The Alps History

The department of Savoy (Savoie), located in the strategic reagion of Rhone-Alps, has been a contentious territory for centuries.

The story begins when the Romans conquered the region from the Celtic tribe of the Allobroges in 121 B.C. In fact, the name ‘Savoie’ derives from the latin word Sapaudia (or Sabaudia), meaning ‘land covered by firs (‘sapins’ in French).

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Savoy became part of the Kingdom of the Franks, ruled by Charlemagne. With the Treaty of Verdun (843) the Carolingian empire was partitioned among the three surviving sons of Louis I (Charlemagne’s son). The aim of the treaty was to end a violent civil war fought by Louis’s sons. The Savoy became part of Lotharingia, then part of Kingdom of Burgundy, from whom it was detached by emperor Charles IV in 1361.

The House of Savoy, the dynasty which would rule over the regions for centuries, was formed in the early eleventh century by Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia (Umberto Biancamano). Humbert's family is thought to have originated from Saxony. Even though originally a poor county, thanks to favorable marriages and to a methodical and highly manipulative foreign policy, the House of Savoy extended its border over time to rule almost all of the Italian Peninsula.

On February 19, 1416, Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, made the County of Savoy an independent duchy, with Amedee VIII as the first duke. In 1494, when Charles VIII of France invaded Savoy, Piedmont, Italy and Naples -  the House of Savoy retreated from Chambery and established its residence in Turin, where it remained until the unification of Italy in 1861.
Savoy was occupied by French revolutionary forces between 1792 and 1815. After the fall of Napoleon and following the Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815, Savoy, Piedmont and Nice were ‘restored’ to the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy.

Savoy remained part of the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont until 1860, just before Italy’s unification. Seeking military support from Napoleon III in the wars of unification of Italy against Austria, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Camillo Benso Count of Cavour, met in secret with the French emperor in Vosges in 1858 to discuss the conditions later signed in the Treaty of Turin (1860). In this pact with France, Italy agreed to cede the Arrondissement of Nice and Duchy of Savoy in exchange with military alliance. The treaty was followed by a plebiscite which officially annexed Nice and Savoy to France. The results of this vote (with 99.8% of votes in favor of the annexation) have been debated ever since. Today, 150 years later, the local authorities in Savoy partially acknowledged the irregularities and undemocratic nature of the plebiscite.