**VITTORIO, bishop of Cartenna.** — Flourished in the mid-5th century in Mauretania.
According to Gennadius, he wrote homilies, a treatise against the Arians, a consolatory letter to a certain Basil, and a book on public penance. All these writings have been lost except for the one on penance, which is probably identical with the *De poenitentia* of the pseudo-Ambrose (ed. PL 17, 971-1004).
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**VITTORIO AMEDEO II, duke of Savoy and king of Sardinia.** — Son of Charles Emmanuel and of Joanna of Savoy-Nemours, born in Turin on 14 May 1666, died in the Castle of Moncalieri on 31 October 1732. The death of his father in 1675 left the young prince under the tutelage and regency of his mother, officially until 1680 and in fact until 1684, when V. A. abruptly assumed control of the state.
Living in solitude, he had conceived sweeping plans for governmental reform, pursuing a policy of economies to strengthen the state’s military capacity. V. A. was deeply concerned with relations among the great European powers, especially the heavy preponderance exercised over Piedmont by Louis XIV, who controlled Pinerolo by the Treaty of Cherasco and, through sudden force, also Casale (1680). V. A. could not refuse the marriage to Anne d’Orléans imposed upon him by the Grand King, but he chafed under the French yoke and awaited the opportune moment to recover independence. The conclusion of the League of Augsburg (1686) allowed him to open the first negotiations with France’s enemies; the Grand Alliance of 1689 enabled the Duke of Savoy to sign agreements in 1690 with the various allied powers. Piedmont was then at war. The French generals’ assault on Turin was fierce, but the victories at Staffarda and Marsaglia prevented them from crushing V. A.’s resistance. The Grand King was obliged to offer the Duke of Savoy the restoration of Pinerolo and the abandonment of Casale: the secret Treaty of Pinerolo (27 June 1696) and the subsequent Treaty of Turin (29 August 1696) led to the Agreement of Vigevano for the neutralization of Italy, and the Peace of Ryswick the following year acknowledged the fall of French predominance in the peninsula thanks to V. A. Yet he, who had been compelled to give his daughter Adelaide in marriage to the Duke of Burgundy, had once more fallen into the French orbit and found himself in a precarious political situation when the question of the Spanish succession loomed. The Duke of Savoy entered the war as an ally of Louis XIV, but with the intention of withdrawing as soon as possible to prevent his state from becoming a bargaining chip among the great powers. Responding to secret Savoyard-Imperial negotiations, Louis XIV ordered the disarming of Piedmontese troops, but on 8 November 1703 V. A. signed the Treaty of Alliance with the Emperor, who promised him the Monferrato and part of the Duchy of Milan with Alessandria, as well as the Valsesia. From 1704 to 1706, fierce fighting again raged around Turin between the French and the Austro-Piedmontese, culminating in the Battle of Turin won by V. A. and his cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy (7 September 1706). The basilica of Superga was erected to commemorate the Savoyard victory and the expulsion of the French from Italy.
who had been compelled to give his daughter Adelaide in marriage to the Duke of Burgundy, had once more fallen into the French orbit and found himself in a precarious political situation when the question of the Spanish succession loomed. The Duke of Savoy entered the war as an ally of Louis XIV, but with the intention of withdrawing as soon as possible to prevent his state from becoming a bargaining chip among the great powers. Responding to secret Savoyard-Imperial negotiations, Louis XIV ordered the disarming of Piedmontese troops, but on 8 November 1703 V. A. signed the Treaty of Alliance with the Emperor, who promised him the Monferrato and part of the Duchy of Milan with Alessandria, as well as the Valsesia. From 1704 to 1706, fierce fighting again raged around Turin between the French and the Austro-Piedmontese, culminating in the Battle of Turin won by V. A. and his cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy (7 September 1706). The basilica of Superga was erected to commemorate the Savoyard victory and the expulsion of the French from Italy.
(from C. P. de Magistris, *Lettere di V. A. II nel periodo dell’assedio di Torino nel 1709*, Turin [Milan])
The negotiations for the Peace of Utrecht enabled V. A. to conduct his policy with great skill, securing from the Empire the concessions promised in 1703, from France the lands it occupied on the eastern flank of the Cottian Alps, and from the European concert an indemnity for the renunciation of his rights to the Spanish crown deriving from the inheritance of his grandmother Catherine, consort of Charles Emmanuel I. Thus Louis XIV ceded to the Duke Pragelato, Fenestrelle, Exilles, Oulx, Cesana, Bardonecchia, and Castel Delfino, receiving in exchange the valley of Barcelonnette; the Empire granted him the Monferrato, Alessandria, the Lomellina, and the Valsesia; and for the Spanish inheritance, instead of the Duchy of Milan, the Duke was assigned the island of Sicily with the title of King. V. A. emerged from the great crisis triumphant both militarily and diplomatically. When, however, English support failed him in the following years, in the Austro-Spanish conflict stirred up by Cardinal Alberoni he was forced to cede Sicily to Austria in exchange for the Kingdom of Sardinia (8 November 1718).
With the wars concluded, V. A. turned to his first great ambition, the restoration of the state. A great period of reform thus began. His policy aimed at creating an absolute monarchy in which all class and corporate privileges would disappear. V. A. deserves credit for establishing that regular, rigorous, and honest Piedmontese administration which in the 19th century would serve as a model for the organization of the unified Italian state. Of interest are V. A.’s relations with the Church. A believer and deeply religious, he desired that his subjects share his simple faith, without meditations or disputes—“the faith of the carbonari,” he said. Yet he was also a stern defender of state claims against what he deemed the excessive encroachments and usurpations of the Church. He thus engaged in long disputes with the Holy See and even came to a complete rupture. Many episcopal sees in Piedmont remained vacant for years. Only in 1724 did Benedict XIII offer to negotiate; the minister Ormea went to Rome to treat.
In V. A.’s reforming policy, the reconstitution of the University of Turin was of great importance; in the renewal of studies, two Sicilian jurists, Niccolò Pensabene and Francesco d’Aguirre, served as his advisors. Thus the legislative reform represents the crowning achievement of the state’s renewal. In 1725 the new Constitutions were published, but V. review, and only in 1729 did the definitive and final edition of the *Constitutiones Victorianae* appear, which in 1837 gave way to the Albertine Code. In 1730, after such a long and active reign, V. A. abdicated in favor of his son Charles Emmanuel III and retired to Chambéry in private life. Having already lost his consort, he now married Anna Teresa Canalis of Cumiana, widow of Count Novarina of San Sebastiano, whom he created Marquise of Spigno. Yet in private life he found no peace and, dissatisfied with the policies of the new king, he returned to Piedmont to reclaim power. To avoid civil war, the old king was arrested and confined in the Castle of Moncalieri, where he died. He was buried in Superga.
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