Chambèry Rhone-Alpes France
1032 CE
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The Middle of The Earth
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The Allobroges people are the Celtic inhabitants of the Savoy, a strategic region of southeastern France that extends from Lake Geneva to the Isere River and borders on the Italian frontier.
The name Savoy stems from the Late Latin Sapaudia, referring to a fir forest.
The Greek historian Polybius made the first recorded reference to the Allobroges people in 150-130 BCE, telling of their unsuccessful resistance to Hannibal when he crossed the Alps in 218 BCE.
In 123 BCE, the Allobroges give shelter to king Tutomotulus (or Teutomalius), of the Salluvii tribe that Rome had conquered and refuses to hand him over, Rome declares war and moves against them.
Aetius settles the defeated Burgundians in Sapaudia (Savoy) near Lake Geneva.
Umberto, or Humbert, is the son of Amadeus (who was perhaps count of Maurienne).
His brother is Bishop Otto of Belley.
Umberto 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, Burgundy or Provence.
Given Humbert's close connections with Rudolf III of Burgundy, it is likely that his family is Burgundian, and is descended either from the dukes of Vienne, or from or a Burgundian aristocratic family (such as the Guigonids, ancestors of the counts of Albon).
Umberto initially held lands around Belley and in the county of Sermorens, before gaining lands in Aosta and Valais.
He is also called Umberto the White-Handed, reportedly to signify his generosity.
However, this posthumously applied title may derive from a misreading of a late medieval record (in Latin) which actually refers to the walls of his castle (blancis moenibus), not his hands (blancis manibus), as white.
After Rudolf III’s death in 1032, Umberto I swears fealty to Emperor Conrad II.
He supports the emperor in his campaigns against Odo II, Count of Blois and Archbishop Aribert of Milan.
In return, Conrad appoints Umberto count of Savoy and grants him Maurienne, Chablais and perhaps Tarentaise.
The Black Death has ravaged the population throughout the lands of Savoy from 1348 through 1351, cutting the population in some villages in half.
Many of the peasants in 1348 thought that it was caused by Jews poisoning wells and fountains.
Though the castellans in some places had tried to protect them, quite a few had been killed.
In Chambéry, the Jews had been locked in the castle for their protection, but a mob had broken in and killed several.
Court officers were then pressured into finding the remainder guilty of poisoning, executing eleven and charging the remainder a fine of one hundred and sixty florins per month for the next six years.
Amadeus is in Savoy assembling his army in early 1366.
More than half of the army consists of the hereditary vassals of the count of Savoy, and almost no family in his dominions is unrepresented.
His half-brother Ogier and his nephew Humbert, son of his half-brother Humbert, both join.
Aymon, younger brother of James of Piedmont, and Amadeus's two illegitimate sons, both named Antoine, participate.
Among crusaders are the English knight Richard Musard, the count's cousin Guillaume de Grandson, Aymond, heir of Amadeus III of Geneva, who is too ill to fulfill his vow, and Louis de Beaujeu, sire d'Alloignet, who is taking the place of Antoine de Beaujeu.
By the time it reaches Venice, this army will have been been organized into three batailles under the oversight of the marshal Gaspard de Montmayeur: the first to be led by Amadeus, Gaspard, Aymard de Clermont, and the brothers Guy and Jean de Vienne; the second by Étienne de la Baume, the sire de Basset, and the sire de Saint-Amour; the third and largest, the grosse bataille, is to be commanded by Guillaume de Grandson, Antelme d'Urtières, and Florimont de Lesparre, and includes the count's relatives.
Seeing that the Alexandrian Crusade had harmed its commercial relations with the Islamic powers, the Republic of Venice is disinclined to participate in the projected crusade or to provide it transportation east.
A letter from Pope Urban in March 1365 had not convinced them otherwise, but an embassy from Amadeus had procured a promise of two galleys in light of the count's request for five (and two fustes).
Urban, the architect of the crusade, has negotiated with Genoa and Marseille to procure ships, but the promise of transportation from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV will never be fulfilled.
The successors of Count Humbert the Whitehanded, the eleventh-century founder of the house of Savoy, have expanded their territories to include parts present of France, Italy, and Switzerland.
Amadeus VIII, the thirty-three-year-old count of Savoy, is granted ducal status in 1416.
The French king, by the terms of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, agrees in 1559 to restore the duchy of Savoy and Piedmont, occupied by France since 1536, to Spain's ally, Emmanuel-Philibert of Savoy.
Alfonso Ferrabosco is known for his madrigals, motets, and lute music, influential in bringing Italian musical style to England, his motets are particularly expressive.
The son of a Bolognese singer and composer, Domenico Maria Ferrabosco, Alfonso had settled in England in 1562.
He has been granted a life pension by Elizabeth I, but in 1578 he returns to Italy and enters the service of the Duke of Savoy.