Editing Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy

{{Short description|Italian noble (1197–1253)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name         = Amadeus IV
| image        = Pečeť Amadea IV..png
| succession   = [[Count of Savoy]]
| reign        = 1233–1253
| predecessor  = [[Thomas I, Count of Savoy|Thomas I]]
| successor    = [[Boniface, Count of Savoy|Boniface]]
| house        = [[House of Savoy|Savoy]]
| father       = [[Thomas I of Savoy]]
| mother       = [[Margaret of Geneva]]
| spouse       = {{ubl|[[Marguerite of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy|Marguerite of Burgundy]]|[[Cecile of Baux|Cecilia of Baux]]}}
| issue        = {{ubl|[[Beatrice of Savoy, Marchioness of Saluzzo|Beatrice of Savoy]]|Margaret of Savoy|[[Boniface, Count of Savoy]]|[[Beatrice of Savoy (died 1292)|Beatrice of Savoy]]}}
| birth_date   = 1197
| birth_place  = [[Montmélian]], Savoie
| death_date   = {{death date|1253|6|11|df=y}}
| death_place  = 
}}

'''Amadeus IV''' (1197{{spnd}}11 June 1253){{sfn|Cox|1974|pp=8, 226}} was [[Count of Savoy]] from 1233 to 1253.

Amadeus was born in [[Montmélian]], Savoy. The legitimate heir of [[Thomas I of Savoy]] and [[Margaret of Geneva]], he had however to fight with his brothers for the inheritance of Savoy's lands after their father's death. His brothers Pietro and Aimone spurred a revolt in [[Aosta Valley]] against Amadeus, but he was able to crush it with the help of [[Manfred III of Saluzzo]] and [[Boniface II of Montferrat]], who were his sons-in-law. Together with his brother, [[Thomas II of Savoy|Thomas]], he fought against the communes of [[Turin]] and [[Pinerolo]], but with uncertain results.

He was succeeded by his young son [[Boniface, Count of Savoy|Boniface]].

==Career==
===Head of the family===
As the eldest son of Thomas I of Savoy, Amadeus inherited the county and associated lands on his father's death in 1233. However, his brothers [[Peter II, Count of Savoy|Peter]] and Aymon demanded that he divide the territories and give them their share. In July 1234, he and his brother [[William of Savoy|William]] convened a family meeting at [[Château de Chillon]]. While both sides arrived with armed troops, William was able to negotiate a treaty between the brothers. This treaty kept the lands intact, but recognized the authority of the younger brothers within certain regions under Amadeus.{{sfn|Cox|1974|pp=41-43}} These territories were on the frontiers of Savoy lands, designed to encourage the brothers to expand the county rather than diminish it. When his brother [[Thomas, Count of Flanders|Thomas]] left his career in the church in 1235, Amadeus granted him similar territories.{{sfn|Cox|1974|pp=51-52}}

Before he had a son, Amadeus changed his mind many times regarding his will. Initially, he had made his sons-in-law his heirs, but in 1235, he rewrote his will in favour of his brother Thomas. In December of that year, it went back to having his sons-in-law as heirs, until Amadeus was preparing for the siege. Then he rewrote the will in favour of Thomas. In March 1239, his daughters convinced him to return it to their favour. On 4 November 1240, Thomas returned and persuaded him to rewrite the will in his brother's favour again. When Thomas left, once again the will was reversed.{{sfn|Cox|1974|p=105}} His final will was written in 1252, leaving the title and nearly everything to his son, [[Boniface, Count of Savoy|Boniface]], and naming his brother Thomas as regent and second in line for the title.{{sfn|Cox|1974|p=224}}

===Among European powers===
Amadeus faced many challenges in balancing the demands of the greater powers in Europe at that time. [[Henry III of England]] wrote to Amadeus in 1235 to seek his consent and blessing to marry the Count's niece, [[Eleanor of Provence]]{{sfn|Mugnier|1890|pp=17-18}} In 1238, Amadeus went to the court of [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]], in Turin, where he was knighted by the Emperor.  Then with his brothers, he led troops as part of the siege of [[Brescia]].{{sfn|Cox|1974|pp=65-67}} In July 1243, Amadeus and his brother Thomas were ordered by [[Enzo of Sardinia]] to join him in a siege of Vercelli, which had recently switched allegiances from the Empire to the Pope. Not only was the attack on the city unsuccessful, but Amadeus and his brother were excommunicated for it.{{sfn|Cognasso|1940|p=256|ps= vol.II}} When the brothers wrote to the new [[Pope Innocent IV]] to appeal the excommunication, he granted their request.

