Amadeus I (Spain)

Amadeus as an Italian naval officer

Amadeus, King of Spain

Amadeus with his first wife Maria del Pozzo della Cisterna

Amadeus Ferdinand Maria of Savoy ( Spanish Amadeo Fernando María; It. Amedeo Ferdinando Maria ) (born May 30, 1845 in Turin , † January 18, 1890 ibid) was Duke of Aosta and from 1871 to 1873 King of Spain .

Life

He was the second son of the future Italian king Victor Emanuel II. After military education by Agostino Ricci, Amadeus held the rank of lieutenant general in the Italian army and the rank of rear admiral in the navy . In the third Italian War of Independence he fought in the Battle of Custozza in 1866 , in which he was seriously wounded.

King of Spain

→ Main article : Succession to the Spanish throne 1868–1870

After the fall of the Spanish Bourbons under Queen Isabella II , Amadeus was elected king by the Cortes in November 1870 . He accepted the crown as Amadeo I and took his oath on January 2, 1871 on the Spanish constitution. On December 27, 1870, Juan Prim , Prime Minister of Spain since June 18, 1869, was assassinated.
Amadeo tried in vain to improve the chaos in the country torn by the Carlist Wars . His brief, hapless government in Spain was massively weakened by court intrigues, party disputes and the shady role of the clergy.

Renunciation of the throne

After the royal couple barely escaped an assassination attempt on the night of July 18, 1872, he decided, under massive pressure from his wife and because of the constant financial need, to renounce the crown. On February 10, 1873, Amadeus abdicated and left the country with his wife. On February 11, 1873, the Republic of Spain ( "First Republic" ) was proclaimed and Estanislao Figueras was elected President. After a coup d'état by General Arsenio Martínez-Campos on December 29, 1874 in Sagunto , the son of Isabellas II, Alfonso XII. , crowned king.

Return to Italy

In March the couple reached Genoa . Amadeus gave up the title of king and assumed the title of 'Duke of Aosta'. He was again active in the Italian army and held the post of inspector general of the cavalry. The Prussian King Wilhelm I , who had already knighted him on March 20, 1867 , appointed him head of the hussar regiment "Landgrave Friedrich II of Hesse-Homburg" on June 11, 1882 (2nd Kurhessisches ) No. 14 .

family

Amadeus married the Italian princess Maria del Pozzo della Cisterna (1846–1876) on May 30, 1867 . The marriage produced three sons:

• Emanuel Philibert (1869–1931), Duke of Aosta
• Viktor (1870–1946), Count of Turin
• Luigi Amadeo (1873–1933), Duke of Abruzzo

On September 11, 1888, he married Maria Letizia Bonaparte (1866–1926). She was the daughter of Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte . The marriage produced a son:

• Humbert (1889–1918), Count of Salemi. He died of the Spanish flu .

literature

• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 9, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1941], DNB 986919780 , pp. 113-114, no. 2774.

Web links

• Obituary for Amadeus I (Spain). In:  Neue Freie Presse , January 19, 1890, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).
• The death of the Duke of Aosta. In:  Die Presse , January 19, 1890, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).

Footnotes

Commons : Amadeus  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Regent Francisco Serrano Domínguez	King of Spain 1870–1873	President Estanislao Figueras
---	Duke of Aosta 1845–1890	Emanuel Philibert