Guigues the Old, called Guigues III (born 1050/1060; died 21 December 1133), was a Count of Albon from 1079, when the County of Vienne, then in the possession of the

Archdiocese of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to wh ...

, was divided between him and

Humbert I of Savoy 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 service ...

, who received

Maurienne Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) is one of the provinces of France, provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. ...

. He was the son of

Guigues II of Albon Guigues II d'Albon, known as the ''Fat'' (Pinguis), born around 1025 and died around 1079, was count in Grésivaudan and Briançonnais from 1070 to 1079, count of Albon in 1079. He came from the House of Albon. He bears the cognomen “le Gra ...

and Petronille. There is no source which records her parents or ancestry. His ancestors were lords of the castle of Albon and counts (''comites'') in 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 ...

and

Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...

nais. Guigues's reign was marked by continual strife with

Hugh of Châteauneuf Hugh of Châteauneuf (, 1053 – 1 April 1132), also called Hugh of Grenoble, was the Bishop of Grenoble from 1080 to his death. He was a partisan of the Gregorian reform and opposed to the Archbishop of Vienne, later Pope Callixtus II. Biograp ...

, Bishop of Grenoble, over the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

of certain church lands in the Grésivaudan. Hugh accused the count of usurping the lands with the help of the Bishop Mallem and invented fantastic stories to back up his claim to the disputed estates. Finally, an accord was signed between Guigues and the bishop in 1099. Guigues returned the ecclesiastic land, while Hugh recognised the authority of the count in the vicinity of

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. In 1095, Guigues contracted an exemplary marriage with the high-born Matilda, long thought to be the daughter of

Edgar the Aetheling Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

, but now thought more likely to have been a daughter of

Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the H ...

, the Great Count, and his third wife, Adelaide del Vasto. In 1129, Guigues benefited further from the division of the Viennois between himself and

Amadeus III of Savoy Amadeus III of Savoy (1095 – April 1148) was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as a crusader. Biography He was born in Carignano, Piedmont, the son of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, the daug ...

. Four years later, he died, leaving as his heir Guigues IV "dauphin" (died 28 June 1142) and a second son, Humbert,

Archbishop of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to whi ...

(died 26 June 1147). He had a third son, Guigues "the elder", who was living in 1105 and died young. He also had three daughters: *Garsenda, married

William III of Forcalquier William I (born c.1085 and died October 1129) was the Count of Forcalquier and Marquis of Provence from 1094. He was the second son of Count Ermengol IV of Urgell and the only son of Adelaide of Forcalquier, heiress of Count William Bertrand o ...

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

, married

*Beatrice (born 1100), married Josserand de Die (c. 1095 – c. 1147)

Sources

*Moriarty, G. Andrews. "Mathilda, Wife of Guigues VIII, Count of Albon", ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register'' volume CXI (October 1957). {{DEFAULTSORT:Guigues 03 of Albon Medieval French nobility 12th-century French people 11th-century births 1133 deaths Year of birth uncertain