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 1078 to 1080. His life is obscure and few documents mention him. During his rule, he was overshadowed by his mother, but he had good relations with the
Papacy
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
Otto of Savoy
Otto (french: Odon, Oddon, Othon; it, Oddone; /1060) was count of Savoy from around 1051 until his death. Through marriage to Adelaide, the heiress of Ulric Manfred II, he also administered the march of Susa from around 1046 until his deat ...
and Margravine
Adelaide of Turin
Adelaide of Turin (also ''Adelheid'', ''Adelais'', or ''Adeline''; – 19 December 1091) was the countess of part of the March of Ivrea and the marchioness of Turin in Northwestern Italy from 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduin ...
, Amadeus II was probably born around 1050, because he, alongside other noblemen of the
Kingdom of Burgundy
Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various states located in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The historical Burgundy correlates with the border area of France, Italy and Switzerland and includes the major modern cities of Geneva and ...
, swore an oath on the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome to defend the Church around 1070–73. In 1074 Pope Gregory VII was trying to persuade
William I, Count of Burgundy
William I (1020 – 12 November 1087), called the Great (''le Grand'' or ''Tête Hardie'', "the Stubborn"), was Count of Burgundy from 1057 to 1087 and Mâcon from 1078 to 1087. He was a son of Renaud I and Alice of Normandy, daughter of Richar ...
, to remember this vow and, with Amadeus and others, go to the defence of the Roman Empire in the East against the
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
.F. Cognasso, "Amedeo II, conte di Savoia", ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' Online As his mother is known to have had good relations with the Papacy in these years, this record seems to indicate that Amadeus was following his mother's policies at this early stage in his career.
Early in 1077 Amadeus, with his mother and brother
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, then Count of Savoy, hosted his sister
Bertha
Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy".
The name occurs as a theonym, s ...
, and his brother-in-law, Bertha's husband, the Emperor Henry IV. Amadeus and Adelaide then escorted the imperial couple to Canossa so the excommunicated emperor could reconcile with the pope. There they both took part in the negotiations and stood as pledges for the emperor's good faith.
On 16 July 1078 Amadeus and Peter witnessed a donation of their mother's to the Abbey of Novalesa. It was the last act of Amadeus and Peter together.
As count
On 9 August 1078, Peter died and Amadeus succeeded him as Count of Savoy, but in the March of Turin, where Peter had co-ruled with their mother, Amadeus was never margrave, although the reason for this is unclear. One document, issued by his widowed daughter Adelaide in 1090, refers to him as "count and margrave" (''comes et marchio''), but it is probably anachronistic.Previté-Orton, 242. There is only one document from his reign, in the
cartulary
A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...
of Saint-André-le-Bas in
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.asreigning." This shows, by the absence of the regnal year of the emperor, that despite his involvement in the reconciliation at Canossa, Amadeus II was neutral in the wider
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest ( German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...
and the wars against Henry IV that it caused in Germany.
Amadeus died in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
on 26 January 1080, according to the
necrology
An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acc ...
of the church of Saint Andrew there. This date must be at least approximately correct, since Adelaide made a monastic donation for the benefit of the souls of her sons Margrave Peter and Count Amadeus on 8 March.
Marriage, children and succession
According to the much later ''
Chronicles of Savoy
Chronicles may refer to:
* ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible
* Chronicle, chronological histories
* ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis
* ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed
* ''The Idhu ...
'', Amadeus married
Joan 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 ...
, daughter of "Girard, Count of Burgundy", who scholars have surmised to have been Count
Gerold of Geneva Gerold is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Gerold Bührer (born 1948), Swiss politician and member of the National Council (1991–2007)
* Gerold of Cologne (1201–1251), martyr and saint
* Gerold Löffler (born 1967), Swiss b ...
. The ''
Chronicon Altacumbae In historiography, a ''chronicon'' is a type of chronicle or annals. Examples are:
* ''Chronicon'' (Eusebius)
* ''Chronicon'' (Jerome)
*''Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham''
*'' Chronicon Burgense''
*'' Chronicon Ambrosianum''
*''Chronicon Compostellanu ...
'' says only that "the wife of Amadeus asfrom Burgundy", which might refer to Amadeus I.Quoted in Previté-Orton, 243: ''uxor ejus medeide Burgondia''. If his wife were Genevan, it would explain how the house of Savoy came to possess so early a large portion of the Genevois.Previté-Orton, 243. His wife, whatever her name and origins, bore Amadeus II several children, although there is some uncertainty about how many. His confirmed children were:
*Adelaide, wife of Manasses II, sire de Coligny
*Ausilia (also Auxilia or Usilia), second wife of Humbert II de Beaujeu, whom she bore four sons by the last decade of the eleventh century: Guichard, Humbert, Guigues, and Hugh
* Humbert II, his successor as count of Savoy
*Constance of Savoy, wife of Otto II of Montferrat.
The succession of Amadeus II is unclear. His son Humbert II, who was later Count of Savoy, is well known, but in 1082 the Count of Savoy was
Otto II
Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ita ...
. Although Amadeus is known to have had a younger brother named Otto, he is more likely to have been the
Bishop of Asti
The Diocese of Asti ( la, Dioecesis Astensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Piedmont, northern Italy, centered in the city of Asti. It has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin since 1515.
of this name and time. This has led some scholars, beginning with the Conte di Vesme, to make Otto II the eldest son of Amadeus II, who succeeded him and was in turn succeeded by Humbert II. In the immediate aftermath of Amadeus's death, Adelaide took control of all the Savoyard lands on both sides of the Alps.