The Forgotten Savoy Princess
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About this ebook
“The Forgotten Savoy Princess” is the story of Princess Leina of Savoy, the only child of King Umberto II and Gelsomina Malatesta, who secretly married in Italy on the 10th of February 1926.
It is also the story of the Royal Family of Italy; a murder committed by a fourteen-year-old girl; the attempted killing of the King’s mistress; the Knights Templar, who acted as bodyguards for the Princess and her mother; and the treasure King Victor Emmanuel III seized from Mussolini and Hitler just before the end of the Second World War.
When Italy became a republic, all male members of the monarchy were thrown out of the country. Unable to return, they could not reclaim their treasure, worth 300 billion euros, which remains in Italy.
Raymondo Guerini
Count Raymondo Guerini of Savoia Kt.T was born in Southern Cross, Western Australia, where he worked on the family farm. Initially planning to become a priest, he was instead compelled to marry the love of his life, now the Countess Anna Guerini. Count Raymondo is an entrepreneur, and has travelled all over the world buying diamonds and gemstones for his business, Jewellery by the House of Savoy. “The Forgotten Princess”, which is the true story of his mother’s family and life, is the count’s first book. He is currently working on his second volume, on the Knights Templar, the ancient and storied military order of which he is a member.
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The Forgotten Savoy Princess - Raymondo Guerini
The Forgotten Savoy Princess
Count Raymondo Guerini of Savoy Kt.T
Smashwords edition
Copyright © 2017 by Count Raymondo Guerini of Savoy Kt.T
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
About the Author
Count Raymondo Guerini of Savoia Kt.T was born in Southern Cross, Western Australia, where he worked on the family farm. Initially planning to become a priest, he was instead compelled to marry the love of his life, now the Countess Anna Guerini.
Count Raymondo is an entrepreneur, and has travelled all over the world buying diamonds and gemstones for his business, Jewellery by the House of Savoy.
The Forgotten Savoy Princess, which is the true story of his Mother’s family and life, is the Count’s first book. He is currently working on a new book about the Knights Templar, the ancient military order of which he is a member.
The Forgotten Savoy Princess
This is a story about the Royal Savoy family of Italy, the noble Malatesta and Guerini families, and their well-kept secrets about a forgotten princess .
Savoy was a region in Italy named after the Royal Savoy family, which went on to unite Italy as one nation and became the royal family of Italy. What is now left of Savoy is part of France and the north of Italy. That part of France is called Savoy, and that part of Italy is often referred to as Piedmont.
The House of Savoy descended from Umberto I, Count of Sabaudia, who was born in around 980, in what is now the province of Lazio. However, Umberto’s family is thought to have originated near Magdeburg in Saxony, not far from the German city of Berlin.
Umberto was named Count in 1003. He was very intelligent and skilled in diplomacy, so it did not take him long to realise that gaining control over the strategic mountain passes in the Alps would be an advantage to him and his family in the future. Once he had gained control of them, travellers had to pay a handsome fee to use them. This was the humble but significant origin of the Savoy family’s power and fortune.
Umberto I, Count of SabaudiaUmberto I, Count of Sabaudia
Another important part of the family’s success was Umberto’s marriage to Ancilla of Lenzburg, the daughter of the Burgundian master of ceremonies. They had at least four sons. Two of them were bishops at the Abbey of Saint Maurice on the Rhone, east of Lake Genova.
Saint Maurice is still the patron saint of the Royal House of Savoy, over a thousand years later. He was the leader of the legendary third century Roman Theban Legion. His legion was made up of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men, all of whom were Christian. They were quartered in the east, until the Emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul, to fight against the rebels of Burgundy (it was customary for Romans to move troops to and from distant parts of the empire, so Roman-trained soldiers would not participate in uprisings to free their native lands.) The legionaries were ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods, but refused. They also objected to being asked to fight against other Christians. This was considered mutiny, and the legion was slaughtered.
Saint Maurice and the Theban LegionSaint Maurice and the Theban Legion
Saint Maurice was one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of that time. He was the patron saint of several professions, places, and kingdoms. He is also revered in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Umberto’s son, Amadeus, became head of the House of Savoy in 1030–1052 or 1056. But he had no children, so Umberto’s second son, Otto I of Savoy, ascended the throne in 1056–1060.
Amadeus IAmadeus I
Otto married the Marchioness Adelaide of Turin and Pinerolo; this was a good marriage, as she had large holdings of land in Turin in the north of Italy, especially in the Susa Valley, Auriate, and Asti. Adelaide also inherited property in Albenga, Alba, Bredulo and Ventimiglia. All this property was immediately combined with the House of Savoy’s possessions, giving Otto great power in the region. Otto and Adelaide had five children.
