SAVOY, Count Thomas

1177 - 1233  (55 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	SAVOY, Thomas
  Prefix	Count
  Birth	20 Mar 1177	Aiguebelle, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France
  Gender	Male
  Burial	Jan 1233
  Death	20 Jan 1233	Aoste, Isère, France
  WAC	20 Mar 2001	MANTI
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I46129	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Father	SAVOY, Count Humbert III ,   b. 1 Aug 1136, Savoie, France Savoie, Franced. 4 Mar 1188, Chambéry, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France (Age 51 years)
  Mother	VIENNE, Countess Beatrix de ,   b. Abt 1138, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, Franced. 15 Nov 1184, Jouhe, Jura, Franche-Comté, France (Age 46 years)
  Marriage	1175
  Family ID	F24082	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	GENEVA, Beatrix Marguerite de ,   b. 1179, Chêne-Bougeries, Genève, Switzerland Chêne-Bougeries, Genève, Switzerlandd. 8 Apr 1257, Pierre Chatel, Isère, Rhone-Alpes, France (Age 78 years)
  Marriage	May 1195
  Children	1 son and 1 daughter
  + 1. SAVOY, Count Amadeo IV ,   b. 1195, Savoie, France Savoie, Franced. 24 Jun 1253, Montmêlian, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France (Age 58 years) + 2. SAVOY, Countess Beatrice ,   b. 1 Nov 1198, Chambéry, Savoie, Rhone-Alpes, France Chambéry, Savoie, Rhone-Alpes, Franced. 4 Jan 1267, Chambéry, Savoie, Rhone-Alpes, France (Age 68 years)
  Family ID	F24079	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

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  Thomas (Tommaso I; 1178 – 1 March 1233) was Count of Savoy from 1189 to 1233. He is sometimes numbered "Thomas I" to distinguish him from his son of the same name, who governed Savoy but was not count. Thomas was born in Aiguebelle, the son of Humbert III of Savoy and Beatrice of Viennois. His birth was seen as miraculous; his monkish father had despaired of having a male heir after three wives. Count Humbert sought counsel from St. Anthelm, who blessed Humbert three times, and it was seen as a prophecy come true when Thomas was born shortly before Anthelm himself died on 26 June 1178. He was named in honour of Saint Thomas Becket. Coat of arms of Savoy Thomas was still a minor when his father died on 4 March 1189, and a council of regency was established, composed of his mother Beatrice, his father's cousin Boniface I of Montferrat, and the Bishop of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. He had reached his majority by August 1191. Thomas possessed the martial abilities, energy, and brilliance that his father lacked, and Savoy enjoyed a golden age under his leadership. Despite his youth he began the push northwest into new territories. In the same year he granted Aosta Valley the "Charte des Franchises", recognising the right to administrative and political autonomy. This right was maintained until the eve of the French Revolution. Later he conquered Vaud, Bugey, and Carignano. He supported the Hohenstaufens, and was known as "Thomas the Ghibelline" because of his career as Imperial Vicar of Lombardy. Career Edit Thomas worked throughout his career to expand the control and influence of the County of Savoy. One of the key tools that he used was his large number of children, who he worked to get into positions of influence in neighboring regions. In part, this was done by getting many of his sons into episcopal offices in surrounding territories, in a time when bishops had temporal as well as spiritual authority.[1] In addition to Guglielmo and Bonifacio, who made their careers in the clergy, their brother Thomas started out as a canon at Lausanne and became prévôt of Valence by 1226.[2] Pietro was also a canon at Lausanne and served as acting bishop there until he was replaced in 1231.[3] In 1219 he worked to get his daughter Beatrice married to the fourteen-year-old Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence. This established a close relationship between the two adjoining counties which would help cement Savoy control over trade between Italy and France.[4] Thomas also fought many battles to expand his control. In 1215, his troops fought in an alliance with Milan against Monferrato, destroying the town of Casale.[5] In 1222, he captured Cavour.[6] Thomas also worked through diplomatic and economic means to expand his control. The county of Savoy long enjoyed control over critical passes through the Alps. In his quest to gain more control over Turin, Thomas made an agreement with their rival Asti to reroute their French trade around Turin through Savoyard lands in a treaty on 15 September 1224. In 1226, Emperor Frederick II came to northern Italy and named Thomas Imperial Vicar of Lombardy. In this role, he mediated in a Genoese rebellion and a dispute between the town of Marseille and their bishop.[7] Thomas also made a policy of granting franchises and charters to towns on key trade routes which enabled the merchant class to develop more wealth and built support for his rule.[8] Thomas died at Moncalieri, Savoy. Family and children Edit In 1195 he ambushed the party of Count William I of Geneva, which was escorting the count's daughter, Margaret of Geneva, to France for her intended wedding to King Philip II of France. Thomas carried off Marguerite and married her himself, producing some eight sons and six daughters. Amedeo, his immediate successor Umberto, d. between March and November 1223 Tommaso, lord and then count in Piedmont and founder of a line that became the Savoy-Achaea Aimone, d. 30 August 1237, Lord of Chablais Guglielmo (William of Savoy), Bishop of Valence and Dean of Vienne Amadeo of Savoy, Bishop of Maurienne Pietro, who resided much in England, became Earl of Richmond, and ultimately in 1263 became the disputed count of Savoy Filippo, archbishop of Lyon, who resigned, through marriage became Count Palatine of Burgundy and ultimately in 1268 became the disputed count of Savoy Bonifacio who became archbishop of Canterbury Beatrice of Savoy, d. 1265 or 1266, married in December 1219 to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1209-1245) and was mother of four Queens-consort Alasia of Savoy, abbess of the monastery of St Pierre in Lyon (d.1250) Ágatha of Savoy, abbess of the monastery of St Pierre in Lyon (d.1245) Margherita of Savoy, d. 1273, married in 1218 to Hartmann IV of Kyburg Avita of Savoy (1215-92) who married Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon and Robert Aguillon (d.1286). He had illegitimate children too: Aymon (+ 1243), who was Count of Larches, with Beatrice of Grisel married Thomas "the big", who was count of Lioches Giulio