Humbert III, Count of Savoy  Humbert III (1136, Avigliana, Piedmont – 4 March 1189, Chambéry, Savoy), surnamed the Blessed, was Count of Savoy from 1148 to 1188. His parents were Amadeus III of Savoy and Mathilde d'Albon the daughter of Guigues III of Albon. He ceded rights and benefits to monasteries and played a decisive role in the organization of Hautecombe Abbey. It is said that he would rather have been 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 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, of which he was left only with the valleys of Susa and Aosta. He died at Chambéry in 1189. He was the first prince buried at Hautecombe. His memorial day is March 4. Humbert III was born around 1136 in the castle of Avigliana, near Turin, to Count Amadeus III and Mathilde d'Albon, Countess of Albon and Vienne. He is an important figure in medieval society, as attested in the history of House of Savoy. His life was characterized by certain key features, including mysticism, borne of a vocation and tradition of the contemplative life, which came about in the events of his time as warrior and politician, which he undertook exclusively for dynastic reasons. He inherited from his father, as well as from his grandfather, Humbert II, the dream of reconstituting the fragmented Kingdom of Burgundy, in stark opposition to the centralizing policy of the French royal family. In his efforts he was supported by Frederick I Barbarossa, and found himself induced to play a shrewd political subjugation of neighboring feudal lords or settled among his domains. Like his father, Humbert II, who died young when he was still a minor, Amadeus III entrusted the education of his son, Humbert III, to St. Amedeus of Lausanne, former abbot of Hautecombe, and under his guidance the young Humbert made great progress in studies and spiritual formation, despising the apparent splendor of worldly things, and giving himself to prayer, meditation and penance.