County of Geneva

County of Geneva Comté de Genève (fr) Grafschaft Genf (de)
State of the Holy Roman Empire
← 10th century–1401 →
Coat of arms
Arelat (yellow) with Geneva, about 1200
Capital	La Roche Annecy (1219-1320)
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages
- County established	10th century
- Line extinct	1394
- Purchased by Savoy	1401
- Genevois province	1659

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.

History

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 Gerold I, son of one Count Albert, who married Bertha, maybe a daughter of Count Baldwin III of Flanders, and died about 1023. Their son, Gerold II, count of Geneva, was born about 1020 and died about 1080.

Annecy Castle

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.

The year after Humbert's death, his heir Odo sold the comté to Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy. Though other members of the Genevan House protested, 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.

Counts of Geneva

House of Geneva

Coat of arms of Amadeus I

• Ratbert (died after 880)
• Albitius (died after 931), his son
• Conrad I (died c. 963), his son
• c.963–974 : Conrad II, his son
• 974–??? : Albert, his brother
• ???–c.1023 : Gérold I, his son
• c.1023–c.1080 : Gérold II, his son
• c.1080–1128 : Aymon I, his son
• 1128–1178 : Amadeus I, his son
• 1178–1195 : William I his son
• 1195–1220 : Humbert I, his son
• 1220–1252 : William II, his brother
• 1252–1265 : Rudolf, his son
• 1265–1280 : Aymon II, his son
• 1280–1308 : Amadeus II, his brother
• 1308–1320 : William III, his son
• 1320–1367 : Amadeus III, his son
• 1367–1367 : Aymon III, his son
• 1367–1369 : Amadeus IV, his brother
• 1369–1370 : John I, his brother
• 1370–1392 : Peter, his brother
• 1392–1394 : Robert, his brother; as Clement VII he was Antipope at Avignon from 1378

House of Thoire

House of Thoire

• 1394–1400 : Humbert VII of Thoire and Villars (died 1400), son of Humbert VI, Lord of Thoire and Villars, and Maria of Geneva, Daughter of Amadeus III
• 1400–1401 : Odo of Thoire and Villars

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.

House of Savoy

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.

• 1424–1434 : Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy
• 1434–1444 : Philip of Savoy (1417–1444), his son, apanagiste Count

  1444–1460 : Louis (1413–1465), Duke of Savoy, his brother

• 1460–1482 : Louis (1436 † 1482), his son, apanagiste Count, also King of Cyprus
• 1482–1491 : John of Savoy (1440–1491), his brother, apanagiste Count
• 1491–1496 : Charles II (1489–1496), Duke of Savoy

  1496–1497 : Philipp II the Landless (1438–1497), Duke of Savoy, grand-uncle of the previous, son of Louis I

  1497–1504 : Philibert II the Handsome (1480–1504), Duke of Savoy, his son

  1504–1514 : Charles III (1486–1553), Duke of Savoy, his brother

• 1514–1533 : Philippe, Duke of Nemours (1490 † 1533), apanagiste Count of Geneva, Duke of Nemours, his brother
• 1533–1585 : Jacques, Duke of Nemours (1531–1585), Duke of Geneva 1564, his son
• 1585–1595 : Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Nemours (1567–1595), his son
• 1595–1632 : Henri I, Duke of Nemours (1572–1632), his brother
• 1632–1641 : Louis, Duke of Nemours (1615–1641), his son
• 1641–1652 : Charles Amadeus of Savoy (1624–1652), his brother
• 1652–1659 : Henri II, Duke of Nemours (1625–1659), his brother, Archbishop of Reims
• 1659–1724 : Marie Jeanne of Savoy (1644–1724), daughter of Charles Amadeus, married

  Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy (1634–1675) husband of the above

Subsequently the County of Geneva was joined to the Duchy of Savoy.

References

• Genealogy of the Counts of Geneva

Further reading

• Lindsay L. Brook, " The Paternal Origins of the Counts of Geneva" Foundations (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy), vol. 1 series 2, pp 111-115.
• Duparc, Pierre, Le Comté de Genève, Ixe-XVe siècle (Geneva and Paris) 1955.
• Paul Guichonnet: Genève, de in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.