Samuel XIII

Portrait of Samuel XIII by Pompeo Batoni

**Samuel XIII** (Italian: Samüèle XIII; French: Samuel XIII (also sometimes Samoël); Latin: Samuel XIII; 24 August 1687 - 18 January 1775) was the King of Sladonia for seventy-eight years, seven months and twenty two days, making him the longest confirmed reigning monarch of an independent state in history.

## Early Life

Samuel XIII was born on 24 August 1687 in the Château de Chambord, in the Loire Valley, to Louis IX, King of Sladonia and his wife, Marie-Amalie of Austria. He was named given twenty-three names and two titles at birth:

> Frédéric **Samuel** Ptolemy César Louis-Dieudonné Léopold Alessandro Étienne Ottavio Vittorio Ércole Amadeo Philippe Honoré Jean-Jacques Marie Florestan Julius-Auguste Père Charles de Farnèse, Habsbourg, Savoie et Sladonia, Comte de Veres, Prince de Rhônaé
>
>

Among his names are César and Julius-Auguste, in honour of Julius Caesar, and Louis-Dieudonné in honour of Louis XIV of France. He was born just over nine months after his parents' marriage in 1686.

Samuel's father bestowed upon him the double-Dukedom of Richalles-Giu one week after his birth, beginning a tradition that still continued over one hundred years after Samuel's death. As an newborn, he was not expected to live very long because of his mother's long labour, and a baptism was performed on him three days after his birth, by Cardinal Henri Albert de La Grange d'Arquien.

Despite the predictions of the attending physicians, Samuel survived and his health had improved within a week. He was raised by governess Marie-Juliet Lebruin, a widow whom he became very fond of. She became a lasting influence on his life, and she instilled a love of the arts and science in him from an early age. As such, he often rivalled with his mother, whom he was not close with.

## Regency of Marie-Amalie (1696 — 1700)

### Succession

Louis IX became gravely ill in April 1696, when his son was eight. At the recommendation of his adviser, Cardinal Alexandre Junevois, he formally outlined that his wife would become the sole regent for his son upon his death, until he reached the age of thirteen.

Louis died on 27 May 1696 and Samuel immediately succeeded to the throne, ruling as *Samuel XIII* per the choice of his mother. As he continued his education, Marie-Amalie reigned in all but name; adding new government policies which were often disagreed with. She appointed her favourites to high positions in the government, which was greatly disliked by the other courtiers.

### Coronation

Eight-year-old Samuel was crowned on Christmas day, 1696, to imitate that of Charlemagne. He was crowned by Cardinal de La Bous in the Cathedral of Sainte-Laurens in an elaborate ceremony attended by over five hundred people.

### Minority Abroad

Meanwhile, Samuel studied in Italy, France, the Caribbean, the Sladonian Colonies in India and the UK, where he learnt to speak Portuguese, English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, as well as furthering his studies in science and literature. At the age of twelve, he returned to Sladonia for military education.

## Regency of Cardinal Junevois (1700 — 1701)

### Overthrow of Marie-Amalie

In February 1700, when Samuel returned to the country, he found that his mother was a severely unpopular leader, who had caused the citizens great anguish. She had elevated her confidant (and possible lover) Gregoré Sassount to Chief Minister, who was a disgraced Cardinal. Both the populous and the government were unhappy with the pair, and the two were forced to sign a resignation document in May 1700.

Upon this, with the advice of both Samuel and Louis XIV, the court elected Cardinal Alexandre Junevois as the regent for Samuel. He was a well-liked and charismatic member of the clergy and had been a trusted member of the council before Louis IX's death four years prior.

Marie-Amalie retired to a château in Monaco, and Sassount died of a fever shortly after his resignation.

The court experienced a rare period of relative peace between February 1700 and the ending of the regency in 1701.

### Death of Junevois

Cardinal Junevois unexpectedly fell ill with smallpox in December 1700, and was bedridden for the next month. As such, Armand Gaufé was appointed as the acting regent, while Junevois recovered. In May, however, Junevois died from a resurgence of syphilis. Therefore, Gaufé decided that the regency should be abolished and per the wishes of the late Louis IX, Samuel was given full power and became the sole Head of State.

## Early Reign

### Investiture

Samuel was sworn in as King of Sladonia on June 1, 1701 at the age of thirteen. He assumed the title of Head of State, making him the most senior member of the government.

### War of the Spanish Succession

Samuel was a key member in the War of the Spanish Succession, as he and his mother were the only living descendants of Philip IV of Spain and his wife Mariana of Austria. However, they were not the most senior descendants of Philip; that title was held by Marie-Amalie's cousin, Louis, le Grand Dauphin, who was the son of Marie-Amalie's mother's elder half-sister. Therefore, he had a greater claim to the throne based on male-preference primogeniture, but Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Samuel's grandfather) contested this, saying that one of his own sons should become the King of Spain due to the fact that they were male-line Habsburgs.

