death that he abdicated in favour of his brother Vittorio Emanuele. He retained the personal title of king and lived in Rome and Frascati, where he was a frequent guest of his cousin Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York. On the latter's death in 1807 Carlo Emanuele became the senior Jacobite claimant to the British throne and, although he himself made no attempt to pursue that by then irrelevant claim, was recognised by the few remaining Jacobites as King Charles IV of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. In 1815 he took simple vows in the Society of Jesus and, although never ordained to the priesthood, lived the rest of his life at the Jesuit novitiate in Rome.