He probably increased his sphere of influence in the area around Parma and probably also in the foothills of the Apennines. The oldest proven ancestor of the House of Canossa was the nobleman Sigifred, who lived in the first third of the 10th century and came from the County of Lucca. Matilda came from the noble House of Canossa, also named the Attonids, although these names were only invented by later generations. Donizo's Vita Mathildis ( Vatican Library, Codex Vat. Origins of the House of Canossa Adalbert-Atto of Canossa and his wife Hildegard surrounded by arches, and their sons Rudolph, Geoffrey (Gotofred) and Tedald at their feet. Pope Urban VIII had Matilda's body transferred to Rome in 1630, where she was the first woman to be buried in Saint Peter's Basilica. This legacy reached its peak during the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque Period. Matilda became a myth in Italy, which found its expression in numerous artistic, musical and literary designs as well as miracle stories and legends. Popes and emperors fought over their rich inheritance, called the "Matildine domains", well into the 13th century. With her death, the House of Canossa became extinct in 1115. In her final years she was worried about her own memory, which is why the childless Matilda focused her donation activity on the Polirone Abbey rather than find a suitable heir.īetween 6 and, Matilda was reportedly crowned Imperial Vicar and Vice-Queen of Italy by Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor at the Castle of Bianello ( Quattro Castella, Reggio Emilia), following the account of Donizo. After 1098, she increasingly used the opportunities offered to her to consolidate her rule again. Until the end she tried to bring the cities under her control. From autumn 1098 Matilda was able to regain many of her lost domains. The struggle between regnum and sacerdotium changed the social and rulership structure of the Italian cities permanently and gave them space for emancipation from foreign rule and communal development. A turning point resulted from a coalition of Matilda with the southern German dukes, who were in opposition to Henry IV.Īfter Henry IV's retreat in 1097 past the Alps to the empire's north, a power vacuum developed in Italy. The historical record is sparse for this time. Between 10, the Canossa rule fell into a major crisis due to the grueling disputes with Henry IV. Even after Pope Gregory VII's death in 1085, Matilda remained an important pillar of the Reform Church. Her court became a refuge for many displaced persons during the turmoil of the investiture dispute and experienced a cultural boom. In the conflicts with Henry IV that arose a little later, Matilda put all her military and material resources into the service of the Papacy from 1080. The understanding between the Emperor and the Pope was short-lived, however. In January 1077, Henry IV was, after his famous penitential walk in front of the Canossa ( Latin: Canusia) Castle, accepted back into the church community by the Pope. At the same time, Matilda came into possession of a substantial territory that included present-day Lombardy, Emilia, Romagna and Tuscany, and made the Canossa Castle, in the Apennines south of Reggio, the centre of her domains. She ruled as a feudal margravine and, as a relative of the imperial Salian dynasty, she brokered a settlement in the so-called Investiture Controversy in this extensive conflict with the emerging reform Papacy over the relationship between spiritual ( sacerdotium) and secular ( regnum) power, Pope Gregory VII dismissed and excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV in 1076. She reigned in a period of constant battles, political intrigues and Roman Catholic excommunications, and was able to demonstrate an innate and skilled strategic leadership capacity in both military and diplomatic matters. Matilda was one of the most important governing figures of the Italian Middle Ages. 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as la Gran Contessa ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda of Tuscany ( Italian: Matilde di Canossa, Latin: Matilda, Mathilda c.
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