Bertha of Savoy

Bertha of Savoy (21 September 1051 – 27 December 1087), also called Bertha of Turin, a member of the Burgundian House of Savoy, was Queen consort of Germany from 1066 and Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire from 1084 until 1087 as the first wife of the Salian emperor Henry IV.

Life

Bertha of Savoy was a daughter of Count Otto of Savoy (also called Eudes and Odo) and his wife Adelaide of Susa from the Arduinici noble family. Her maternal grandparents were Margrave Ulric Manfred II of Turin and Bertha of Milan.

Marriage

During the lifetime of Emperor Henry III, Bertha (aged four) was betrothed to Henry III's son, Henry IV (aged five) on 25 December 1055 in Zürich. Bertha was raised in Germany thereafter. When she was fifteen, Bertha was crowned queen in Würzburg in June 1066 and married Henry on 13 July 1066 at the Königspfalz of Trebur.

Although they had grown up together and Bertha was apparently a pretty young woman, the Saxon chronicler Bruno of Merseburg, an avowed opponent of Henry IV, reported on Henry's continual unfaithfulness: "He had two or three concubines at the same time, in addition [to his wife], yet he was not content. If he heard that someone had a young and pretty daughter or wife, he instructed that she be supplied to him by force. (...) His beautiful and noble wife Bertha (...) was in such a manner hated by him that he never saw her after the wedding any more than necessary, since he had not celebrated the wedding out of free will."

Savoy

Savoy (/səˈvɔɪ/;Arpitan: Savouè, IPA: [saˈvwɛ]; French: Savoie [savwa]; Italian: Savoia [saˈvɔːja]) is a cultural region in Rhône-Alpes, France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps between Lake Geneva in the north and Dauphiné in the south.

The historical land of Savoy emerged as the feudal territory of the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries. The historical territory is shared between the modern countries of France, Italy, and Switzerland.

Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy became the longest surviving royal house in Europe. It ruled the County of Savoy to 1416 and then the Duchy of Savoy from 1416 to 1714.

The territory of Savoy was annexed to France in 1792 under the French First Republic, before being returned to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1815. Savoy, along with the county of Nice, was finally annexed to France by a plebiscite, under the Second French Empire in 1860, as part of a political agreement (Treaty of Turin) brokered between the French emperor Napoleon III and King Victor Emmanuel II of the Kingdom of Sardinia that began the process of unification of Italy. Victor Emmanuel's dynasty, the House of Savoy, retained its Italian lands of Piedmont and Liguria and became the ruling dynasty of Italy.

Savoy wine

Savoy or, in French, Savoie is a wine region situated in the Savoy region in eastern France, and is sometimes referred to as the country of the Allobroges.

The Savoy landscape is distinctly alpine. Between lakes and mountains, the Savoy vineyards hang from slopes or clutch at hillsides in little islands that produce their special growth, from Fréterive in the South, to Evian in the North, passing through Apremont and Jongieux.

With grape varieties Jacquère, Roussanne, Altesse (also known as Roussette) and Gringet for white wines, and Mondeuse for the reds, Savoie is characterised by a number of varieties which are very rare elsewhere.

The Savoyard appellations (labels) are distributed through four departments: Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isère and Savoie. Crépy near Lake Geneva and Seyssel in the Ain are easy to locate. But wines labelled Roussette de Savoie and Vin de Savoie can come from anywhere in the wine growing area, unless the label display the name of a village in addition to the appellation. There are 4 Roussette villages: Frangy, Monthoux, Marestel and Monterminod. And there are no fewer than 17 "Vin de Savoie" villages, the most well known being Apremont, Chignin, Chautagne and Arbin.

Savoy (disambiguation)

Savoy is a historical region in western Europe.

Savoy or The Savoy may also refer to:

Places

Buildings