Francis was born in 1567 in the castle of Sales, duchy of Savoy (then part of the Holy Roman Empire). He was the eldest of six siblings. He had a restless and playful character, to the point that ...

It was perhaps the most damaging decision the Sun King ever made. For young Eugen, a minor prince of the Alpine duchy of Savoy, was defiant and outraged. He disguised himself as a woman and fled ...

In the 16th century, the dukes of Savoy struggled to maintain the independence of their territories, coveted by the rival European powers. After his father lost the duchy to France and Spain ...