In 1702, Samuel was put forth as a candidate for the next Spanish king but refused the position. Sladonia sided with the Bourbons over the Habsburgs, despite Marie-Amalie's wishes. Along with the advice of his council, he sent between 12,000 and 15,000 men into battle between 1702 and 1705.

### First Modenese War

The First Modenese War began in 1707 as part of the War of the Spanish Succession; Rinaldo I, Duke of Modena had been forced to flee per the occupation of the Duchy by French troops upon declaring neutrality. Samuel, seeing a weakness in the Duchy, advised top general Auguste de Suicemant to seize it, and he invaded during a siege between French and German troops over the Duchy.

The battle that ensued lasted for three days and resulted in a resounding Sladonian victory. Samuel proclaimed himself the Duke of Modena and Reggio on December 23. Rinaldo was sent into exile in Bologna.

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## The *Lais-de-Lumières* (1707-1740)

Samuel gained the admiration of Sladonians for his military feats in the War. He appointed the first Gallery of Servants in 1706 and became a collector of art during this time, founding the *Galerie du Musée National.*

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### Marriage

#### Suggested Wives

In 1700 and 1701, he was advised to find a bride by Gaufé. Candidates put forward were Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira (daughter of the King of Portugal and almost twenty years older than him), Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (daughter of the Elector of Hanover {later the King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}) and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (niece of Louis XIV of France). Samuel rather unexpectedly chose the Princess of Beira, and negotiations were underway, however, when the War of the Spanish Succession broke out that year, they were permanently called off.

Other candidates included half-aunt Maria Elisabeth of Austria and Ümmugülsüm Sultan, daughter of the Ottoman Sultan. He was almost betrothed to Louise Hippolyte de Grimaldi (later Princess-Regnant of Monaco) but plans fell through and she instead wed Jacques Goyon, who succeeded her as ruler of Monaco in 1731. After this, he was once again asked to consider Maria Elisabeth, and she was presented to the Sladonian court in 1713. She was very fond of Samuel and found him humorous, and he too found her charming. Though a good match for one another, she returned to Austria after being turned down by Samuel. The two kept in contact for the rest of their lives and regretted not marrying.

Courtier Gaston Childes suggested he marry his step-grandmother, Eleonore Magdelene of Neuburg, but this was not taken seriously. Childes also proposed that he marry Louisa Maria Stuart (daughter of James II and VII), which was thought of as a very suitable match. The two met in December 1711 and Louisa fell in love with Samuel at first sight. He, however, felt she was dull and unattractive. He instead married her to his cousin, but he died two years after the marriage. She returned to court, pregnant and with her infant son, and requested that she be married to Samuel. He reluctantly accepted, but she miscarried a week later and died.

#### Treaty of Modena and Marriage

In 1723, after negotiating with Rinaldo d'Este, it was agreed that the Duchy of Modena would be given back to Rinaldo in exchange for his daughter being married to Samuel. Modena was given back to Rinaldo on January 1, 1724, the same day Samuel married Benedetta d'Este in the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas the Assessor. The couple were tolerant of each other and shared an interest in literature.

Nine children were born from the union: Louis, Marie-Therese, Alexandre, Amalie, Amalie II, Samuel, Marie-Therese II, César and Léopold, however only four survived to adulthood and three survived their father. It is possible that César was not Samuel's biological son, as nine months before his birth Samuel was abroad in the Vatican for the 1730 Papal Concave.

## War of the Austrian Succession

By 1740, the King in Prussia and the Holy Roman Emperor both died. Prussia came under the rule of Frederick II, a military genius who wanted to expand his territory further, and the Holy Roman Empire was set to be inherited by Maria Theresa (the daughter of the previous Emperor) and her husband, Francis I. However, Charles of Bavaria, contested the succession of Maria Theresa, and invaded the Habsburg province of Silesia.

France, Spain and Sweden (among others) joined Prussia and Bavaria in challenging Maria Theresa's reign. She subsequently sided with Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and Russia. Modena joined against Maria Theresa and thus Sladonia joined Charles' claim to the throne, despite Samuel's hesitance. Sladonia ultimately withdrew from the war due to Samuel's sympathies for his cousin Maria Theresa.

## Seven Years' War

Sladonia was again forced to make a decision in conflicts on the mainland in 1756 when the Seven Years' War broke out. Though it remained neutral for the first years, Sladonia entered the war in 1762 along with Spain, Russia and Portugal. The main goals for the kingdom were to help the Holy Roman Empire's army and expand it's territory in the Americas and India. This was somewhat successful, and Sladonia took control of parts of Jamaica, Tobago and St Vincent, along with the Indian city of Chennai.

