AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE 'ONE HUNDRED CHURCHES' OF MATILDA OF CANOSSA, COUNTESS OF TUSCANY

Michèle K. Spike

AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE ‘ONE HUNDRED CHURCHES’ OF MATILDA OF CANOSSA, COUNTESS OF TUSCANY

Centro Di

Michèle K. Spike

An Illustrated Guide to the ‘One Hundred Churches’ of Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany with photographs by Elaine Poggi

Centro Di

In Memoriam Alessandra Pandolfini Marchi (1933-2015), wise, courageous, creative publisher and beloved friend

Contents

7 15

Author’s Preface and Acknowledgments An Illustrated Guide to the ‘One Hundred Churches’ of Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany

Itineraries 18

Matildan Routes in northern Italy Route 1. From the Brenner Pass to the Po river: the Oglio, the Mincio and the Adige rivers

Route 2. Along the Po river from Piacenza to the Adriatic Sea

Route 3. From the Po river to the via Emilia: the Enza, the Secchia and the Panaro rivers

Route 4. Along the via Emilia from Parma to Bologna

Matildan Routes through the Apennine mountains Route 5. Through the Apennines from Emilia to Tuscany: the Reno and Limentra rivers in the east; the Secchia and the Enza rivers in the west; the Serchio river from San Pellegrino in Alpe to Lucca

112

Matildan Routes in Tuscany Route 6. Along the via Cassia and the foothills of the Apennines

124

Route 7. Along the Arno river

148

Route 8. Along the via Cassia south of Florence

154

Route 9. Along the via Francigena from Luni to Rome

170

Route 10. Along the via Aurelia from Pisa to Rome

176

The Eternal City Rome

183

Bibliography

Author’s Preface and Acknowledgments

An Illustrated Guide to the ‘One Hundred Churches’ of Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany is the first complete and illustrated listing of the one hundred and thirty-six places, churches, hospices, monasteries, and other extant stone constructions, including an arched bridge, built or restored by the Countess Matilda of Canossa (1046-1115). Her cultural legacy is enormous and includes many of the monuments listed by UNESCO as among the heritage of our world, including churches in Florence, Ferrara, Lucca, Mantua, Modena, Pisa, Verona and Volterra. Many years of travel and research have culminated in the publication of this guide in honor of the 900th Anniversary of Matilda’s death at the age of sixty-nine on July 24, 1115. The life and adventures of the Gran Contessa Matilda are vividly recalled – and annually re-enacted in colorful pageants – in the towns and cities nearest her ancestral castle of Canossa, located in the foothills of the Apennine mountains south of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. Her memory has been preserved in the medieval stones that are seemingly everywhere in this region. Matilda was the most prolific patron of early Romanesque architecture, tirelessly sponsoring the construction and restoration of churches, towers and buildings throughout her expansive domains, the richest in Italy, which encompassed large parts of the regions of Emilia, Lombardy, and Tuscany, north of Rome. This guide is laid out in a series of ten itineraries through the lands her family controlled, that is Italy from the Alps to Rome. Many of the churches are located on country roads and the routes through the Apennines in particular may be more adapted to hiking than to automobiles. Time for travel is required. The landscape however is magnificent and the region boasts the best food in Italy. The entries in this guide are based upon the fundamental biographical sources of Matilda’s life: the Vita Mathildis written by Donizone c. 11107

1115 (ms 4922, Apostolic Vatican Library) and the one hundred thirty-nine documents dating between 1072 and 1115 that record her holding court, resolving a dispute or making a donation. These documents were collected and published by Werner and Elke Goez in 1998 and provide a valuable source to tell us where Matilda was, who she knew and what she did. In addition, the websites of most of the communities listed publish the research of local scholars and offer unique details of the relationship between the Countess and her communities. Detailed footnotes regarding sources are organized by route, located at the end of each itinerary. A Short History of Matilda’s Life and Times Matilda, also known as the Gran Contessa, was born in 1046 in Mantua, the daughter of Bonifacio, who ruled that city and others in Emilia, Lombardy, Tuscany and Spoleto in Umbria, as a feudal lord on behalf of the German emperor. Her excellent education was guided by her mother, Beatrice of Lorraine, who ensured that she could read and write in Latin and speak the vernaculars of Italian, French, and German. Her father’s murder by imperial agents in 1052, followed by her older brother’s death soon afterwards, left Beatrice and Matilda at the mercy of Henry III, their king and closest male relation, who sent them to Germany and seized Bonifacio’s lands and wealth. The premature death of Henry III in October 1056, and an advantageous marriage by Beatrice with Godfrey of Lorraine, enabled Beatrice and Matilda to return to Italy in 1057. They chose Florence as their capital. Their brutal experience left them deeply suspicious of their imperial overlords and sympathetic to the pro-papal reforms proposed by the abbots of the Benedictine monastery in Cluny. The Cluniac faction sought ecclesiastic independence from the German emperor and the return of the papal prerogative to nominate and invest bishops of the church. The deprivation of this right by Otto I in 960 ultimately led to the Investiture Controversy. In 1069, just before his death, Godfrey compelled Matilda, who was then twenty-three, to move to the Lorraine and marry his son, Godfrey the Hunchback, who thus acquired her father Bonifacio’s feudal titles and estates. Their brief and unhappy marriage ended after two years. Matilda returned to Italy, where she is first documented with her mother Beatrice in Mantua in 1072.

In June 1073, Beatrice and Matilda are recorded in Rome where they attended the elevation of a new pope, Gregory VII. The two women quickly became Gregory VII’s closest friends and advisors. They participated in the synod nine months later at which Gregory VII issued the Dictatus Papae decree that endorsed the Cluniac reforms and formally declared the independence of the Roman church from the German empire. Gregory’s policies, known as the Gregorian reforms, led to a complete breakdown in relations with Henry III’s son and successor, Henry IV, who deposed Gregory as Pope at a council in Worms in January 1076; Gregory ex-communicated the king the following month. A week later, Matilda’s estranged husband was murdered in a latrine by a sword thrust in his anus. During the week that he painfully bled to death, Godfrey the Hunchback blamed agents of Matilda for his assassination and named his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon, as the universal heir of all his properties in the Lorraine and in northern Italy. Beatrice acted immediately, as the widow of Bonifacio, and authorized the application of Roman law as precedent in a real property dispute. The decision, issued at Borgo Marturi in March 1076, under the authority of Matilda’s mother, is the first citation of Justinian’s Digest of Roman Law (published in 533 A.D.) in more than three centuries. The revival of Justinian’s Code of Roman Civil Law was calculated to support Pope Gregory VII’s claim of papal authority in Rome. It also justified Matilda’s claim as a daughter to inherit her father’s properties. Unlike German feudal law, by which property passed to the nearest male relation, Justinian’s laws granted daughters, the same right as sons to inherit property and to own and manage it in their own names. After Beatrice’s death in April 1076, Matilda began to administer her father’s properties citing as her authority that she was the daughter of Bonifacio, Duke and Margrave. These events preceded the historic humiliation of Henry IV at Matilda’s castle of Canossa. In January 1077 the king, barefoot in the snow, begged the pope to readmit him to communion with the church in order to retain his royal dignity. Before the pope pardoned the king, he demanded that Henry renounce the nomination and investiture of bishops of the church and declare his obedience to papal Rome. The pope demanded that Matilda guarantee these promises. When Henry left Canossa, he immediately returned to his prior anti-papal policies.

During the Spring and Summer of 1077, Matilda and Gregory traveled throughout her father’s territories, visiting towns from Mantua to Bolsena. By the autumn, they had arrived at Rome where, according to Donizone, Matilda repudiated her loyalty to Henry IV and donated all of her father’s properties to Saint Peter and to his legitimate successors as pope in Rome. Since the lands Matilda donated to the church were the same as those claimed by Henry IV as feuds of the German empire, the transfer was inevitably contested. Matilda defended her donation during twelve years of war, in which Rome fell to Henry’s forces and Gregory died in exile from Rome in 1086. Matilda ultimately prevailed, defeating Henry IV and his Imperial troops in October 1092 at a battle fought below the ramparts of Canossa. Matilda’s alliance with Rome broke Germany’s feudal hold over northern Italy. Her victory persuaded the towns in northern Italy, liberated from feudal taxes and obligations during the course of this war by both Henry and Matilda, to ally with the Countess as “soldiers of Saint Peter”. Matilda encouraged the emancipation of towns, like Florence, and granted to its citizens the right to tax previously exercised by her father and his predecessors as Dukes of Tuscany. The University of Bologna dates its foundation to 1088 and Matilda’s invitation to Wernerius, called the “light of law”, to teach Roman Law as codified by Justinian to a new generation of men who would administer the newly freed Italian towns. The citizens successfully defended their freedoms, resisting the attempt by Henry’s son, Henry V, to re-impose German feudal authority. At her death the history of the free Italian communes begins. After the Council of Piacenza ratified the Gregorian reforms in 1095, Matilda devoted the last twenty years of her life to building and restoring the vast network of churches and hospices throughout her ancestral lands. For her many accomplishments, Matilda is one of only three women buried in the nave of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. The Legend of ‘One Hundred Churches’ The Countess’s reputation as a builder was cemented in the popular imagination at least by 1642. In that year, Francesco Maria Fiorentini, the first modern biographer of Matilda, reported that her legacy in stone was everywhere to be seen: “By tradition she built or restored numerous castles in Italy and founded innumerable churches, donating to them property and pre-

cious sacred vessels and vestments. To record even a part would require minute and painstaking research through all of the archives of Italy and even then it would be impossible to investigate all that has been lost to the ravages of time” (Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), II, p. 330). At about the same date as Fiorentini’s biography, Pope Urban VIII commissioned a series of frescoes from Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610-1662) for the Sala della Contessa Matilda in the Vatican Palace. The central panel on the vault depicts two scenes that record Matilda’s building activity, The Construction and Restoration of Churches under the Countess Matilda, a preparatory drawing for which is in The Morgan Library in New York, and The Donations of the Countess to the Cathedral of Parma. The Revival of Architecture The architectural style of the churches built or restored by the Countess is called Romanesque, meaning descended from Rome. Their form follows that of the ancient Roman basilica, that is, a single nave divided by two rows of columns which end in a tripartite apse. In ancient Rome the basilica was a public court building adjacent to the forum. This architectural form emphasized her donation to Rome, including the adoption in her territories of Roman law. Over forty churches in this guide are dedicated to Mary, and most are dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, the woman who Heaven assumed. A devotion to Mary was commended to Matilda by Pope Gregory VII in his letter to her dated February 16, 1074 (Emerton 1932 (ed. 1990), pp. 23-24) and is referenced by her biographer, Donizone (II, vv. 15301533). She likely dedicated these churches in thanksgiving for her victories. An example of this is the magnificent monastery of Santa Maria Assunta built between 1092 and 1100 by Matilda at the site of her castle of Monteveglio. The castle withstood the siege of Henry IV’s troops in August of 1092 and this victory presaged Matilda's own which followed a few weeks later at Canossa in October 1092. The Revival of Trade and Commerce In the same manner as her great-grandfather Atto Adalberto built a strategic network of castles to establish and defend Canossan control of its territories, Matilda built or restored church buildings to secure the ancient routes of

travel. Like the castles built by Matilda’s ancestors these churches with hospices had the same sight lines north to south and east to west, aiding communication and protection of travelers. When the locations of the ‘One Hundred Churches’ built by the Countess are charted (see map p. 17), it emerges that the architectural patronage of Matilda was not concentrated in the region contiguous to Canossa, which is most studied today. As the map demonstrates, the buildings securely associated with Matilda were evenly distributed along the major medieval routes of Lombardy, Emilia, and Tuscany. Matilda built churches on both banks of the Po and Arno rivers and their major tributaries, as well as along the river valleys and passes through the Apennine mountains between the Enza river on the west to the Reno river on the east, that connect Lombardy, Emilia and Tuscany. Her churches line all of the ancient Roman roads, including the via Emilia north of the Apennines and those portions of the via Aurelia, the via Cassia and the via Francigena within Tuscany to the border of the Papal States. The legendary ‘One Hundred Churches’ of Matilda of Canossa thereby established the Gregorian reform as a network, not unlike the network of castles by which her ancestors controlled northern Italy in feud from the German Kings. They expanded the footprint of Gregorian clergy throughout Italy north of Rome and enhanced travel and communication between their dioceses. The revival of trade, pilgrimage and travel was not a by-product of a pious woman’s church building mania, but rather a deliberate strategy by the Countess. Unlike the nobility, ordinary people, merchants and pilgrims, had no place to find a warm meal and a safe bed at the end of each day until Matilda re-built the ancient network of rural pieve with hospices attached along the ancient Roman roads. In Lucca in 1099, Matilda donated land on a public road to the Monastery of San Ponziano in Lucca “for the construction of a pilgrim hospice for the poor” (see Fig. 121.3 published by Goez, Die Urkunden 1998, no. 51, pp. 157-158). In July 1105 at Pieve Fosciana near the top of the Apennine pass that connects Reggio and Modena with Lucca, Matilda convened the leading citizens from Lombardy and Tuscany (“bonorum hominum Lombardie et Tuscie”) and took under her protection a hospice along this mountain pass (Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 87, 88, pp. 247-250). The act demonstrates Matilda’s encouragement of cooperation between the citizens of the various communes on both sides of the pass for

the specific purpose of providing safe travel between them. Although merchants and travelers remember the Margrave Bonifacio as an oppressive tax collector along the routes, Bonifacio’s daughter, Matilda, was regarded as the pilgrims’ great protectress. Matilda is credited with the creation, in cooperation with the abbot of Cluny and the patriarch of Jerusalem, of “a true and organized network of churches and hospitals” along the pilgrim routes under her influence (Cardini 2000b, p. 31; Cardini 2000a, pp. 19-46). Viewed in their entirety, Matilda’s policies renewed the ancient roots of the Christian Roman Empire. The Cambridge Medieval History dates the end of the ‘dark ages’ to 1115 and her building program illustrated in this guide was a major contribution to the renaissance in art and architecture, literacy and philosophy, that occurred in the centuries after her death. Her revival of Justinian’s Code gave women equal rights to inherit, own and manage their property, rights denied to women by the then prevailing Lombard and Salic laws. These rights of property ownership, taken for granted in the West, are still denied to women in many parts of the world today. We owe Matilda a great debt. And, I wrote this book as my thanks to her. Acknowledgments People in every town listed in this guide responded to my inquiries about their churches and local histories with enthusiasm, kindness, and helpful information. Local researchers willingly shared their precious information. Everyone, it seems, has a connection with the Countess and is proud to acknowledge it. I have met with innumerable kindnesses from countless people, too many to name individually here. I would like to thank, in particular, Don Albino Menegozzo, parroco of San Benedetto Po, for his continuing courtesy to me and for his selfless dedication to the restoration of the church of San Benedetto Po which suffered damage in the earthquake of May 2012. Prof. Paolo Golinelli and his wife, Rita Severi, have been generous with their knowledge and their time and have accompanied me and my husband on visits to many of the churches in Emilia and the Veneto. Many people at The College of William & Mary have enthusiastically supported my research on Matilda, including hosting the exhibition Matilda of Canossa and the Origins of the Renaissance in honor of the 900th anniversary of Matilda’s death. In particular I would like to thank W. Taylor Reveley III,

President of the College, and his wife, Helen; Davison M. Douglas, Dean of the Marshall-Wythe School of Law; Aaron De Groft, Director of the Muscarelle Museum and his wife, Lee, and the Board of the Muscarelle Museum. I profited from conversations with Professor Thomas J. McSweeney and Linda Tesar about Justinian’s Corpus Iuris Civilis. For their assistance in my researches I would also like to thank Matteo Al Kalak, pro-archivista, Archive of the Cathedral of Modena; Arch. Walter Baricchi; Donatella Jager Bedogni and Giuliano Grasselli; Simone Bergamini; Mario Bernabei and Federica Soncini at the Castello di Canossa; Franco Bonetti; Dott.ssa Francesca Boris, Archivio di Stato, Bologna; Andrea Calanca; Mauro Calzolari; Marco Fabbrini, Biblioteca, Monastero di San Salvatore al Monte Amiata; Orlando, Sarah and Fiby Ferrari; Maurizio Fontanili, former President of the Provincia di Mantova; Francesco Lauro; Luciano Mirandola, Sindaco, Nogara; Feliciano Paoli; Francesca Piccinini, Direttrice, Museo Civico d’Arte, Modena, and Cristina Stefani, Museo Civico d’Arte, Modena; Lorenzo Pongicuppi; Claudio Strinati; Mons. Timothy Verdon; Daniele Vincenti; abbot Michael John Zielinski. The archivists at the Archivi di Stato in Bologna, Florence, Lucca, Milan, Siena and the librarians at the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze and the Laurentian Library, Florence, all patiently answered my questions and helped me to find many documents. A special thanks goes also to my wonderful sister, Joanne Kahn, who has been a cheerful companion on many of my travels and my dearest friend. On many of these travels, I have enjoyed the company of Elaine Poggi, my friend and my photographer, who through many years provided words of encouragement as my researches continued. She and her husband, Maurizio, have given generously of their time and innumerable talents. I am supremely blest, blest beyond what language can express, by the love and support of my son, Nicholas, my daughter-in-law, Marcela, and my husband, John, my best and lifelong friend. We share an immense joy in exploring the cities and the towns of Italy, which we have been privileged to call home for over twentyfive years. His kindness in helping me on my research has been boundless and his help beyond patient as I pursued the extent of Matilda’s legacy. This book owes its existence to the encouragement of Alessandra and Ginevra Marchi, beloved friends and publishers of the Spikes for several decades. The elegant design is the masterwork of Manola Miniati and the Centro Di staff.

An Illustrated Guide to the ‘One Hundred Churches’ of Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany

Key to Map

The ‘One Hundred Churches’ of Matilda of Canossa were built, often with hospices attached, approximately twenty kilometers apart on the routes indicated on this map.

Matildan Routes in northern Italy

Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Route 1

Route 6

From the Brenner Pass to the Po river: the Oglio, the Mincio and the Adige rivers

Along the via Cassia and the foothills of the Apennines

Route 7

Route 2

Along the Arno river

Along the Po river from Piacenza to the Adriatic Sea

Route 8

Route 3

Along the via Cassia south of Florence

From the Po river to the via Emilia: the Enza, the Secchia and the Panaro rivers

Route 9 Along the via Francigena from Luni to Rome

Route 4 Route 10

Along the via Emilia from Parma to Bologna

Along the via Aurelia from Pisa to Rome

Matildan Routes through the Apennine mountains

The Eternal City

Route 5

Rome

Through the Apennines from Emilia to Tuscany: the Reno and Limentra rivers in the east; the Secchia and the Enza rivers in the west; the Serchio river from San Pellegrino in Alpe to Lucca

Matildan Routes in northern Italy

Route 1

From the Brenner Pass to the Po river: the Oglio, the Mincio and the Adige rivers

The Brenner Pass controls access from Germany into northern Italy. The Dukes of Bavaria had jurisdiction over the northern, or German, end. Across the Alps, Verona is the first major town in Italy. In Matilda’s time, Verona remained closely allied to the German Empire. Canossan territory began about 25 kilometers south of Verona where a line of fortresses stood parallel to the foothills of the Alps. The clear horizontal line of Statale route S10 today connects towns of their same names: Piadena on the Oglio river to Rivalta sul Mincio and Mantua on the Mincio river to Nogara on the Tartaro river, Cerea-Angiari to Legnago on the Adige river. From their ramparts Matilda’s ancestors monitored the entry of friends and foes arriving from Germany and collected taxes and tributes by travelers and merchants for use of the roads and rivers and the pastures and farmlands in their vicinity. Of these ancient fortresses, nothing remains. Inside each town, however, is a church which by local tradition was built at the desire of the Countess Matilda.

1. Verona The Monastery of San Zeno is one of the most significant Romanesque churches in Italy. Originally founded in the fourth century over the tomb of Saint Zeno, a monastery is noted beside the church since Carolingen times. Its elegant bell tower, dating from 1045, and beautiful cloister recall the monastery’s ancient splendor. Charlemagne issued a document from this cloister in 878. Beginning with Otto I (ruled 969-972), German kings and emperors used this monastery as a point of rest and refuge on their journeys to and from Italy. On August 10, 1073,1 Beatrice, with her daughter, “Mathilda”, are recorded at the Monastery of San Zeno where they made a donation to its abbot. The donation of land south of the city was made in memory of Beatrice’s two husbands, by then deceased. No mention is made of Matilda’s husband, Godfrey the Hunchback, although they are recorded together a week later, on August 18, 1073, at Marengo near Mantua (about 25 kilometers distant).2 After Matilda’s death, the Basilica of San Zeno (Fig. 1.1) was damaged in the earthquake of 1117, and restored and enlarged between 1120 and 1138.3 The rose window, called the Wheel of Fortune, was added to the second story circa 1200. The lower level of the façade is dominated by the magnificent lion portal and the Genesis sculptures

at left, signed by Master Nicholaus; the New Testament sculptures, at right, are signed by Guglielmo.4 Both sculptors are thought to be part of the school of Wiligelmo, the master, who originated the sculptural program on the façade of the Cathedral at Modena (1099-1106) which enjoyed Matilda’s patronage and which reflects the ideals of the Gregorian reforms (see Modena, no. 42).5 The lion portal by Master Nicholaus, datable to 1138-1140, frames a set of magnificent large bronze doors. Each door consists of twenty-four separate panels in relief that date from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. On the left are twenty stories of the New Testament; on the right are fourteen stories of the Old Testament, four stories of the life of Saint Zeno and one square near the center which depicts two women making an offering to a bishop that records the 1073 donation made by “Comitissa Beatrice” and her daughter, Matilda. In the Museo di Castelvecchio is the famous painting of Matilda on horse-

back holding a pomegranate, a symbol of the Church, dated 1587, by Paolo Farinati. A late Renaissance version of the Countess’s appearance, the canvas is similar to that by his son, Orazio Farinati, also painted in 1587 and preserved in the sacristy of the Abbey of San Benedetto Po (see Fig. 20.1.1).

2. Mezzane di Sotto (VR) The Monastery of San Cassiano, located in the beautiful foothills of the Alps, 18 kilometers northeast of Verona, traces its foundation to Matilda of Canossa. This tradition is confirmed by its bronze bell which bears the date, 1081. The bell today is exhibited at the museum in Castelvecchio, a few kilometers to the north. The monastery has been completely restored.

3. San Pietro di Legnago (VR) At the end of the via Matilde di Canossa, the Pieve of San Salvaro (likely dialect for Salvatore) rises in a small field, one mile west of Legnago, just past the Adige river. Founded in 989 at

1.1

the site of a vision of the Virgin, who cured a local blind woman, its restoration is attributed to Matilda of Canossa on its cornerstone, “CONTESA/MATELDA/ HOC OP FF/I I I 7/D.I.C” (Fig. 3.1).

until recently stood beside an ancient cereal mill. Inside are fragments of frescoes from the thirteenth century.7

5. Nogara (VR)

The castle at Cerea was a strategic acquisition by Matilda’s father in 1042. Together with the castle at Angiari, a few kilometers to the east, on the banks of the Adige river, the fortresses gave the family from Canossa control of the plain west of the Adige and north of the Po rivers.6 In 1110, the Chapter of the Canons of Verona confirmed Matilda’s possession of the fortress at Cerea, in feud, in exchange for her obligation to pay five lire veronesi annually to the Capitolo. Local tradition attributes the construction of the Pieve of San Zeno (Fig. 4.1) located on the road that connects the two Matildan forts to the generosity of the Countess. The waters of the Menago river flow past the church, which

The fortress at Nogara is situated 33 kilometers south of Verona and 23 kilometers due east of Mantua. It guarded the northeastern corner of Matilda’s lands and the road that connected Modena to the Brenner Pass and guarded the bridge over the Tartaro river, and the mill that stood along its banks (Fig. 5).8 In 1017, Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, and his first wife, Richilde, donated property to build a church within the fortress of Nogara. Richilde was later buried in this church which was dedicated to San Silvestro.9 With its sister fortress at Piadena, which held the northwestern corner opposite, Nogara remained steadfastly faithful to the Countess. According to Donizone, after the fall of Mantua at Easter in 1091, “All the lands north of the Po, excluding the famous fortifications of Piadena and

3.1

4.1

4. Cerea (VR) and Angiari (VR)

Nogara, were occupied by the King.”10 In the Spring of 1097, just before the defeated king left Italy, Henry IV launched one final attack against Nogara. When Matilda learned of the German’s audacious attempt, she led troops from Modena north, crossing the Po at Governolo. Henry IV, hearing rumors of her approach, fled, leaving his treasury, horses, armor and even his swords in the encampment. Thus, according to Donizone, did the Countess enrich the citizens of Nogara, who welcomed her with great joy, calling her “the new Judith because she had killed the king not just once, as Judith had Holofernes, but many times Henry had fallen, even when he was convinced that he could avoid her.”11 Matilda is recorded in Nogara, frequently. On February 26, 1088 she donated the Church of San Silvestro to the Abbey of Nonantola. On April 24, 1104 and on December 30, 1105, from Nogara, Comitissa Matilda made three donations to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po. In one of her last documents dated

October 25, 1114, Matilda relieved the church in Nogara of annual obligations to the monastery at Nonantola.12 At Campagnola (near Modena), on October 16, 1108, Matilda donated the fortress of Nogara to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po. The great fortification that had so frustrated the German King Henry IV was destroyed in the early 1500s and nothing from Matilda’s time remains today. The Palazzo Maggi (now the biblioteca) and the Villa Marogna are built over her fortress’s ruins. The Villa Marogna, privately owned and not easily accessible to visitors, is said to retain some architectural traces from Matilda’s moment.

6. Cavriana (MN) The Church of Santa Maria della Pieve was first noted in a document of the Emperor Conrad II in 1037. According to local tradition, Matilda restored the ancient Lombard church circa 1100. Like many churches restored by Matilda this pieve is dedicated to the Madonna. The small church rises on a 21

hill above the town and is beautifully restored. The simple brick façade is unusual for the tall pilasters which extend up to the pitched roof. The exquisite tripartite apse of brick has a blind arcade at the roof line.

required, that Matilda’s marriage to Godfrey transferred her father’s property and his titles to Godfrey, leaving her totally dependent, as provided by Salic law, on “her man”. The palace must have had particular significance for Matilda as three years later, she returned here and on May 27, 1076, using the title “comitissa”, Matilda gave Cortenuovo with its income to the Convent of San Sisto at Piacenza.16 This act is her first donation after the deaths of her husband in February 1076 and her mother in April 1076. In 1113, Matilda constructed a chapel here dedicated to San Valentino which she gave to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po.17 The present church maintains the devotion but has been completely rebuilt.

7. Marengo (MN) Matilda’s mother and father were married at the Lombard palace at Marengo circa 1037. The marriage of Bonifacio of Canossa to Beatrice of Lorraine, a direct descendent of Charlemagne and a niece of the German emperor Conrad II, was celebrated over three days. Guests feasted off plates of gold and silver and wine as sweet as nectar was served from wells with silver dippers hung from silver chains.13 As of this writing the archeological remains of this palace have not been uncovered. Beatrice returned to Marengo on August 18, 1073, when in the company of Matilda she donated land to the abbess Berta of the Convent of San Paolo in Parma.14 This document records the last meeting between Matilda and her estranged first husband, Duke Godfrey the Hunchback. He had spent the year previous in Italy traveling through Bonifacio’s territories, issuing documents with the titles, Duke of Tuscany and Marchese of Mantua. Godfrey may have hoped to persuade Matilda to return to their marriage and to the Lorraine. She must have refused, because after this meeting, Matilda is never recorded with her first husband again. In the August 18, 1073 document, Matilda declared that she lived according to Salic law with Godfrey as “my man, my husband” (“viro meo, mio marito”) and that he consented to the donation.15 The document furnishes further proof, if such were

8. Rivalta sul Mincio (MN) The fortress at Rivalta was built by Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, at the dogleg turn in the Mincio river just north of Mantua. It may have defended the city, or as likely, served the navy which patrolled the river to collect taxes from merchants on their way to Mantua’s markets. This fortress / palace fell to the German King Henry IV in 1090-1091, during his eleven month siege of Mantua.18 Matilda reconquered Rivalta soon after October 1092. In the Summer of 1114 the fortress at Rivalta was destroyed by the citizens of Mantua, to whom it symbolized the harsh feudal customs of an era about to end. Nothing remains.

9. Mantua When Matilda was born in Mantua in 1046, the city was an island, in the midst of the Mincio river as it coursed towards the Po. Her biographer, 22

Donizone, mentions Mantua nearly as frequently as Canossa and says that Matilda favored Mantua above all other cities.19 Bonifacio made Mantua the center of his domains, about the time of his marriage to Beatrice. Matilda’s parents are recorded in Mantua in 1046, the year of Matilda’s birth, where they received the German King. During this visit, according to Donizone, Henry III became consumed with envy for Bonifacio’s wealth. The king plotted to kidnap Matilda’s father and seize his wealth and his properties, but Bonifacio managed to avoid the King’s traps. Six years later he was not as lucky. In May 1052, Duke Bonifacio died when struck by an assassin’s poisoned arrow while on a hunt outside Mantua. Matilda was then six years old. Matilda blamed the German King for her father’s death, as well as the deaths of her older brother and sister that occurred later in that same year. Matilda entertained Pope Gregory VII here in January 1077 as they waited for an escort of German knights. The Pope expected to preside at the election of a new king to replace the excommunicated Henry IV. The papal plans were unexpectedly derailed when news reached Mantua that Henry IV had arrived in Italy and was crossing the Po river plain with Lombard troops. Matilda and Gregory immediately fled Mantua for the greater protection of her castle at Canossa arriving only a few days ahead of the King. The famous encounter in the snow of king and pope occurred on January 24-28, 1077 (see Canossa, no. 67). Immediately after receiving his papal pardon at Canossa, Henry IV plotted, like his father before him, to kidnap and possibly kill, the Pope and Matilda. They agreed to

attend a council with the King in February 1077 at Mantua. Donizone relates that a loyal retainer of Matilda’s stopped the Pope and Countess on the road from Canossa to Mantua and foiled Henry IV’s plot.20 Matilda is frequently recorded in Mantua. It is in this city of her birth where Henry IV began his final attack against Matilda when he returned to Italy for the third time in 1090. To secure Mantua’s allegiance, both King and Countess freed its citizens from feudal obligations. In a document dated June 27, 1090, Matilda relinquished properties and income, including the right to feudal taxes, to the citizens of Mantua to encourage their resistance.21 Two weeks later, on July 12, 1090, Henry responded with a proclamation, that relinquished his royal rights as well.22 Mantua rebelled against the Countess, allying with the German King at Easter in 1091. Matilda expressed her bitterness at Mantua’s betrayal in a four page invective written by Donizone, “Mantua, if you had wanted to remain faithful to the Countess with the help that Matilda gave to you not only ten years, but twenty you would have been able to resist the enemy without fear.”23 As Matilda lay ill in the mountains south of Modena, in the Summer of 1114, a rumor circulated in Mantua that Matilda had died. The citizens of Mantua, believing themselves entitled to the freedoms granted to them by King and Countess twenty-four years earlier, stormed Matilda’s castle at Rivalta sul Mincio, looted its contents and burned it to the ground. Matilda rose from her sick bed, gathered her troops and demanded compensation from the citizens for her loss, which they paid to her.24 Mantua became a 23

Across the piazza delle Erbe is the Palazzo della Ragione, the hall of Justice. According to some this palace stands on the foundations of the palace of the Countess Matilda.28 A clock tower datable to 1455 dominates the façade, belying the antiquity of the palace. Nonetheless its age is proven by frescoes recently discovered on the interior walls of its spacious second floor. Two huge frescoes dating to about 1150, or a few years after Matilda’s death, cover the tympanums on opposite walls. On one side are boats filled with sailors, while on the other a battle rages between armored knights. The paintings comprise one of the most extensive civic decorations to survive from the twelfth century and seem to depict the principal activities of an emerging river port: trade and war. Matilda is believed to have built the Rotunda of San Lorenzo over the garden of the Monastery of Sant’Andrea where the precious relic was discovered. A lintel above a side door of the Rotunda records: “ET ANNO MLXXXI A MATILDE CANOSSA REFECTUM.” (In 1081 Matilda of Canossa restored this church), that is, the year she fled Rome from the armies of the German King Henry IV. Like Charlemagne’s Cathedral in Aixla-Chapelle, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the complex of Santo Stefano at Bologna and the Baptistery of Florence, San Lorenzo is said to be based upon the plan of the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.29 Recent restorations uncovered fresco fragments from the eleventh century which have been interpreted as an attempt by Matilda to introduce Roman cultural models developed in the ambience of Gregory VII into northern Italy (Fig. 9.2).30

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free Italian commune after her death the following year. On January 19, 1072, Beatrice, with her daughter, Matilda, made a donation to the Monastery of Sant’Andrea in Mantua.25 Matilda made an additional donation to the Monastery of Sant’Andrea for the creation of a hospice to shelter pilgrims.26 The monastery was the site of the discovery of the reliquary of the Blood of Christ after the vision of the Blessed Adalberto.27 Beatrice was present at the discovery, which is recorded in a painting by Rinaldo Mantovano, located in the sixth chapel of the right nave of the Basilica of Sant’Andrea (Fig. 9.1). The reliquary is today preserved under the high altar of the Basilica of Sant’Andrea. The monastery was destroyed when the Basilica, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, was built in 1470. 24

The Rotunda is the only monument in Mantua that preserves its original Romanesque form – and it was preserved by accident. Closed in 1579 by Guglielmo Gonzaga, the church remained unused for over three hundred years. When the original dome collapsed at some undefined moment in the intervening centuries, the structure was used as a courtyard for buildings and shops that were attached around its sides. The structure was rediscovered in 1906 when the piazza was being cleared of the surrounding buildings. The walls were restored and a new roof added. The church is dedicated to San Lorenzo, a third-century Roman martyr. The Cathedral dedicated to Saint Peter, built in 848, already existed when Matilda’s father began to build his palace in the piazza Sordello. Only the

tall square bell tower retains its Romanesque structure. On September 10, 1073, Matilda’s mother Beatrice made a donation to the canons of the Cathedral at Mantua, provided that they live well-ordered lives (“qui nunc per episcopum vel in faturum sine premio ordinati fuerint regulariter viventes”).31 The canons of the Cathedral and Mantua’s bishop were the beneficiaries of various donations throughout Matilda’s entire life.32 The Cathedral is the repository of the body of Anselm, bishop of Lucca, who Pope Gregory named as Matilda’s advisor when she left Rome in 1081. This first saint of the Gregorian reform, Anselm died in Mantua on March 26, 1086, or within a year of the Pope himself. Matilda is recorded in Mantua from February 18 through April 3,

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Church of San Michele, now destroyed, to which Matilda made two donations (Fig. 9.3).34 The Palace of Canossa in the piazza Matilde di Canossa (Fig. 9.4) dates from the late sixteenth century and is renowned for the plasticity of its façade and its elaborately worked stucco. The Counts of Canossa who built this palace obtained the title in 1432, when the then emperor Sigismondo invested a nobleman from the House of Este with the fortress of Canossa (then, as now, a ruin) and with the ancient title of Matilda’s family, Count of Canossa. Under the colonnaded entry portal is the heraldic symbol taken by the family in 1432. It depicts a dog with a bone, being a word play on Can-ossa (or cane, dog, ossa, bone). This heraldic symbol was unknown in Matilda’s time, and was never used by her or her family.

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1086 caring for him during his final illness. His bones lie in the left transept altar of this Cathedral where “for his virtue many miracles are recorded”.33 A marble plaque located to the left of the altar of the Chapel of the Incoronation attached to the Cathedral records that Matilda’s father was also buried in Mantua. It states, Here lies the respected Bonifacio illustrious marchese and father of the Serene Countess Matilda who died May 6, 1052. The stone records the burial place of Matilda’s father in the

10. Piadena (CR) The fortress at Piadena guarded the northwestern corner of Matilda’s lands and lies approximately equidistant from Parma, Brescia and Mantua, on the right bank of the Oglio river. In 1019, a document records that the fortress at Piadena was ceded to Matilda’s father by the bishop of Cremona. Like Nogara, Piadena remained faithful to Matilda throughout the war with the German King Henry IV.35 Documents issued by Matilda record her in Piadena in April and May of 1095, after the council at Piacenza.36 She is again in Piadena on December 26, 1097 and on May 1, 1104.37 Matilda’s document in April 1095 granted certain lands, and liberties from feudal imposts, to the men, “homines”, of Piadena presumably in recognition of their fidelity to her.38

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11.1

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta was built in 1748-1758 after the collapse of an ancient pieve of the same name, which according to local tradition, was built or restored by the Countess Matilda.

Matilda defeated Henry IV at Canossa in 1092, the citizens of Cremona joined Milan, Lodi and Piacenza to form the Lombard League, allying with the Countess against the German Empire. On December 26, 1097 at Piadena, Matilda, “comitissa and the daughter of Bonifacio marchese”, conceded to certain men of Cremona and to the city itself, certain rights over Isola Fulcheria, then a long narrow stretch of highland which was subject to frequent flooding, between the Adda, the Serchio and the Oglio rivers. This area, drained long

11. Cremona Cremona, on the Po river, was west of the domains of the family of Canossa. Although local tradition attributes the foundation of the Convent of Santa Tecla in Cremona, c. 1050-1055, to Matilda’s mother Beatrice.39 After 27

ago, is today the town of Crema. Matilda’s act recognized the legal independence of the citizens of Cremona from the German Empire and the income the city derived from her gift contributed to the construction of its Cathedral.40 Construction of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (Fig. 11.1) was begun by the citizens of Cremona in 1107. Damaged by the earthquake of 1117, the building was finished about 1160.

Apostle was founded here by Matilda of Canossa in 1108. A partially preserved mosaic pavement from the tenth/eleventh centuries, and an ancient bell tower, remain from these ancient origins (Fig. 12.1).

1) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 8, pp. 52-54, at Verona on August 10, 1073. 2) Ibid., no. 9, pp. 55-57, at Marengo, on August 18, 1073. 3) Brugnoli 2004. 4) Little biographical detail is known about either Nicholaus or Guglielmo. Nicholaus signed his sculptures in churches in Val di Susa, Piacenza, Ferrara and at both the Cathe-

12. Pieve San Giacomo (CR) The Pieve San Giacomo rises above the fertile river plain between the Oglio and the Po rivers. Oral histories state that a chapel dedicated to Saint James

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dral and San Zeno in Verona. He was active between 1110 and 1140. 5) For a complete discussion of San Zeno lion portals see Verzár Bornstein 1988, pp. 13-15 and, as to San Zeno in particular, pp. 138-158. 6) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 73, p. 439; Castagnetti 2003. 7) Pomello 1914. 8) See Eads 2010, pp. 40-42, who writes that “Marquis Bonifacio... reopened a canal between Ostiglia and the Pons Marmoreus (Ponte Molino), connecting the Po and the Tartaro.” Eads confirms that the Tartaro river marked the western boundary of Matilda’s domains. 9) Donizone I, fol. 24r, v. 522, in Golinelli 1987, p. 46. 10) Donizone II, fol. 62v, v. 554, in Golinelli 1987, p. 86. 11) Donizone II, fol. 68v-69r, vv. 776-801, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 92-93. 12) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. 39, pp. 131-132 on February 26, 1088; doc. 79, pp. 229-231 on April 24, 1104; doc. 92, pp. 256-258 on December 30, 1105; and no. 134, pp. 342344, at Bondenum on October 25, 1114. 13) Donizone I, fol. 29v, vv. 784-785, in Golinelli 1987, p. 53, wrote Beatrice was of “royal birth” and “born of the most noble line in all the world.” 14) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 9, pp. 55-57. 15) Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980). p. 111; Die Urkunden 1998, no. 9, pp. 55-57. 16) Ibid., no. 19, pp. 80-81. 17) Ibid., no. 129, pp. 333-334; see also www.diocesidimantova.it/parrocchia. 18) Donizone II, fol. 60v, v. 466, in Golinelli 1987, p. 84; fol. 67v, vv. 727-735, in Golinelli 1987, p. 91; fol. 83v, vv. 1316-1320, in Golinelli 1987, p. 107. 19) Donizone II, fol. 60v, vv. 454-455, in Golinelli 1987, p. 84. 20) Donizone II, fol. 49v-53v, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 70-75. 21) Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), pp. 277-279; Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), pp. 137-138. 22) Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), p. 245. 23) Donizone II, fol. 61v, vv. 508-511, in Golinelli 1987, p. 80. 24) Donizone, II, fol. 83v, vv. 1316-1320, in Golinelli 1987, p. 107.

25) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 1, pp. 31-35; Beatrice enriched the Monastery of Sant’Andrea in Mantua in January 1072, Bertolini 1970. 26) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 67, pp. 200-203; see also ibid., Dep. 65, p. 433, dated between April 18, 1076 and May 14, 1101. 27) Cincinelli et al. 1995, p. 40. 28) Ibid. 29) A. Calzona, La Rotunda e il Palatium di Matilde, cited in Cincinelli et al. 1995, p. 45, model was not Italian but refers to the chapels at St. Nicholas in Nuywegen and St. George in Goslar, both of which are copies of the Marian Kirche in Aquisgrana. The church takes its round form from a Palatine chapel. In this event, she would have lived in the Palazzo adjacent, which pre-existed the Palazzo della Ragione. 30) A. Calzona, Gli affreschi dell’XI secolo alla Rotonda di Mantova, in Studi di storia dell’arte 1992, pp. 275-279. 31) Bertolini 1970. 32) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 10, pp. 58-61, at Campitello, dated September 10, 1073; no. 27, pp. 100-104, at Mantua, dated July 8, 1079; nos. 40-43, pp. 133-136, at Mantua, dated November 14, 1088, and June 27, 1090; no. 131, pp. 336-338 at Cerredolo between May and June 1114. See also ibid., Dep. no. 101, pp. 457-458 and Dep. no. 104, p. 459. 33) Donizone II, fol. 58r, vv. 375-382, in Golinelli 1987, p. 82. 34) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 36, pp. 124-128 (May 10, 1083); no. 136, pp. 347-349 (April 3, 1115). 35) Donizone II, fol. 62v, v. 554, in Golinelli 1987, p. 86. 36) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 45, pp. 143-145 (April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, 1095); no. 46, pp. 145-148 and no. 47, pp. 149-150 (both dated May 21, 1095 and relating to property in Saint-Pierremont). 37) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 48, pp. 150-151 (December 26, 1097); no. 80, pp. 231-233 (May 1, 1104). 38) A. Ricci and D. Romagnoli, Matilde e le città, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, p. 156. 39) Bertolini 1970. 40) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 48, pp. 150-151. A. Ricci and D. Romagnoli, Matilde e le città, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, pp. 153163; see also Robolotti 1878, p. 144, which dates document a year later to 1098.

Matildan Routes in northern Italy

Route 2

Along the Po river from Piacenza to the Adriatic Sea

Bonifacio ruled the towns along the length of the Po river, from Brescello to the Adriatic Sea. He stopped at the towns on either bank, holding court.1 Bonifacio instituted a navy to guard the Po river traffic against pirates who terrorized town markets and disrupted their trade. In exchange for protection he exacted a tax on travelers and markets. The Po also supported vast forests of oaks, whose wealth was measured not by its breadth nor by the quantity of wood furnished, but by the number of pigs nourished annually, the fish that ran in the waters, the fruits that grew wild, and the game that nestled in its branches. Bonifacio’s imposts for use of the forests to hunt, the rivers to fish, the grass to raise sheep and the fields to cultivate ultimately came to be called “harsh” feudal customs, but originally it was Bonifacio’s iron will and clear organization that tamed the wild Po. In 2008, Terre di Canossa became an exit off the A-1 Autostrada. It is located between Parma and Reggio Emilia, positioned at the point where the A-1 crosses the Enza river, the westernmost boundary of Matilda’s lands. It is significant that nearly a thousand years after her death, the newest ramp off the most important road in Italy goes south to Canossa and north to Brescello, where the Enza river flows into the Po (see Fig. 14).

Pavia Located at the confluence of the Ticino river with the Po, Pavia, the ancient Ticinum, was the Lombard capital (568-774). In 1155, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who sought to re-conquer northern Italy for Germany against the liberated communes, was crowned King of Italy here. Pavia was never within Canossan domains. It is nonetheless included in this guide for two reasons. First, the Church of San Michele Maggiore, coronation chapel of the Lombard, Saxon and Salian Kings, exemplifies the church architecture of the Lombards that existed in this region when Matilda was born. Built during the tenth century on the foundations of an earlier church, San Michele Maggiore has a severe façade of gray stone. Typical of Lombard design is the vertical emphasis of the blind columns and the three sculpted arched portals. The interior nave is lined with heavy stone columns each with carved figurative capitals of nightmarish characters, griffins, dragons, snarling lions and contorted human figures. Second, on September 28, 1109 “domina comitissa Matilda”, together with other named Italian marchese, met at Guastalla with ambassadors of the German King Henry V,2 and ceded land to the north of Pavia to the Monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia. The 1109 document is not signed in the 30

classic manner Matilda adopted in 1077, that is within a hand penned cross. Instead, uniquely in this document, she signed her name in a single line and spelled it in the German manner: “Signum commitisse Matilde.”3 Donizone records that Henry V “sent to Rome illustrious prelates and counts of high rank to obtain the crown of the kingdom” and that “Matilda met with them on their way to Rome and on their return, offering many gifts...”4 Given the demands for tribute that Donizone reports were made by the new King in 1110, the September donation to the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro at Pavia probably records the tribute Matilda, together with the other listed Italian nobles, agreed to give the German crown. The Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro is recorded in Pavia as early as 604. In 720 the Lombard King Liutprand was buried here. The present building dates

from 1132 and was consecrated by Pope Innocent II. The church takes its name from the mosaics of glass backed by gold leaf that decorate the ceiling of the apse. The church which fell into disuse in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was reconsecrated in 1896.

13. Piacenza Piacenza has been called the gateway to the Po since pre-historic times. The fort at Piacenza protected the Po valley from northern invaders and is most famous for its resistance against the invasion of Hannibal and the Punic tribes in 207 B.C. After the fall of Rome, Piacenza became an important center in the Goth Empire, later falling to the Franks, and then to the Germans. Located west of the Enza river, the family from Canossa never governed this city. Piacenza is frequently mentioned in the Vita Mathildis by Donizone. In 1046,

13.1

the year of Matilda’s birth, the German King Henry III crossed the Alps and stopped at Piacenza. On his arrival he sent news to his Duke Bonifacio and requested “a taste of the celebrated vinegar which was produced at the fortress of Canossa”.5 This is the earliest reference to the still precious balsamic vinegar produced in this region. Bonifacio ordered the manufacture of a silver cask and ox cart to carry the valuable brew. He delivered the gift, pulled by live oxen, to the King at Piacenza. Its magnificence astonished the royal court – and created a nagging envy of Bonifacio’s wealth to fester in the heart of the German King (See Mantua no. 9). The Convent of San Sisto in Piacenza was founded between 852 and 874 with the assistance of a Lombard Queen (Fig. 13.1). The Convent was the beneficiary of two donations by Matilda. On May 27, 1076, from Marengo near Mantua, see no. 7, Matilda donated Cortenovo to the Convent of San Sisto in Piacenza.6 This is Matilda’s first donation made in her own name after the deaths of her husband and her mother earlier that year. On June 4, 1102, from Mirandola, the Countess donated certain properties in Guastalla to the abbess Imelda from the Convent of San Sisto (see Guastalla no. 16.2).7 After Matilda defeated Henry IV at Canossa in 1092, Piacenza became a free Italian commune, allying with Cremona, Lodi and Milan, in the Lombard League. The League allied with Matilda against the troops of the German King Henry IV, calling themselves the “soldiers of St. Peter.”8 In 1095, Matilda chose Piacenza as the site of the bishop’s synod to vindicate the papacy of Gregory VII, presided over by Pope Urban II.9

Over two hundred bishops, four thousand priests and countless laity attended the synod which turned into a celebration of Italy’s victory over the German crown. The council ratified the papacy of Gregory VII, declared Henry IV’s papal appointee, Clement III, an antiPope, convicted him of heresy and annulled his decrees. The bishops ratified the theses of the Dictatus Papae, written in the presence of Matilda which then became the cornerstone of the reformed Roman Catholic Church. The Church of the Madonna di Campagna is situated in the piazzale delle Crociate. It is here, according to local legend, that Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusades, even though most histories state that Urban launched the Christian military force only the following November in his native France at Clermont-Ferrand. Nonetheless, the presence at the Council in Piacenza in 1095 of ambassadors sent by Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus presumably influenced the Pope. Byzantium had lost much of its territory in Asia Minor, including Jerusalem, to the Seljuk Turks in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and Alexius sent his ambassadors to Piacenza to seek help in restoring it.10 The present Church of the Madonna di Campagna is a Renaissance complex, constructed by Alessio Tramello in 1522-1528, with a harmonious interior dominated by a soaring cupola.

14. Brescello (RE) The Po river port of Brescello held a strategic position where the Enza, the Oglio and the Adda rivers join the Po (Fig. 14). As a result, the fort at Brescello controlled river traffic along the Po river and was the sentinel for the 32

entire Paduan plain. In ancient Roman times, Brescello was the home port of the Imperial navy (Fig. 14.1). In 981, the bishop of Parma granted the fort at Brescello to Matilda’s great-grandfather Atto Adalberto. He immediately began to re-construct the bulwarks and fortifications of the ancient Roman fortress which guarded the approach from the Enza river valley to Parma and to the fortress of Canossa itself.11 According to Donizone, the German King Henry IV twice followed the Enza river valley to find the mountain road that led to Canossa. In the same year, 981, Atto Adalberto founded the monastery dedicated to San Genesio.12 In Matilda’s time, a ferry crossed between Brescello and Viadana on the opposite bank of the Po river and the fortress at Brescello protected, and taxed, that river traffic and the rich market that developed around these

two points. On November 12, 1099, “Comitisse Matilda” in the presence of Guido Guerra, described in the document as her “adopted son”, ceded the fortress at Brescello, its control of the river traffic, its market and surrounding lands to the Benedictine Monastery of San Genesio.13 She made a further donation to the monastery on December 30, 1105.14 At Matilda’s death, Henry V and local feudal nobility sought to take back the fortress, its income from the market, and its control of the Enza river route to the commune of Parma. Their attack

14.1

of San Pietro Apostolo, noted in documents since the sixth century. The present church was built in the seventeenth century on these earlier foundations (Fig. 15.1). Slighty farther up the Po river, on the same bank, is the Basilica of Saints Stefano and Anna at Cavallara (MN). Founded in 620 by the Lombard Queen Teodolinda, it is mentioned in documents of donation by Charlemagne and Pope Hadrian I. By 997 it had entered the dominion of the family from Canossa. A flood of the Po river damaged this church in 1085. In 1097, according to Fiorentini, the Countess Matilda of Canossa restored the church. At this time, she placed a cross of iron inscribed with her name and the date of its restoration. The restoration and cross were noted by a historian in 1777 who also stated that Matilda had a palace in Cavallara where in 1110 the ambassadors of the German King Henry V stayed.16 Because of frequent flooding by the Po river, the ancient church was abandoned in 1596 and the present basilica is built on higher ground. A chapel was built at the site of the ancient church in 1617.

was opposed by a militia from Parma, led by its bishop Bernardo degli Uberti, in a battle fought at Brescello in 1121 which defeated the German nobility. The victory gave the commune of Parma control of the fortress at Brescello, its prosperous market, and control of the river traffic on the Po and Enza rivers.15 Brescello was immortalized in a series of five films in the 1950s as the fictional home of Don Camillo and the Mayor Peppone, modern symbols of the mutually beneficial, yet conflicting, relationship between the Italian Church and State. Their figures are immortalized in bronze in the central piazza between the Cathedral at one end and the Municipal Building at the other.

15. Viadana (MN) and Cavallara (MN) On the opposite bank of the Po, at Viadana, according to local legend, Matilda of Canossa restored the Pieve

16. Guastalla (RE) Proceeding up the Po river, on the opposite bank from Viadana, is Wardestall, a “guard’s place” which was first recorded as a Lombard fortress on the Po river in 864. Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, enlarged the fortress to monitor Po river traffic. Matilda’s frequent visits to Guastalla begin in 1101.17 The basilica dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul at Pieve di Guastalla (Fig. 16.1) was the site of two papal synods, one of Urban II in 1095 and the other of Paschal II in 1106, which Matilda 15.1

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16.2

hosted and which are memorialized by two marble plaques at the entrance (Fig. 16.1.1). The cornerstone of the apse of the basilica records that it was consecrated in 997 by Pope Gregory V, and restored by Matilda of Canossa in 1110. Her presence here, and that of each of the three Popes she supported, Gregory VII, Urban II, and Paschal II, is memorialized in modern portrait roundels by S. Barbieri, 1930, which are set within its ancient nave (Figs. 16.1.2, 16.1.3). On June 4, 1102, from Mirandola, “comitissa Matildis”, daughter of Bonifacio, donated the Oratory of San Gior-

gio, at Guastalla (Fig. 16.2), to abbess Imelda of the Convent of San Sisto.18 It suffered much damage from flooding of the Po over the centuries and was for a long period abandoned, but it has been beautifully restored.19

16.1.1

17. Luzzara (RE) Continuing on the same bank of the Po river is Luzzara, which was once an island in the midst of the Po river. Matilda of Canossa is remembered as having restored the ancient Pieve of San Giorgio, noted in documents since the seventh century. The church was completely rebuilt in 1657.

16.1.3

16.1.2

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18. Gonzaga (MN)

Benedetto), according to early sources, was among the first churches founded by Matilda circa 1082; it was completely restored under the Gonzaga.

Long before this was the city of origin of the great lords of Mantua, Gonzaga was a possession of the family from Canossa. Despite the lack of architectural remains, which were destroyed in later building programs, Matilda’s presence in Gonzaga and her relationship to this community is well documented. Matilda had a fortress on the Po river at Gonzaga which she frequently visited. Documents issued between 1101 and 1110 record numerous donations she made from Gonzaga to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po, including a donation of the Church of the Apostles.20 In June 1109, from San Cesario sul Panaro, Matilda liberated certain vassals from Gonzaga and Correggio of various feudal obligations, and in a separate document issued at Bondeno she granted to local vassals in Gonzaga and Pegognaga the right to bequeath property to this monastery.21 These two documents are among the few in which the Countess makes reference to her “vassals”. The Church of Saint Benedict (San

19. Pegognaga (MN) On the road north from Gonzaga towards the Monastery of San Benedetto Po, the magnificent Pieve of San Lorenzo rises as if by a miracle out of the flat, fertile Paduan plain, at the intersection of two country roads. Ruins of a villa and temple from the sixth century may, or may not, mark the foundations of Matilda’s home at Pegognaga. Matilda issued from Pegognaga one document dated simply 1113.22 She evidently had a home here which she bequeathed, together other properties, in a document dated May 6, 1115 to the nearby Monastery of San Benedetto Po.23 According to local tradition, the Pieve of San Lorenzo was built by the Countess c. 1082.24 The pieve suffered significant damage in the earthquake of May 2012 and is under restoration (Fig. 19.1). 36

20. San Benedetto Po (MN) A rural baptismal church dedicated to Saint Benedict was recorded as early as 540 on the island where the Lirone river flowed into the Po. Sometime before 1000, Matilda’s great-grandfather, Atto Adalberto, purchased the island.25 Atto’s son Tedaldo, Matilda’s grandfather, established a monastery here in memory of his wife, Guilia, and dedicated it to Saint Benedict in 1007.26 Tedaldo’s gift of half the island to the monks is precisely described in a parchment still preserved in the monastery archives. In a document of September 15, 1104, in the presence of the papal legate, Cardinal Bernardo degli Uberti, Matilda gave the monastery the half of the island her grandfather had retained.27 In 1091, during Henry IV’s conquest of the lands north of the Po, his troops sacked and burned the monastery founded by Tedaldo, which was rebuilt by Matilda after 1092. When the Gonzaga hired Giulio Romano (15401544) to enlarge the church (Fig. 20.1),

View of the Po river near the Monastery of San Benedetto Po

the Renaissance architect tilted the apse slightly to preserve space for the church dedicated to Mary which was built by Matilda. Beginning in May 1101 and continuing to the month before she died, “comitissa Matildis” at least annually issued a document of donation in favor of the Monastery of San Benedetto Po.28 In March 1106, during his visit to northern Italy, Pope Paschal II issued a Papal Bull confirming the monastery’s independence from local bishops and integrating San Benedetto Po in the administration of Papal Rome. In May 1111,

20.1

Henry V met with Matilda at her castle of Bianello and issued an imperial decree recognizing the ownership by the monastery at San Benedetto Po to all goods and properties then in its possession, or to be given to it by Matilda, her ancestors, or her nobles thereafter. By this document, Henry V acknowledged that the properties of the family from Canossa which had been donated to the monastery at San Benedetto Po would be excluded from the lands that the German King would receive at Matilda’s death.29 Matilda spent the last months of her life near this monastery, attending daily Mass as long as she was able. Her final donation to the monastery is dated two months before her death from Bondeno di Roncore on May 6, 1115. In it Matilda precisely confirmed all prior donations to the monastery made by herself, her father Bonifacio and her grandfather Tedaldo.30 At her death, on July 24, 1115, Matilda was buried in the church dedicated to Mary that she had restored. Her tomb, now empty, is in the sacristy, beneath the late Renaissance painting by Orazio Farinati (Matilda on horseback holding a pomegranate, 1587) (Fig. 20.1.1).

In gratitude for her generosity, the monks promised Matilda that they would celebrate a mass on the anniversary of her death and, in her memory, distribute food to the poor on the first Monday of every month – a promise which they kept for five hundred years. In 1151, monks at the monastery commissioned a floor mosaic on the step leading to the altar of the church dedicated to Mary and in front of Matilda’s tomb. Created in white, black and brown mosaic tiles, the memorial depicts the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude (Fig. 20.1.2). In 1553, in his biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Ascanio Condivi records Michelangelo’s descent from the noble and illustrious family of Canossa, stating that he shared his lineage with “the Countess Mathilda, a woman of rare and singular prudence and religion... who, having accomplished many things worthy of memory during her life, was at her death buried in the Badia di San Benedetto outside of Mantua, which she had built and generously endowed”.31 In 1632, against the wishes of the monks, Pope Urban VIII removed

Left: 20.1.1

20.1.2

21. Governolo (Roncoferraro, MN)

Matilda’s bones from her original tomb and brought them to Rome. Saverio della Rosa’s painting Pope Gregory VII investing Saint Anselm bishop of Lucca in the presence of Matilda (1781) is in the nave. Since its foundation by the family from Canossa, the Monastery of San Benedetto Po has maintained its position as one of the most important centers of learning and culture in Italy. Martin Luther, Teofilo Folengo, Palladio, Giorgio Vasari, Torquato Tasso and Pope Paul III are counted among its prestigious guests. On the roof of the adjacent Museo Civico the town of San Benedetto Po commissioned a marble statue of the Countess in the image of a sword bearing warrior (Fig. 20.2).

Around the year 1000, the family from Canossa erected a fortress with six towers at the critical confluence of the Mincio and Po rivers. This strategic fortress guarded trade and traffic between communities on the Po river and Mantua, the center of her father’s court.32 Only one tower remains of the castle, recorded by Donizone, as conquered by the troops of Henry IV in 1091 and retaken by the Countess after 1092.33 In 1116, less than one year after Matilda’s death, the German Emperor Henry V arrived in Italy to take possession of Canossan territories, held in feud by Bonifacio from his father under Salic law. Henry V was Matilda’s closest male relation as well as the Salic King. In May 1116, Henry V issued three documents at Governolo, in which Henry V granted his protection to the monasteries at Pomposa and at San Benedetto Po to which the House of Canossa had donated substantial properties. “Wernerius iudex bononiensis” signs directly below the King’s cross. Historians believe him to be the legal scholar who Matilda invited to teach Justinian’s code of civil law at Bologna. As these documents effect promises that Henry V made to Matilda in May 1111 at Bianello, Wernerius appears to be representing the interests of the Countess before the emperor (see Bologna no. 45).34

22. Nuvolato (Quistello, MN) The road continues along the southern bank of the Po river towards the Adriatic Sea. On January 9, 1106 from Quistello Matilda made a donation in favor of the Monastery of San Salvatore at Pavia.35 According to local tradition, the Church of San Fiorentino, founded

20.2

before his death in 1086 and dedicated to “Santa Maria della Rotta” in thanksgiving by Matilda for a victory (otherwise unrecorded by history) that she obtained against the troops of Henry IV on or around this date and in a place called “Rotta”.38 The church, restored in 1911, is a solid brick structure which resembles San Lorenzo at Pegognaga and San Fiorentino at Nuvolato also datable to 1080-1085, with a simple façade, decorated by half columns and a blind arcade (Fig. 24.1). The interior, modified in the Renaissance and restored in 1911, is a harmonious basilican plan with three naves and three semicircular apses. Of interest are traces of frescoes, figures from the Old and New Testament, painted about a century after Matilda’s death. The bell tower was built in 1930-1934 atop ancient foundations of either a tower from a Matildan castle or a free-standing Baptistery, which scholars believe more likely.

23.1

before 1059, was restored by the Countess. The commune traditionally claims that this is the ninety-ninth, and last, church built by Matilda of Canossa.

23. Quingentole (MN) According to local tradition, two churches in Quingentole attribute their foundation to the Countess. In 1086, Matilda restored the ancient Church of San Lorenzo, founded before 540. Inside the church is the seventeenth-century altarpiece by Francesco Maria Raineri, called “Lo Schivenoglia”, Sant’Anselmo blessing the army of Matilde di Canossa. At a later date, she built a church on the foundations of which the present Oratorio della Madonna di Loreto, dated 1770, now stands (Fig. 23.1).36

24. Pieve di Coriano (MN) The Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta at Coriano was built by the Countess in 1082, as recorded in a stone inscription on its façade: “A Dio Ottimo e Massimo e alla Beata Vergine Maria in cielo Assunta. Eretta nell’anno 1082 dalla Contessa Matilda” 37 (“To God, great and wonderful, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven assumed. Erected in the year 1082 by the Countess Matilda”). The church was consecrated by her advisor, Saint Anselmo, sometime 24.1

25.1

25. Sermide (MN)

church, like others in the area, was built on the foundations of an ancient Roman villa. The façade dates from 1219 and the bell tower from the fifteenth century.

The town of Sermide preserves the tradition that the Church of Santa Croce near Sermide was built c. 1074 at the desire of the Countess Matilda (Fig. 25.1).39

27. Poggio Rusco (MN)

26. Ghisione (MN)

Local histories record that in May 1082 Matilda confirmed possession of the territory of Poggio Rusco to the bishop of Mantua. The Church of SS. Nome di Maria is locally believed to be built on the site of an ancient Matildan church; the church was badly damaged in the earthquake of May 2012.

The zone of Ghisione belonged to the feud of Canossa until shortly after Matilda’s death in 1115. Oral history records that during this period an oratorio dedicated to the Apostle Andrew was built by the Countess Matilda. A notarial document dated March 15, 1117 in the archives of the Monastery of San Benedetto Po records that the Monastery acquired from Alberto di Coenzo and his wife, Matilda, certain properties situated in the “Corte Mulo”, including a church dedicated to the Apostle Andrew. The Oratorio di Sant’Andrea is a small church of Romanesque design, built entirely of brick, substantially intact. Its style, characteristic of other Matildan churches constructed along the Po, is a simple Lombard single nave with a beautiful apse. Recent restoration reveals that this

28. Castelnovo Bariano (RO) In 1109 at San Cesario sul Panaro, Matilda donated the fortress of Castelnovo Bariano, together with other properties, to the Gregorian bishop of Ferrara. Castelnovo Bariano was one of the few fortresses constructed by the Countess. She built it to guard the strategic intersection of the Secchia and the Panaro rivers with the Po. This donation, together with the donation of the forts at Stellata and Ficarolo, no. 30, transferred to Ferrara through its bishop, strategic con42

trol of the Po delta.40 In 1113 the Countess issued a document from “Baviana” offering her protection of the Monastery of Sant’Andrea in Ravenna against contrary claims of a man named Sichelmus. The document is notable because in it “Warnerius de Bononia” appears together with Matilda (see Bologna no. 45). While the location of Baviana is unknown, it may refer to Castelnovo Bariano (RO) which is located at the center of the places named in the document: Ferrara, Ravenna and Bologna.41

30.1. The only tower that remains of the Renaissance fortress at Stellata

29. Felonica (MN)

also made a donation to this monastery of which only the Pieve dell’Assunta, much restored, remains (Fig. 29.1).

On December 17, 1053, Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, donated property to the Monastery of Santa Maria “in Fenonica”, “for the repose of the souls of Bonifacio and of their children”.42 The document marks the terminus ante quem of the deaths of Matilda’s brother, Frederick, and her elder sister, Beatrice, who died of unknown causes within a year of the murder of Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, on May 6, 1052. Frederick’s death left the House of Canossa without a male heir. Matilda

30. Stellata (FE) and Ficarolo (RO) Two famous forts stood on opposite banks of the Po river, just west of where the Panaro river joins the Po (Fig. 30.1). Linked by a chain, the forts controlled, and assessed the taxes on, the river traffic between the Po river plain and the Adriatic Sea. Their strategic importance was immortalized by Ariosto in Orlando Furioso, “Ficarolo e Stellata il legno passa, / ove le corna il Po iracondo abbassa” (canto XLIII, 53) (“The wooden boat passes Ficarolo and Stellata where the ‘horns’ or tributaries of the Po angrily descend”). Tedaldo, Matilda’s grandfather, acquired these forts, and the income that pertained to them, when he was named Count of Ferrara by its bishop.43 Matilda assumed possession of the forts at least by 1077. After a man favorable to the Gregorian reforms of the Roman Church was invested as bishop of Ferrara, Matilda returned these forts and the income derived from their control of the Po river traffic to the bishop of Fer-

29.1

31. Bondeno (FE)

rara, in documents issued at San Cesario sul Panaro in May and June of 1109.44 Her grant was confirmed by Papal Bull of Celestine III dated April 25, 1195, who placed the properties under the Apostolic Protection of the bishop of Ferrara.45 Matilda built at Ficarolo a church dedicated to Saint Benedict. In a document issued at Massa on April 13, 1112, Matilda placed this church under the jurisdicion of the Abbey of San Benedetto Po and confirmed this in her last donation to this monastery issued from Bondeno and dated May 6, 1115.46 Of this church, nothing remains. Matilda is also connected to the construction of a monastery and ospedale dedicated to San Salvatore.47 The document of donation, dated 1112 by the nephew of Landolfo, bishop of Ferrara, an ally of the Countess, established the monastery to provide shelter and food for travelers and others in need and entrusted its operation to monks who lived in accordance with the rule of San Frediano of Lucca, also in Matilda’s territory. A document of 1472 – that is, three centuries later – refers to this ospedale of San Salvatore as still in operation under the auspices of the diocese of Ferrara by monks who pertained to the Order of San Frediano of Lucca.

Beginning in December 21, 1106,48 “Matilda comitissa, filia quondam Bonefacii marchionis” issued numerous documents from Bondeno di Roncore. The exact location of Bondeno di Roncore is unknown, and scholars have variously identified towns called Bondeno in the provinces of Mantua, Reggio and Ferrara as the location of Matilda’s last residence.49 Francesco Maria Fiorentini, Matilda’s seventeenth-century biographer, identified Bondeno near Ferrara, located on the Panaro river where it joins the Po, as the “village called Bondeno” to which Matilda retired in December of 1114. “At Bondeno, where she lived the last months of her life, can still be seen the ancient church with the beautiful and tall tower built by her and which according to ancient tradition is located at the place called Castello where her palace was.”50 Fiorentini believed that Matilda traveled between Bondeno and San Benedetto Po, a distance of about 8 miles, along the Panaro and Po rivers. He also wrote that she died here on July 24, 1115 and that her remains were transported on these rivers for her final burial at the monastery. New archaeological evidence supports the local tradition that Matilda of Canossa built a church here dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin Mary in 1114, and that in the same year she fortified the walls around this church (Fig. 31.1).51

32. Ferrara Ferrara is the last major town on the Po river. It is situated at the edge of the delta formed by the Po before the river empties into the Adriatic Sea. In 988, Pope John XV conferred the duchy on Tedaldo, Matilda’s grandfather.52 This is confirmed

31.1

gory VII provides further support for the conclusion that Pepo was connected with the court of Countess Matilda and through her with the Church reform movement.58 The bishop and citizens of Ferrara instead elected to oppose Pope Gregory VII and the Countess. Ferrara allied with the archbishop at Ravenna, Guibert, Pope Clement III, who was appointed by the German King.59 Ferrara opposed the Gregorian reform and the popes who were allied with Matilda until 1101. Ferrara only returned to Matilda’s and the Gregorian side after she threatened to attack the city with troops from Tuscany, Rome, and Lombardy, as well as the navies of Ravenna and Venice. Ferrara then chose to surrender to Matilda’s wishes. It expelled its schismatic bishop who had written a tract hostile to Matilda’s ally Pope Gregory VII.60 Matilda secured the appointment of a Gregorian bishop to administer the diocese of Ferrara, and then she favored it with various donations. In documents of May 1 and June 9, 1109, Matilda, sitting in court at San Cesario sul Panaro, ceded certain strategic properties along the Po river to the Gregorian bishop of Ferrara.61 Notwithstanding her donations, Ferrara attributes none of their churches to the Countess’s generosity. The TCI Guide to Emilia Romagna however notes that the ancient Basilica of San Giorgio, first recorded in the seventh century, was restored by the Countess Matilda. The Romanesque basilica was later destroyed by a flood of the Po.62 The Cathedral of San Giorgio at Ferrara was built in 1135, or shortly after Matilda’s death, and certainly benefitted from the income she donated to Ferrara’s Grego-

by Donizone who writes, “the Roman Pope loved him profoundly and conceded to him power over Ferrara.”53 In 1308 a chronicle records that Tedaldo built a castle in Ferrara which retained his name, Castel Tedaldo, until it was later destroyed by a papal military force.54 Matilda was well aware of Ferrara’s strategic importance and struggled to retain control over this town. In the autumn of 1080, only months before the German King Henry IV arrived in Italy to begin his campaign against Pope Gregory VII and Matilda, the Countess held court in Ferrara.55 Matilda’s documents are generally dated in reference to the year of Our Lord. But, at this critical moment in the papacy of Pope Gregory VII, the two documents issued at Ferrara add the statement that the year of Our Lord 1080 was also “in the seventh year of the papacy of Pope Gregory VII, the true and supreme and universal Pope.”56 Both documents record the presence of a number of named judges from Ferrara and other towns in the surrounding area, the abbot of Pomposa, and the bishop of Ferrara. Evidently, one of the reasons that the Countess summoned the bishop of Ferrara and its lay leaders together was to encourage their support of Pope Gregory VII against the contrary claims of the German King. The later document, issued on November 23, 1080, Matilda “ducatrix et comitissa” decided a property dispute in favor of the abbot of Pomposa and against the bishop of Ferrara. Among the lawyers who is listed as appearing on behalf of the abbot of Pomposa is “Peponem advocatos”, the scholar who taught law at Bologna before Wernerius.57 His presence at Ferrara when Matilda is seeking allies for Pope Gre45

rian bishops. The original Romanesque Cathedral included a lion portal (c. 1138) sculpted by Master Nicholaus (Niccolò), of the school of Wiligelmo. The portal was destroyed in later renovations and the original Romanesque design of the cathedral has been significantly modified over the centuries.

precious stones that still decorates the abbey’s nave. And, both concerned the lure of wealth and its insidious corruption of the church. In the first, Bonifacio was struck during a service by the devotion of the young novices. To test their sincerity, he sent an aide to the top of the choir to drop a bag of gold coins on the floor. Bonifacio sought to tempt the monks and interrupt their prayers, but instead of chasing after the Duke’s gold, the novices continued to pray unperturbed. In the second, which Donizone states occurred shortly before Bonifacio’s death, abbot Guido accused Matilda’s father of the sin of simony. Simony, that is, the sale of church property in exchange for investiture of a priest or bishop, was the most critical question of Matilda’s day. Only by eliminating the German practice of selling church offices could the Roman Church retake control of its administrative structure. Donizone wrote Bonifacio complied with the penance ordered by the abbot. Before the altar Bonifacio stripped naked and flagellated himself with bitter lashes. This second story could not have occurred as Donizone tells it. First, abbot Guido died in March 1046, more than six years before Bonifacio.67 Second, the abbot died on his way to the council of Piacenza, at which council, simony became an issue between the Roman Church and the German State. Before this council, since the time of Otto I, feudal German lords like Bonifacio administered their territories through their control of the apparatus of the church. It is possible therefore that Donizone invented Bonifacio’s penance at Pomposa in an attempt to root Matilda’s

33. Pomposa, Comacchio (FE) The Monastery of Santa Maria at Pomposa (Fig. 33.1) guarded the entrance to the Po river half a millennium before Bonifacio’s death and its solid brick forms remain silhouetted between the blue sea and sky a thousand years after his death. The monastery’s museum contains amphorae which date a settlement on the “insula pomposia” to as early as the second century. Foundations for an early church date to 751. After Charlemagne defeated the Lombards he gave the salt flats at Comacchio to the monastery at Pomposa which was still in possession of them during Bonifacio’s time.63 The salt was transported from the Po delta inland on rivers controlled by Matilda’s father. In Bonifacio’s lands, then as now, salt was used to preserve ham in the form of prosciutto, and curdled milk in the form of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Matilda’s father had close ties to the monastery, visiting annually, to have his confession heard by the abbot whose name was Guido. 64 The present church and monastery was enlarged under abbot Guido and consecrated in 1026. Both Matilda’s father and the then German King Conrad II assisted in its construction.65 Matilda’s contemporary biographer, Donizone, recounts two events which occurred at this monastery in the Vita Mathildis.66 Both unfold on the intricate cosmati floor of marble and semi46

33.1

Between November and December 1106, Matilda’s court was resident in Carpi, near Modena. She reviewed and approved a settlement between bishop Dodone of Modena and the abbot of Pomposa concerning the possession of the Church of San Michele di Soleria.69 In the document Matilda is referred to as “Matildis dei gratia si quid est, filia Bonfia marchionis ed ducis”, that is, although she has no title, and rules by the grace of God, her father, who had been dead for over fifty years, retained his.

politics on a “deathbed” conversion of her father. The story of Bonifacio’s penance at Pomposa occurs in Book I of the Vita Mathildis. In Donizone, this act of penance justifies the more famous penance ordered by Pope Gregory VII against Henry IV at Canossa, for the identical sin of simony, which begins Book II. Donizone thus implies that the Pope’s demands at Canossa in 1077 were not a “humiliation” of the German King, but rather a time-honored penance traditionally imposed by the Church. Bonifacio, as Duke, like Henry IV, embodied the State. Both had to accept the authority of the Church to administer Justice, to everyone, even someone rich and powerful, like Bonifacio or the King. Although Matilda is not recorded at Pomposa, two documents link her to this ancient abbey. On November 23, 1080, Matilda sat in court in Ferrara and decided in favor of the monastery at Pomposa in a property dispute with the bishop of Ferrara. Among those listed as present is a man named “Peponem” who is an “advocatos”, or lawyer, of abbot Jerome of the monastery at Pomposa.68

1) F. Bougard, Public Power and Authority, in Italy in the Early Middle Ages 2002, pp. 34-58, at 51. 2) The German King’s ambassadors were: chancellors Brognardo and Adelberti, Lantelmi, count Palantine, and bishop Ambrosius. 3) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 118, pp. 310-313. 4) Donizone II, fol. 78v, vv. 1131, 1135-1136, in Golinelli 1987, p. 102. 5) Donizone I, fol. 36r, vv. 981-982, in Golinelli 1987, p. 60. 6) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 19, pp. 80-81. 7) Ibid., doc. no. 70, pp. 207-208. 8) Donizone II, fol. 67v, v. 735, in Golinelli 1987, p. 91. 9) Donizone II, fol. 68r-68v, vv. 759-775, in Golinelli 1987, p. 92. 10) Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos, 1, p. 382 f., translated in A Source Book for Medieval History 1905, pp. 513-517. 11) Golinelli 1987, fn. 74, p. 123. 12) See Memorie storiche modenesi 1793, pp. 85-86. 13) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 55, pp. 167-176; see also Golinelli 2007c. 14) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 70, p. 437. 15) Parazzi 1893, p. 81; Storia della città di Parma 1793, vol. II, p. 156. 16) Website of the Commune of Viadana. 17) Matilda had a fortress on the Po river at Guastalla from which she issued a number of 47

documents in her name alone: 29 March and 1 May 1101 she granted exemptions from feudal obligations to the residents of Guastalla (Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 64, 65, pp. 192196); 10 March 1106 she confirmed a 1096 donation of land to the Monastery of Saint Pierremont in the Lorraine (ibid., doc. no. 94, pp. 260-263); 28 September 1109 “domina comitissa Matilda” met emissaries of the German King Henry V and, with the Marchese Albertus, Azo, Ugo and Opizo, donated lands north of Pavia to the Imperial Monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia (ibid., no. 118, pp. 310-313). 18) Ibid., no. 70, pp. 207-208. 19) For a detailed discussion of the pieve and the oratorio see M. Musini, L’Architettura Medievale nel Territorio Reggiano, in Matilde e il Tesoro dei Canossa 2008, pp. 347-358. 20) Matilda had a fortress on the Po river at Gonzaga from which she issued a number of documents: in 1101, she made a donation of the Church of the Apostles to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po (Die Urkunden 1998, no. 68, pp. 203-204); May 12, 1105 and March 17, 1109 she made donations to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po (ibid., no. 85, pp. 243-244; nos. 112 and 113, pp. 297-301). 21) In June 1109, from San Cesario sul Panaro, Matilda liberated certain vassals from Gonzaga and Correggio of feudal obligations (Die Urkunden 1998, no. 116, pp. 307-308); in 1110 from Bondeno del Roncoris, Matilda granted to the vassals in possession of feuds in Bondeno, Gonzaga and Pegognaga the right to bequeath property to San Benedetto Po (ibid., no. 122, pp. 318-320; no. 123, pp. 320-322). 22) Ibid., no. 127, pp. 329-331, dated 1113. 23) Ibid., no. 138, pp. 352-357, dated May 6, 1115. 24) O. Rombaldi, La chiesa reggiana dal 962 al 1060, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 95. 25) Piva 2001. 26) Quintavalle 1991, p. 86. Compare Mellini 1584, pp. 10-12, who dates monastery to 998 and states that Tedaldo died in 1007. See also Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. 24, p. 407. 27) Ibid., no. 83, pp. 239-241. 28) See ibid., no. 66, pp. 197-199, May 6, 1101 from Governolo; no. 67, pp. 200-203, May 14, 1101, from San Benedetto Po; no. 68, pp. 203-204, dated 1101; no. 79, pp. 229231, dated at Nogara, April 24, 1104; no. 80, pp. 231-233, dated at Piadena, May 1, 1104; no. 83, pp. 239-241, dated at Coscogno, Sep-

tember 15, 1104; no. 92, pp. 256-258, dated at Nogara, December 30, 1105, confirmed by a document dated at Gonzaga on March 17, 1109 (ibid., no. 112, pp. 297-299); no. 113, pp. 300-301, at Gonzaga on March 28, 1109; no. 120, pp. 315-316, dated at Ponte Doso on November 4, 1109; no. 123, pp. 320-322, dated at Bondeno del Roncoris, 1110; no. 127, pp. 329-331 at Pegognaga in 1113; no. 129, pp. 333-335 at Bondenum in 1113; no. 133, pp. 340-342, at Montebarazone in June 1114; no. 135, pp. 344-346 at San Benedetto Po on November 8, 1114, confirming prior donations; no. 137, pp. 349-351 at Bondeno on April 14, 1115. 29) See generally Golinelli 2008; Colliva 1982, p. 20; Buzzacchi and Migliorini 1968, p. 17; Bacchini 1696, p. 89; G.M. Cantarella, in Storia di San Benedetto Polirone 1998, p. 76; Cowdrey 1978, p. 197: “Henry [V] promised his protection to the possessions held by the Monasteries of Cluny, within the borders of the Empire, and in particulate that of Polirone”. 30) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 138, pp. 352-357. 31) Condivi 1553 (ed. 1998), p. 7. 32) Eads 2010, pp. 23-33. 33) Donizone II, fol. 60v, v. 467, in Golinelli 1987, p. 84. 34) See e.g. Archivio Storico di Milano, Diplomi e Dispacci Sovrani_Germania: faldone 1, 16 maggio 1116; Colliva 1982, p. 17; Zanardi 1997, p. 12. For the existence of a court around Matilda see Ropa 1971, p. 231; and Boni 2010. 35) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 93, pp. 258-260, dated at Quistello on January 9, 1106. 36) TCI Mantua and its Province 2005, p. 97; Piva 2001. 37) For an excellent scholarly analysis of the church see website of Pieve di Coriano. 38) O. Rombaldi, La chiesa reggiana dal 962 al 1060, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 95. 39) TCI Mantua and its Province 2005, p. 100. 40) Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 114-116, pp. 302-308, dated May 1 and June 9, 1109 at San Cesario sul Panaro. The Commune’s website records this territory first pertained to the Monastery at Nonantola. Later the Countess Matilda built the castle of Badrignano which she gave to Landolfo bishop of Ferrara in 1109. Also named in the May 1 document is “Nordillus di Castelvetri” who was a captain in Matilda’s court and who received a life interest

in some of these properties. For Nordillus see also Savioli 1784, pp. 123, 151, 157, and Castagnetti 1980. 41) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 128, pp. 331332, dated in May 1113 at “Baviana”. 42) Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), I, pp. 79-81; Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 105. 43) Castagnetti 2003. 44) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 114, pp. 302304; no. 115, pp. 304-306. 45) See the Commune of Ficarolo’s website on the page “Storia Politica Medievale”, http://www.comune.ficarolo.ro.it/storia/82, last accessed May 21, 2015. 46) Francesco Ravelli and Ercole Sarti, essays on the website of the Commune of Ficarolo; Die Urkunden 1998, no. 126, pp. 236-239; no. 138, pp. 352-357. 47) See G. Ghedini on the website of the Commune of Ficarolo for an extensive discussion of the Monastery of San Salvatore at Ficarolo. 48) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. 98, pp. 269-271. 49) Modern historians reject Bondeno (FE) as Matilda’s last home, identifying instead two other towns, also named Bondeno, one in Reggio Emilia near Reggiolo, and the other near Gonzaga in Mantua, both of which can also be linked by a series of waterways with the Monastery at San Benedetto Po. Neither of these towns, however, equal Bondeno in Ferrara either for strategic importance or for the protective fortifications extant during her lifetime. Further support that Bondeno (FE) was a Canossan possession at least during Matilda’s mother, Beatrice’s time is that a document recording Beatrice’s presence in Bondeno (FE) on May 14, 1044, according to the biography of Beatrice of Lorraine written by Bertolini 1970. 50) Donizone II, fol. 87r, v. 448, in Golinelli 1987, p. 111; Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), pp. 331, 340. 51) Bergamini, Calanca, Calzolari and Vincenzi 2014, pp. 19, 20, 65, 71. 52) Memorie storiche modenesi 1793, pp. 8990, Tiraboschi writes Ferrara pertained to the Pope, never to the Empire and that Tedaldo received the march of Ferrara in 983. 53) Donizone I, fol. 21r, vv. 442-443, in Golinelli 1987, p. 43; A. Vasini, Tedaldo di Canossa e Ferrara, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 159. 54) A document dated March 18, 1103 and cited by Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 152

(but not reproduced by Die Urkunden 1998) recites that a transfer by Matilda of the Castel Tedaldo to the Abbey of Nonantola. Citing Overmann see also A. Vasini, Tedaldo di Canossa e Ferrara, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 170. 55) Two documents record Matilda in Ferrara in the autumn of 1080: Die Urkunden 1998, no. 31, pp. 112-113, dated September 20, 1080; and no. 32, pp. 114-116, dated November 23, 1080. Both issued at Ferrara. The German King Henry IV arrived in Italy in March 1081. At his entry, Matilda retreated to her Apennine castles where she will remain for nearly twelve years, until she finally defeated the troops of Henry IV at Canossa in October 1092. 56) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 32, pp. 114-116: “pontificates vero [...] Gregorii summo pontifice et universalis pape in apostolica sacratissima beati Petri apostoli domini sede anno septimo”. 57) Ibid., no. 32, pp. 114-116, at Ferrara, November 23, 1080. For a discussion of Pepo see Bologna no. 45. 58) Brundage 2008, p. 81. 59) Eads 2010, p. 41. 60) Donizone II, fol. 73r, vv. 930-940, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 97, 147 fn. 152. 61) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 114, pp. 302304; no. 115, pp. 304-306, dated May 1 and June 9, 1109. 62) TCI Emilia Romagna 1971, p. 469. 63) Kurlansky 2003. 64) Donizone I, chapter XVI, fol. 39v-40r, vv. 1103-1137, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 63-64. 65) Tutas n.d. 66) Donizone I, chapter XVI, fol. 39v-40r, vv. 1103-1137, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 63-64; Donizone I, chapter XV, fol. 38v-39r, vv. 1070-1102, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 62-63. 67) U. Bellocchi, Rapporti fra il papato e la gens Canusina prima dello storico incontro del 1077, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, pp. 181 fn. 16, 191, who states that the penance occurred on March 31, 1046. 68) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 32, pp. 114-116 at Ferrara, November 23, 1080. For a further discussion of this document see entry at Ferrara above. 69) Ibid., no. 97, pp. 266-269; also referenced at ibid., Dep. no. 72, pp. 38-39, dated at Baggiovara, November 1106.

