Nice and Savoy also seemed at the mercy of the invaders.
He had named them Roman patricians; the latter he had placed in charge of Florence; the former, for whom he planned to carve out a kingdom in central Italy of Parma, Piacenza, Ferrara and Urbino, he had taken with himself to Rome and married to Filiberta of Savoy.
He remained, however, loyal in sentiment to the house of Savoy, and, after the restoration of the king of Sardinia in 1814, he continued in the public service.
In 1394 the countship came to the house of Orleans, a member of which, Francis I., became king of France in 1515 and raised it to the rank of duchy in favour of his mother Louise of Savoy.
After joining the "Giovine Italia" he entered the Sardinian navy, and, with a number of companions on board the frigate "Euridice," plotted to seize the vessel and occupy the arsenal of Genoa at the moment when Mazzini's Savoy expedition should enter Piedmont.