MIRACULOUS MIRACLES™

Saint — Bl. Amadeus IX of Savoy

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Bl. Amadeus IX of Savoy
February 1, 1435 AD, Thonon-les-Bains, Duchy of Savoy — March 30, 1472 AD, Vercelli, Duchy of Savoy
Duke of Savoy 1465–1472; royal lay-Catholic saint of the House of Savoy
Cathedral of Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy — his tomb; Piedmontese Catholic pilgrim destination, Italy
Feast
March 30
Canonized
Beatified March 3, 1677 by Pope Innocent XI
Life

Amadeus was born on February 1, 1435 to Duke Louis of Savoy and Anne of Cyprus (Lusignan royal princess). From youth, Amadeus suffered from chronic epilepsy — the medical condition that shaped his lay-Catholic devotional life.

In 1452, at the age of 17, Amadeus was married to Yolande of Valois (sister of King Louis XI of France). The marriage produced multiple children.

Amadeus succeeded his father Louis as Duke of Savoy in 1465. His seven-year duchy (1465–1472) was devoted to the systematic charitable ministry: personally distributing the ducal revenues to the Savoyard-Piedmontese poor, establishing the Catholic hospitals and monasteries, and undertaking the personal Franciscan Third Order Regular vows in institutional continuity with the earlier royal Franciscan-Tertiary saints (St. Louis IX of France, St. Louis of Toulouse, Sts. Elzear and Delphine).

Amadeus died at Vercelli on March 30, 1472 at the age of 37 — after an acute epileptic episode during his return journey to Chambéry.

Miracles & Phenomena

  • The royal-Franciscan-Tertiary charitable tradition

    Bl. Amadeus IX of Savoy's seven-year duchy of Savoy (1465–1472) — devoted to the systematic charitable ministry and the personal Franciscan Third Order Regular vows — establishes the royal Franciscan-Tertiary charitable tradition of the late 15th century, in institutional continuity with the earlier royal Franciscan-Tertiary saints (St. Louis IX of France, St. Louis of Toulouse, Sts. Elzear and Delphine).

Relics
  • Body
    Tomb of Bl. Amadeus IX of Savoy
    Cathedral of Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy — his tomb

    His tomb at the Cathedral of Vercelli survives in continuous Catholic liturgical use.

Iconography
  • Amadeus IX distributing his ducal revenues

    The mid-15th-century Duke of Savoy in royal Savoyard regalia distributing the ducal revenues to the Savoyard-Piedmontese poor at the Chambéry ducal palace gate — the iconography of Catholic royal Franciscan-Tertiary charitable tradition.

Patronages
The House of Savoy and the Savoyard-Piedmontese Catholic traditionCatholic epileptics (his chronic epilepsy)Catholic royal charitable-lay-saint tradition
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