Blessed Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy

Our prince, after this alliance, retired to Bresse, which Duke Louis, his father, had given him as his appanage and for the maintenance of his household, and he took all the more pleasure in it, as, being far from the court and out of the embarrassment of State affairs, he lived there more tranquilly, and had more convenience to practice his exercises of devotion. The death of his father having occurred in the year 1465, he took poss ession Savoie Region where the cult of Vital is popular under the name Viard. of Savoy and Piedmont, received the oath of fidelity from all his subjects, and convoked the Estates of the provinces on this and the other side of the mountains, at Chambéry, where he gave audience to the ambassadors of Louis XI, his brother-in-law, and to those of Philip, Duke of Burgundy.

His first cares, after having been recognized as duke, tended toward God being well served, and religion flourishing in all the lands of his obedience; every morning he entered his chapel, where he heard Mass and devoutly said his prayers; afterwards, he went to his council chamber, where one could admire his wisdom. He was so zealous for justice that he did not suffer anything contrary to it without a very rigorous punishment. He never wished to sell judicial offices, and never gave any by favor without having assured himself of the capacity and virtue of the one to whom he conferred it. He did not suffer at his court any impious persons, libertines, swearers, or blasphemers, and if he had known that any of his officers had uttered a blasphemy, even if it were the bravest of his captains, and even if all the princes of the earth had interceded for him, he would not have kept him an hour in his service. His example had so much power that the Duke of Milan, in imitation of him, imposed a fine on all his courtiers who would let themselves fall into this crime, and a chapel was adorned with it, called for this reason the Chapel of Blasphemies. When a poor man pleaded against a rich one, he always inclined to the side of the poor man, and made himself as his protector and advocate, as much as justice could permit him. He was, moreover, to use the terms of Job, the eye of the blind, the foot of the lame, the father of orphans, and the protector of all the unfortunate, which caused that same duke to say to him one day, laughing: "In truth, my brother, your Savoy, with regard to our provinces, is the land of the Antipodes, for everywhere else, it is better to be rich than to be poor: but here the beggars are in favor, and the rich are cast aside." But the virtuous prince made him on the spot this witty reply: "Also, my brother," he said to him, "are the poor my dead-pays and my old gendarmes: and I look upon them as the surest guard of my States; for my other soldiers guard me only against men, but as for them, they guard me against men, against demons, against sin, and against all my enemies." Savoy was called under his reign the paradise of the poor.

This affection for the poor meant that he never sent any away without giving them alms, and he usually wished to give them with his own hands, carrying for this purpose a purse full of silver coins; if it happened that the number of the poor was so great that his purse became empty, he had no difficulty in giving, for their relief, what he had on his person. An ambassador once boasted that his master took great pleasure in hunting, and that he had packs of dogs for every kind of venery. 'And I,' replied the holy Duke, 'wish to show you what my packs and my hunting dogs are.' Some time later, he took this ambassador, and having led him to his porch, he showed him tables surrounded by the poor, to whom he was having food served, and said to him: 'These are my packs and my hunting dogs: for it is by means of these poor that I go hunting for virtue and the kingdom of heaven.' The ambassador replied: 'Yes, but there are hypocritical poor, lazy poor, and vicious poor.' Amadeus replied: 'I would not want to judge the poor too severely, for fear that God, if He were to act the same way towards us, would have reason to withdraw His benefits from us.' Another time, he received a visit from the Duke of Milan, of whom we have just spoken; this prince brought in his train a numerous pack. Amadeus wanted to make him understand, without saying it to him, that there are more reasonable and more Christian occupations than the company of dogs. He therefore arranged things in such a way that, during his guest's stay at court with his dogs, he, Amadeus, was always surrounded by a troop of the poor. 'These are my most faithful servants and my best courtiers,' said the holy Duke, pointing to them. It is also said that he broke the collar of his Order to give it to the beggars.

