FELIX V., the name taken by Amadeus (1383-1451), duke of Savoy, when elected pope in 1439. Amadeus was born at Cham bery on Dec. 4, 1383, and succeeded his father as count of Savoy in 1391. In 1416 the German king Sigismund erected Savoy into a duchy; after this elevation Amadeus added Piedmont to his dominions. Then suddenly, in 1434, the duke retired to a hermit age at Ripaille, near Thonon, resigning his duchy to his son Louis (d. 1465). In 1439, when Eugenius IV. was deposed by the Schis matic council of Basel, Amadeus, although not in orders, was chosen as his successor. In the conflict between the rival popes which followed, the German king, Frederick IV., sided with Eugenius, and Felix renounced his claim to the pontificate in in favour of Nicholas V., who had been elected on the death of Eugenius. Nicholas appointed Amadeus apostolic vicar-general in Savoy, Piedmont and other parts of his own dominions, and made him a cardinal. Amadeus died at Geneva on Jan. 7, 1451.