It was a junior line of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Prince Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince di Carignano 21 December 1596 – 22 January 1656), an Italian military commander. His descendants were accepted as "princes strangers" (Foreign Princes) at the court of France, where some held prominent positions, eventually coming to reign as kings of Sardinia from 1831 to 1861 and as kings of Italy from 1861 until the dynasty's deposition in 1946. The Carignanos also, briefly, supplied a king each to Spain and to Croatia, as well as queens consort to Bulgaria and Portugal.