Description

Enfeoffment act of the lordship of Belly by the Countess of Geneva Mathilde - Passed at the Castle of Annecy on September 2, 1378 Mathilde or Mahaut of Auvergne or Boulogne was a noblewoman from the Auvergne family and became the Countess of Geneva through her marriage. Mathilde was the daughter of Robert VII, Count of Auvergne and Count of Boulogne (1314-1325), and his second wife, Marie of Flanders-Dampierre-Termonde, who was partly Viscountess of Châteaudun and the daughter of Guillaume I of Termonde. In 1334, she married Count Amédée III of Geneva, the son of the former Count of Geneva, Guillaume III (c.1280-1320), and Agnes, the daughter of the Count of Savoy, Amédée V. Amédée was a minor when his father passed away, and he was placed under the guardianship of his grandmother, Agnès de Chalon, and his mother, Agnès de Savoie, until he reached the age of majority in April 1325. Mathilde and Amédée had ten children, five boys, and five girls. Their five sons, Aymon, Amédée, Jean, Pierre, and Robert, who later became the Antipope under the name Clement VII, succeeded each other as Counts of Geneva. Their daughters made illustrious marriages, connecting the family to prominent noble lineages. After the death of her son Robert, who was a Pope at the time, Mathilde took over the governance of the county. She organized her inheritance, ensuring that her nephew, Humbert de Villars, the son of her elder daughter Marie, would succeed to the rights and properties of the County of Geneva. Upon her death on October 24, 1399, her two surviving daughters, Blanche and Catherine, inherited her wealth and rights. The title of Countess of Geneva was passed on to Blanche.