Pietro I succeeded his father Otto as Count in 1060. He married Agnes of Aquitaine. They only had two daughters, which was a great disappointment to them both. Pietro’s life is obscure, and mentioned in very few documents. During his reign, his mother completely overshadowed him. The only thing we know for sure is that he had very good relations with the papacy and, for a time, the Holy Roman Emperor. He ruled the House of Savoy until 1078.
Pietro’s brother, Amadeus II was the next Count. He married Joan, daughter of Girard, Count of Burgundy, and they had several children. For some reason, neither his eldest son, William, nor any of his other children succeeded him. This remains a mystery; there are no written documents explaining it. We do know who did succeed Amadeus II: his brother, Humbert II, who became Count in 1080, after Pietro had ruled for just two years.
Humbert II, on the other hand, had a long reign, from 1080 to 1103. He married Gisela of Burgundy, daughter of William, Count of Burgundy. They had a very large family—seven children, in fact: 1. Amadeus (who became the next Count), 2. William (Bishop of Liege), 3. Adelaide (who married Louis VI of France), 4. Louis (VI Lord of Bourdon), 5. Umberto, 6. Reginald, 7. Guy (Abbot of Namur).
Amadeus III was born in Garegnano; he was married to Adelaide, Countess Consort of Savoy. They had no children, and he later married Mahaut of Albon (the sister of Guy IV le Dauphin, Count of Albon). Amadeus and Adelaide had ten children. He was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death in April 1148.
Amadeus had a strong tendency to exaggerate his titles, claiming to be Duke of Lombardy, Duke of Burgundy, Duke of Chablais, and Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire, a title which had been given to his father by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV.
He helped to restore the Abbey of St Maurice of Agaune, in which the former Kings of Burgundy had been crowned, and was abbot of the Abbey until 1147. He also founded the Abbey of St Sulpicius in Bugey, Tamie Abbey in the Bauges, and Hautecombe Abbey on the Lac du Bourgey.
In 1128, Amadeus extended his realm, known as Old Chablais, adding to it the region extending from the Arve to the Dranse d’Abondance. This was called New Chablais. Its capital was at Saint-Maurice.
Amadeus fought wars with his brother-in-law Guy, who was killed at the battle of Montmeillan. Louis VI of France—another brother-in-law, known as Louis the Fat—attempted to confiscate Savoy, but Peter the Hermit, later famous for his role in the People’s Crusade, interceded and Louis allowed Amadeus to keep his lands, provided he went on crusade—which he did, with his nephew, Louis VI’s son, Louis VII (‘the Younger’).
Amadeus was succeeded by his eldest son Umberto III, who reigned from 1149 to 1189. He was unhappy at being born into a noble family, as he much preferred the seclusion of monastery life; in fact, he had to be persuaded to renounce his monastic celibacy to give his land an heir.
His first wife was Faidiva of Toulouse, daughter of Alphonse I. She died childless, very young. Umberto’s second marriage to Gertrude of Flanders was also childless, and ended in divorce. His third marriage, to Clementia of Zahringen, daughter of Conrad I, produced two daughters. He was finally prevailed upon to marry for a fourth time. He did so reluctantly, but this marriage to Beatrice of Viennois finally produced a son, Thomas I. His birth was seen as a miracle, given how hard it had been for the monkish Umberto to conceive a male heir. Umberto was blessed three times by St Anthelm, and this seems to have done the trick.
Umberto III had four wives, Faidiva of Toulouse, Gertrude of Flanders, Clementia of Zahringen and Beatrice of ViennoisUmberto III had four wives, Faidiva of Toulouse, Gertrude of Flanders, Clementia of Zahringen and Beatrice of Viennois
Gertrude of Flanders
Thomas ultimately became Count when Umberto III died on March 4th, 1188. But he was still a minor, so a council of regency was established, comprising his mother Beatrice, Boniface I of Montferrat and the Bishop of Saint Jean-de Maurienne. Nonetheless, Thomas I was officially the Count of Savoy from 1189 to 1233.
He was very different from his father. He had strong martial abilities, great energy, and a brilliance that Umberto had lacked. Despite his youth, Savoy enjoyed a golden age under his leadership. When he came of age in 1191, he pushed northwest into new territories, while granting the Aosta Valley the right to administrative and political autonomy. He later conquered Vaud, Bugey and Carignano. In 1195, he ambushed a travelling party that was escorting Margaret, daughter of Count William I of Genova to France. There, she was to have been wed to King Philip II of France.
Thomas I married Margaret of GenovaThomas I
When Thomas saw Margaret for the first time, he could hardly take his eyes off her, he was so besotted by her beauty. He knew then and there that he had to have her for himself. There was no way he was going to let her go, so he simply carried her off and married her himself. This caused great friction between Philip and himself for some time to come, as well as with Margaret’s father. But the marriage was very successful; Margaret and Thomas