Biography of Charles Felix of Sardinia

At the end of a legacy

6 April 1765
27 April 1831
Carlo Felice was born in Turin on 6 April 1765, eleventh son (and fifth male) of Vittorio Emanuele III, Duke of Aosta and King of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta Ferdinanda of Bourbon, daughter of Philip V of Spain. Wedding in 1807, in Palermo, Sicily, the daughter of Maria Christina of Bourbon Ferdinand and Maria Carolina of Austria. With the abdication of the brothers Vittorio Emanuele I and Carlo Emanuele IV, in 1821 Charles Felix of Sardinia is called the throne of the Kingdom, after honing their skills in the Government of Sardinia as Viceroy from 1799 to 1802 and again from 1814 to 1817. When it receives the Crown from brother is located in Modena, reason why the King appoints outgoing Regent Charles Tree.
The latter, a bit of weakness and partly out of conviction, grants the people the Constitution: Carlo Felice is furious and 17 October 1821 in Turin, which came in while lifting the detention order, denies the right of heir to the throne. The former Regent will be rehabilitated only after abjured their liberal tendencies by giving demonstration in the repression of Spanish movements. The advent to the throne of Carlo Felice is a Kingdom in a liberal revolution and he, with his absolutist and his beliefs on the inviolability and sanctity of sovereign rights, initiates a firm suppression of constitutional motions.
A legitimism extremist, his, that the alien permanently any possibility of cooperation with the leaders of the moderate party: men, IE, as Massimo d'Azeglio, Italo Balbo, Vincenzo Gioberti and Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, some of which will, in the years ahead, political roles at the highest level. For hardness and ruthlessness of his repression, from which, among others, was sentenced to death in absentia by Santorre di Santarosa, is nicknamed "Carlo fierce". Attracted, however, more by culture than by politics, implementing judicial reform, it carries out important works of public utility, vara standards that encourage research and, above all, keep well away from the wars.
But the "masterpiece" by Carlo Felice is the creation of the Regio Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino, in 1824: if his ancestors Carlo Emanuele I of Savoy in 1630, Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia in 1724 and Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy in 1757 have the merit of having started the work with modest contributions, totaling some dozens of artifacts stored at the Royal University of Turin Skillfully manages to arrive, Carlo Felice in the capital of the Kingdom ben 5268, including sarcophagi, mummies, statues, papyrus and miscellaneous items. Since that time the Turin Museum rises to a growing international reputation. Charles Felix of Sardinia off 27 April 1831 in Turin at the age of 66 years, while the Central Italy is shaken by the Liberal movements born in Paris in 1830. Carlo Felice is the last representative of the main branch of the Savoy: his successor Carlo Alberto, in fact, belongs to the cadet branch of Savoy who will continue the dynasty.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.