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 Historiæ Sabaudiæ, vol. iv. pt. i. p. 1308). But a few years later he resigned his ecclesiastical preferments, and in February 1234 married at Chatillon his cousin Agnes, daughter and heiress of Aymon, count of Faucigny (, i. 200; he obtained an indulgence for this marriage on 7 May 1247—ib. i. 266). After the death of their father Peter had been involved in a dispute with his brother, Amadeus IV, as to his inheritance; the matter was arranged on 23 July 1234, when Amadeus gave him the castles of Lompnes and S. Raimbert in Bugey (, iv. 96). The ‘Chroniques de Savoye’ (''Mon. Hist. Sabaud''. i. 151–4, 162–5) represent Peter as making great conquests in the Pays de Vaud and Valais; but the narrative is very confused, and, so far as concerns Peter, to a large extent fabulous (, p. 163). However, his marriage had secured him the prospect of a considerable territorial position, which he much increased by subsequent acquisitions. In 1237 he was engaged in warfare with William, count of Geneva, whose sons took him prisoner, and on 12 May Amadeus intervened on his behalf (, iv. 110, 251). On 23 June 1240 he accepted the advocacy of the monastery of Payerne in Vaud (ib. iv. 130). He was at this time styled Count of Romont.

About the end of 1240 Peter went to England, at the invitation of Henry III, who gave him large estates and made him Earl of Richmond. He was knighted by Henry on 5 Jan. 1241 in Westminster Abbey, and on the following day the king held a great feast in his honour (, iv. 85). Later in the year he proposed to hold a tournament at Northampton, which was prohibited by the king, out of favour, as it was alleged, for the foreigners, whose defeat seemed probable (ib. iv. 88). On 28 Sept. Peter received the castle of Lewes, but shortly afterwards, fearing the envy of Earl Richard of Cornwall [q. v.] and the English nobles, begged leave to return to Savoy. Henry at first granted him permission, but afterwards recalled him, and Peter reluctantly resumed the office of sheriff of Kent, with the castles of Rochester and Dover, and the wardenship of the Cinque ports (ib. iv. 177–8; Flores Historiarum, ii. 251; ). Peter is mentioned as one of the royal councillors in January 1242, and in February was sent with Peter of Aigueblanche [q. v.], the Savoyard bishop of Hereford, on a mission to prepare for Henry's intended expedition to Poitou. He escaped a French ambush with difficulty, and returned to England shortly before Easter (, iv. 187, 190). It was perhaps in view of this expedition that in June 1241 Peter had been directed to obtain the services of the Count of Chalon and William of Vienne (Fœdera, i. 395). On 5 May 1242 he surrendered the castle of Dover, and on 13 May apparently sailed with Henry to Poitou. On 26 May Henry, who was then at Pons in Saintonge, gave Peter formal direction to negotiate a marriage between Richard of Cornwall and Sanchia of Provence. With this purpose Peter was present as Richard's proctor at Tarascon on 19 July (, i. 237;, iv. 154). After a short visit to Savoy he returned to England in September, and in the following year rejoined Henry, with whom he was present at Bordeaux on 5 July 1243 (, p. 43). According to Matthew Paris (iv. 365), Peter was one of the king's messengers to the magnates in the parliament of 1244. But Peter seems to have returned to his native country in the summer of this year. According to the ‘Chroniques de Savoye,’ the Count of Geneva had attacked his lands in Vaud, and Henry supplied him with men and money for the war (Mon. Hist. Sabaud. i. 167–8). During his stay abroad Peter materially extended his power by means of friendly agreements with the bishops of Lausanne and Sion, and the lords of Fruence (ib. vol. iv. pt. ii. pp. 1443–6, 1460;, i. 251–3; , iv. 177–81, 195, 198).

Peter returned to England early in 1247, bringing with him a bevy of foreign ladies to be married to English nobles; two were married to Edmund de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, and Richard, son of Hubert de Burgh [q. v.] (, iv. 598, 628). This proceeding excited much indignation in England, and the feeling was perhaps increased by Peter's obtaining the wardship of various young nobles, e.g. of John, earl of Warenne [q. v.], in 1241, of John Gifford [q. v.] in 1248, and of Robert Ferrers, earl of Derby [q. v.], in 1257 (Fœdera, i. 399;, iv. 245, 338, 341, 450, 676; for other instances, see , p. 83; Cal. of Documents relating to Scotland, i. 1954). Peter was present in the parliament of February 1248 (, v. 5). In October 1249 he received the castles and honours of Hastings and Tickhill, and was one of the ambassadors appointed to treat with France (, iv. 240). On 5 March 1250 he had power to prolong the truce with France, being associated for this purpose with Simon de Montfort (, ii. 60). From Paris he went on to Savoy, and on 29 June made an agreement with William, count of Geneva, by which the latter accepted him for lord (Mon. Hist. Sabaud. vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 1490;, iv. 249–54;