View source for Humbert I, Count of Savoy

{{Short description|Founder of the House of Savoy (c. 980–1047)}}{{About|the Count of Savoy|the King of Italy|Umberto I of Italy}}{{Distinguish}}{{Infobox noble
| name         = Umberto I
| image        = Umberto Biancamano.jpg
| caption      = Posthumous depiction of Humbert.
| succession   = [[Count of Savoy]]
| successor    = [[Amadeus I of Savoy|Amadeus I]]
| spouse       = (possibly) Ancilla 
| noble family = [[House of Savoy|Savoy]] (founder)
| father       = Amadeus, Count of Belley
| issue        = [[Amadeus I, Count of Savoy|Amadeus I]]<br/>Aymon<br/>[[Burchard (bishop of Aosta)|Burchard]]<br/>[[Otto, Count of Savoy|Otto]]
| birth_date   = {{c.}} 980
| death_date   = 1047/1048
| death_place  = [[Hermillon]], [[County of Savoy]], Holy Roman Empire
| burial_place = [[Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Cathedral]]}}

'''Humbert I''' ({{langx|it|Umberto I}}; {{c.}} 980{{snd}}1047), better known as '''Humbert the White-Handed''' ({{langx|fr|Humbert aux blanches-mains}}) or {{nowrap|'''Humbert Whitehand'''}} ({{langx|it|Umberto Biancamano}}),{{refn|The title was held to signify his generosity, but may have been a posthumous confusion of a late-medieval record which referred to the walls of his castle (in [[Latin]]) as ''{{lang|la|blancis moenibus}}''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://regalis.com/reg/savhistory.htm |title=History of House of Savoy |access-date=2014-01-15 |archive-date=2016-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207093516/http://www.regalis.com/reg/savhistory.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>}} was the [[count of Savoy]] from 1032 until his death and the founder of the [[House of Savoy]].

Of obscure origins, his service to the [[Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperors]] [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]] and [[Conrad II]] was rewarded with the [[counties]] of [[county of Maurienne|Maurienne]] and [[county of Aosta|Aosta]] and lands in [[Valais]], all at the expense of local bishops and archbishops; the territory came to be known as the [[county of Savoy]].

==Biography==

===Family===
Humbert was the son of Amadeus, who may or may not have preceded him as [[count of Maurienne]].<ref>Hellmann, ''Grafen'', p. 2. By contrast, according to a late-medieval legend, Humbert's father was a Saxon noble named Berold, who was the grandson of [[Emperor Otto II]]</ref> 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]],<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Savoy}}</ref> [[Burgundy]] or [[Provence]]. Given Humbert's close connections with [[Rudolf III of Burgundy]],<ref>For Humbert's relationship with Rudolf III, see Previté-Orton, ''Early History'', pp. 9, 13ff.,26, 38, 47ff,</ref> it is likely that his family was Burgundian, and was descended either from the dukes of [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]],<ref>Previté-Orton, ''Early History''</ref> or from a Burgundian aristocratic family (such as the Guigonids, ancestors of the [[counts of Albon]]).<ref>Ducourthial, ‘Géographie du pouvoir'</ref> It is also likely that Humbert was related to [[Ermengarde of Burgundy]], second wife of Rudolf III.<ref>Ripart, ''Les fondements idéologiques du pouvoir'', I, p. 54.</ref>

Humbert initially held lands around [[Belley]] and in the county of Sermorens,<ref>Ducourthial, ‘Géographie,’ pp. 223-235</ref> before gaining lands in [[Aosta]] and [[Valais]].<ref>Previté-Orton, ''Early History'', pp. 19ff., 90ff.</ref>

===Humbert and the empire===
After Rudolf III's death (1032), Humbert I swore fealty to [[Emperor Conrad II]].<ref>Previté-Orton, ''Early History'', pp. 32f.</ref> He supported Conrad II in his campaigns against [[Odo II, Count of Blois]], and [[Aribert, Archbishop of Milan]].<ref>Previté-Orton, ''Early History'', pp. 19, 30ff., 35, 41; Hellmann, Grafen, pp. 8ff.</ref> In return, Conrad II appointed Humbert count of Savoy and granted him [[county of Maurienne|Maurienne]], [[Chablais]] and perhaps [[Tarentaise Valley|Tarentaise]].<ref>Ducouthial, ‘Géographie,’pp. 235-238. By contrast, Hellmann, ''Grafen'', p. 3 argues Humbert possessed [[county of Maurienne|Maurienne]] long before this.</ref> 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.{{sfn|Cox|1967|p=18-19}}

