Amadeo I of Spain

Amadeo I
Duke of Aosta
Amadeo I, c. 1870-73
King of Spain
Reign16 November 1870 – 11 February 1873
PredecessorIsabella II
as Queen of Spain
The 1st Duke of la Torre
as Regent of Spain
SuccessorEstanislao Figueras
as President of the Republic
Alfonso XII
as King of Spain
Prime Ministers
Born(1845-05-30)30 May 1845
Royal Palace, Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia
Died18 January 1890(1890-01-18) (aged 44)
Royal Palace, Turin, Kingdom of Italy
Burial
Spouses
(m. 1867; died 1876)
(m. 1888)
Issue
Names
  • Italian: Amedeo Ferdinando Maria
  • Spanish: Amadeo Fernando María
  • English: Amadeus Ferdinand Mary
HouseSavoy
FatherVictor Emmanuel II of Italy
MotherAdelaide of Austria
ReligionCatholicism
SignatureAmadeo I's signature

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.

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.