Edward I of England was associated with the Savoyard faction of nobles and knights who came from the County of Savoy, and were favoured in England. Savoy became linked to the Plantaganet monarchy of England with the marriage of Edward I's parents Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence in 1236. Eleanor of Provence was the daughter of Beatrice of Savoy.
In 1252 Peter I, Count of Savoy introduced the son of Peter, Lord of Grandson to the English Court, Otto de Grandson. The young Otto became a childhood friend of the young English Prince Edward, later to become King Edward I. In 1268 both prince and servant were knighted and in 1271 the latter accompanied his lord on the Ninth Crusade, where he served at Acre that year. According to one source, it was Otto, not Eleanor of Castile, who sucked the poison from the wounded Edward after an attempted assassination. In 1272 Otto was appointed an executor in Acre.
Returning to England, Otto accompanied Edward in the Welsh Wars as his right-hand man, but also enlisted a whole retinue of fellow Savoyard knights in the service of the English crown. Knights from all over Savoy joined as household knights to King Edward I and were rewarded with key positions in the newly conquered Welsh lands.