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 to the Holy Roman Emperors Henry II and Conrad II was rewarded with the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Maurienne and

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...

and lands in

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

, all at the expense of local bishops and archbishops; the territory came to be known as 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. Histor ...

Biography

Family

Humbert was the son of Amadeus, who may or may not have preceded him as

count of Maurienne 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 during the Middle Ages. Its seat was Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. In the 6th century, ...

. His brother was Bishop Otto of Belley. Humbert is the progenitor of the dynasty known as the House of Savoy. The origins of this dynasty are unknown, but Humbert's ancestors are variously said to have come from

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Burgundy or

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. Given Humbert's close connections with

Rudolf III of Burgundy Rudolph III (french: Rodolphe, german: Rudolf; – 6 September 1032), called the Idle or the Pious, was the king of Burgundy from 993 until his death. He was the last ruler of an independent Kingdom of Burgundy, and the last male member of the Bu ...

, it is likely that his family was Burgundian, and was descended either from the dukes of

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.Guigonids, ancestors of the

counts of Albon The counts of Albon (''comtes d'Albon'') were members of the medieval nobility in what is now south-eastern France. Guigues IV, Count of Albon (d. 1142) was nicknamed ''le Dauphin'' or ''the Dolphin''. His nickname morphed into a title among ...

). It is also likely that Humbert was related to

Ermengarde of Burgundy Ermengarde (also ''Hermengarde'', ''Ermengarda, Irmengarde, Irainsanda'', ''Eimildis'') (– after 20 September 1057) was a medieval noblewoman. Through her first marriage, to Rotbold II, Count of Provence, she was countess of Provence, and from 1 ...

, second wife of Rudolf III. Humbert initially held lands around

Belley Belley () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. History Belley is of Roman origin, and in the 5th century became an episcopal see. It was the capital of the province of Bugey, which was a dependency of Savoy till 1601, whe ...

and in the county of Sermorens, before gaining lands in

and

Humbert and the empire

After Rudolf III's death (1032), Humbert I swore fealty to

Emperor Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

. He supported Conrad II in his campaigns against Odo II, Count of Blois, and Aribert, Archbishop of Milan. In return, Conrad II appointed Humbert count of Savoy and granted him Maurienne, Chablais and perhaps Tarentaise. These imperial grants to a loyal supporter secured key passes through the Alps, controlling trade between Italy and Western Europe, which would be the core of Savoy power for centuries.

Marriage and children

Humbert married Ancelie (Auxilia or Ancilia). She may have been Ancilla of Aoste, the daughter of ''vir illustris'' Anselme of Aoste or Ancilla of Lenzburg, the daughter of the master of ceremonies of Burgundy. Alternatively, Ancilla may have been a daughter of Anselm and Aldiud, and thus a member of a northern Italian dynasty known as the Anselmids. With his wife, Humbert had at least four sons: # Amadeus I (died 1056), Count of Savoy, successor # Aymon (died 1054 or 1055),

Bishop of Sion The Diocese of Sion ( la, Dioecesis Sedunensis, french: Diocèse de Sion, german: Bistum Sitten) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north o ...

# Burchard (died 1068 or 1069),

Archbishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops o ...

# Otto (died c. 1057), Count of Savoy, successor of his brother Some authors believe that he had additional sons.

Death

Humbert is often said to have died c. 1047/8 at

Hermillon Hermillon 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 La Tour-en-Maurienne.Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...

, France. More recently, it has been suggested that he died by 1042.Ducourthial, ''Géographie'', p. 231

Notes

References

* * C. W. Previté-Orton, ''The Early History of the House of Savoy (1000-1233)'' (Cambridge, 1912), accessible online at
archive.org
*S. Hellmann, ''Die Grafen von Savoyen und das Reich: bis zum Ende der staufischen Periode'' (Innsbruck, 1900), accessible online (but without page numbers) at

*''Die Urkunden der burgundischen Rudolfinger'', ed. T. Schieffer, MGH DD Burg (Munich, 1977), accessible online at

*C. Ducourthial, ''Géographie du pouvoir en pays de Savoie au tournant de l'an Mil'', in C. Guilleré, J-M. Poisson, L. Ripart and C. Ducourthial, eds., ''Le royaume de Bourgogne autour de l'an mil'' (Chambéry, 2008), pp. 207–246. *Laurent Ripart, ''Les fondements idéologiques du pouvoir des comtes de la maison de Savoie (de la fin du Xe siècle au début du XIIIe siècle'' (unpublished PhD thesis, Université de Nice, 1999).

External links

History of House of Savoy
(in German)
Humbert Biancamano, Conte di Savoia
(in Italian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Humbert 01, Count of Savoy 11th-century Counts of Savoy Counts of Aosta 980s births 1040s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Place of birth unknown