Umberto I (in French, Humbert aux blanches-mains; in Italian, Umberto Biancamano) was the first Count of Savoy from 1032, when the County of Vienne, which had been sold to the Archdiocese of Vienne, was divided between the County of Albon and the Maurienne

Maurienne

Maurienne is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.-Location:...

. Humbert came of noble stock, possibly from Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Burgundy or Provence

Provence

Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

.

He is also called Umberto the White-Handed reportedly to signify his generosity. However, this posthumously applied title may derive from a textual mistranslation of an early Latin record which actually refers to the walls of his castle, not his hands, as white.

During the wars between Rudolph III of Burgundy

Rudolph III of Burgundy

Rudolf III of Burgundy was the last King of an independent Burgundy. He was the son of Conrad, King of Burgundy, and Matilda of France...

 and the Emperor Henry II, Umberto supported the latter with provisions and soldiers because he was related to the imperial family by marriage. Thus, in 1003, the emperor installed him as the Count of Aosta, a mountainous region then a part of Burgundy but today within Italy, and granted him the northern Viennois as a reward. Umberto in turn protected the right flank of Henry's army during his subsequent invasion of Italy in 1004.

Umberto's lands were essentially autonomous after the death of Henry. Their mountainous inaccessibility and their minor importance lent them to being overlooked and ignored in the power struggles which inevitably followed the death of the emperor. In 1032, Umberto received the Maurienne, his native country, from the Emperor Conrad II

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...

, whom he had helped in his Italian campaigns against Aribert, Archbishop of Milan

Aribert, Archbishop of Milan

Aribert was the archbishop of Milan from 1018, a quarrelsome warrior-bishop in an age in which such figures were not uncommon....

.

He died at Hermillon

Hermillon

Hermillon is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France....

, a town in the Maurienne region of present day Savoie

Savoie

Savoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860...

, France.

Family

Umberto married Ancilla (Auxilia or Ancilia) of Lenzburg

Lenzburg

Lenzburg is a town in the central region of the Swiss canton Aargau and is the capital of the district of the same name. The town, founded in the Middle Ages, lies in the Seetal valley, about 3 kilometres south of the Aare river. Lenzburg and the neighbouring municipalities of Niederlenz and...

, the daughter of the master of ceremonies

Master of Ceremonies

A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....

 of Burgundy, and had at least four sons:

1. Amadeus I
   Amadeus I of Savoy
   Amadeus I , nicknamed of the Tail or la Coda , was an early count of the House of Savoy. He was probably the eldest son of Humbert I...
   
    (died 1056), Count of Savoy, successor
2. Aymon (died 1054 or 1055), Bishop of Sion
   Bishop of Sion
   The Diocese of Sion is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of the Alps. The cathedral at Sion, "Notre-Dame du Glarier" was fortified by walls and crowns one of the two hills on which...
   
   
3. Burchard (died 1068 or 1069), Archbishop of Lyon
4. Otto
   Otto of Savoy
   Otto was Count of Savoy from 1051 until his death. He was son of Humbert I, the first Count of Savoy, and his wife Ancilla, and ascended the throne after the death of his elder brother, Amadeus I of Savoy.Otto substantially enlarged his lands through his marriage with Adelaide of Susa,...
   
   (died ca. 1057), Count of Savoy, successor of his brother

Some authors believe that he had additional sons.