Humbert I, Count of Savoy

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Humbert I
Amadeus I
Bornc. 980
Died1047/1048
Hermillon, County of Savoy, Holy Roman Empire
BuriedSaint-Jean-de-Maurienne Cathedral
Noble familySavoy (founder)
Spouse(s)(possibly) Ancilla
IssueAmadeus I
Aymon
Burchard
Otto
FatherAmadeus, Count of Belley

Humbert I (

Aosta and lands in Valais, all at the expense of local bishops and archbishops; the territory came to be known as the county of Savoy
.

Biography

Family

Humbert was the son of Amadeus, who may or may not have preceded him as

counts of Albon).[7] It is also likely that Humbert was related to Ermengarde of Burgundy, second wife of Rudolf III.[8]

Humbert initially held lands around Belley and in the county of Sermorens,[9] before gaining lands in Aosta and Valais.[10]

Humbert and the empire

After Rudolf III's death (1032), Humbert I swore fealty to

Aribert, Archbishop of Milan.[12] In return, Conrad II appointed Humbert count of Savoy and granted him Maurienne, Chablais and perhaps Tarentaise.[13] These imperial grants to a loyal supporter secured key passes through the Alps, controlling trade between Italy and Western Europe, which would be the core of Savoy power for centuries.[14]

Marriage and children

Humbert married Ancelie (Auxilia or Ancilia). She may have been Ancilla of Aoste, the daughter of vir illustris Anselme of Aoste[15] or Ancilla of Lenzburg, the daughter of the master of ceremonies of Burgundy. Alternatively, Ancilla may have been a daughter of Anselm and Aldiud, and thus a member of a northern Italian dynasty known as the Anselmids.[16] With his wife, Humbert had at least four sons:

  1. Amadeus I (died 1056), Count of Savoy, successor
  2. Bishop of Sion
  3. Archbishop of Lyon
  4. Otto
    (died c. 1057), Count of Savoy, successor of his brother

Some authors believe that he had additional sons.

Death

The cenotaph of Humbert I in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Cathedral

Humbert is often said to have died c. 1047/8 at Hermillon, a town in the Maurienne region of present-day Savoie, France.[17] More recently, it has been suggested that he died by 1042.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ History of House of Savoy
  2. ^ The title was held to signify his generosity, but may have been a posthumous confusion of a late-medieval record which referred to the walls of his castle (in Latin) as blancis moenibus.[1]
  3. Emperor Otto II
  4. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Savoy" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  5. ^ For Humbert's relationship with Rudolf III, see Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 9, 13ff.,26, 38, 47ff,
  6. ^ Previté-Orton, Early History
  7. ^ Ducourthial, ‘Géographie du pouvoir'
  8. ^ Ripart, Les fondements idéologiques du pouvoir, I, p. 54.
  9. ^ Ducourthial, ‘Géographie,’ pp. 223-235
  10. ^ Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 19ff., 90ff.
  11. ^ Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 32f.
  12. ^ Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 19, 30ff., 35, 41; Hellmann, Grafen, pp. 8ff.
  13. ^ Ducouthial, ‘Géographie,’pp. 235-238. By contrast, Hellmann, Grafen, p. 3 argues Humbert possessed Maurienne long before this.
  14. ^ Cox 1967, p. 18-19.
  15. ISBN 978-2-94006-606-3
    ), p. 308
  16. ^ On the identity of Humbert's wife, see Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 10f., 19ff., 67f., 71; Die Urkunden der burgundischen Rudolfinger, p. 23 n.11.
  17. ^ Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 39f., 69; Hellmann, Grafen, p. 10
  18. ^ Ducourthial, Géographie, p. 231

References

External links

Humbert the White-Handed
Born: c. 980 Died: 1047 or 1048
Regnal titles
New title Count of Savoy
1032–1047/1048 		Succeeded by
Amadeus I
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