Otto (french: Odon, Oddon, Othon; it, Oddone; /1060) was

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 around 1051 until his death. Through marriage to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, the heiress of Ulric Manfred II, he also administered the march of Susa from around 1046 until his death.

Family

He was a younger son of

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 service ...

and his wife, Ancilla of Lenzburg. Through Humbert's service to the

German emperors The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

, the family was granted 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 ...

Maurienne Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) is one of the 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. Location The Mau ...

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 o ...

and Sapaudia (

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...

), all at the expense of local bishops or archbishops. Otto inherited the family's realms after the death of his brother Amadeus . In 1046, he married Adelaide, heiress of the march of Susa and county of Turin. They had: * Peter (d. 1078) * Amadeus (d. 1080) * Otto * Bertha (d. 1087), wife of

Henry IV of Germany Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son o ...

(d. 1080), married Rudolf of Swabia

Rule

Through his marriage to Adelaide, Otto obtained extensive possessions in northern Italy. Thereafter, 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 ...

concentrated its expansion efforts towards Italy instead of north of the Alps as it had done before. Savoy's lands occupied much of modern

and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, although several other small states could be found between them. In the 1050s, Otto allowed coins to be minted at Aiguebelle. The archbishop of Vienne, Léger, who had sole right of minting in the region, complained to

Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...

, so Otto forbade further coining at Aiguebelle.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Oddo, Graf von Savoyen (1051-1059)
(in German)
Othon de Savoie
(in French) *G. Sergi, 'Oddone di Moriana-Savoia,' in �
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
�� – Volume 79 (2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Count of Savoy Nobility from Turin 11th-century Counts of Savoy 1020s births 11th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown