Bl
Marguerite de Savoie
(1390–1464)
Biographical
Regent of Montferrat 1418
At the death of her father in 1402, Marguerite and her sister were placed
under the guardianship of their uncle, Louis. However, through the Treaty
of Asti of 1403, she was given in marriage to Theodore II, Marquis of
Montferrat, that year. She lived with her husband at Genoa when he was
Captain of the People.
There she displayed her generous and charitable disposition early on in
1411 when Genoa was struck by a famine, and she sought out every possible
form of assistance for the people in need. Afterwards, she worked in the
interests of the Council of Constance which was attempting to resolve
the Western Schism which her cousin anti-pope Felix V was involved in.
After her husband Theodore II, Marquis of Montferrat, died in 1418, she
acted as regent for her stepson John James, until he attained majority.
She was childless herself, and did not remarry, refusing the hand of Filippo
Maria Visconti. She chose a religious life, and retired to Alba with some
ladies from her court,
and took the habit of the Third Order of St Dominic. She asked and received
from Pope Eugenius IV, the old abbey of Gracciano, and there she built
the monastery of St Mary Magdalene where she shut herself up and imitated
St Dominic, walking towards Paradise by the difficult road of patience.
Legend tells us that when she was widowed, she is said to have prayed
to be numbered among the elect. The Lord appeared to her in human form.
He offered her three lances, which were the three different trials of
calumny, sickness, and persecution, and asked her which she would choose
to suffer. She said she would leave the choice to his wisdom, so he granted
her all the three. She was said to have cured her niece Amadea, afterwards
queen of Cyprus, whom all the physicians had given up. Margaret also brought
up Giannettina de Boccarelli, who became a very holy nun.
After her death, a local devotion began, and in the next century, her
cult grew significantly. After the city of Alba was placed under control
of the dukes of Savoy in 1631, the devotion of Marguerite was exploited
, and began the process of her beatification, which occurred in 1669.
Place of birth: Pinerolo?
Place
of marriage: Turin
Place of death: Monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena, Alba
Place of burial: Monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena, Alba
Daughter of Amédée de Savoie Catherine de Genève. She married Teodoro
II Paleologo in 1403, and had no issue.
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