Amadeus II (died 22 May 1308) was the
Count of Geneva
The County of Geneva, largely corresponding to the later Genevois (province), Genevois province, originated in the tenth century, in the Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundian Kingdom of Arles (Arelat) which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032.
History
S ...
, which included the
Genevois, but not the city of
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, from 1280 to 1308. He was the second son of
Count Rudolf and succeeded his heirless brother
Aymon II.
[Cox (1974), 435–37.]
Alliance and war (1282–83)
In June 1282 at
Versoix
Versoix () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, which sits on the north-west side of Lake Geneva, north-east of the city of Geneva.
Geography
Versoix has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.1% is used for agricultural purpo ...
, Amadeus and Béatrice “la Grande Dauphine”, the dowager
Countess of Albon and regent for her son
John I John I may refer to:
People
* John I (bishop of Jerusalem)
* John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople
* John of Antioch (died 441)
* Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526
* John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna
* John I o ...
, came to an agreement whereby all the places that Amadeus' father and grandfather,
William II, had been forced to cede to
Peter “the Little Charlemagne” in 1250 and 1260—the so-called ''gagerie''—would be returned to Geneva. The ''gagerie'' was originally to be held by Peter and his heirs until the Count of Geneva paid a
war indemnity
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war.
History
Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history.
R ...
of 20,000
marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel '' ...
, later reduced to 10,000. Béatrice was Peter's only daughter and heir, and the widow of
Guigues VII of Albon. In return for these lands, Amadeus granted to Béatrice suzerainty over certain lordships and agreed to take any
allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod (Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodium ...
s within the returned ''gagerie'' as
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
s of her and her heirs, the Counts of Albon, instead. The treaty also created a mutual defensive alliance and cooperation in an offensive against "those detaining and possessing the properties and men belonging to the above-mentioned ''gagerie''", that is, men of the
house of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
, Béatrice's relatives.
[ The conference of Versoix was under the presidency of Amadeus' uncl,e the ]Bishop of Geneva
The Catholic Diocese of Geneva was a Latin Catholic diocese in part of Switzerland and Savoy from 400 to 1801 when it merged with the Diocese of Chambéry. The merged diocese later lost Swiss territory to the Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva an ...
, who promised to help both parties so far as it did not threaten the rights of his diocese. The privilege of arbitrating disputes between Amadeus and Béatrice fell to Humbert I of La Tour-du-Pin, who was Béatrice's son-in-law as the husband of her daughter Anne.
War with Savoy immediately broke out following the alliance between Amadeus and the Dauphine. By 1 November 1282 the Savoyards had attacked Avalon
Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
in the Dauphiné and Bellecombe in the Genevois.[ The castle of La Buissière in the Dauphiné was captured by ]Louis I of Vaud Louis I (1249/50 – 1302) was the Baron of Vaud. At the time of his birth he was a younger son of the House of Savoy, but through a series of deaths and his own effective military service, he succeeded in creating a semi-independent principality in ...
, who then invaded the Grésivaudan
The Grésivaudan (sometimes Graisivaudan) is a valley of the French Alps, situated mostly in the Isère. Etymologically, ''Graisivaudan'' comes from roots meaning "Grenoble" (''Gratianopolis'') and "valley".''Robert des noms propres'' It compri ...
, while his brother Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music
*Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name
* ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
, marching from the 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''), whic ...
, assaulted Moirans
Moirans () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Isère department
The following is a list of the 512 communes in the French department of Isère.
The communes cooperate in ...
. These attacks caused the bishop to withdraw from the alliance and make peace with Philip I, Count of Savoy
Philip I (1207 – 16 August 1285) was Count of Savoy from 1268 to 1285. Before this, he was Bishop of Valence (1241–1267) and Archbishop of Lyon (1245–1267).
Ecclesiastical career
Philip was born in Aiguebelle, Savoy, as the eighth and last ...
, the brothers' uncle. In February 1283 the Genevois and men form the Faucigny
Faucigny ( it, Fossigni) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-centr ...
, enemies (''inimicos'') of Savoy, invaded the Savoyard castellany
A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant of ...
of Châtelard-en-Bauges and burned the village. In the Genevan citadel of Bourg-du-Four, agents of Count Philip fomented unrest in the city against both Amadeus II and the bishop.[ At this point in the spring of 1283 the emperor-elect ]Rudolf of Habsburg
Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death.
Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...
intervened against Savoy. Rudolf first attacked Morat
Morat may refer to:
* Morat, Switzerland, or Murten, a town in Switzerland
* Battle of Morat (1476), between the Swiss Federation and Charles I, Duke of Burgundy
* Morat (band), a Colombian folk band
* Morat, a type of mead that uses mulberries. S ...
and, failing in this, Payerne
Payerne (; frp, Payèrna) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use.
History
The earl ...
, where his assault was repulsed and the Louis of Vaud came to the city's defence. He then ordered the citizens of Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
to join the ‘imperial’ host and wrote to Amadeus II ordering him to invade Savoy an open up a “second front”.[Cox (1974), 441.] Although Amadeus received an offer of one hundred knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
s if he needed assistance, he does not appear to have actually opened up a “second front”, perhaps understanding better than the emperor the difficulty such an effort would face.[
Amadeus died 22 May 1308 ''apud lu Bacho'', and was buried the next day (23 May) at Montagny.][Duparc (1978), 247.]
Marriage and issue
Amadeus married Agnes, daughter of John, Count of Chalon
John (1190 – 30 September 1267), called the Old (''l'Antique''), was a French nobleman, the Count of Auxonne and Chalon-sur-Saône in his own right and regent in right of his son, Hugh III, Count of Burgundy. In contemporary documents, he was ...
, and his second wife, Laurette de Commercy, by a marriage contract drawn up 1 June 1285.[Duparc (1978), 244–246.] She bore him three sons and two daughters who were still living at his death:
*William III William III or William the Third may refer to:
Kings
* William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198)
* William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702)
* William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
, his successor[
*]Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music
*Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name
* ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
, who became Bishop of Toul
The Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1802. From 1048 until 1552 (''de jure'' until 1648), it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
History
The diocese was erect ...
[
*]Hugh
Hugh may refer to:
*Hugh (given name)
Noblemen and clergy French
* Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks
* Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II
* Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...
, who continued his father's feuding with the house of Savoy well into the reign of Amadeus VI of Savoy
Amadeus VI (4 January 1334 – 1 March 1383), nicknamed the Green Count ( it, Il Conte Verde) was Count of Savoy from 1343 to 1383. He was the eldest son of Aymon, Count of Savoy, and Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat. Though he started unde ...
[
*Jeanne (died 23 February 1303), who married Guichard VI de Beaujeu (1300)][
*Marie, who is mentioned in a document of 1306][
]
Notes
References
Bibliography
*Cox, Eugene L. ''The Eagles of Savoy: The House of Savoy in Thirteenth-Century Europe''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974.
*Duparc, Pierre. ''Le comté de Genève: IXe–XVe siècle''. Mémoires et documents publiés par la Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Genève, 39. Geneva: Julien, 1978.
* Poole, Reginald S. ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Swiss Coins in the South Kensington Museum Bequeathed by the Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend''. Elbiron Classics, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amadeus 02 Of Geneva
1308 deaths
Counts of Geneva
Year of birth unknown
House of Geneva