===Marriage and children===
Humbert married Ancelie (Auxilia or Ancilia). She may have been Ancilla of Aoste, the daughter of ''vir illustris'' Anselme of Aoste<ref>François Demotz, La Bourgogne, dernier des royaumes carolingiens (855-1056). Roi, pouvoirs et élites autour du Léman, Lausanne, Société d’histoire de la Suisse romande, 2008, 764 pages ({{ISBN|978-2-94006-606-3}}), p. 308</ref> 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.<ref>On the identity of Humbert's wife, see Previté-Orton, ''Early History'', pp. 10f., 19ff., 67f., 71; ''Die Urkunden der burgundischen Rudolfinger'', p. 23 n.11.</ref>
With his wife, Humbert had at least four sons:
#[[Amadeus I, Count of Savoy|Amadeus I]] (died 1056), Count of Savoy, successor
#Aymon (died 1054 or 1055), [[Bishop of Sion]]
#[[Burchard (bishop of Aosta)|Burchard]] (died 1068 or 1069), [[Archbishop of Lyon]]
#[[Otto of Savoy|Otto]] (died c. 1057), Count of Savoy, successor of his brother

Some authors believe that he had additional sons.

===Death===
[[File:Humbert I of Savoy tomb.jpg|thumb|The cenotaph of Humbert I in [[Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Cathedral]]]]
Humbert is often said to have died c. 1047/8 at [[Hermillon]], a town in the Maurienne region of present-day [[Savoie]], France.<ref>Previté-Orton, ''Early History'', pp. 39f., 69; Hellmann, ''Grafen'', p. 10</ref> In the 21st century, it has been suggested that he died by 1042.<ref>Ducourthial, ''Géographie'', p. 231</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{ cite book | last=Cox | first=Eugene L. | title=The Green Count of Savoy | url=https://archive.org/details/greencountofsavo0000coxe | url-access=registration | location=Princeton, New Jersey | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=1967 | lccn=67-11030 }}
*[[Charles William Previté-Orton|C. W. Previté-Orton]], ''The Early History of the House of Savoy (1000-1233)'' (Cambridge, 1912), accessible online at: [https://archive.org/stream/earlyhistoryofho00prevuoft#page/n5/mode/2up 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: [https://web.archive.org/web/20140110134301/http://www.manfred-hiebl.de/genealogie-mittelalter/savoyen_grafen_von/adelheid_von_turin_+_1091/hellmann.html Genealogie Mittelalter]
*''Die Urkunden der burgundischen Rudolfinger'', ed. T. Schieffer, MGH DD Burg (Munich, 1977), accessible online at: [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000361_00003.html?sortIndex=030%3A022%3A0001%3A010%3A00%3A00 Monumenta Germaniae Historia]
*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.&nbsp;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==
*[http://regalis.com/reg/savhistory.htm History of House of Savoy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207093516/http://www.regalis.com/reg/savhistory.htm |date=2016-12-07 }}
*[https://www.manfred-hiebl.de/genealogie-mittelalter/savoyen_grafen_von/humbert_1_weisshand_graf_von_savoyen_1048/humbert_1_weisshand_graf_von_savoyen_+_1048.html Humbert Weißhand, Graf von Savoyen] (in German)
*[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/Humbert-i-biancamano-conte-di-savoia/ Humbert Biancamano, Conte di Savoia] (in Italian)

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{{s-hou|[[House of Savoy]]||{{circa|980}}||1047 or 1048|name=Humbert the White-Handed}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[County of Savoy|Count of Savoy]]
|years=1032–1047/1048}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Amadeus I of Savoy|Amadeus I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Counts of Savoy}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humbert 01, Count of Savoy}}
[[Category:11th-century counts of Savoy]]
[[Category:Counts of Aosta]]

[[Category:980s births]]
[[Category:1040s deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]