Count of Geneva
| County of Geneva | ||||||||||
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Comté de Genève (fr) Grafschaft Genf (de) |
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| State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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 Arelat (yellow) with Geneva, about 1200
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| Capital |
La Roche Annecy (1219-1320) |
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| Government | Principality | |||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | County established | 10th century | ||||||||
| • | Line extinct | 1394 | ||||||||
| • | Purchased by Savoy | 1401 | ||||||||
| • | Genevois province | 1659 | ||||||||
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Coat of arms
The County of Geneva, largely corresponding to the later Genevois province, originated in the tenth century, in the Burgundian Kingdom of Arles (Arelat) which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032.
Several nobles had held the title of a Count of Geneva in Upper Burgundy (Bourgogne transjurane) from the 9th century. The progenitor of the Counts of Geneva was Conrad I, possible count palatine of Burgundy, in Vienne. Count Cono/Conrad died about 1003 in exile, during the Hermann II's rebellion (his brother duke of Swabia, of Conradines lineage). Their son, Robert, count of Geneva, was born about 970 and died about 1020.
The county never played a major part as a feudal entity. The city of Geneva and its environs were retained, but the approaches to the western end of Lake Geneva, which had made the position strategic, were soon lost. In 1124 the Bishops of Geneva had their rule over the city acknowledged and continued to make themselves an independent force, while the Counts of Savoy encircled the territory and controlled the trade routes. From 1219 on, the counts' stronghold and capital was Annecy.
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Wikipedia