Matilda of Tuscany
from Cod. Vat. lat. 4922 (1115)

Matilda of Canossa (Italian: Matilde, Latin: Mathilde; 1046 – 24 July 1115), called la Gran Contessa or the Great Countess, was an Italian noblewoman, the principal Italian supporter of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Events 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Pope The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was an 11th century dispute between Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over She is one of the few medieval women to be remembered for her military accomplishments. She is called "of Canossa" after the ancestral family castle of Canossa, but she is just as well known as Matilda of Tuscany. The counts of Canossa were a family of Italian lords holding the castle of Canossa, which they built from the early tenth to the early twelfth century Canossa ( Province of Reggio Emilia) is a Comune and castle town in Emilia-Romagna, famous as the site where Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV did penance

Childhood and regency

She was the daughter of Boniface III, count of many counties, among them: Reggio, Modena, Mantua, Brescia, and Ferrara. Boniface III (also Boniface IV or Boniface of Canossa; c 985 &ndash 6 May 1052) the father of Matilda of Canossa, was the most For the city in the southern Italy See Reggio Calabria. For the basketball club "Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia" see Pallacanestro Reggiana. Modena (ˈmɔːdena Mòdna in Modenese dialect is a city and a Comune ( Municipality) on the south side of the Po valley, in the Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the Brescia ( Lombard: Brèsa) is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. As this string of titles implies, he held a great estate on both sides of the Apennines, though the greater part was in Lombardy and Emilia. Lombardy (Lombardia Latin: Langobardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the Emilia-Romagna is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Bologna. Matilda's mother was Beatrice, a daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine, and of Matilda, daughter of Herman II of Swabia. Frederick II (c 995–1026 son of Thierry I and Richilde von Blieskastel daughter of Folmar Count in Bliesgau was the count of Bar and Duke of Lorraine Herman II (died 4 May 1003) was the Conradine Duke of Swabia from 997 to his death as the son of and successor Conrad I.

Matilda's place of birth is unknown. Mantua, Modena, Cremona, and Verona have all been suggested, though scholarly opinion favours Lucca or the nearby castle of Porcari. Cremonese redirects here For the football team see US Cremonese Cremona is a City in northern Italy, situated Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on the Ligurian Sea Porcari is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence ^[1] Based on her fluency in German, some authors have asserted that she was born in Lorraine, her mother's province. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Lorraine (Lorraine Lothringen is a historical area in present-day northeast France. She was her parents' youngest child, but her father was murdered in 1052 and one year later (1053) his older sister Beatrice (namesake of their mother) also died. Beatrice, in order to protect her children's inheritance, married Godfrey the Bearded, a cousin who had been duke of Upper Lorraine before rebelling against the Emperor Henry III. Godfrey III (c 997&ndash1069 called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. Henry III ( 29 October 1017 &ndash 5 October 1056) called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty The two were married in 1053 or 1054 in the church of San Pietro at Mantua by Pope Leo IX himself as he returned from a trip to Germany. Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the Pope At the same time Matilda was betrothed to Godfrey the Hunchback, a son of Godfrey the Bearded by a previous marriage and thus her stepbrother. Godfrey IV (died 27 or 26 February 1076 known as the Hunchback, was a son of Godfrey the Bearded, whom he succeeded as Duke of Lower Lorraine in 1069

Henry III was enraged by Beatrice's unauthorised marriage to his enemy and he descended into Italy in the early spring of 1055, arriving at Verona in April and then Mantua by Easter. Beatrice wrote to him seeking a safe-conduct to explain herself; this granted she travelled with her young son Frederick, now margrave of Tuscany, and her mother, Matilda, a sister of the emperor's grandmother Gisela. Boniface IV Frederick (died July 1055 was the only son of Boniface III of Tuscany and Beatrice of Bar. Gisela of Swabia (989 or 990 – February 14 1043 in Goslar) was the daughter of Herman II of Swabia and Gerberga of Burgundy The younger Matilda was left in either Lucca or Canossa and she may have passed the next few years between those two places in the custody of her stepfather. Initially Henry refused to see Beatrice, but eventually he had her imprisoned in rough conditions, though the young Frederick was treated more appropriately, but he died in Henry's custody nonetheless (the rumours that he was murdered are baseless^[2]). The death of her brother made the eight-year-old Matilda the sole heiress of the vast lands of her father, under her mother's guardianship.

With his wife now imprisoned, Godfrey returned to Germany to stir up rebellion and draw Henry out of Italy, but the emperor merely took Beatrice and Frederick with him. Some later historian aver that Beatrice went willingly to see her former homelands. Whatever the case, Godfrey and his ally, Baldwin V of Flanders, had forced the emperor to come to terms of peace by mid-1056 and Godfrey was permitted to return to Italy to administer his stepdaughter's estates. Baldwin V of Flanders (died 1 September 1067 was Count of Flanders from 1036 until his death Henry soon died and the council which was held under the direction of Pope Victor II at Cologne formally restored Godfrey to imperial favour. Victor II (c 1018&ndash July 28, 1057) born Gebhard Count of Calw, Tollenstein, and Hirschberg ( German He and Beatrice were back in Italy by late that year.

