Philip II, Duke of Savoy


Philip II, known as the Landless, was Duke of Savoy from 1496 until his death in 1497. A member of a junior branch of the House of Savoy, he was the son of Louis I, Duke of Savoy, and the younger brother of Duke Amadeus IX. Philip inherited the duchy late in life, following the death of his grandnephew Charles II.

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. 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 and had:
  1. Louise, married Charles d'Orléans, Count of Angoulême, had children including:
  2. #Francis I of France whose daughter Margaret of Valois married Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy.
  3. #Marguerite of Navarre ; Queen consort of King Henry II of Navarre
  4. Girolamo
  5. Philibert II

Second marriage

He married Claudine de Brosse of Brittany, daughter of Jean II de Brosse and Nicole de Châtillon, and they had:
  1. Charles III, who succeeded his half-brother as Duke of Savoy
  2. Louis
  3. Philip, duke of Nemours
  4. Assolone
  5. Giovanni Amedeo
  6. Philiberta, married Julian II di Medici, duke of Nemours

Illegitimate issue

He also had eight illegitimate children by two mistresses.
With Libera Portoneri:
  1. René of Savoy, 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 of Savoy, married Jacob III, Count of Horne.
  2. Margherita of Savoy.
  3. Giovanna of Savoy.
  4. Michele 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.