Part 1: Saint Amedee
HISTORY OF THE D'IVREE, PART 1
The earliest documentation of the d'Ivrée family (unrelated to the Ascarid d'Ivrée) that exists today is of a man who appears to have had knightly origins in the Frank Charlemagne's court. His name is lost to history, but he had a son. This son, by the name of Amedee, was prominent in the court of Lothair. He was a able diplomat and was soon appointed to the privy council of king Lothair V and given the counties of Macon and Chalons to govern. His aptitude towards ingratiation himself to his king and duke was very helpful, as his liege lord changed several times thanks to the violent successions and usurpations of the Karling Wars.
He had three sons with his first wife, whose name is lost to time. He did not remarry until the boys were fully grown.
Saint Amedee was a pious man, who despite his silver tongue, was little interested in the affairs of court and country. He was a lay member of the Benedictine Order, in what became a tradition in the family.
It was in the order that he both gained his talent for gardening and several close friendships, attested to by the investigation into the miracles that the Catholic Church commissioned.
His green thumb grew the Macon Rose Gardens, which have survived in some form to this day, despite persecution of the Christian faith and their holy places. Perhaps the Emperor held some sentimentality for his ancestor's life work, despite the miracles attested to the garden and its place as a minor pilgrimage for local Christians.
These miracles, which confirmed Saint Amedee in the eyes of the Church and local people, were specifically outlined in the hagiography as visions of the apostle Matthias reaching out to a visiting nun who was praying for Amedee's soul and curing her of her lameness. These visions of Matthias were attested to by several members of the Benedictine Order in the monastery of Cluny. Saint Amedee is also attested to have suffered from stigmata during his life and perhaps died due to it.
His work was widely known throughout the area and his canonization swiftly proceeded. His realm was split between his sons, as was the Frankish law at the time. As the progenitor of a dynasty like the d'Ivrée, it is almost ironic that he was a Christian saint. But perhaps it merely foreshadowed the dynasty's prodigious future.
The earliest documentation of the d'Ivrée family (unrelated to the Ascarid d'Ivrée) that exists today is of a man who appears to have had knightly origins in the Frank Charlemagne's court. His name is lost to history, but he had a son. This son, by the name of Amedee, was prominent in the court of Lothair. He was a able diplomat and was soon appointed to the privy council of king Lothair V and given the counties of Macon and Chalons to govern. His aptitude towards ingratiation himself to his king and duke was very helpful, as his liege lord changed several times thanks to the violent successions and usurpations of the Karling Wars.
He had three sons with his first wife, whose name is lost to time. He did not remarry until the boys were fully grown.
Saint Amedee was a pious man, who despite his silver tongue, was little interested in the affairs of court and country. He was a lay member of the Benedictine Order, in what became a tradition in the family.
It was in the order that he both gained his talent for gardening and several close friendships, attested to by the investigation into the miracles that the Catholic Church commissioned.
His green thumb grew the Macon Rose Gardens, which have survived in some form to this day, despite persecution of the Christian faith and their holy places. Perhaps the Emperor held some sentimentality for his ancestor's life work, despite the miracles attested to the garden and its place as a minor pilgrimage for local Christians.
These miracles, which confirmed Saint Amedee in the eyes of the Church and local people, were specifically outlined in the hagiography as visions of the apostle Matthias reaching out to a visiting nun who was praying for Amedee's soul and curing her of her lameness. These visions of Matthias were attested to by several members of the Benedictine Order in the monastery of Cluny. Saint Amedee is also attested to have suffered from stigmata during his life and perhaps died due to it.
His work was widely known throughout the area and his canonization swiftly proceeded. His realm was split between his sons, as was the Frankish law at the time. As the progenitor of a dynasty like the d'Ivrée, it is almost ironic that he was a Christian saint. But perhaps it merely foreshadowed the dynasty's prodigious future.
