The County of Savoy was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, from the collapse of the Burgundian Kingdom in the 11th century. It was the cradle of the future Savoyard state.
Chambéry Castle
Humbert I, Count of Savoy
Humbert I, better known as Humbert the White-Handed or Humbert Whitehand, was the founder of the House of Savoy. Of obscure origins, his service to the Holy Roman Emperors Henry II and Conrad II was rewarded with the counties of Maurienne and Aosta and lands in Valais, all at the expense of local bishops and archbishops; the territory came to be known as the county of Savoy.
Portrait of Umberto I Biancamano of Savoy from the 17th century
The cenotaph of Humbert I in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Cathedral