Matildan Routes in northern Italy

Route 3

From the Po river to the via Emilia: the Enza, the Secchia and the Panaro rivers

The fertile land south of the Po river is called the bread basket of Italy. In Matilda’s time, the area was marshy woodlands. The monks at the Monastery of Nonantola pioneered agricultural innovations, hydraulic techniques and a form of cooperative land tenancy called the Partecipanza Agraria to encourage agricultural cultivation. The Partecipanze Agrarie were created with donations from the monastery and the Countess Matilda and today these lands continue to be owned and operated by descendants of the original eleventh-century grantees.

34. Quarantoli (MO) The town received its name from the allocation by ancient Rome of forty square plots to this area east of the Secchia river. Its importance as a center of life for the rural surroundings is attested to by the existence of a pieve, or baptismal church, in Quarantoli as early as 1044. The Pieve of Santa Maria della Neve was restored by the Countess and the date of consecration is incised on the altar, 15 November 1114. Inside are sculptures attributed to the circle of Wiligelmo.1 The church was significantly restored through the centuries and severely damaged in the earthquake of May 2012.

35. Carpi (MO) The community of Carpi is first noted in documents in 752, when the Lombard King who founded Nonantola built a pieve dedicated to Mary within the fortified castle, “castrum Carpente”. The pieve appears in the Imperial diploma of Otto II dated 14 October 980, as one of fifteen in the diocese of Reggio.2 A few years later, Matilda’s grandfather, Tedaldo, is recorded at Carpi on September 30, 1001. By this time Tedaldo had assumed from Atto the imperial titles of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Mantua and in this capacity sat with other representatives of Otto III and of the important families of the paduan plain (Parma, Bergamo, Cremona,

Modena and Bologna). The issue before the panel was whether a piece of land called Viniolo pertained to the Castrum of Carpi or the court of Migliarina, an ancient property of the Abbey of Santa Giulia of Brescia. The abbess of this monastery presented her evidence and obtained possession of the land. This document is significant as well because it contains the first reference to Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, “figlio del medesimo Tedaldo marchese”.3 Carpi is one of twelve “curte” or walled towns donated on August 29, 1071, by Beatrice, Matilda’s mother, to create a monastery at Frassinoro (see no. 79) in memory of the souls of Beatrice’s two deceased husbands, Bonifacio and Godfrey, and of her granddaughter, Beatrice (“per vantaggio dell’anima della fu mia nipote Beatrice”). This document is the only mention of Matilda’s child who

was born in the Lorraine, and died there on January 9, 1071, soon after her birth.4 After the famous confession and pardon of Henry IV at Canossa, Pope Gregory VII is recorded with Matilda at Carpi on March 19, 1077.5 Matilda is again recorded at Carpi, in NovemberDecember 1106, approving a compromise arranged by Cardinal Bernardo of Parma, between bishop Dodone of Modena and the abbot of Pomposa concerning the possession of the Church of San Michele di Soleria.6 According to local historians, her residence stood on the foundations of the Palazzo dei Pio, parts of which date to the eleventh century. According to legend, Matilda restored the Lombard Pieve of Santa Maria in Castello, known as “la Sagra” in the first decade of 1100s. The remains of the first

35.1

36. Sorbara (MO)

church are visible in the crypt. The present church (Figs. 35.1, 35.1.1) was consecrated in 1184, after Pope Lucio III consecrated the Cathedral at Modena, although little remains of the original structure. An ambo composed of panels of symbols of the evangelists, thought to have been part of the earlier church’s presbytery, is attributed to Nicolò, a follower of Wiligelmo. A Madonna and Child, of the school of Wiligemo, dating to the 1120s, is today in the Galleria Estense, Modena.7

Sorbara has been celebrated for its production of the sparkling Lambrusco wine since Cato (234-149 B.C.) in his De Agricultura and Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia (c. 77-79 A.D.). It is Sorbara’s wine, made from a species of wild vine, which afforded Matilda her first victory over the troops of Henry IV. In July 1084, her dawn attack surprised her enemies who slept heavily after a dinner accompanied by an excess of wine.8

35.1.1

In thanksgiving for her victory, Matilda restored the Pieve of Saint Agatha of Sorbara which first appears in the diocese of Modena archives in 816. All that remains of the Romanesque church is a fragment of an ambone depicting the lion of St. Mark that is datable to circa 1110.9

Placidus of Nonantola, prior of Nonantola, wrote De Honore Ecclesiae, one of the tracts written in support of the papacy and Matilda’s struggle against the German crown. After the famous confession and pardon of Henry IV at Canossa, Pope Gregory VII and Matilda are recorded at Nonantola between April 13-28, 1077. They presumably sought to gain the monastery’s support against the German King. If so, the negotiations went badly. The Benedictine monastery at Nonantola, like its mother monastery at Montecassino, 10 remained allied with Henry IV – against Matilda and the Pope. During Henry IV’s siege of Rome, Matilda besieged the monastery for two years, 1082-1084, until they opened their treasury and sent their gold and silver to defend Papal Rome.11 When she defeated the German King, Matilda repaid the debt in various donations.12 The beautiful lion portal is the only element that remains from the original

37. Monastery of Nonantola (MO) The ancient Romans allocated ninety plots between the Panaro and the torrent Mutia and called the area “Nonantola”. In 752, the Lombards founded a monastery (Fig. 37), which was further enriched by Charlemagne who gave it lands as far south as Tuscany. The power of the monastery grew until it owned over 300 churches, including the Church of Sant’Ambrogio in Florence and the Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta at Gropina. It became famous for its wealth and the quality of its library, enhanced by those monks who worked in the scriptorium. Circa 1100,

Gospels of the Countess Matilda, which was donated to the monastery by the Countess.14 The book is one hundred forty bound parchment pages, including many full page illustrations of the Gospel stories. Two remarkable sculptures in relief grace its silver gilt cover. On the front, Christ Pantocrator sits in a mandella surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists. On the back, Christ crucified is flanked by weeping figures of Saint John and Mary (Fig. 37.1).

La Partecipanza Agraria In 1058, to encourage cultivation of the woodlands and marsh surrounding Nonantola, abbot Gottescalco created the Partecipanza Agraria.15 In exchange for a small annual rental, the abbey gave permission to use its lands to farm, to pasture, to hunt in the woodlands, to cut the timber, and to fish in the streams. The Partecipanza Agraria’s offices are in Nonantola, managed in

37.1

Romanesque façade of the Basilica of San Silvestro which has otherwise been sensitively restored. The lions and the sculptures of the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity are attributed to Wiligelmo and his school. The tympanum above the door is a modern reconstruction made with pieces from the original Romanesque pulpit.13 The austere interior has a central nave with two side aisles divided by heavy pillars and a raised presbytery. The vault of the crypt is supported by 64 columns and 22 halfcolumns, each with magnificent capitals of diverse styles ranging from the antique to the twelfth century. In the crypt is the tomb of Pope Saint Sylvester I (314-335). Matilda’s literacy and culture are described in detail by Donizone. Among the treasures in the Diocesan Benedictine Museum of Sacred Art of Nonantola is the Evangelario or

The Partecipanza Agraria at Villafontana

12) On February 26, 1088, Matilda ceded to the Abbey of Nonantola the Church of San Silvestro at Nogara. In one of her last documents, at the request of the bishop of Parma, Matilda on October 25, 1114, substituted certain lands to relieve the citizens in Nogara of further payments to the monastery at Nonantola. Die Urkunden 1998, no. 39, pp. 131-132, at Nogara, February 26, 1088; no. 134, pp. 324-342, at Bondenum on October 25, 1114. On October 18, 1102, at Panzano Matilda donated property to the Monastery of Nonantola prior to confirming the donation of all of her property to papal Rome. Die Urkunden 1998, no. 71, pp. 208-212. 13) Golinelli 2007b, pp. 11-14. 14) Ibid., pp. 45-55. 15) The Partecipanza Agraria di Nonantola continues to operate today based upon concessions later in date, 1442 and 1453. For a detailed discussion of the Partecipanza see Fumagalli 1992. 16) The Partecipanza at Nonantola is one of six co-operatives formed at this moment, and continuing to the present. Of these, the Partecipanza at Villa Fontana attributes its formation to Matilda of Canossa. 17) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 110, pp. 292295.

common by the descendents of the original eleventh-century grantees.16 The Countess Matilda also formed three Partecipanze at the Villa Fontana, Budrio and Medicina, of which only the Partecipanza at Villa Fontana still exists. It was created by Matilda of Canossa in 1112 according to a charter prepared by a notary in Carpi, Tommaso del Viscardo. The Partecipanza at Villa Fontana remains managed in common by the male descendents in direct line of the ancient families who continue to reside (“have open houses and smoking fires”) within the circle (“cerchia”). On September 16, 1108, at nearby San Cesario sul Panaro Matilda gave 113 named persons land with the obligation to pay an annual rent to the Abbey of Nonantola.17 This gift appears to confirm Matilda’s support of the Partecipanza Agraria, previously established by the abbot of Nonantola.

1) TCI Modena e provincia 1999, p. 69. 2) O. Rombaldi, La chiesa reggiana dal 962 al 1060, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 95. 3) Golinelli 1991, pp. 59-60. 4) See U. Longo, I Canossa e le Fondazioni Monastiche, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, p. 133; P. Golinelli, Matilde di Canossa a Carpi, in Storia di Carpi 2008, I, p. 345. 5) Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 123; P. Golinelli, Matilde di Canossa a Carpi, in Storia di Carpi 2008, I, p. 346. 6) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 98, pp. 266-269. 7) See G. Milanesi, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. 87, pp. 515-516. 8) Donizone II, fol. 57v, vv. 360-363, in Golinelli 1987, p. 81. 9) See T. Fiorini, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. 83, p. 510. 10) Robinson 1999, pp. 221, 430-432. 11) See Golinelli 2007b, p. 108.

Matildan Routes in northern Italy

Route 4

Along the via Emilia from Parma to Bologna

Fidenza (PR)

The via Emilia was built around 200 B.C. by the ancient Romans straight across the northern edge of the Apennine mountain chain. It ran from Piacenza to Rimini and then connected to the via Flaminia, and Rome. Today, Statale 9 lies above the same ancient route, a road that has borne the weight of ox carts, horses, gas belching trucks and travellers from all walks of life continuously for more than two millennia. The unique character of the cities along the via Emilia is not owed to their Roman ruins, however, but their cathedrals, soaring Romanesque churches that were built within, or shortly after, Matilda’s lifetime. The bishop of Mantua wrote that all the cathedrals in the lower Po valley are “nourished by Matilda’s milk”1 and documents record her donations to many of these. Often her role, if we can extrapolate from a contemporary written account about the building of the Modena Cathedral, is as participant in a project that involved the entire community. Certainly the community’s involvement explains why the cathedrals have lasted a millennium. At Matilda’s death, the people took possession of their cathedrals, and their towns.

Known as Fidentia during Roman times, the medieval town shed its Roman origins and took instead the name of a Christian, Donnino, who was martyred at its gates. Donnino was the cubicularius (or, official holder of the imperial crown) of the Roman Emperor Massimiliano Erculio. After his conversion to Christianity, Donnino fled the imperial court and was martyred by decapitation when the legions caught him on the banks of the Stirone river on October 9, 291. Miraculously he arose, picked up his head, and entered the town until he arrived to the spot where the Duomo now stands. San Donnino’s relics lie in the crypt under the main altar. Matilda’s great-grandfather transferred possession of his properties at Fidenza to Atto’s Parmese relatives so that he could consolidate his territory to the east. The document dated March 8, 991 records the sale by his daughter, Prangarda, of Vilinianum, a court in San Donnino, bounded on the north by the Po and on the west by the Taro.2 Fidenza’s web site declares that it continuously maintained a pro-Imperial (that would be anti-Matildan) stand throughout the twelfth century and in 1162 Frederick I confirmed its status as a city “semper fuit in tuitione imperatorum antecessorum nostrorum” [“always under the protection of the emperors that have gone before us”]. On June 23,

1081, the German King Henry IV granted certain exemptions to the citizens of Lucca from feudal taxes “harshly imposed since the time of Bonifacio”, never once referring to Matilda by name. Among the rights he granted to the Lucchese “for their fidelity to his royal authority” was to buy and sell in San Donnino’s markets.3 San Donnino was the market at the northern end of the Passo della Cisa, which was west of the Enza river, and outside Canossan lands. At Luni in Tuscany the via Francigena entered Canossan territories. The market at the southern, or Tuscan, end of the via Francigena is referred to in the 1081 document was at Capannule (today known as Capannori), located east of Lucca. Nothing records Matilda in San Donnino, but the Duomo of Fidenza, like the Cathedral of Modena, dates to 1106 and is a beautiful Romanesque structure. The façade is rich in sculptural motifs. Beneath the statue of Saint Simon Apostle on the façade of the

Duomo of Fidenza is a plaque inscribed: “Saint Simon Apostle shows the way to those going to Rome”, which attests to the importance of this town along the pilgrim route.