His liberality also extended to the churches: he repaired some at his own expense, freed others from their debts, and gave very precious ornaments to the church of Saint Eusebius of Vercelli. He had hospitals built for the poor and the sick; and during a journey he made to Rome to visit the tombs of the holy Apostles, there were few churches that did not benefit from his benefactions. However, far from ruining his finances and his State, as those who did not have sufficiently enlightened eyes feared, he regulated all his spending so wisely that, without creating new taxes and without contracting debts, he had enough to richly marry off his three youngest sisters, and enough to provide reasonable allowances to his brothers to maintain them according to their rank; and, furthermore, he redeemed some funds that his ancestors had pledged, and still left money in his savings, which he had found completely exhausted. The word of the Gospel will be eternally true: "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and the goods of the earth will be given to you besides."

All these external exercises did not occupy him so much that he did not often withdraw into the secrecy of his cabinet to contemplate eternal truths and savor the delights of heaven, and this was a time when it was not permitted to interrupt him. His austerity was great for his condition, his constitution, and his illnesses; he ate very little, and, to cover the rigor of his fasts with a pretext, he made it believed that they were necessary for his health. I have already said that he often approached the sacraments: he wanted his confessor, instead of forgiving his faults, to reveal them to him entirely.

Moreover, with all this devotion, he did not cease to be courageous and magnificent, and to give proof of it on various occasions. In a diet that was held in his time at Mantua, after the fall of Constantinople, to deliberate on the war against the Turks, it was he who spoke with the greatest generosity. He offered what he had in goods and troops, and his own person to go and repel this common enemy of the name of Jesus Christ, and he wished to be enrolled immediately among the confederates: but this holy league did not take place. He showed no less courage when Jacques, bastard of the King of Cyprus and Bishop of Nicosia, having abandoned the miter and the crosier, seized that kingdom to the prejudice of Charlotte, legitimate daughter of the same king, who had married Louis of Savoy, brother of our Blessed one. Considering that his brother's interest was at stake, and at the same time that of religion, because this usurper had sworn an oath of fidelity to the Sultan of Egypt, he absolutely wanted to go and make war on him in person, had the misfortune of Christian affairs not rendered the enterprise impossible. If he maintained peace with his neighbors, it was not for lack of bravery, but out of the love he bore for his people, to whom war could only be very prejudicial, and out of a holy horror he had of shedding Christian blood. His magnificence also appeared in the number of his officers and in the splendor of his entire court, which was one of the most beautiful in Europe. He showed it above all during the trip he made to France, to King Louis XI, where he spared nothing to ma ke his r Louis XI King of France who enriched the reliquary of the Innocents in Paris. etinue considerable. And the king, for his part, received him with all possible honor; and, to show him greater friendship, he wished for him to take his place at the ceremony of the Saint-Jean bonfire in Paris, and to light it, which the kings were then accustomed to do; and, on this occasion, he performed miraculous healings of the sick and the lame: it was thus seen that he deserved this honor no less as a saint than as Duke of Savoy and brother-in-law to the king.

What sovereignly elevated his merit was his gentleness and benevolence towards his enemies and those who wished him harm. He had great cause for dissatisfaction with the Sforzas, Dukes of Milan; Galeazzo, son of Fra ncesco Galéas Duke of Milan, initially an enemy and later an ally of Amadeus IX. , having received news of his father's death while in the Dauphiné, wished to pass incognito through Savoy to take possession of his States more promptly: but he was discovered and arrested at Novalaise, at the foot of Mont-Cenis, by the Abbot of Case-Neuve and the Lord of Arbent. The holy Duke, having learned of this, far from taking advantage of this situation, had Galeazzo treated splendidly and escorted with honor to his Milanese States; and, as this ungrateful man later made war on him, he halted its course and made him his friend by giving him his sister Bonne in marriage. He used no less gentleness towards John, Duke of Bourbon, and William, Marquis of Montferrat, who wanted to encroach upon his lands; for, after having put himself in a position where he had no need to fear them, he acted towards them in such an obliging manner that they could not help but prefer peace to war.

As for his brothers, who stirred against him several times, it is a marvel to see the patience with which he suffered their revolts, which were nevertheless founded only on imaginary grievances that ambition, jealousy, and the impetuosity of youth inspired in them; and one might even accuse him of a slight excess, were it not considered that much must be given to the love of one's own blood and to fraternal friendship; moreover, our holy Duke hoped to bring them back in the future, and he would undoubtedly have done so after their final attacks, had his life lasted longer.

