Ritratto in Armatura del Conte Amedeo I di Savoia - Google Art Project

Amadeus I (c. 1016 – c. 1051), nicknamed of the Tail or ''la Coda'' (Latin , "tailed"), was an early count of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

. He was probably the eldest son of Humbert I.F. Cognasso
"Amedeo I, conte di Savoia"
''Dizionario biografico degli Italiani'', Vol. 2 (Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1960). His nickname derives from an anecdote, preserved only in a thirteenth-century manuscript, that when he met the

Emperor Henry III Henry III (, 28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black () or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was rais ...

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

in 1046, he refused to enter the emperor's chambers without his large train of knights, his "tail". Amadeus is first attested in a document of 8 April 1022, when, along with his younger brother Burchard, bishop of Aosta, he witnessed a donation of Lambert,

bishop of Langres The Diocese of Langres (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lingonensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Langres'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the '' département'' of Haute-Marne in France. The diocese is now a suffragan in ecclesias ...

, to his father. Probably sometime after this and before 1030, Amadeus, Burchard, and a third brother,

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, joined their father in witnessing a donation made by one Aymon de Pierrefort to the

Abbey of Cluny Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with ...

. In a further two undated charters of probably about the same period, Amadeus together with his brothers Otto and Aymon and his father made donations to the Abbey of Cluny and the at Matassine (

Le Bourget-du-Lac Le Bourget-du-Lac (, literally ''Le Bourget of the Lake'' o is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern/south-eastern France. It lies near the Lac du Bourget and from Chambéry. Climate Le Bourget-du-L ...

). Amadeus and his father also witnessed another donation, made by several noblemen, to the

Abbey of Savigny Savigny Abbey (''Abbaye de Savigny'') was a monastery near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux (Manche), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of the Congregation of Savigny, who were Bene ...

. The first record of Amadeus's marriage and use of the title

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

comes from a single document dated 22 October 1030. On that date, at

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, the count and his wife, Adelaide,His wife is elsewhere give as Adila or Adalegidal. of unknown family, gave the church of Matassine to Cluny. The act was witnessed by one Humbert and his wife Ausilia—who were perhaps Amadeus's father and mother—and also by his brother Otto and by the king and queen of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, Rudolf III and Ermengarda. Although the document of 1030 does not demonstrate that Amadeus and his father both held the rank of count simultaneously, Humbert's diploma of 1040 for the

Diocese of Aosta The Diocese of Aosta (, , ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church. It has existed in its modern form since 1817. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin in Italy.Saint-Chaffre. On 10 June Count Amadeus, Count Humbert and Otto donated the church of Echelles to the church of Saint-Laurence in Grenoble. There is no notice of Amadeus's activities for the following decade, and his last action was recorded on 10 December 1051. In this document, he is called "Count of Belley" (''comes Bellicensium''), but it is almost certainly the same Count Amadeus as the son of Humbert I. According to fourteenth-century sources, Amadeus died shortly after 1051 and was buried in

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (; or ''Sant-Jian-de-Môrièna''; ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department, in the regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly Rhône-Alpes), in south ...

. His son Humbert had predeceased him, but he left behind a son, Aymon, who became Bishop of Belley. He may have had a daughter who married into the family of the

Counts of Geneva The County of Geneva, largely corresponding to the later Genevois province, originated in the tenth century, in the Burgundian Kingdom of Arles (Arelat) which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. History Several nobles had held the title of a ...

. He was succeeded by his brother Otto in the countship.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amadeus 1, Count Of Savoy 970s births 1050s deaths 11th-century counts of Savoy Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain