Matilda of Tuscany
Countess of Tuscany, Vice-Queen of Italy, of the Canossian dynasty / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Matilda of Tuscany (Italian: Matilde di Canossa [maˈtilde di kaˈnɔssa], Latin: Matilda, Mathilda; c. 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 was one of the most important governing figures of the Italian Middle Ages. 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 of Tuscany | |
---|---|
Margravine of Tuscany | |
Reign | 1055–1115 |
Predecessor | Frederick |
Successor | Rabodo |
Regent | Beatrice of Bar 1052–1069 Godfrey III 1053–1069 |
Co-rule | Godfrey IV 1069–1076 Welf II 1089–1095 |
Born | c. 1046 Lucca or Mantua |
Died | (1115-07-24)24 July 1115 (aged 68–69) Bondeno di Roncore, Reggiolo, Margraviate of Tuscany |
Burial | |
Spouse |
|
House | Canossa (Attonids) |
Father | Boniface III, Margrave of Tuscany |
Mother | Beatrice of Lorraine |
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. 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.[2]
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. The understanding between the Emperor and the Pope was short-lived, however. 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. Her court became a refuge for many displaced persons during the turmoil of the investiture dispute and enjoyed a cultural boom. Even after Pope Gregory VII's death in 1085, Matilda remained an important pillar of the Reform Church. Between 1081 and 1098, the Canossa rule fell into a major crisis due to the grueling disputes with Henry IV. The historical record is sparse for this time. A turning point resulted from Matilda forming a coalition with the southern German dukes, who were in opposition to Henry IV.
After Henry IV's retreat in 1097 past the Alps to the empire's north, a power vacuum developed in Italy. The struggle between regnum and sacerdotium changed the social and rulership structure of the Italian cities permanently, giving them space for emancipation from foreign rule and their own communal development. From autumn 1098 Matilda was able to regain many of her lost domains. Until the end she tried to bring the cities under her control. After 1098, she increasingly used the opportunities offered to her to consolidate her rule again. 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.
Between 6 and 11 May 1111, 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. With her death, the House of Canossa became extinct in 1115. Popes and emperors fought over their rich inheritance, called the "Matildine domains", well into the 13th century. Matilda became a myth in Italy, which found its expression in numerous artistic, musical and literary designs as well as miracle stories and legends. This legacy reached its peak during the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque Period. 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.
Matilda came from the noble House of Canossa, also named the Attonids, although these names were only created by later generations.[3] 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. He probably increased his sphere of influence in the area around Parma and probably also in the foothills of the Apennines. His son Adalbert-Atto was able to bring several castles in the foothills of the Apennines under his control in the politically fragmented region and built in the southwest of the mountains of Reggio Emilia the Canossa Castle.
King Lothair II of Italy died unexpectedly in 950, whereupon Berengar of Ivrea wanted to take power in Italy. After a short imprisonment, Lothair's widow Queen Adelaide found refuge with Adalbert-Atto in Canossa Castle. King Otto I of East Francia then intervened in Italy himself and married Adelaide in 951. This resulted in a close bond between the House of Canossa and the Ottonian dynasty. Adalbert-Atto appeared in Otto I's documents as an advocate and was able to establish contacts with the Papacy for the first time in the wake of the Ottonians. Adalbert-Atto also received from Otto I the Counties of Reggio and Modena. In 977 at the latest, the County of Mantua was added to his domains.[4]
Adalbert-Atto's son and Matilda's grandfather Tedald continued their close ties to the Ottonian rulers from 988. In 996 he is listed as dux et marchio (Duke and Margrave) in a document. This title was adopted by all subsequent rulers of the House of Canossa.[5]
