County of Geneva | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th century–1401 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Arelat (yellow) with Geneva, about 1200 | |||||||||
| Status | County | ||||||||
| Capital | La Roche Annecy (1219–1320) | ||||||||
| Government | County | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• County established | 10th century | ||||||||
• Line extinct | 1394 | ||||||||
• Purchased by Savoy | 1401 | ||||||||
• Genevois province | 1659 | ||||||||
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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.
Several nobles had held the title of a Count of Geneva in Upper Burgundy (Bourgogne transjurane) from the 9th century. The progenitor of the Counts of Geneva was Conrad I, possible count palatine of Burgundy, in Vienne. Count Cono/Conrad died about 1003 in exile, during the Hermann II's rebellion (his brother duke of Swabia, of Conradines lineage). [1] Their son, Robert, count of Geneva, was born about 970 and died about 1020.
The county never played a major part as a feudal entity. The city of Geneva and its environs were retained, but the approaches to the western end of Lake Geneva, which had made the position strategic, were soon lost. In 1124, the Bishops of Geneva had their rule over the city acknowledged and continued to make themselves an independent force, while the Counts of Savoy encircled the territory and controlled the trade routes. From 1219 on, the counts' stronghold and capital was Annecy.
At a moment when the male line of the counts was near exhaustion, Robert of Geneva was raised to a shadow papacy by the French cardinals who seceded from the College of Cardinals and wished to rescind their part in the election of the irascible Urban VI; elected 20 September 1378, Robert took the title of Clement VII. Unexpectedly, with the death of his brother, he succeeded as count in 1392. As count, Robert was virtually dependent on the cooperative graces of the count of Savoy. With his death in 1394, the House of Geneva was extinguished and the title passed to the husband of the heiress, Humbert VII of Thoire and Villars who died in 1400.
Eventually in 1401, the year after Humbert's death, his heir Odo of Thoire-Geneva sold the comté to Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy. Though other members of the Genevan House protested, and the House of Chalons (and, after its extinction, the House of Orange-Nassau) remained the strongest claimant, Amadeus successfully completed the integration of the county with his territories, which were raised to a duchy by Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. The title Count of Geneva passed securely into the House of Savoy, where it is maintained as a courtesy title.
Medieval historians connected the literary figures of Reynier and Olivier from the late-12th-century Girart de Vienne to the Genevois, but this is pure fiction.
By Samuel Guichenon, in Histoire généalogique de la royale maison de Savoie (1660) [6]
In 1401, Odo sold the County to Amadeus VIII of Savoy. His heirs, however, contested this and the legal processes were not completed until 1424.
From 1424 the County of Geneva was joined to the House of Savoy, although at times it was granted as appanage to cadet branches of the family.
Subsequently, the County of Geneva was joined to the Duchy of Savoy.
Humbert I, better known as Humbert the White-Handed or Humbert Whitehand, was the founder of the House of Savoy. Of obscure origins, his service to the Holy Roman Emperors Henry II and Conrad II was rewarded with the counties of Maurienne and 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.
Amadeus I, nicknamed of the Tail or la Coda, was an early count of the House of Savoy. He was probably the eldest son of Humbert I. His nickname derives from an anecdote, preserved only in a thirteenth-century manuscript, that when he met the Emperor Henry III at Verona in 1046, he refused to enter the emperor's chambers without his large train of knights, his "tail".
Amadeus III of Savoy was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as a crusader.
Amadeus V was Count of Savoy from 1285 to 1323.
Aymon, nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1329 to 1343.
The County of Savoy was a State of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, from the collapse of the Burgundian Kingdom in the 11th century. It was the cradle of the future Savoyard state.
Charles Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Nemours was a French military leader and magnate. He was the father of the penultimate Duchess of Savoy and of a Queen of Portugal.
Amadeus III was the Count of Geneva from 1320 until his death. He ruled the Genevois, but not the city of Geneva proper, and it was during his time that the term "Genevois" came to be used as it is today. He was the eldest son and successor of William III and Agnes, daughter of Amadeus V of Savoy. He played a major rôle in the politics of the House of Savoy, serving consecutively as regent and president of the council, and also sitting on the feudal tribunal—one of three tribunals of the Audiences générales—of the Duchy of Aosta.
Rudolf or Rudolph was the Count of Geneva from 1252 until his death in 1265. He was the eldest son of William II, and was described by a Renaissance historian as “the more quarrelsome son of a quarrelsome father.” He was a constant warrior, and his most frequent foes were of the House of Savoy.
Amadeus II was the Count of Geneva, which included the Genevois, but not the city of Geneva, from 1280 to 1308. He was the second son of Count Rudolf and succeeded his heirless brother Aymon II.
Louis II, son of Louis I of Vaud of the House of Savoy, was the Baron of Vaud from 1302 until his death. A military man, he fought widely in Italy and, during the first phase of the Hundred Years' War, in France. As a diplomat he visited England and the papal court in Rome and Avignon, and he served as regent of the County of Savoy between 1343 and his death, during which period he was the leader of the House of Savoy.
William II was the Count of Geneva, originally a usurper, from 1225 until his death. He fought a long series of wars with the House of Savoy and lost control of all of his county outside of the traditional Genevois and saw his influence over the city of Geneva proper and the Bishop of Geneva severely reduced.
Aymon III or Aimon III, a soldier, statesman and Crusader, was the twelfth Count of Geneva between January 1367 and his death seven months thence. He was the eldest son and successor of Amadeus III and Mahaut d'Auvergne. He pursued a policy of alliance and cooperation with the House of Savoy begun by his father. By all contemporary accounts, he was "handsome [and] possessed great charm of person and of manner."
Bianca of Burgundy, was a Countess consort of Savoy by marriage to Edward, Count of Savoy. She was the mother of Joan of Savoy.
Beatrice of Savoy ruled as Lady of Faucigny, having succeeded her mother, Agnes of Faucigny. She was the only legitimate child of Peter II, Count of Savoy, but did not inherit the county, which passed instead to her uncle. Beatrice was also Dauphine of Viennois and Viscountess of Béarn by her two marriages.
The Château de Poncin is a former castle, now a stately residence, in the commune of Poncin in the Ain département of France. The present château on the site was constructed from the mid-18th century; parts of the original castle remain.
Seyssel is an ancient french family which is first mentioned in Savoy in the thirteenth century and probably dates back some time earlier. The name derives from city of Seyssel, and the family's various branches held the titles of viscounts, earls, barons and marquises over the course of time. Its members were positioned in the first rank at the court of the Counts of Savoy and the bishops of Geneva. Today there are branches of the Seyssel in Italy, Bavaria, Austria and France.
Ermengarde was a medieval noblewoman. Through her first marriage, to Rotbold II, Count of Provence, she was countess of Provence, and from 1011 to 1032 Ermengarde was the last queen of independent Burgundy by virtue of her second marriage to Rudolf III of Burgundy.
William III of Geneva was the Count of Geneva from 1308 to 1320. He was the son of count Amadeus II of Geneva, and Agnès, daughter of John, Count of Chalon.
Aymon de Briançon was a Burgundian nobleman and Carthusian monk who served as the archbishop of Tarentaise from around 1175 until his death. From 1186, he was a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. He took part in the Third Crusade in 1189.
