Bl. Humbert III of Savoy

Humbert III was born around 1136 in the castle of Avigliana near Turin, son of Count Amadeus III of Savoy. He became count while still young. By temperament he wanted to be a monk rather than a ruler, and the Roman Martyrology says he lived like a monk even while governing.

He married four times for dynastic reasons. After his third wife died he withdrew to the Cistercian abbey of Hautecombe, but he returned to rule, and his fourth wife gave him a male heir. He sided with Pope Alexander III against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and his lands were invaded twice as a result.

He gave rights and gifts to monasteries and helped organise Hautecombe Abbey. He died at Chambéry in 1188 or 1189 and was the first prince buried at Hautecombe.

Humbert III of Savoy was beatified in 1838 by Gregory XVI.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.