An inheritance dispute among the three sons of Tedald could be prevented. The rise of the family reached the climax under Matilda's father Boniface. The three successive Canossa rulers (Adalbert-Atto, Tedald and Boniface) instituted monasteries for their expansion of rule. The founded monasteries (Brescello, Polirone, Santa Maria di Felonica) were established in places of transport and strategic importance for the administrative consolidation of their large estates, and used three family saints (Genesius, Apollonius and Simeon) to stabilize the House of Canossa's power structure and sought to exert influence on convents that had been in existence for a long time (Abbey of Nonantola). The transfer of monasteries to local bishops and the promotion of spiritual institutions also enlarged their network of alliances. The appearance as the guardian of order consolidated their position along the Via Aemilia.[6] Historian Arnaldo Tincani was able to prove the considerable number of 120 farms in the Canossa estate near the Po river.[7]
On the occasion of the wedding of Conrad II's son Henry with Gunhilda of Denmark in 1036 at the city of Nijmegen, Boniface met Beatrice of Lorraine, niece and foster daughter of Empress Gisela of Swabia.[8] A marriage covenant could be arranged and one year later, in June 1037, Boniface and Beatrice celebrated their marriage in high style, keeping court at Marengo for three months afterwards.[9][10] According to the marital agreements, Beatrice brought important assets in Lorraine: the Château of Briey and the Lordships of Stenay, Mouzay, Juvigny, Longlier and Orval, all the northern part of her paternal family's ancestral lands. As the daughter of Duke Frederick II of Upper Lorraine and Matilda of Swabia, she and her sister Sophia were raised in the imperial court by their aunt Empress Gisela (her mother's sister) after the deaths of their parents. For Boniface, the marriage to Beatrice, a close relative of the Emperor, brought him not only prestige but also the prospect to finally have an heir; his first marriage with Richilda (died after February 1036), daughter of Giselbert II, Count Palatine of Bergamo, brought only one daughter, born and died in 1014.
Boniface and Beatrice had three children, one son, Frederick (named after his maternal grandfather), and two daughters, Beatrice (named after her own mother) and Matilda (named after her maternal grandmother). Matilda, probably born around 1046, was the youngest child.[11]
Matilda's birthplace and exact date of birth are unknown. Italian scholars have been arguing about her place of birth for centuries. According to Francesco Maria Fiorentini, a doctor and scholar of the 17th century, she was born in Lucca, an assumption reinforced by a miniature in the early twelfth-century Vita Mathildis by the monk Donizo (or, in Italian, Donizone), where Matilda is referred to as 'Resplendent Matilda' (Mathildis Lucens): since the Latin word lucens is similar to lucensis (of/from Lucca), this may also be a reference to Matilda's birth place. By the other hand, for Benedictine scholar Camillo Affarosi, Canossa was the place of birth. Lino Lionello Ghirardini and Paolo Golinelli both advocated Mantua as her birth place.[12][13] A recent publication by Michèle Kahn Spike also favors Mantua, as it was the center for Boniface's court at the time.[14] In addition, Ferrara or the small Tuscan town of San Miniato were also discussed as possible birth places. According to Elke Goez, the sources cannot prove that there was a permanent household for Boniface of Canossa in either Mantua or any other place.[9][15]
Matilda must have spent her early years around her mother. Renowned for her learning, she was literate in Latin, as well as reputed to speak German and French.[16] The extent of Matilda's education in military matters is debated. It has been asserted that she was taught strategy, tactics, riding and wielding weapons,[17] but recent scholarship challenges these claims.[18]
Boniface of Canossa was a feared and hated prince for some small vassals throughout his life. On 7 May 1052 he was ambushed while hunting in the forest of San Martino dall'Argine near Mantua and killed.[19] Following the death of their father, Matilda's brother, Frederick, inherited the family lands and titles under the regency of their mother, who not only managed to hold the family patrimony together[20] but also made important contacts with leading figures in the Church renewal movement. Beatrice developed into an increasingly important pillar of the reform of the Papacy.[21] Matilda's older sister, Beatrice, died the next year (before 17 December 1053), making Matilda heiress presumptive to Frederick's personal holdings. Beatrice was Regent of Tuscany from 1052 until her death in 1076, during the minority of and in co-regency with Matilda.
In mid-1054, determined to safeguard the interests of her children as well as her own,[8][22] Beatrice of Lorraine married Godfrey the Bearded, a distant kinsman who had been stripped of the Duchy of Upper Lorraine after openly rebelling against Emperor Henry III.[20]
Emperor Henry III was enraged by his cousin Beatrice's unauthorised union with his most vigorous adversary and took the opportunity to have her arrested, along with Matilda, when he marched south to attend a synod in Florence on Pentecost in 1055.[8][18] Frederick's rather suspicious death soon thereafter[23] made Matilda the last member of the House of Canossa. Mother and daughter were taken to Germany,[18][24] but Godfrey the Bearded successfully avoided capture. Unable to defeat him, Henry III sought a rapprochement. The Emperor's early death in October 1056, which brought to throne the underage Henry IV, seems to have accelerated the negotiations and the restoration of the previous balance of power. Godfrey the Bearded was reconciled with the imperial family and recognized as Margrave of Tuscany in December, while Beatrice and Matilda were released. By the time she and her mother returned to Italy, in the company of Pope Victor II, Matilda was formally acknowledged as sole heiress to the greatest territorial lordship in the southern part of the Empire.[23] In June 1057 the Pope held a synod in Florence; he was present during the infamous capture of Beatrice and Matilda, and with the deliberated choice of location of the synod also made it clear that the House of Canossa had returned to Italy, strengthened at the side of the Pope and had been completely rehabilitated; with Henry IV being a minor, the reform Papacy sought the protection of the powerful House of Canossa.[25][26][27] According to Donizo, the Panegyric biographer of Matilda and her ancestors, she was familiar with both French and German due to her origins and living conditions.[28]
Matilda's mother and stepfather thus became heavily involved in the series of disputed papal elections during their regency, supporting the Gregorian Reforms. Godfrey the Bearded's brother Frederick became Pope Stephen IX, while both of the following two popes, Nicholas II and Alexander II, had been Tuscan bishops. Matilda made her first journey to Rome with her family in the entourage of Nicholas II in 1059. Godfrey and Beatrice actively assisted them in dealing with antipopes, while the adolescent Matilda's role remains unclear. A contemporary account of her stepfather's 1067 expedition against Prince Richard I of Capua on behalf of the papacy mentions Matilda's participation in the campaign, describing it as the "first service that the most excellent daughter of Boniface offered to the blessed prince of the apostles".[29]
Possibly taking advantage of the minority of Henry IV, Beatrice and Godfrey the Bearded wanted to consolidate the connection between the Houses of Lorraine and Canossa in the long term by marrying their two children.[30] Around 1055, Matilda and her stepbrother Godfrey the Hunchback (son of Godfrey the Bearded from his first marriage) were betrothed.[31] In May 1069, as Godfrey the Bearded lay dying in Verdun, Beatrice and Matilda hastened to reach Lorraine, anxious to ensure a smooth transition of power. Matilda was present at her stepfather's deathbed, and on that occasion she is for the first time clearly mentioned as the wife of her stepbrother.[32] After the death of Godfrey the Bearded on 30 December, the newlyweds stayed in Lorraine while Beatrice returned to Italy alone. Matilda became pregnant in 1070; Godfrey the Hunchback seems to have informed the Salian imperial court about this event: in a charter from Henry IV dated 9 May 1071, Godfrey or his heirs are mentioned.[33] Matilda gave birth to a daughter, named Beatrice after her maternal grandmother, but the child died a few weeks after the birth before 29 August 1071.[34][35]
Matilda and Godfrey the Hunchback's marriage proved a failure after a short time; the death of their only child and Godfrey's physical deformity may have helped fuel deep animosity between the spouses.[31] By the end of 1071, Matilda had left her husband and returned to Italy,[32] where her stay in Mantua on 19 January 1072 can be proven: there she and her mother issued a deed of donation for the Monastery of Sant'Andrea.[36][37][38][39] Godfrey the Hunchback fiercely protested the separation and demanded that Matilda come back to him, which she repeatedly refused.[31] In early 1072 he descended into Italy and visited several places in Tuscany, determined not only to enforce the marriage,[31][32] but to lay claim to these areas as Matilda's husband. During this time, Matilda stayed in Lucca; there's no evidence that the couple met:[40] only in a single document dated 18 August 1073 in Mantua for a donation for the Monastery of San Paolo in Parma, Matilda named Godfrey the Hunchback as her husband.[41] In his efforts to restore his marital bond, Godfrey the Hunchback sought the help of both Matilda's mother and her ally, the newly elected Pope Gregory VII, promising military aid to the latter.[31] However, Matilda's resolution was unshakable,[31] and in the summer of 1073 Godfrey the Hunchback returned to Lorraine alone,[32] losing all hope for a reconciliation by 1074. Matilda wanted to enter in a monastery as a nun, and during 1073–1074 she tried in vain to obtain the dissolution of her marriage with the Pope;[42] however, Gregory VII needed Godfrey the Hunchback as an ally and was therefore not interested in a divorce. At the same time he hoped for Matilda's help with his crusade plans.