Matilda's family became heavily involved in the series of disputed papal elections of the last half of the eleventh century. Her stepfather's brother Frederick became Pope Stephen IX, while both of the following two popes, Nicholas II and Alexander II had been Tuscan bishops. Pope Stephen IX (c 1020 - March 29, 1058) was Pope from August 3, 1057 to March 1058 Nicholas II (died July 27 1061 born Gérard de Bourgogne, Pope from 1059 to July 1061 was at the time of his election the Bishop of Florence. Alexander II (died April 21, 1073) born Anselmo da Baggio, was Pope from 1061 to 1073 Matilda made her first journey to Rome with her family in the entourage of Nicholas in 1059. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Her parents' forces were used to protect these popes and fight against anti-popes. Some stories claim the adolescent Matilda took the field in some of these engagements, but no evidence supports this.

Under the tutelage of Arduino della Padule, however, she did learn the military arts, such as horseriding and arms. Arduino della Padule was the military tutor of Matilda of Tuscany in the late Eleventh century. According to Lodovico Vedriani, two suits of her armour existed in the "Quattro Castelli" until 1622, when they were sold in the market of Reggio. The "Qattro Castelli" were four castles — Montezane, Montelucio, Montevetro, and Bianell (Bibianello) — perched by Matilda atop hills to guard the route up to Canossa. Matilda could speak "the Teuton tongue" (German) and "the beautiful language of the Franks" (French) according to her biographer, Domnizo. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people She could also write in Latin.

Sometime in this period Matilda finally married her stepbrother Godfrey. Matilda gave birth in 1071 to a daughter, Beatrice. Virtually all current biographies of Matilda assert that the child died in its first year of infancy, however genealogies contemporaneous with Michelangelo Buonarroti claimed that Beatrice survived, and Michelangelo himself claimed to be a descendent of Beatrix and, therefore, Matilda. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all Michelangelo's claim was supported at the time by the reigning Count of Canossa. The Catholic Church, possibly motivated by its claim against her property, has always asserted that Matilda never had any child at all. Matilda and Godfrey became estranged after Godfrey the Bearded's death in 1069, and he returned to Germany, where he eventually received the duchy of Lower Lorraine. The Duchy of Lower Lorraine or Lower Lotharingia encompassed part of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany west of the Rhine

Conflict between Henry IV and the Papacy

Matilda from the Vita Mathildis, accepting her biography from its monkish author Domnizo and guarded by a man-at-arms (left).

Both Matilda's mother and husband died in 1076, leaving her in sole control of her great Italian patrimony as well as lands in Lorraine, while at the same time matters in the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and the German king Henry IV were at a crisis point. Henry IV ( November 11, 1050 &ndash August 7, 1106) was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until The Pope had excommunicated the King, causing a weakening of Henry's German support. Henry crossed the Alps that winter, appearing early in 1077 as a barefoot penitent in the snow before the gates of Matilda's ancestral castle of Canossa, where the pope was staying. Canossa ( Province of Reggio Emilia) is a Comune and castle town in Emilia-Romagna, famous as the site where Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV did penance

This famous meeting did not settle matters for long. In 1080 Henry was excommunicated again, and the next year he crossed the Alps, aiming either to get the pope to end the excommunication and crown him emperor, or to depose the pope in favor of someone more co-operative.

Matilda controlled all the western passages over the Apennines, forcing Henry to approach Rome via Ravenna. Ravenna is a City and Comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Even with this route open, he would have difficulties besieging Rome with a hostile territory at his back. Some of his allies defeated Matilda at the battle of Volta Mantovana (near Mantua) in October 1080, and by December the citizens of Lucca, then the capital of Tuscany, had revolted and driven out her ally Bishop Anselm. Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the Saint Anselm of Lucca the Younger ( Milan, 1036&ndash March 18, 1086) was a prominent figure in the Investiture Controversy and in the fighting She is believed to have commissioned the renowned Ponte della Maddalena where the Via Francigena crosses the river Serchio at Borgo a Mozzano just north of Lucca. Ponte della Maddalena (Italian "Bridge of Mary Magdalene" also known as Ponte del Diavolo, the " Bridge of the Devil " is a bridge which crosses The Via Francigena is an ancient road between Rome and Canterbury, passing through England, France, Switzerland and Italy At 126 kilometres the Serchio (in antiquity the Auser) is the third longest river in the Italian region of Tuscany, coming after the Arno (242 km and the Borgo a Mozzano is a town and commune in the Province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany ( Italy) Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on the Ligurian Sea

In 1081, Matilda suffered some further losses, and Henry formally deposed her in July. This was not enough to eliminate her as a source of trouble, for she retained substantial allodial holdings. Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned She remained as Pope Gregory's chief intermediary for communication with northern Europe even as he lost control of Rome and was holed up in the Castel Sant'Angelo. For the town with the same name see Castel Sant'Angelo (RI The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering After Henry had obtained the Pope's seal, Matilda wrote to supporters in Germany only to trust papal messages that came though her.