But, O depth of the judgments of God! This wise Prince, worthy of perpetual health, was subject all his life to the falling sickness; and this was the true mal caduc A disease suffered by Amadeus, experienced as a spiritual trial. theater where all his virtues appeared with brilliance: for when, returning to himself, he saw all his people melting into tears, half-desperate, and the Duchess, his spouse, almost dead with grief, he consoled them himself, saying that this illness was one of the greatest favors that God had granted him. Such was the resignation of this holy Duke, and his illness did not prevent him from administering the affairs of his State very well, any more than the same illness prevented Hercules from taming all the monsters of the earth; or Caesar, from making himself master of the world; or Plato, from being the divine philosopher; or many other great men, from performing very brilliant deeds.

Finally, it pleased the divine Goodness to deliver His servant from the miseries of this life, and to crown his merits with a happy death. He knew that the hour was near due to a great illness that befell him in the thirty-seventh year of his age: heaven sufficiently predicted this misfortune to the people of Savoy and Piedmont; for for the space of four days in a row, a fire appeared in the clouds, which, having grown continually in brightness, evaporated and disappeared all of a sudden, to the great astonishment of everyone. The first thing the holy Duke did was to warn his court that his death was not far off; then, he ordered that his body be buried at the foot of the steps of the high a ltar of Verceil City where Gaudentius began his ministry under Eusebius. Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, as the place in the Church most trodden by the faithful. He declared the Duchess regent of his States, entrusting to her the education of his children: and he gave his blessing to them, on condition that they would live in the fear of God and in respect towards their mother, without which he told them he would not recognize them as his children; then he exhorted the lords of his court to maintain justice in all things, and to love the poor, promising them by this means peace and great prosperity. After having spoken thus, he solemnly received all the Sacraments of the Church, but with such tenderness and consolation, that one would have said he was already enjoying the delights of paradise.

Finally, with the crucifix in his hand, tears in his eyes, contrition in his heart, and entirely transported in God, he rendered his blessed spirit into His hands in the year 1472, on March 30.

His glory was manifested by a new wonder: a luminous circle appeared near the sun; it represented a man seated on a throne, and having apparently approached the earth, it returned to heaven; this was seen by the Bishop of Turin, during a general procession he had ordered for the health of the holy Duke, and by more than thirty thousand people who followed him barefoot and dressed in white. His body was buried in the church of Saint-Eusebius, in Vercelli, under the steps of the high altar. People were so convinced of his holiness that the bishops who attended his funeral deliberated for a long time whether they should say the Mass for the dead; but finally, the Archbishop of Turin said the Mass of the Blessed Virgin, and the Bishop of Vercelli that of the Holy Spirit.

His blessedness was further declared by a great number of miracles that took place at his sepulcher; thus, in a short time, it was surrounded by an infinity of wax feet, hands, heads, and bodies given as ex-votos. Upon the account that was given to him, Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, whom we have already mentioned several times, having said mockingly to Bona, his wife, sister of the deceased, that her brother, the Duke, had become a wax merchant, he suddenly became immobile in his seat, and could not be delivered from this ailment until he acknowledged his fault and asked for forgiveness from our Blessed one.

These miracles and others still, affirmed by Saint Francis de Sales to P Innocent XI Pope who authorized the office of Saint Hedwig on October 17. ope Paul V, determined Innocent XI to permit the cult of the Blessed Amadeus throughout the extent of the Duchy of Savoy.

Saint Amadeus has often been painted with a cartouche bearing these words, which are like his political testament left to his sons: "Be just; love the poor and the Lord will grant peace to your States." He is especially honored in Vercelli, in Savoy, and in Nantua (Ain). This last city formerly made part of the Duchy of Savoy, as did all of Bresse and Bugey.

His life was written in Italian by François Mulet, a regular canon of Saint John Lateran, and since then, in Latin, by Cardinal Bellarozio, and in French, by Father Etienne Binet, of the Society of Jesus. Samuel Guichenon also made a chronological summary of it in the Genealogical History of the House of Savoy.