Amadeo I of Spain
Amadeo I (Italian: Amedeo Ferdinando Maria di Savoia; 30 May 1845 – 18 January 1890), also known as Amadeus, was an Italian prince who reigned as King of Spain from 1870 to 1873. The only king of Spain to come from the House of Savoy, he was the second son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and was known for most of his life as the Duke of Aosta, the usual title for a second son in the Savoyard dynasty.
| Amadeo I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke of Aosta | |||||
Amadeo I, c. 1870-73 | |||||
| King of Spain | |||||
| Reign | 16 November 1870 – 11 February 1873 | ||||
| Predecessor | Isabella II as Queen of Spain The 1st Duke of la Torre as Regent of Spain | ||||
| Successor | Estanislao Figueras as President of the Republic Alfonso XII as King of Spain | ||||
| Prime Ministers | |||||
| Born | 30 May 1845 Royal Palace, Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia | ||||
| Died | 18 January 1890 (aged 44) Royal Palace, Turin, Kingdom of Italy | ||||
| Burial | Basilica of Superga, Italy | ||||
| Spouses | |||||
| Issue | |||||
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| House | Savoy | ||||
| Father | Victor Emmanuel II of Italy | ||||
| Mother | Adelaide of Austria | ||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||
| Signature | |||||
He was elected by the Cortes Generales as Spain's monarch in 1870, following the deposition of Isabel II, and was sworn in the following year. Amadeo's reign was fraught with growing republicanism, Carlist rebellions in the north, and the Cuban independence movement. After three tumultuous years on the throne, he abdicated and returned to Italy in 1873, and the First Spanish Republic was declared as a result.
He founded the Aosta branch of Italy's royal House of Savoy, which is junior in agnatic descent to the branch descended from King Umberto I that reigned in Italy until 1946, but senior to the branch of the dukes of Genoa.