Charles Albert

Charles Albert, king of Sardinia (1831-49), born 29th October 1798, was the son of the Prince Charles Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano, and in 1800 succeeded to his father's title and estates in France and Piedmont. In 1817 he married Maria Theresa, daughter of the Archduke Ferdinand of Tuscany. When the revolutionary movement took place in Piedmont in 1821, he was made regent, upon the abdication of Victor Emmanuel, until Charles Felix, the brother of the late king, should arrive to assume the sovereignty. In 1829 he was appointed viceroy of Sardinia, and on the death of Charles Felix in 1831 he ascended the throne. His prudent moderation brought upon him the impatient denunciations of Mazzini, but earned him the applause of all moderate and far-sighted men throughout the peninsula, who began to see that the salvation of Italy could be worked out through the house of Savoy alone. The king's zeal for the cause of a united Italy was no mere selfish eagerness for the aggrandisement of his house, but a feeling as enlightened and patriotic as the sagacious calculation of Cavour, the fiery and reckless valour of Garibaldi, or the prophetic ardour of Mazzini. In the March of 1848 he declared war against Austria; but gradually lost ground in the struggle, until, after the fatal battle of Novara, 24th March 1849, to save his kingdom he had to resign the crown in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel. He next retired to Portugal, where he died, broken-hearted and misunderstood, at Oporto on 28th July of the same year. See Life by Cibrario (Turin, 1861).