Philip II, Duke of Savoy explained

Philip II
Succession:Duke of Savoy
Reign:16 April 1496 – 7 November 1497
Predecessor:Charles II
Successor:Philibert II
Birth Date:5 February 1438
Birth Place:Château de Chambéry, Duchy of Savoy
Issue:Louise, Countess of Angoulême
Philibert II, Duke of Savoy
Charles III, Duke of Savoy
Philippe, Duke of Nemours
Philiberta, Duchess of Nemours
René of Savoy (illegitimate)
Antonia of Savoy (illegitimate)
Death Place:Château de Chambéry, Duchy of Savoy
Spouse:Marguerite de Bourbon
Claudine de Brosse
Father:Louis of Savoy
Mother:Anne of Cyprus
House:House of Savoy

Philip II (5 February 1438 – 7 November 1497), surnamed the Landless, was the Duke of Savoy for a brief reign from 1496 to 1497.

Biography

Philip was the granduncle of the previous duke Charles II, and the youngest surviving son of Duke Louis of Savoy and Anne of Cyprus. However, he was not the heir general of the previous duke, there being several females before him in the line of succession. To ensure male inheritance to the Savoy line, his eldest son Philibert was married to his cousin, the only sister of the deceased young Duke. However, the plan did not succeed: the girl died at age twelve. (Philip had already died in the meantime.) The children of the daughters of Philip's eldest brother Duke Amedeo IX of Savoy were next in line, and were entitled to the inheritance of the line of heirs-general, including Cyprus and Jerusalem. Despite the fact that Cyprus and Jerusalem did not bar succession in female line, Philip took those claims and used those titles as well. His male successors in Savoy also continued to do so, thus giving their ducal title a higher, royal titulary.

He spent most of his life as a junior member of the ducal family. His original apanage was the district of Bresse, close to the French and Burgundian border, but it was lost and therefore Philip received his sobriquet "the Landless", or "Lackland".

Family

First marriage

He married Margaret of Bourbon (5 February 1438 – 1483) and had:

  1. Louise (1476–1531), married Charles d'Orléans, Count of Angoulême, had children including:
    1. Francis I of France whose daughter Margaret of Valois married to Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy.
    2. Marguerite of Navarre (1492–1549); Queen consort of King Henry II of Navarre
  2. Girolamo (1478)
  3. Philibert II (1480–1504)

Second marriage

He married Claudine de Brosse of Brittany (1450–1513), daughter of Jean II de Brosse and Nicole de Châtillon, and they had:

  1. Charles III (1486–1553) who succeeded his half-brother as Duke of Savoy
  2. Louis (1488–1502)
  3. Philip (1490–1533), duke of Nemours
  4. Assolone (1494)
  5. Giovanni Amedeo (1495)
  6. Philiberta (1498–1524), married Julian II di Medici (1479–1516), duke of Nemours

Illegitimate issue

He also had eight illegitimate children by two mistresses.

With Libera Portoneri:

  1. René of Savoy (1468-31 March 1525), served as Governor of Nice and Provence, known as the Grand Bastard of Savoy and father-in-law of Anne, 1st Duc de Montmorency
  2. Antonia of Savoy, married Jean II, Lord of Monaco
  3. Peter of Savoy, Bishop of Geneva

With Bona di Romagnano:

  1. Claudina (Claudia) of Savoy (d. 2 May 1528), married to Jacob III, Count of Horne (d. 15 August 1531).
  2. Margherita (Margaret) of Savoy.
  3. Giovanna (Johanna) of Savoy.
  4. Michele (Michael) of Savoy, a priest

Philip is an ancestor, through an illegitimate daughter of Honorat II of Savoy, of Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of Napoleon.

Sources