- Amadeo, Prince of Achaea
Amadeus or Amedeo of Savoy (1363 –
7 May 1402 ) was the son ofJames of Piedmont and his third wife Marguerite de Beaujeu. By James' will of16 May 1366 , he was declared his firstborn (his elder half-brother was considered a traitor by their father) and heir. In 1367, he succeeded his father in his titles ofLord of Piedmont andPrince of Achaea . He was also the lord ofPinerolo .Amadeo was taken from his mother's guardianship at a young age to live with
Amadeo VI of Savoy atChambéry . He returned to Piedmont in 1378 when he came of age. In 1380, he received papal dispensaton to marry within the third or fourth degree, though prohibited otherwise by the Church. Amadeo married Catherina, daughter ofAmadeo III of Geneva , on7 September that year.Nerio I Acciaioli ,Duke of Athens , had been a one-time employer of theNavarrese Company , but having been imprisoned atListrina for a year from September 1389 by the Navarrese masterPedro Bordo de San Superano , he abandoned his erstwhile allies and began talks with Amadeo, who had written letters of condolence to Nerio's relatives. On29 December 1391 , Amadeo's representatives met with Nerio in the palace chapel on the Acropolis and signed a pact against the Navarrese then controlling theMorea . Nerio agreed to recognise Amadeo as Prince of Achaea and his legal suzerain for the lordship ofCorinth and the duchy of Athens andNeopatria . Meanwhile, Amadeo had also been negotiating with Pedro Bordo and he had secured Navarrese recognition of his title in return for the confirmation of their vast holdings. Venice had also made an accord with Amadeo and were ready to transport himself and his army by sea to Greece in return for his aid in reconqueringArgos from theDespotate of Morea . Amadeo was in contact with the DespotThomas Palaeologus . Finally, a roll of all the Frankish vassals of the prince of Achaea was made and sent to Amadeo, but all for naught. Amadeo did go toGenoa to embark for the east, but never did set foot in Greece, for Amadeo VI died suddenly at that time.With his wife, Amadeo had four daughters:
*Margaret (died23 November 1464 ), marriedTheodore II of Montferrat ,beatified byPope Clement IX in 1669
*Bona (21 June 1390 – after 1392), probably died young
*Matilda (died14 May 1438 ), marriedLouis III of the Rhine
*Catherine (born 1400)He was succeeded by his brother Louis.
References
*Setton, Kenneth M. (general editor) "A History of the Crusades: Volume III — The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries". Harry W. Hazard, editor. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 1975.
*Setton, Kenneth M. "Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1380". Revised edition. Variorum: London, 1975.
* [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SAVOY.htm#Philippedied1334B Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Savoy.]
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