Humbert the White-Handed supported the Holy Roman Emperors Henry II and Conrad II after him with their conflicts in Milan and Lombardy, Humbert was awarded the small countries of Maurienne and Aostra in Valais. The locals welcomed him, the area became known as Savoy and Humbert began the dynasty, The House of Savoy. Humbert died in 1047 and his sons became bishop of Sion, Archbishop of Lyon and successors to his house. 

His heir, Amadeus I, continued the support of the Holy Roman Emperor that continually granted the House of Savoy more land, as the position at the key passes to control travel and trade between the Alps, Italy and Western Europe. This strategic position and the diplomacy around it is the central power of the House of Savoy.

In the 13th century when Amadeus V, the Count of Savoy, he changed the capital of his realm, he did it for strategic location. Chateau de Chambéry is an impressive castle built to secure the pass between the Bauges and Chartreuse Mountains near the Leysse river.

The House of Savoy is the gate between the regions and their power lies in the diplomatic power this grants. The House of Savoy expanded through marriages and titles, over time dominating a large region of wealthy cities. They were granted the country of Nice in 1388 and finally had access to the sea, improving their trade and diplomatic reach. Savoys power has grown and the Holy Roman Emperor's can feel their grasp upon the Italian states diminish. 

To ensure the loyalty of the House of Savoy, Emperor Sigismund promotes Savoy to a Duchy in 1416. However, Amadeus VIII, The Duke of Savoy is an ambitious man.

Amadeus VIII became count of Savoy in 1391 and spend his time on centralizing the power of his realm and clenched it into a mighty fist. The Emperor sought to keep the relations with Amadeus and granted him the title of Dukedom in 1416. Two years later, his cousin and bother-in-law, the childless ruler Louis of Piedmont under strange circumstances. Amadeus increases his power year by year. He campaigns against the area around Geneva and Annecy and even impacts the Hundred Years War diplomatically.

He founds the Order of Saint Maurice in 1434, a military order granted to knights of the highest chivalric standard. The Order died out rather fast after Amadeus death, but was reestablished in 1572 where it merged with the Order of Lazarus. The standard of chivalry behavior is deeply linked to that of the Noble Catholic Character.  

The seventeenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church was held between 1431 and 1449, it began as the Council of Basel, later the Council of Ferrara and then ending as the Council of Florence.

The context of 1431 was Hussite Wars in Bohemia and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. As time progressed it became a conflict between the principle of papal supremacy and the conciliar movement. 

Now, an 18-year process of theological and political debates is an entire book on its own, but what is important for the 1444 RP situation is the following:

The conciliar movement spent the centuries of 14-15-16 to fight papal supremacy and wanted it to be held by an ecumenical council, instead of the pope alone. The movement began as a response to The Western Schism.

During this ecumenical council, many members disagreed with Pope Eugene IV and suspended him and declared him a heretic. This led the council to vote for a new pope, they voted for Amadeus VIII in 1439, who took the oath and officially became an antipope. 

Louis, or in the Italian style of the Piedmontese style, Ludovico became Duke of Savoy at the age of 27 in 1440, when his father became the notorious antipope of the conciliar movement.

Ludovico's diplomatic skills are his strength. He married Anne of Cyprus from the French House of Lusignan in 1434, the heir to the Kingdom of Cyprus and defunct Kingdom of Jerusalem. Ludovico is famous for his skills as a naval navigator and his industrious mind. 

Ludovico is the first to hold the title 'Prince of Piedmont', which originally was an appanage of the country of Savoy. In the future, when the House of Savoy gained the Kingdom of Sardinia, the heirs to the kingdom held the title of Prince of Piedmont and later when Victor Emmanuel II became King of Italy, the title became roughly equivalent to the British 'Prince of Wales', the title bestowed to the Crown prince.  

The year is 1444, prosperity and peace flows through the mighty duchy of Savoy, but what direction will the future drag Ludovico's future into?