CARLO EMANUELE III of SAVOIA, king of SARDINIA. — Born on 27 April 1701 in Turin, died there on 20 February 1773. The second son of Vittorio Amedeo II, initially little cared for by his father, when he became heir to the throne upon the death of his brother Vittorio Amedeo (1715), he received a severe and predominantly military education; but he was to repay his father for his scant affection when the latter abdicated (1730) by having him kept under surveillance in the castles of Rivoli and Moncalieri, while he was to make use of his military education in pursuing a policy of useful interventions in the Wars of the Polish and Austrian Successions. In the War of the Polish Succession he sided with France, occupied Lombardy and Milan, and by the Peace of Vienna (1738) obtained the fief of the Langhe together with the provinces of Tortona and Novara. In the War of the Austrian Succession, on the other hand, having become disaffected with France, which had not supported him in the Treaty of Vienna concerning Lombardy, he sided with Austria, and by the Treaty of Worms (1743) obtained from it the province of Vigevano, the County of Anghiera, the Oltrepò pavese, part of the Piacentino with Bobbio, and the territories bordering the Marquisate of Finale. The war then lasted four years, with varying fortunes: it was the war of the revolt of Genoa (1747) against the Austro-Piedmontese and of the Battle of Assietta (1747). The Peace of Aachen (1748) confirmed for him the cessions of the Treaty of Worms, with the exception of Finale.
(from Enc. II, col. IX)
CARLO EMANUELE III DI SAVOIA, KING OF SARDINIA - The arms of C. E. and of Elisabetta Teresa di Lorena.
After Aachen, he devoted himself entirely to works of peace, reorganizing the finances, doing away with the feudal lordships, and concluding a favorable concordat with Benedetto XIV. He paid no attention to literature or the sciences. He strongly supported the army, especially the artillery, and fortified the Alps, of which it was later said that the king of Sardinia held the keys; he founded the free port of Nizza, opened roads, built churches, etc. He had a high conception of sovereign dignity and of his duties, was assiduous in his work, of excellent moral character, and possessed a sincere religious spirit. He died in 1773, mourned by the people.