Philip II, known as the Landless, was Duke of Savoy from 1496 until his death in 1497. A junior member of the House of Savoy, he inherited the duchy late in life after his grandnephew Charles II died, and his brief reign is remembered for the claims to Cyprus and Jerusalem that he and his successors maintained.
Background
Philip was born on 5 February 1438 at the Château de Chambéry, a residence associated with the dukes of Savoy in the Alpine duchy. He was the youngest surviving son of Louis, Duke of Savoy, and Anne of Cyprus. Louis ruled Savoy from 1440 until his death in 1465, and Anne was a member of the Lusignan family, whose rights to the kingdoms of Cyprus and Jerusalem later passed to the Savoyard line.
As a younger son, Philip grew up as a junior member of the ducal family rather than its principal heir. His elder brother, Amadeus IX, held the ducal title before him. Philip was given the district of Bresse as an apanage, a territorial endowment granted to a younger member of a ruling house. Bresse lay near the French and Burgundian borders, and the family lost control of it, which gave Philip the nickname 'the Landless.'
Career
Philip's public career was that of a prince of the House of Savoy. He held the county of Bresse as an apanage and carried the titles of Count of Geneva and Prince of Piedmont. From 1485 until 1496 he served as Grand Master of France, a senior office in the household of the French crown. In 1494, the year Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, Philip is documented as accompanying the expedition.
He succeeded to the Savoyard duchy on 16 April 1496, after the death of his grandnephew Charles II, who had succeeded their line as the male heir of the family. Philip was then about fifty-eight years old, and his reign was brief. He used the royal titles of Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Armenia, which the House of Savoy claimed through female inheritance rather than by direct succession. He died at the Château de Chambéry on 7 November 1497, and his son Philibert II succeeded him as Duke of Savoy.
Religion
Philip is documented as a member of the Catholic Church, the Latin Christian tradition centred on papal authority, the sacraments, and the veneration of saints. In the late fifteenth century, religion was woven into the public life of the House of Savoy, and the dukes supported monasteries, chapels, and burial churches as part of their dynastic and devotional life.
Hautecombe Abbey, on the shore of Lake Bourget in Savoy, began as a religious community in the early twelfth century and later adopted the Cistercian Rule. For centuries it was the burial place of the counts and dukes of Savoy, which made it the principal dynastic religious site of the family. Philip's interment there placed him within this long Catholic and dynastic tradition.
Politics
Philip exercised authority as a prince of the ruling House of Savoy, not as a member of a political party, because political parties did not exist in the late fifteenth-century duchy. His position rested on dynastic succession: as the male heir of a junior branch of the family, he inherited the duchy after the death of his grandnephew Charles II in 1496.
The Duchy of Savoy was a territorial principality in the Alps, positioned between the French kingdom and the Italian states. Its princes governed through the household, the ducal council, and the claims and titles inherited within the dynasty. Philip's apanage of Bresse lay close to the French and Burgundian frontiers, and his service at the French court as Grand Master of France placed him in close contact with the royal government of France. No personal political statements of his are documented.
Personality
A modern chronology of the Shroud of Turin describes him as accommodating and kind during his short time governing Savoy.
Connections
Philip married twice. In 1472 he married Marguerite de Bourbon, who was his first wife, and their children included Louise, later Countess of Angoulême and mother of Francis I of France, and Philibert II, who succeeded him as duke. In November 1485 he married Claudine de Brosse, and their children included Charles III, who became Duke of Savoy in 1504, and Philippe, who was later Duke of Nemours.
Philip also had illegitimate children by two mistresses, Libera Portoneri and Bona di Romagnano. Libera Portoneri was the mother of Antonia, who married Jean II, Lord of Monaco, and of Peter, who became Bishop of Geneva. Bona di Romagnano was the mother of Claudina, who married Jacob III, Count of Horne; Philippina, who married Lorenzo de' Medici; Margherita; Giovanna; and Michele, who was a priest. Among his illegitimate children was René of Savoy, who was later Governor of Nice and Provence and known as the Grand Bastard of Savoy. Philip is also recorded as an ancestor of Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon, through an illegitimate line.
Father:
Louis, Duke of Savoy
Ruled the Duchy of Savoy from 1440 to 1465.
Mother:
Anne of Cyprus
Member of the Lusignan family, whose claims to Cyprus and Jerusalem passed to the House of Savoy.
Wife:
Marguerite de Bourbon
First wife, married in 1472; mother of Philibert II.
Wife:
Claudine de Brosse
Second wife, married on 11 November 1485; mother of Charles III and Philippe, Duke of Nemours.
Daughter:
Louise of Savoy
Became Countess of Angoulême and was the mother of Francis I of France.
Son:
Philibert II
Succeeded his father as Duke of Savoy in 1497.
Son:
Charles III
Became Duke of Savoy in 1504 and reigned until 1553.
Son:
Philippe of Savoy
Became Duke of Nemours; born in 1490 and died in 1533.
Daughter:
Philiberta of Savoy
Later Duchess of Nemours.
Son:
René of Savoy
Illegitimate son; governor of Nice and Provence, known as the Grand Bastard of Savoy (1468–1525).
Daughter:
Antonia of Savoy
Illegitimate daughter of Libera Portoneri; married Jean II, Lord of Monaco.
Son:
Peter of Savoy
Illegitimate son of Libera Portoneri; Bishop of Geneva.
Daughter:
Claudina of Savoy
Illegitimate daughter of Bona di Romagnano; married Jacob III, Count of Horne, and died on 2 May 1528.
Daughter:
Philippina of Savoy
Illegitimate daughter of Bona di Romagnano; married Lorenzo de' Medici.
Daughter:
Margherita of Savoy
Illegitimate daughter of Bona di Romagnano.
Daughter:
Giovanna of Savoy
Illegitimate daughter of Bona di Romagnano.
Son:
Michele of Savoy
Illegitimate son of Bona di Romagnano; a priest.
References
Philip II, Duke of Savoy
Encyclopedia article on the reign, family, and descendants of the duke, including his birth and death in Chambéry and his place in the House of Savoy.
Filippo II, Duke of Savoy
Structured reference record establishing his birth and death dates and places, his burial at Hautecombe, his parents, and his offices as Duke of Savoy and Grand Master of France.
