page_title: Charles Albert of Sardinia
section_title: Final days in Oporto
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Albert of Sardinia / Exile (1849) / Final days in Oporto
caption_attribution_description: "Carlos Alberto" square sign in Porto, Portugal.
context_page_description: Charles Albert was the King of Sardinia from 27 April 1831 to 23 March 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Albertine Statute, and with the First Italian War of Independence.
  During the Napoleonic period, he resided in France, where he received a liberal education. As Prince of Carignano in 1821, he granted and then withdrew his support for a rebellion which sought to force Victor Emmanuel I to institute a constitutional monarchy. He became a conservative and participated in the legitimist expedition against the Spanish liberals in 1823.
  He became king of Sardinia in 1831 on the death of his distant cousin Charles Felix, who had no heir. As king, after an initial conservative period during which he supported various European legitimist movements, he adopted the idea of a federal Italy, led by the Pope and freed from the House of Habsburg in 1848. In the same year he granted the Albertine Statute, the first Italian constitution, which remained in force until 1947.
context_section_description: Once his arrival in Oporto became known, Charles Albert was hosted at the Hotel do Peixe, where he remained for two weeks, as his condition worsened. Then he accepted a new residence from a private individual on the rua de Entre Quintas, with a view of the ocean. On 3 May, he hosted Giacinto Provana di Collegno and Luigi Cibrario, who brought him greetings from the Piedmontese government. To them he said: 
  Despite my abdication, if ever a new war arises against Austria... I will come running immediately, even if only as a simple soldier, among the ranks of her enemies... I am equally raised up by the thought and the hope that... the day will come which I tried to bring about... The nation could have had a better prince than me, but not one that loved her more. To make her free, independent and great... I carried out every sacrifice with a happy heart... I sought death [in battle] and did not find it...
  — Charles Albert to Collegno and Cibrario, May 1849, in Bertoldi & p. 269
  During this time, Charles Albert suffered from progressive decay, coughing and abscesses. He had two heart attacks, but the doctors considered the condition of his liver the most serious issue, for which the former king abstained from eating very much and fasted on Wednesdays. He read the letters and newspapers which arrived from Italy. He wrote occasionally to his wife, but regularly and with feeling to the Countess of Robilant. He forbade his mother, wife, and children from visiting.
  In the month after his arrival, his health had deteriorated irreparably. From 3 July, he was assisted by the doctor Alessandro Riberi, whom Victor Emmanuel had sent from Turin. He was no longer able to get out of bed and coughing fits were ever more frequent. He passed the night of 27 July in great difficulty. On the morning of 28 July, he seemed better, but then deteriorated as a result of a third heart attack. The Portuguese priest don Antonio Peixoto, who had assisted him spiritually, met with him and administered extreme unction. Charles Albert whispered in Latin, In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum (Into your hands, God, I entrust my spirit). He fell asleep with the crucifix on his chest and died at 3:30 in the afternoon, a little over 51 years old.
  His body was embalmed and displayed in the Cathedral of Oporto. On 3 September, the ships, Mozambano and Goito arrived under the command of his cousin Eugene Emmanuel. On 19 September the corpse was brought on board the Monzambano, which departed for Genoa that evening. It arrived on 4 October. The funeral took place in Turin Cathedral on 13 October, with Alexis Billiet, Archbishop of Chambéry, presiding along with five Piedmontese bishops, and was well-attended by the people. The day after, the body was solemnly interred in the crypt of the Basilica of Superga, where it still lies.
caption: Charles Albert Square, Oporto, Portugal
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