Amédée
III de Savoie
7th Comte de Savoie
(1095–1148)
Biographical
7th Comte de Savoie 1103–48†
Count of the Holy Roman Empire 1111
Marchese di Susa1103–48†
Marchese in Italia 1103–48†
Comte de Maurienne 1103–48†
Conte d'Aosta 1103–48†
Comte de Chablais 1103–48†
Conte di Torino c. 1131–36 dep
Comte de Tarentaise 1103–48†
Seigneur de Bas-Valais 1103–48†
Seigneur de Bugey 1103–48†
Abbot of St Maurice d'Agaune (lay) –1116
Amadeus III succeeded his father, but was a minor under the guardianship
of his mother, Gisela of Burgundy. The counts of Savoy/Maurienne had already
greatly enlarged their dominions on the Savoy side of the Alps, beyond
the boundaries of Maurienne, and Amadeus is styled in some diplomas as
'Count of Maurienne and marquis in Italy'. In another, dated from Turin,
he styles himself 'Count, by the grace of God, of Burgundy and Lombardy'.
He had reconquered Turin in 1131, but in 1136 the Emperor Lothar II invaded
Lombardy and subdued various towns that opposed him, and then invaded
and occupied Turin, for reasons that are not clear. It was possibly because
Amadeus was considered a usurper of Turin, and, like Lothar's predecessor,
Henry V, he opposed the revival of the margravate of Turin. By 1137 or
1138, Amadeus launched an assault on Turin and seems to have eventually
regained some control of the city.
Amadeus made several grants of lands and other tenements to churches and
convents, according to the custom of that age, including to the monastery
of St Bernard.
He built the family abbey of Hautecombe on the Lac du Bourget from c.
1140 where his successors were afterwards interred. He also founded the
abbey of Chézry in 1140, and the Chartreuse of Arvieres between 1140 and
1144.
In 1147 Amadeus set out with his nephew Louis VII of France on a crusade
to the East at the exhortation of St Bernard. The Emperor Conrad of Germany
also joined them. The crusaders went by land to Constantinople, and from
there through Asia Minor. They were defeated by the Turks in the defiles
of Pamphylia, and those who escaped with King Louis and Amadeus found
their way by sea to Antioch, and from there to Palestine, where being
joined by the forces of Bohemund, king of Jerusalem, they determined to
attack Damascus, but the attempt failed. The King of France then left
Palestine in disgust and Amadeus on his return home landed at Nicosia
where he fell ill and died. Amadeus was possibly the first to use the
title of count of Savoy,
and the arms of Savoy, the white cross on a red background, first appears
on record on a charter dated 1143.
Place of birth: Montmélian
Place of death: Nicosia
Place of burial: Church of the Holy Cross, Nicosia
Son of Humbert II de Savoie and Gisèle de Bourgogne. He was married
firstly to Adélaïde N (†c.1134) between circa 1112
and 1123, with issue, and secondly to Mathilde d'Albon in 1135, with issue.
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