Jacques of Savoy, Count of Romont (12 November 1450 – 30 January 1486) was a member of the House of Savoy and military commander during the Burgundian Wars.
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Early life
Jacques was the seventh son of Louis, Duke of Savoy and Anne of Cyprus. In 1460, his father gave him as an appanage the region of Vaud, under the title of Count of Romont. The House of Savoy possessed the Lordship of Vaud since the 12th century, when it wrested control from the original owners, the House of Zähringen. Savoy extended its influence by supporting the city of Bern against the House of Habsburg. After the Battle of Laupen, Savoy and Bern became allies.
In 1468, Jacques became a guest at the court of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and was appointed to important military commands in the Burgundian army. As his brother Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy suffered from epilepsy, his wife, Yolande of Valois, and his brother, the Count of Bresse govern for him. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Savoyard ducal power Amadeus IX, in 1471 Jacques elevated his appanage into a quasi-principality, headed by a governor. Jacques took the opportunity of a conflict with his sister-in-law Yolande to grab several fortified places that Amadeus IX had retained, and an arbitration by Bern and Fribourg in 1471 awarded them to him. However, these different alliances and clever political manoeuvering by King Louis XI eventually led to the loss of all the territories belonging to the Count of Romont in Vaud.