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Henri I de Savoie
4th Duc de Nemours
(1572–1632)

Biographical

4th Duc de Nemours 1595–1632†
3rd Duc de Genevois 1595–1632†
5th Duc d'Aumâle 1631–32†
Marquis de Saint-Sorlin 1595–1632†
Marquis de Saint-Rambert
Comte de Gisors
Comte de Maulévrier 1631
Comte de Saint-Vallier
Vicomte de Vernon
Vicomte d'Andeley
Baron de Faucigny 1595–1632†
Seigneur de Beaufort-sur-Doron 1595–1632†
Seigneur de Poncin
Seigneur de Cerdon
Seigneur de Verneuil
Seigneur d'Ussé
Seigneur de Nogent
Seigneur de Pons
Seigneur de Bray-sur-Seine
Seigneur de l'Etoile
Seigneur de la Vache
Knight of the Order of the Holy Annunciation 1585 [Italy]

Governor of Dauphiné 1591

Until the death of Charles-Emmanuel, his elder brother, Henri bore the name of Marquis de Saint-Sorlin. His godfather was the Duke of Anjou, later King Henri III of France, and his godmother was Queen Marguerite of Navarre, and was brought up in Annecy under the eyes of his father. The Duke of Savoy, who impatiently saw the occupation of the Marquisate of Saluzzo, took advantage of the religious disturbances to expel the French by force from this country, and gave his young cousin the command of an army. On the 1st of November 1588, the latter made himself master of the town and then of the fortress of Carmagnole, the capture of which delivered him four hundred pieces of cannon and a prodigious ammunition depot; this conquest was immediately followed by that of Saluzzo and all the other small places of the marquisate. Despite the wise advice he had received from his father, Henri joined the princes of Lorraine in the League party, fought in the Dauphiné, of which he became governor in 1591, commanded in Lyon in the name of his brother, and afterwards made many unsuccessful attempts to get him out of prison. His reconciliation with Henry IV took place in 1596, and with the help of his mother, he and his brother were pardoned. After having assisted at Rouen and at the siege of Amiens in 1597, he retired in 1600 to his castle in Annecy so as not to take part in the war that had just broken out over the Marquisate of Saluzzo. About this time he fell in love with a princess of the house of Savoy, and proposed to her in marriage; her refusal inspired him as much pain as resentment. Several years later, war having broken out between Savoy and the King of Spain, Henri sided with the latter sovereign and agreed to take command of the troops gathered in Franche-Comté to cross the Alps. But nothing had been prepared for this expedition, and seeing himself abandoned by those who had encouraged him to take this course of action, he entered, through the intermediary of the court of France, into negotiations with the Duke of Savoy and was restored to all his property, which had been seized in 1616. From then on he remained at his residence in Paris, and in 1618 married Anne de Lorraine, only daughter of the Duke of Aumale. His taste for festivals led him to have a large number of ballets that he produced performed at court, a genre in which, says the Abbé de Marolles, he had an eccentric approach, as he had in all other things. This prince died at the age of sixty, and his body was brought to Annecy. He had received Aumâle and Maulévrier through his wife.

Place of birth: Paris
Place of marriage: Brussels
Place of death: Paris

Son of Jacques de Savoie-Nemours and Anna d'Este. He married Anne de Lorraine in 1618, and had issue. He also had illegitimate issue.

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