Aymon (15 December 1291 – 22 June 1343), nicknamed the Peaceful, was
Count of Savoy
The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at ...
from 1329 to 1343.
Early life
Aymon was born in
Chambéry
Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...
. His father was
Amadeus V, Count of Savoy
Amadeus V (1252/1253 – 16 October 1323) was Count of Savoy from 1285 to 1323.
Biography
Amadeus was the son of Thomas II of Savoy and Beatrice Fieschi. Through his mother he was a grandnephew of Pope Innocent IV. Following his marriage to S ...
, and he was the younger brother of
Edward, Count of Savoy.
Career
In 1321, Aymon oversaw the siege engines at the siege of
Corbières. On the death of Amadeus V in 1323, Aymon was lord of
Bresse
Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), w ...
under Edward.
![Blason duche fr Savoie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Blason_duche_fr_Savoie.svg)
As a younger son of a noble family, Aymon had planned on a life in the church. When Edward died in 1329, Aymon was in
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...
at the court of
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334.
He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected b ...
.
In 1329, shortly after becoming count, Aymon established a committee to settle the territorial disputes with his cousin,
Amadeus III of Geneva
Amadeus III (french: Amédée III, 29 March 1311 – 18 January 1367) was the Count of Geneva from 1320 until his death. He ruled the Genevois, but not the city of Geneva proper, and it was during his time that the term "Genevois" came to be used ...
. These disputes had been an ongoing feud between the families for generations, but they were able to resolve them through years of negotiations without resorting back to war. This was how Aymon earned his nickname of 'The Peaceful'.
He contested the title Count of Savoy with his niece,
Joan of Savoy Joan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters
*:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine
* Joan (surname)
Weather events
* Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...
since Savoy operated under Salic law and had never had a female ruler. Joan with the support of her husband,
John III, Duke of Brittany
John III ''the Good'' (in Breton ''Yann III'', in French ''Jean III''; 8 March 128630 April 1341) was Duke of Brittany, from 1312 to his death and 5th Earl of Richmond from 1334 to his death. He was the son of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, an ...
defended Joan's claim. John and Joan had no issue. Eventually a settlement was reached whereby Aymon obtained the Countship in return for providing a monetary payment to Joan.
He spent much of his first few years as count at war with the Dauphin,
Guigues VIII of Viennois
Guigues VIII de la Tour-du-Pin (1309 – 28 July 1333) was the Dauphin of Vienne from 1318 to his death. He was the eldest son of the Dauphin John II and Beatrice of Hungary.
Career
Only nine years of age when his father died, he succeeded ...
, continuing a feud which went back for generations in their families. After Guigues was killed besieging
La Perrière in 1333,
Philip VI of France
Philip VI (french: Philippe; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (french: le Fortuné, link=no) or the Catholic (french: le Catholique, link=no) and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 13 ...
was able to broker a truce between Aymon and the new Dauphin,
Humbert II of Viennois
Humbert II de la Tour-du-Pin (1312 – 4 May 1355) was the Dauphin of the Viennois from 1333 to 16 July 1349. Humbert was the last dauphin before the title went to the French crown, to be bestowed on the heir apparent.
Character
Humbert was a s ...
, brother of Guigues.
In August 1334, in the buildup to the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...
,
Edward III of England
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...
sent an embassy to Aymon to convince him to join the impending conflict on the side of the English. Aymon declined to commit, as he held lands both in England and in Normandy, so was technically a subject of both kings. In April 1337, Philip sent similar messages on the other side. Aymon replied that he could not go abroad to fight as he still had territorial disputes with the
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
. Philip quickly settled a more lasting peace, as Humbert was trying to sell the Dauphiné. Aymon then led his forces as part of the French war effort from 1339 to 1342. He often fought alongside Amadeus III of Geneva.
In 1330, Aymon established a chancellor's office to manage official documents. He financed the expansion of a burial chapel at the
Hautecombe Abbey
Hautecombe Abbey (french: Abbaye d'Hautecombe, ; la, Altaecumbaeum) is a former Cistercian monastery, later a Benedictine monastery, in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille in Savoie, France. For centuries it was the burial place of the members of the H ...
which was constructed from 1331 to 1342. In 1340, he set up judges to specifically handle appeals at a level between the castellans and himself, to ease his workload in such cases.
Marriage and Children
Prior to his marriage, Aymon also fathered several illegitimate children, who were raised in his household, even after his marriage. These included:
*
Humbert
Humbert, Umbert or Humberto (Latinized ''Humbertus'') is a Germanic given name, from ''hun'' "warrior" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also came into use as a surname.
Given name
;Royalty and Middle Ages
* Emebert (died 710)
* Humbert of Maroille ...
, who worked for his father, and later his brother the count.
* Ogier, who worked for his father
* Amadeus (d. May 1346)
* Benoît
* Jean la Mitre (d. Aug 1348), lord of Cuine and castellan of Tarentaise and Entremont
* Jean, canon at
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
* Marie
* Donata, a nun
* Huguette, a nun
In 1330, Aymon married
Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrato
Yolande Palaiologina or ''Violant'' (Moncalvo, June 1318 – Chambery, 24 December 1342) was the Countess consort of Savoy by marriage to Aimone, Count of Savoy. She was the daughter of Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat, and Argentina Spinola ...
granddaughter of
Byzantine Emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
Andronikos II Palaiologos
, image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg
, caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia''
, succession = Byzantine emperor
, reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328
, coronation = 8 Novembe ...
and had 5 children, only 2 lived to adulthood:
#
Amadeus VI (Amadeo VI) (1334–1383) the Green Count
#
Bianca
Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche.
Variants
* Blanche: French
* Bianca: Italian
* Bianka ( Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, German, English, French, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, C ...
(1336–1388), married in 1350 to
Galeazzo II Visconti
Galeazzo II Visconti ( – 4 August 1378) was a member of the Visconti dynasty and a ruler of Milan, Italy. His most notable military campaigns were against Pope Gregory XI, around 1367. These battles fought between the papacy and the Viscon ...
, Lord of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
.
# John (1338–1348), died of
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
# Catherine (1341), died young
# Louis (b. 24 December 1342), died young
Yolande died 24 December 1342, in childbirth. Aymon became ill in the following months, and died 22 June 1343. He was buried alongside his wife in a chapel of
Hautecombe Abbey
Hautecombe Abbey (french: Abbaye d'Hautecombe, ; la, Altaecumbaeum) is a former Cistercian monastery, later a Benedictine monastery, in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille in Savoie, France. For centuries it was the burial place of the members of the H ...
.
Notes
References
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*
{{Authority control
1291 births
1343 deaths
14th-century Counts of Savoy
People from Chambéry
Burials at Hautecombe Abbey