Henry's control of Rome enabled him to have his choice of pope, Antipope Clement III, consecrated and in turn for this pope to crown Henry as emperor. This article is about the Antipope Clement III see here for Pope Clement III. That done, Henry returned to Germany, leaving it to his allies to attempt Matilda's dispossession. These attempts foundered after Matilda routed them at Sorbara (near Modena) on July 2, 1084. Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival

Gregory VII died in 1085, and Matilda's forces, with those of Prince Jordan I of Capua (her off and on again enemy), took to the field in support of a new pope, Victor III. Jordan I (Giordano (died 1091 count of Aversa and Prince of Capua from 1078 to his death was the eldest son and successor of Prince Richard I of Capua Pope Victor III ( c.1026 &ndash 16 September 1087) born Daufer (Dauphar Latinised Dauferius, was the Pope (from In 1087, Matilda led an expedition to Rome in an attempt to install Victor, but the strength of the imperialist counterattack soon convinced the pope to retire from the city.

Around 1090, Matilda married again, to Welf V of Bavaria, from a family (the Welfs) whose very name was later to become synonymous with alliance to the popes in their conflict with the German emperors (see Guelphs and Ghibellines). Welf II ( 1072 &ndash 24 September 1120, Kaufering) or Welfhard, called Welf the Fat, was duke of Bavaria from See also Elder House of Welf The House of Welf (or House of Guelph) is a European Dynasty that has included many German and British The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting respectively the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy This forced Henry to return to Italy, where he drove Matilda into the mountains. He was humbled before Canossa, this time in a military defeat in October 1092, from which his influence in Italy never recovered.

In 1095, Henry attempted to reverse his fortunes by seizing Matilda's castle of Nogara, but the countess's arrival at the head of an army forced him to retreat. In 1097, Henry withdrew from Italy altogether, after which Matilda reigned virtually uncontested, although she did continue to launch military operations designed to restore her authority and regain control of the towns that had remained loyal to the emperor. She ordered or commanded successful expeditions against Ferrara (1101), Parma (1104), Prato (1107) and Mantua (1114). Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. Parma is a City in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna near Modena famous for its Architecture and the fine countryside around it Prato is a city in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the In 1111, at Bianello, she was made viceroy of Liguria by the Emperor Henry V. Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions Henry V ( 8 November 1086 &ndash 23 May 1125) was King of Germany (from 1098-1125) and Holy Roman Emperor

Matilda of Canossa
by Bernini in the Saint Peter's Basilica (Rome). "Bernini" redirects here For people named Bernini see Bernini (surname. The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St

Death and legacy

Matilda's death of gout in 1115 at Bondeno di Rocore marked the end of an era in Italian politics. Gout (also called metabolic arthritis) is a disease created by a buildup of Uric acid. She left her allodial property to the Pope for reasons not known. Henry had promised some of the cities in her territory he would appoint no successor after he deposed her. In her place the leading citizens of these cities took control, and we enter the era of the city-states in northern Italy. The Italian city states were a remarkable political phenomenon of small independent states in the northern Italian peninsula between the tenth and fifteenth centuries

In the 17th century her body was removed to the Vatican, where it now lies in St. Peter's Basilica. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Vatican Hill (in Latin, Vaticanus Mons) is the name given long before the founding of Christianity, to one of the hills on the side of the The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St

The story of Matilda and Henry IV featured in Luigi Pirandello's play Enrico IV. Luigi Pirandello ( June 28, 1867 — December 10, 1936) was an Italian Dramatist Novelist, and short

Notes

References

• Duff, Nora (1909). Matilda of Tuscany: La Gran Donna d'Italia. London: Methuen & Co.  
• Hay, David (2008). The Military Leadership of Matilda of Canossa, 1046-1115. Manchester: Manchester University Press.  
• Kahn Spike, Michéle (2004). Michèle Kahn Spike is an American lawyer historian and prominent lay figure in the Episcopalian church Tuscan Countess: The Life and Extraordinary Times of Matilda of Canossa. New York: The Vendome Press.  
• Eads, Valerie (2002). "The Geography of Power: Matilda of Tuscany and the Strategy of Active Defense", in L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald Kagay: Crusaders, Condottieri and Cannon: Medieval Warfare in Societies around the Mediterranean. Leiden: Brill.  
• Fraser, Antonia. The Warrior Queens. ISBN 0-679-72816-3.  

External links

• The Lands of Matilde of Canossa
•   "Matilda of Canossa". Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.