SAVOY 263 SAW Savonarola, the Arrabbiati, came into power. He was ordered to desist from preaching; and the struggle was brought to a crisis by the counterdenunciations of a preacher of the Franciscan order, long an antagonist of Savonarola, Francesco da Puglia. In the excited state of the popular mind thus produced an appeal was made by both of the contending par- ties to the interposition of divine provi- dence by the ordeal of fire; and one of Savonarola's disciples agreed to make trial of the dread ordeal along with a Franciscan friar. But at the moment when the trial was to have come off (April, 1498) difficulties and debates arose, and nothing was actually done. The result of this was to destroy with the populace the prestige of Savonarola's reputation, and to produce a complete revulsion of public feeling. In the midst of this reaction he was cited before the council, and brought to trial for falsely claiming to have seen visions and uttered real prophecies, for other religious errors, and for political insubordination. He denied the charges; but, put to the torture, he made avowals which he afterward withdrew. The con- clusion was a foregone one; he was de- clared guilty of heresy and of seditious teaching, and of being an enemy to the peace of the Church. The acts of the trial were sent to Rome, where the sen- tence was confirmed; he, with two disci- ples of his order, was given up to the secular power; so on May 23, 1498, this extraordinary man and his two compan- ions, brothers Domenico and Silvestro, were strangled, and their bodies burned by the executioner. SAVOY (sa-voi'), a former duchy of the kingdom of Sardinia, now annexed to France, and forming the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, having N. and N. E. Switzerland, S. E. and S. Piedmont, and W. the departments of Isere and Ain; area, 4,162 square miles. It is the most elevated country of Europe, consist- ing principally of mountains, the highest of which is Mont Blanc. The valleys and low grounds are fertile and well cul- tivated. Rivers: Rhone, Arve, Drance, and Isere; lakes: Annecy and Bourget. Products: wheat, oats, barley, rye, and hemp. Minerals: iron, copper, silver, lead, coal, and salt. Manufactures, cotton and woolen fabrics, hosiery, watches, clocks, glass, earthenware, etc. Capital of Savoie, Chambery; of Haute-Savoie, Annecy. Sa- voy was anciently a part of Sapaudia, whence the name Saboia, or Savoy, is derived. It was erected into a duchy un- der Amadeus VIII., in 1416, and was ceded to France in 1860. Pop. about 500,000. SAVOY, HOUSE OF, one of the most ancient royal families, and also distin- guished for having produced a remarkable number of eminent warriors and states- men. Its origin is not historically es- tablished, but most genealogists trace it to a German count, Humbert, who, in the 11th century, established himself on the W. slope of the Alps between Mont Blanc and Lake Leman. In 1111 his descend- ants were enrolled among the counts of the Holy Roman empire. Count Ama- deus, in 1383, founded a law of primo- geniture which greatly strengthened the family, leading to the immediate acquisi- tion of the territory of Nice. In 1416 the Counts of Savoy adopted the title of duke; and in 1418 they acquired the principality of Piedmont. Taking part in the great wars between France and the Holy Roman empire, now on the one side and then on the other, as policy dic- tated, the Princes of Savoy increased their possessions in all directions, but chiefly toward the S.; and at the peace of Utrecht in 1713 they obtained the is- land of Sicily, with the title of king. Sicily had to be exchanged, in 1718, for the isle of Sardinia, to which henceforth the royal dignity remained attached. Genoa and the surrounding territory were added to the Sardinian crown at the peace of 1815. The direct male line of the house of Savoy died out with King Charles Felix, in 1831, and the existing Salic law prohibiting the accession of females, the crown fell to Prince Charles Albert, of the House of Savoy-Carignan. The latter branch — taking its name from a small town in the province of Turin, was founded by Thomas Francis, born in 1596, a younger son of Duke Charles Emanuel I. of Savoy. King Charles Al- bert, the first of the house of Savoy- Carignan, abdicated the throne, March 23, 1849, in favor of his son, Victor Em- manuel II., the first King of Italy. See Victor Emmanuel. SAVTJ, SAVOTJ, or SAVOE, an island of the Malay Archipelago S. W. of Timor ; area, 231 square miles. It yields millet, maize, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, etc., and its Malayan inhabitants are subject to the Dutch government of Timor. Pop. about 26,000, principally Malays. SAW, an instrument with a serrated or dentated blade, the teeth of which rasp or cut away wood or other material, mak- ing a groove known as a kerf. The Greeks claim the invention of the saw, but it occurs on the Egyptian monu- ments. Saws of the bronze age have been found in Germany and Denmark; and in the stone age rude saws of flint were affixed to wooden handles by bitu- men. The Caribs formerly employed