In late 1244, when Pope Innocent IV fled from [[Rome]], Amadeus met him in Susa and escorted him through the passes to Chambéry, and then provided his brother [[Philip I, Count of Savoy|Philip]] as escort for the Pope downriver to [[Lyon]]. However, Amadeus was then willing to open the same passes to the imperial army. He also signed a treaty with Henry III on 16 January 1246 which gave rights of passage through the passes to the English in exchange for an annual payment of 200 marks. That same month, Amadeus joined a force which went to [[Provence]] to rescue his niece, [[Beatrice of Provence]] from the forces of Frederick and escort her to her marriage to [[Charles I of Sicily|Charles of Anjou]]{{sfn|Cox|1974|pp=128-153}} By May 1247, Frederick was ready to move against the Pope. He had gathered his army in Turin, and ordered those still loyal to him in the kingdoms of Arles and France to meet at Chambéry (the capital of Savoy). However, the revolt of [[Parma]] pulled Frederick back from this plan. That same summer, Amadeus blocked an attempt by the Pope to send 1500 soldiers to the Lombard League. On 8 November 1248, Frederick asked Amadeus and his brother Thomas to go to Lyon and start negotiations for peace. However, their efforts were unsuccessful and the war continued until the death of Frederick.{{sfn|Cox|1974|pp=179-184}}

==Family and children==
He married twice, and each marriage produced children

*c. 1217,{{sfn|Cox|1974|p=462}} he married [[Marguerite of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy|Marguerite of Burgundy]], daughter of [[Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy]].
** [[Beatrice of Savoy, Marchioness of Saluzzo|Beatrice of Savoy]] (d. 1258), married firstly in 1233 [[Manfred III of Saluzzo]] (d. 1244),{{sfn|Chaubet|1984|p=125}} married secondly on 21 April 1247 [[Manfred of Sicily]]
** [[Margaret of Savoy (d. 1254)]], married firstly on 9 December 1235 [[Boniface II of Montferrat]],{{sfn|Gee|2002|p=177}} married secondly Aymar III, [[Count of Valentinois]]
*on 18 December 1244, he married [[Cecile of Baux|Cecilia of Baux]], "Passerose", daughter of [[Barral of Baux]]{{sfn|Cox|1974|p=126}}
** [[Boniface, Count of Savoy]]
** [[Beatrice of Savoy (died 1292)|Beatrice of Savoy]] (1250 &ndash; 23 February 1292) married Peter of Chalon and ''[[Infante]]'' [[Manuel of Castile]].
** Eleonor of Savoy, married in 1269 Guichard de Beaujeu
** Constance of Savoy, died after 1263

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite journal |last=Chaubet |first=Daniel |title=Une enquête historique en Savoie au XVe siècle |journal=Journal des savants |language=fr |year=1984 |volume=1 |page=93-125 |doi=10.3406/jds.1984.1477 }}
*{{cite book | title=Tommaso I ed Amedeo IV |last=Cognasso |first=Francesco |language=it | year=1940 | location=Turin}}
*{{cite book | title=The Eagles of Savoy |last=Cox |first=Eugene L. | year=1974 | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton | isbn=0691052166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qF19BgAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book |title=Women, Art, and Patronage from Henry III to Edward III, 1216-1377 |first=Loveday Lewes |last=Gee |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2002 }}
*{{cite book | title=Les Savoyards en Angleterre au XIII siècle |last=Mugnier |first=F. | year=1890 | location=Chambéry}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Savoy]]||1197|11 June|1253|name=Amadeus IV}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas I, Count of Savoy|Thomas I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[County of Savoy|Count of Savoy]] |years=1233–1253}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Boniface, Count of Savoy|Boniface]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Counts of Savoy}}
{{Dukes of Chablais}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amadeus 4 Of Savoy}}
[[Category:1197 births]]
[[Category:1253 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century counts of Savoy]]
[[Category:People from Savoie]]
[[Category:Dukes of Chablais]]
[[Category:Burials at Hautecombe Abbey]]