At his succession to the throne in 1796, Sardinia had been forced to conclude the disadvantageous Treaty of Paris (1796) with the French Republic, giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. On 6 December 1798 the French, under Joubert, occupied Turin and forced Charles Emanuel to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia,Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places, (Trudy Ring, Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger, eds.) Routledge, 2013, p. 116 which stayed out of the reach of the French army. The following year he tried unsuccessfully to regain Piedmont. He and his wife lived in Rome and in Naples as guests of the wealthy Colonna family.
At his succession to the throne in 1796, Sardinia had been forced to conclude the disadvantageous Treaty of Paris (1796) with the French Republic, giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. On 6 December 1798 the French under Joubert, occupied Turin and forced Charles Emanuel to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia,Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places, (Trudy Ring, Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger eds) Routledge, 2013, p. 116 which stayed out of the reach of the French army. The following year he tried unsuccessfully to regain Piedmont. He and his wife lived in Rome and in Naples as guests of the wealthy Colonna family.