Charles was born in the Castle of Rivoli in Piedmont, the only child of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy and Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry.

In the autumn of 1588, taking advantage of the civil war weakening France, he occupied the Marquisate of Saluzzo, which was under French protection.

In 1590 he sent an expedition to Provence in the interests of the Catholic League, and followed it himself later, but the peace of 1593, by which Henry of Navarre was recognized as king of France, put an end to his ambitions.

[5] The broader conflict involving France and Spain ended with the Peace of Vervins (2 May 1598), which left the current but separate question of Saluzzo unsolved.

After the Duke started talks with Spain, Henry threatened to return to war until, with the Treaty of Lyon (17 January 1601), Saluzzo went to Savoy in exchange for Bresse, Bugey, and Gex.

For over six hundred years, your ancestors have lived under mine, in Christian faith and obedience to the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church, building temples and observing sacraments for our salvation.

Charles Emmanuel was one of the most wanted candidates for the crown of a restored Serbian kingdom, hypothetically presumed after a Christian crusade against the Ottoman Empire during planning for the Great Conspiracy of the late 16th and early 17th centuries under the auspices of Serbian Patriarch Jovan, diplomat Damjan, Herzegovinian Duke Grdan and other chiefs of the Serb clans.

[citation needed][disputed – discuss][verification needed] At the 1608 Council of Morača, during a gathering of representatives of the Serb clans and the Serbian Church, Charles was elected King of Serbia and invited to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy (as a precondition for being crowned by Patriarch John) and to vow to protect Orthodox Christianity.

Thus no broad uprising of the Balkan Christian peoples against the rule of the Ottoman Turks was sparked, as Charles Emmanuel lacked the financial resources to take the crown and restore the Serbian statehood extinguished in the 15th century.

[4] Charles Emmanuel obtained the help of French troops to free Alba from the Spaniards, in January 1617, as the new king resumed his father's alliance with Savoy.

In 1628 Giovanni Antonio Ansaldo, an agent of Charles Emmanuel, recruited and furnished with ample funds a group of Genoese conspirators led by Giulio Cesare Vachero who were to overthrow the Republic of Genoa and place the city under the protection of the Duchy of Savoy.

24 December 1599 – 10 November 1640), with whom he had four children, legitimised after the wedding but without succession rights:[citation needed] In addition, he had several illegitimate children: — With Luisa de Duyn Maréchal, daughter of Jean-Marie de Duyn, called Maréchal, baron of Val d'Isère: — With Virginia Pallavicino: — With Argentina Provana, daughter of Giovanni Francesco Provana, count of Bussoleno and Collegno, and Anna Maria Grimaldi: — With Anna Felizità Cusani: — With unknown mistress: Charles Emmanuel's military campaigns ignited Italian nationalism and patriotism.

He exhorted the nobles to discard their lethargy, unite and instead of fighting each other, join Savoy in ridding Italy of Spanish hegemony.

[8] At about the same time that Tassoni was inspired to write the Filippiche, Fulvio Testi, a young poet at the court of the duke of Este, published a collection of poems dedicated to Charles Emmanuel.

[8] More than fifty years later Vittorio Siri still reminisced that “all Italy broke forth with pen and tongue in praises and panegyrics at the name of Carlo Emanuele, and in demonstrations of joy and applause that he had revived .