Blessed Amadeus IX of Savoy

Amadeus IX was born in Thonon in 1435, the son of Louis of Savoy and Anne of Lusignan, and became duke of Savoy in 1465. He married Yolande of France, sister of Louis XI, and had several children with her. He had epilepsy, in a century when that illness wasn’t called by that name and wasn’t treated at all. The seizures struck without warning and kept him away from government for long periods: in the end it was Yolande who ruled the duchy, and he put up no resistance. A fifteenth-century prince who hands power to his wife because he is ill is already news in itself. What he is remembered for is how he spent his money. He gave to the poor with a generosity that drove his advisers to despair: when they pointed out that the coffers were running empty, he replied — so tradition has it — that the poor were his most important creditors. He had hospitals built, ransomed prisoners, and kept the palace doors open to anyone who came asking. He died in Vercelli on March 30, 1472, at thirty-seven. His cult began at once in Savoy and Piedmont; Innocent XI declared him blessed in 1677. If your name is Amadeus, today is your name day.