Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy

Amadeus was born in Chambéry on 24 February 1360, the son of Count Amadeus VI of Savoy and Bonne of Bourbon.[1] Although he succeeded his father in 1383, he had to share power with his mother.[1] In 1384, in order to suppress a revolt against his relative Edward of Savoy, Bishop of Sion, Amadeus led an army that attacked and pillaged Sion.[1] In 1388, he acquired territories in eastern Provence and the port city of Nice, thus giving the County of Savoy access to the Mediterranean Sea.[1]

Amadeus died from tetanus[3] on 1 November 1391, as a result of a hunting accident.[1] Upon his death, controversy arose because of his will. Amadeus left the important role of guardian of his son and heir, Amadeus VIII, to his own mother, a sister of the powerful Duke de Bourbon, instead of following the tradition of appointing the child's mother, who was a daughter of the equally powerful Duke de Berry.[4] Due to the dispute between his mother and his wife, rumors that Amadeus had been poisoned emerged soon after his death.[1] It took three months of negotiations to restore peace in the family.[4]

Amadeus was known for his hospitality, for he would entertain people of all stations and never turned a person from his table without a meal.[5]

Amadeus married Bonne of Berry, daughter of John, Duke of Berry, who was the younger brother of King Charles V of France.[6] They had three children:

• Amadeus VIII, later known as Antipope Felix V, married Mary of Burgundy (1380–1422), daughter of Philip the Bold.[6]
• Bonne (d. 1432), married Louis of Piedmont, the final of the Savoy-Achaea Branch.
• Joan (d. 1460), married Giangiacomo Paleologo, marquis of Montferrat.

• Cox, Eugene L. (1967). The Green Count of Savoy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. LCCN 67-11030.
• Tuchman, Barbara Wertheim (1978). A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. New York: Knopf.
• Vaughan, Richard (2002). Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State. Boydell Press.