Amadeus IX of Savoy, Bl.
AMADEUS IX OF SAVOY, BL.
Duke of Savoy; b. Thonon, France, Feb. 1, 1435; d. Vercelli, Italy, March 30, 1472. He was the first of 18 children born to Louis I of Savoy and Anne of Cyprus. In 1451 he married the daughter of Charles VII of France, Yolanda, to whom he had been betrothed as an infant. He succeeded to the throne in 1456, but later (1469) relinquished control to his wife because he was subject to epilepsy. He was a wise and able ruler, a friend of the poor, and a peacemaker. He meditated and attended Mass daily and received the Sacraments more frequently than was the common practice in his time. He showed great forbearance and forgiveness toward his adversaries, the sforzas, and some of his own brothers. He was beatified in 1677.
Feast: March 30.
Bibliography: e. fedelini, Les Bienheureux de la Maison de Savoie (Chambéry 1925). a. butler, The Lives of the Saints 1:706–707. j. grisar, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche 2 1:413.
[n. g. wolf]