These victories were short-lived though, as the Islands were retaken by Britain in 1762. The war was lost in 1763 and the Sladonian colonies in Indonesia were ceded to the East India Company in the Treaty of Paris that followed.

## Later Reign and Death

Samuel's eldest son and the crown prince died in 1768 from tuberculosis. His public appearances became less and rumours circulated that he had already died, but he was likely suffering from depression. This spurred on a long period of poor health: he developed arthritis the same year and in 1773 was bedridden for three months with a fever. From then on he was confined to a wheelchair. Samuel died of a hernia in his bedroom at Galisia Palace on January 18, 1775 after seventy eight years on the throne. His body laid in state for two weeks and was eventually buried in the Royal Mausoleum.

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## Personal Life

### Relationships with his Wife and Children

Samuel and Benedetta d'Este had been married to improve relations with her father and to return Modena to his rule. They were never close but often discussed topics such as literature, cuisine and philosophy. They got along well enough to have nine children together, born from when Samuel was thirty-seven to the age of forty six. Following their births, Benedetta and Samuel lived separately and only saw each other on formal occasions, though never spoke ill of one another. Benedetta returned to Modena after Samuel's death in 1775 and died there two years later at the age of eighty.

As per the expectation of the time, Samuel was known to take mistresses and Benedetta (unusually for the time due to the sexist double-standard) took male lovers. Samuel was particularly attatched to Hortense de Saïyeres, the daughter of an aristocrat, and had two children with her. He legitimised their children on Christmas Day 1729, though the younger, Julia, had already died, he created the elder, César-Egalitée de Saïyeres, Duke of Richalles.

Historians agree that Maximilien de Varsais, was another illegitimate child.

### Lovers

#### The Marquis d'Junevois

The Marquis d'Junevois was ten years older than Samuel, and had come into power through his great-uncle, Cardinal Junevois. While most of their relationship remains unclear, it likely began around 1705 and ended abruptly in 1712, due to his relative cruelty and manipulation. He was banished from court, though tried to return in the following years.

#### The Duc de Roszenfort

Armand de Roszenfort was a courtier who began a relationship with Samuel in late 1712. He remained Samuel's lifelong partner until the latter's death in 1775.

#### Hortense de Saïyeres

Hortense de Saïyeres became Samuel's mistress in 1708, and in 1712 and 1714 she gave birth to two children, both of whom were claimed by Samuel. However, the two were not particularly close, and upon her death in 1719, she was not openly mourned, and the two seem to have separated by that time. Samuel, however, was proud of his son by her and awarded him a Dukedom in 1729.

### Interests and Religion

In July 1704, a bull Indian Elephant was shipped to Sladonia by the Mughal Emperor Rafi ud-Darajat for Samuel's seventeenth birthday, to whom it was presented on August 24. It was named Charlemagne, in honour of the historical ruler. Samuel was so enamoured with it that he had an artificial rain forest built for it in the Royal Menagerie, which had not kept elephants before. It was also given a full set of traditional Nepalese regalia, and battle armour, the latter of which was never used.

Samuel created the position of "Royal Elephant", a title given to the most senior or most liked elephant in the menagerie's collection. This was the beginning of a still-existing breeding programme for elephants in Sladonia.

Samuel was Roman Catholic, as it was required of the monarch, though he was never very religious and defied the church by becoming a patron of the sciences, in particular biology and chemistry, and openly condemned the dying practise of alchemy. He only attended church for events such as weddings, and never read the bible. Despite all this, he remained friendly with the Papacy and attended many Papal Concaves.

## Ancestry

Ancestry of the King of Sladonia

**Male-Line Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel XIII**
* Prudentio de Farneto
* Pietro Farnese
* Pepo Farnese
* Ranuccio Farnese
* Pepone Farnese, Lord of Farnèse
* Ranuccio Farnese, Lord of Farnèse
* Nicola Farnese, Lord of Farnèse, Ischia di Castro and Cellere
* Ranuccio Farnese, Lord of Montalto di Castro
* Pietro Bartolomeo Farnese
* Ranuccio Farnese
* Pier Luigi Farnese
* Pope Paul III, Bishop of Rome (born Alessandro Farnese)
* Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma
* Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma
* Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma
* Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma
* Ottavio Farnese
* Louis VIII, King of Sladonia
* Louis IX, King of Sladonia
* **Samuel XIII, King of Sladonia**
* Léopold, Prince of Genesoire
* Alexandre I, King of Sladonia ← *Last living male-line descendant of Samuel XIII*