Amadeus II ( – 26 January 1080) was the

count of Savoy The titles of the count of Savoy, and then duke of Savoy, are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the House of Savoy held the county. Several of these rulers ruled as kings 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 is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and, for a time, the

Holy Roman emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Before his countship

The second son of Count Otto of Savoy and Margravine Adelaide of Turin, 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 successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

, swore an oath on the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome to defend the Church around 1070–73. In 1074

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

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 Reginald I, Count of Burgundy and Alice of Normandy ...

, 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 ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

.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 su ...

, then Count of Savoy, hosted his sister Bertha, and his brother-in-law, Bertha's husband, the

Emperor Henry IV Henry 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 of Henry III, Holy ...

. 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, which is dated when "Count Amadeus 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 or Investiture Contest (, , ) was a conflict between church and state in medieval Europe, the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture), abbots of monasteri ...

and the wars against Henry IV that it caused in Germany. Amadeus died in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

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. Ac ...

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'', Amadeus married Joan, 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 bo ...

. The '' Chronicon Altacumbae'' 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 Otto II (also ''Otho'', ''Ottone'', or ''Oddone'') (c. 1015 – 20 November 1084) was the fourth Marquis of Montferrat from 1042 until his death. He was a member of the Aleramid dynasty. Life Otto was the son and successor of William III and W ...

. 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 (), 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 Italy. Otto II was ...

. Although Amadeus is known to have had a younger brother named Otto, he is more likely to have been the Bishop of Asti 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.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amadeus 02, Count of Savoy 1050s births 1080 deaths 11th-century counts of Savoy Year of birth uncertain Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown