The County of Maurienne ( la, Comitatus Maurianensis; french: Comté de Maurienne; it, Contea di Moriana) was a county in the Maurienne Valley of

Upper Burgundy The Kingdom of Upper Burgundy was a Frankish dominion established in 888 by the Welf king Rudolph I of Burgundy on the territory of former Middle Francia. It grew out of the Carolingian margraviate of Transjurane Burgundy (''Transjurania'', ) s ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Its seat was Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. In the 6th century, King

Guntram Saint Gontrand (c. 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and ...

raised the church of Maurienne into an episcopal see. In 753, Grifo was defeated by the forces of

Pepin the Short the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king. The younger was the son of ...

in the valley on his way to Italy. The county was bestowed upon

Humbert the White-Handed Humbert I ( it, Umberto I; 950 – 1042 or 1047 1048), better known as Humbert the White-Handed (french: Humbert aux blanches-mains) or ( it, Umberto Biancamano), was the founder of the House of Savoy. Of obscure origins, his servic ...

in 1032 for his assistance in Conrad the Salian's

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

campaigns against

Aribert Aribert ( it, Ariberto) is a Germanic given name, from ''hari'' ("host") and ''beraht'' ("bright"). It may refer to: *Aribert (archbishop of Milan) *Prince Aribert of Anhalt (1866–1933), regent of Anhalt *Aribert Heim (1914–1992), Austrian Schu ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

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 ...

. He was buried in Saint-Jean's cathedral. Along with Savoy proper (

Sapaudia Sapaudia or Sabaudia was an Alpine territory of Late antiquity and the Dark Ages. Name The name is a Latinisation of the local words for "forest" or "upland forest", although it is often glossed as " fir" from the roughly similar Latin '. It ...

), this formed the nucleus of the

county of Savoy The County of Savoy (, ) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, from the collapse of the Burgundian Kingdom in the 11th century. It was the cradle of the future Savoyard state. History ...

which developed into the kingdoms of Sardinia and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

under Humbert's dynasty. Maurienne continued to be noted in the formal titles of the Sardinian and Italian kings. During the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century Political movement, political and social movement that resulted in the Merger (politics), consolidation of List of historic stat ...

, however, the Maurienne Valley itself was ceded to

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where it now forms the commune of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Subordinate to the counts were hereditary viscounts at

Aiguebelle Aiguebelle (; frp, Égouabèla) is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Val-d'Arc.La Chambre La Chambre (; frp, La Shanbra) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Savoie department The following is a list of the 273 communes of the Savoie departme ...

, who held the power of low justice over their subjects. High justice (jurisdiction over capital crimes) was reserved to the counts. In 1240, the count acquired the estates of Pierre Guigue du Villar in order to better control access to the

Col du Mont-Cenis , photo = Col du Mont Cenis.jpg , photo_caption = Lake at the pass , elevation_m = 2085 , elevation_ref = , traversed = Route nationale 6 , map = Alps , map_caption = Location of Col de Mont Cenis , map_size = , label = Col de Mont Cen ...

. The counts also built a castle

Hermillon Hermillon is a former Communes of France, commune in the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune La Tour-en-Maur ...

, from which their castellans could monitor events in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, where the bishop held secular authority. From Hermillon the castellans also exacted tolls for the counts on travellers to and from Mont-Cenis.Cox, ''The Eagles of Savoy'', p. 222.

References

{{france-hist-stub History of Burgundy