Philibert II, Duke of Savoy

Statue of Philibert II

Philibert II (b.1480-d.1504), surnamed the Handsome or the Good was the Duke of Savoy from 1497 to 1504.

He was the son of Philip (Filippo) the Landless 1436-1497, who until 1496 was a younger son of the ducal family of Savoy, and his first wife Marguerite of Bourbon. In 1496, Philibert's father surprisingly succeeded as Duke, when his underaged great-grandnephew Duke Charles II of Savoy died, being the male heir of the line of Savoy.

The same year, the 16-year-old Philibert married the 9-year-old Yolande Louise of Savoy, his cousin and the only sister of the deceased young duke. She was daughter of Duke Charles I of Savoy, the Warrior, and Blanche of Montferrat, as well as granddaughter of Philibert's late uncle, Duke Amedeo IX of Savoy. She was the heir-general of her brother, father, grandfather, and also grandmother Yolande of France, the eldest surviving daughter of king Charles VII of France. Her birthright, after the death of her brother, was the succession of the kingdoms of Cyprus and Jerusalem, although Philibert's father took those titles.

Next year, Philibert's father died and he succeeded as Duke of Savoy. The young couple then at last advanced their claims, and took the titles Queen and King of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia.

In 1499, the 12-year-old first wife of Philibert died, childless. Her heir was her first cousin, Princess Charlotte of Naples, later Countess of Laval. Philibert continued to use the titles of Cyprus etc, despite the death of his first wife.

His next marriage tied him into the web of alliances around the Imperial Habsburgs, who ruled The Netherlands, Alsace and Franche-Comté, Tirol, Austria, etc. He married the only daughter of Emperor Maximilian I and his late wife Mary of Burgundy, heiress of Flanders, Palatine Burgundy, etc.

During Philibert's reign, his neighbor Charles VIII of France died, and the next king, Louis XII of France, invaded Italy, where he conquered most of the Kingdom of Naples. He also conquered Milan, which neighbored Savoy to the east, putting the Savoyards between French possessions.

He married:# Yolande Louise (1487-1499), daughter of his first cousin, Carlo I. # Margaret of Austria (1480-1530) who was Governor of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands (1507-1515, 1519-1530) and a daughter of Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy and had no children from this marriage.

However, he died childless, and relatively young, at 24. He was succeeded by his young half-brother Charles III in 1504.

Reference: http://genealogy.euweb.cz