Humbert III, Count of Savoy

Humbert III
Count of Savoy
Reign1148–1189
PredecessorAmadeus III
SuccessorThomas
Born1136
Avigliana, Piedmont
Died1189
Chambéry, Savoy
Noble familyHouse of Savoy
Spouse(s)Faidiva of Toulouse
Gertrude of Flanders
Clementia of Zähringen
Beatrice of Viennois
Issue
Detail
Thomas I of Savoy
FatherAmadeus III of Savoy
MotherMahaut of Albon

Humbert III (1136 – 4 March 1189), surnamed the Blessed, was Count of Savoy from 1148 to 1189. His parents were Amadeus III of Savoy and Mahaut of Albon. He ceded rights and benefits to monasteries and played a decisive role in the organisation of Hautecombe Abbey. It is said that he would rather have been a monk than a sovereign. On the death of his third wife, he retired to Hautecombe, but then changed his mind and, by his fourth wife finally had a son, Thomas. He sided with the Guelph party of Pope Alexander III against the Ghibelline emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The result was an invasion of his states twice: in 1174 Susa was set on fire, and in 1187 Henry VI banished him from the Holy Roman Empire and wrested away most of his domains. He was left with only the valleys of Susa and Aosta. He died at Chambéry in 1189. He was the first prince buried at Hautecombe. His memorial day is 4 March.