Amade'us

Amade'us (i.e. 'Love-God'), a common name in the House of Savoy. The first who bore it was Count Amadeus, who lived in the 11th century; but the first to make an important figure in history was AMADEUS V. (1249-1323).—AMADEUS VIII., born in 1383, secured the elevation of Savoy into a duchy (1416), and in 1418 Piedmont chose him for its ruler; but in 1434 he retired to a hermitage on the shores of the Lake of Geneva. He was elected pope in 1439, when he assumed the name of Felix V.; but he resigned the papal chair in 1449, and died two years afterwards at Geneva.—AMADEUS I. of Spain, born in 1845, the second son of King Victor-Emmanuel of Italy, was elected king of Spain in 1870, but, owing to the want of popular sympathy with his government, he abdicated the throne in February 1873, and, as Duke of Aosta, returned to Italy. Died 18th Jan. 1890.