Rather than supporting the Pope as promised in exchange for preserving his marriage, Godfrey the Hunchback turned his attention to imperial affairs. Meanwhile, the conflict later known as the Investiture Controversy was brewing between Gregory VII and Henry IV, with both men claiming the right to appoint bishops and abbots within the Empire. Matilda and Godfrey the Hunchback soon found themselves on opposing sides of the dispute, leading to a further deterioration of their difficult relationship. German chroniclers, writing of the synod held at Worms in January 1076, even suggested that Godfrey the Hunchback inspired Henry IV's allegation of a licentious affair between Gregory VII and Matilda.[22]
Matilda and her husband continued to live separately until Godfrey the Hunchback was assassinated in Vlaardingen, near Antwerp on 26 February 1076. Having been accused of adultery with the Pope the previous month, Matilda was suspected of ordering her estranged husband's death. She couldn't have known about the proceedings at the Synod of Worms at the time, however, since the news took three months to reach the Pope himself, and it is more likely that Godfrey the Hunchback was killed at the instigation of an enemy nearer to him. Matilda made no spiritual gifts either for Godfrey the Hunchback or for their infant daughter;[43] however, her mother Beatrice in 1071 donated property to the Abbey of Frassinoro for the salvation of her granddaughter's soul and granted twelve farms "for the health and life of my beloved daughter Matilda" (pro incolomitate et anima Matilde dilecte filie mee).[44][45]
Matilda's bold decision to repudiate her husband came at a cost, but ensured her independence. Beatrice started preparing Matilda for rule as head of the House of Canossa by holding court jointly with her[32] and, eventually, encouraging her to issue charters on her own as countess (comitissa) and duchess (ducatrix).[22] Both mother and daughter tried to be present throughout their territory. In what is now Emilia-Romagna their position was much more stable than in the southern Apennines, where they couldn't get their followers behind them despite rich donations. They therefore tried to act as guardians of justice and public order. Matilda's participation is mentioned in seven of the sixteen placitum held by Beatrice. Supported by judges, Matilda had already held placitum placita alone.[46] On 7 June 1072 Matilda and her mother presided over the court in favor of the Abbey of San Salvatore in Monte Amiata.[37][47] On 8 February 1073, Matilda went to Lucca without her mother and presided over the court alone, where she made a donation in favor of the local Monastery of San Salvatore e Santa Giustina. At the instigation of the abbess Eritha, the monastery possessions in Lucca and Villanova near Serchio were secured by the King's ban (Königsbann).[37][48] For the next six months Matilda's residence is not known, while her mother took part in the ceremony of enthronement of Pope Gregory VII.
Matilda was introduced by her mother to numerous personalities in church reform, especially Pope Gregory VII himself. She had already met the future Pope, then Archdeacon Hildebrand, in the 1060s. After his election as Pope, she met him for the first time during 9–17 March 1074.[49] With Matilda and Beatrice, the Pope developed a special relationship of trust in the period that followed. However, Beatrice died on 18 April 1076. On 27 August 1077 Matilda donated her town of Scanello and other estates to the extent of 600 mansus near the court to Bishop Landulf and the chapter of Pisa Cathedral as a soul device (Seelgerät) for herself and her parents.[37][50]
The deaths of both her husband and mother within two months of difference considerably augmented Matilda's power; she was now the undisputed heir of all her parents' allodial lands. Her inheritance would have been threatened had Godfrey the Hunchback survived her mother, but she now enjoyed the privileged status of a widow. It seemed unlikely, however, that Emperor Henry IV would formally invest her with the margraviate.[51]