38. Parma Parma is located on the western bank of the Enza river. Donizone writes that Parma belonged to a separate branch of Matilda’s family. In his first chapter, the monk identifies Parma as in the territory that belonged to Sigifredo of Lucca, Matilda’s great-great grandfather. His son, Atto, founded the Canossan dynasty, and according to Donizone, grew in power and wealth, surpassing his brothers, both of whom settled in Parma. The oldest founded the house of Baratti and the younger the house of Guibert.4 Two generations later, Atto’s grandson, Bonifacio, forced Parma to submit to his governance after a particularly bloody siege led by the German Emperor Conrad II.5 The Parmese fought valiently, especially a particular-

Pilgrims sculpted on the façade of the Cathedral of Fidenza

ly brave baker who is singled out for mention by Donizone, and repulsed the Germans’ attack. Conrad then summoned Bonifacio and, with the duke’s reinforcements, burned the city to the ground.6 After their victory, Conrad named Bonifacio marchese of the city. The Parmese opposed the anti-Imperial reform policies of Bonifacio’s successor, Matilda’s step father, Godfrey of Lorraine. In 1061, the Parmese bishop Cadulus, was elected Pope Onorio II by the Lombard and Imperial bishops in opposition to the bishop of Lucca Anselmo, Godfrey and the reform party’s Pope Alexander II. Parma remained loyal to the German crown and the Imperial party from 1061 until the end of 1106, that is, nearly Matilda’s entire life. Matilda’s cousin, born in Parma to the branch of the family founded by Sigifredo’s youngest son, was, after Henry IV himself, her most implaccable enemy. Guibert of Parma became Clement III

– anti-Pope to Matilda’s ally, Pope Gregory VII. Guibert outlived Gregory, as well as two of his successors, Victor III and Urban II. His followers retained control of Rome even after the Council at Piacenza which Matilda organized in March 1095 to repudiate him as a heretic and an enemy of God.7 After Guibert’s death, and after most cities in northern Italy had returned to Matilda and the Gregorian fold, Parma remained loyal to the schismatic resistence. Pope Paschal II appointed the former abbot of Vallombrosa, Bernardo degli Uberti, a man close to Matilda and respected in the Church, as Parma’s bishop. Bernardo said his first mass on the Feast of the Assumption, 1104, in the new cathedral. The Parmese violently objected to Bernardo’s sermon against Henry IV and rioted during the Mass. The mob took Bernardo prisoner and looted the church of its silver and gold. On hearing the news, Matilda led her strongest

38.1

38.1.1

38.1.2

38.1.3

warriors to march against Parma. Before her troops could reach the city, the Parmese restored the treasure to the church and returned the good monk to the Countess; his first stint as bishop having ended in abject failure.8 The Parmese refused to receive Bernardo as their bishop for another two years. After the death of Henry IV, at the end of October 1106, the citizens of Parma went to Guastalla during the Synod being held there. They asked the Pope Paschal to send Bernardo back as bishop of their city and invited the Pope himself to re-consecrate their Cathedral. At the end of October 1106, the Pope, together with Matilda, visited Parma, consecrated the Cathedral to

the mother of God and invested Bernardo as bishop of the city. Matilda made a gift to the Cathedral for which the people were grateful.9 A document of November 4, 1106 dated at Parma attests to her courageous presence in this formerly schismatic town.10 The Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin (Fig. 38.1) was begun in 1059 by Cadulus, the city’s bishop and anti-Pope Onorio II and was destroyed in the earthquake of 1117. The present cathedral rose from its foundations. Work of the architect Niccolò, the façade of the Cathedral remains a masterpiece of the Romanesque (Figs. 38.1.1, 38.1.2, 38.1.3). Benedetto Antelami completed the sculptures for the 59

Cathedral in 1178, including a pulpit on the front of the transept, of which four lions remain. He also designed and directed construction of the Baptistery opposite, dating to 1196-1216. Matilda made two donations to the Benedictine Monastery of San Paolo in Parma.11 Founded in 1005, the Monastery of San Paolo is now a museum that includes the Camera della Badessa famously frescoed by Correggio in 1519 for its abbess Giovanna da Piacenza. Matilda obviously retained an affection for this convent as a document dated January 24, 1107 records her donating the Church of Santa Maria del Bosco at Campitello to the abbess.12 Campitello lies north of the Po river on Statale 420 which connects Mantua to Parma, where a single nave church dedicated to the Virgin still stands at the center of this small town.

men (“per nostros ministeriales sibi fiery”) of this fortress in an act made in the presence of bishops Bernardo of Parma, Bonseniore of Reggio Emilia, and Manfred of Mantua.13 The Rocca di Montecchio has been frequently enlarged and restored over the centuries, but the central core dates to Matilda’s time (Fig. 39).

40. Reggio nell’Emilia The city of Reggio nell’Emilia is visible from the turrets of Canossa and its story is inextricably intertwined with that of the Canossan dynasty. In 940 Matilda’s great-grandfather obtained the count of Canossa from the bishop of Reggio.14 After Matilda rejected Henry as her king, and allied with the Roman Church, her preferred title was Countess, the one which derives not from the German crown, but rather from the Roman Church of Reggio nell’Emilia. Nonetheless, Matilda’s relations with Reggio nell’Emilia were not always cordial. After Beatrice’s death, the bishop of Reggio, Gandolfo (1066-1085), allied against Matilda and supported the German Henry IV when he arrived to Italy in 1081 to unseat Pope Gregory VII.15 Soldiers from Reggio participated in the German King’s siege which sent Gregory VII to exile from Rome in May of 1084. Donizone writes that Matilda took her revenge a month later, at the battle of Sorbara in July of 1084. Matilda’s troops “killed or captured many evil people that day”, including “... the bishop of Reggio, Gandolfo, he of hard heart, who had tried to escape capture by hiding naked for three days among the blackberry brambles.”16 Donizone writes, “She secured the counts of Reggio and Modena and reinforced their castles.”17 By 1098, a man

39. Montecchio Emilia (RE) Two Matildan fortresses controlled the approach to Canossa at the point where the Enza river arrives at the foothills of the Apennines: Montecchio Emilia, on the eastern bank, and Montechiarugolo on the west. In the summer of 1114, Matilda rewarded the good and faithful

named Bonseniore was invested as bishop of Reggio, a position he held until 1118.18 Bonseniore supported the Gregorian reforms and was a simple priest, according to Donizone.19 It was Bonseniore who was with Matilda at her death and gave her holy communion.20 Among the first documents signed by Matilda is a donation by Beatrice to the Monastery of San Prospero in Reggio, dated December 8, 1072.21 Matilda continued to make donations to this monastery throughout her life.22 San Prospero (d. 466) was Reggio’s first

bishop, whose body lies under the main altar of the Cathedral of San Prospero. Consecrated by Pope Gregory V in 997, the Cathedral has been completely rebuilt. Sculptural capitals and mosaic pavements from Matilda’s moment are preserved in the local museum and thoroughly discussed in Arturo Calzona’s 2008 catalogue.23

41. Rubiera (RE) In the Middle Ages, Rubiera was a strategically located commercial hub, a walled city that retained the quadrilater-

41.1

al shape of its ancient Roman origins. It stood on the via Emilia where the Romans had built a stone bridge across the Secchia river, a tributary of the Po. A Benedictine hospice stood here until it was destroyed by Duke Alfonso I d’Este in 1523. The first notice of a “cappella di San Faustino in loco et fundo Herbaria” in the archives of the Cathedral of Reggio dates to 857.24 Local legend connects the first restoration of the Pieve of San Faustino and Giovita to Matilda of Canossa, c. 1092-1115. The tripartite apse recollects the ancient structure which has been lovingly maintained over the centuries (Fig. 41.1). The façade has been restored.25

Relatio fundationis cathedralis Mutinae, written c. 1099-1106.27 The manuscript, preserved in the Archives of the Chapter of the Cathedral, describes the construction of the Cathedral and the translation of the body of San Geminiano. The work is illustrated with two beautiful miniatures. One depicts Lanfranc directing the workers in the cathedral’s construction. The other depicts two scenes involving the Countess: greeting Pope Paschal II and making a donation at the saint’s tomb (Figs. 42.2, 42.3). The tomb of San Geminiano remains in the apse of the crypt, looking exactly like it does in the Relatio miniature. The crypt, a forest of 30 columns, each with a uniquely carved capital, securely dates to Matilda’s moment. Although Matilda was a substantial donor, it was the Modenese, not Matilda, who engaged the architect and who laid the cornerstone of the Cathedral. An inscription prominently displayed on the façade between the carved figures of Enos and Enoch states: “This house dedicated to the Blessed Geminiano was begun when the sign of Cancer triumphed over Gemini on the ninth of June 1099.” Beneath the inscription, in a smaller hand, the sculptor, Wiligelmo, proudly records: “Among sculptors Wiligelmo is worthy of great honors to which these his sculptures attest.” Built with huge blocks of pink Veronese marble, the church has settled a bit crookedly on its foundations. This is most evident at the eastern end where the apse is located. The oldest part of the church, the apse today is below street level. The adjacent bell tower called the Torre della Ghirlandina is of two centuries later, 1224-1319. The Cathedral has three lion portals. The central portal of the façade is

42. Modena The city of Modena is also visible from the turrets of Canossa. Known by its Roman name, Mutinensis, it came under Canossan authority in 962 when the German King Otto I gave the title of Count of Modena to Matilda’s greatgrandfather, Atto. As at Reggio, the bishop of Modena, Eriberto, allied against Matilda and was excommunicated in 1081 by Pope Gregory VII. After Matilda defeated Henry IV, a supporter of the Gregorian reforms, Dodone, was named bishop of Modena in 1100. Dodone appears together with Matilda in numerous documents in the last fifteen years of her life. At least six documents in 1107 and 1108 26 record Matilda’s donations to Bishop Dodone and to the canonica in support of the construction of the Cathedral of San Geminiano (Fig. 42.1). Matilda’s participation in, and generous contribution to, the construction of the Cathedral of San Geminiano is confirmed in a contemporary manuscript, 62

flanked by two royal beasts which date from ancient Roman times. On the northern side, along the Piazza Grande, the Porta Regia is at the eastern end flanked by two magnificent pink marble lions carved by the Maestri Campionesi, c. 1200. Of particular interest is the second lion portal on the northern side which dates to Matilda’s time and is carved by Wiligelmo and his school (Fig. 135.4). It is called the Porta della Pescheria for its location near the fishmonger. On the architrave the sculptures relate the story of war, while the side door jambs

tell the story of peace, the eternal work guided by the changing seasons and months of the year. Enclosed by a metal fence, the Porta della Pescheria is flanked by two lions carved by Matilda’s sculptor, Wiligelmo, c. 1106. Wiligelmo’s lions are violent beasts; they writhe and snarl. Between their strong paws, they grip bodies of animals or men, their bodies ripped by the lions’ strong jaws.28 In Wiligelmo, the powerful backs of the fierce lion sags under the weight of the column it bears. That column in Matilda’s day represented the Church, whose weight suppresses

42.1

42.1.1

42.1.2

evil. Wiligelmo’s masterpiece is the sculptural frieze of the story of Genesis. His compact figures, precursors to those Giotto will paint a century and a half later, portray with a touching intimacy the stormy relationship between man and his God.29 The frieze was divided into four parts and placed above the side portals and around the central door to make room for the rose window which was added by Anselmo

da Campione in 1200 (Figs. 42.1.142.1.4). Inside the Cathedral glows with the warmth of bricks and red marble, reflecting centuries of loving labor. On the pontile separating the apse from the nave is a masterpiece showing the Washing of the Feet, the Last Supper, the Capture and Condemnation of Christ carved by Anselmo da Campione, 1200-1225. Additional columns carved by Wiligelmo and 64

42.1.3

42.1.4

his school are preseverd inside the Museo del Duomo. Among the most unusual is a column of a contorted mermaid, whose significance in the Middle Ages is unexplained. Upstairs is an ancient portable altar said to date from the bishopric of San Geminiano who celebrated Mass on its precious porphyry. Chosen by UNESCO as a world heritage site, the Duomo of Modena is among the earliest and foremost expres-

sions of the international style known as the Romanesque.30 It is also the best preserved of the cathedrals built by Matildan donations inside the communes. For many citizens of Modena, the cathedral symbolizes the freedoms that Modena attained through its municipal statutes which date from 1135, or twenty years after the death of the Countess.

42.2

43. San Cesario sul Panaro (MO)

agricultural lands were left abandoned, rivers overflowed their banks and fertile farms became marshes. The settlement revived after 752 when the Lombard King conceded to the newly established Monastery of Nonantola the right of passage through the “selva (forest) Vilzacara”. By 825, the area had been settled and a “corte” established and a “ospedale San Bernardino” was built, near to the ancient Roman road. Pope Hadrian III died in this hospice on July

A settlement has existed continuously in this spot on the Panaro river since neolithic times, testifying to its strategic importance on the river highway that extended from the Apennines through the Paduan plain to the Po river. Its importance increased under ancient Rome when the via Emilia passed through the town connecting this river port with the system of roads that led to Rome. After the barbarian invasions, the 66

42.3

between 1105 and 1112.32 From San Cesario sul Panaro, in May and June 1109, Matilda issued a series of documents designed to consolidate control of the Panaro river, its access to the Po, and her lands along the Po river, in the diocese of Ferrara (see no. 30 Stellata and Ficarolo, and no. 32 Ferrara).33 La Rocca, adjacent to the Villa Boschetti, probably marks the location of Matilda’s residence, even though little but its twelfth-century foundations remains

8, 885. He was buried at the nearby Monastery of Nonantola which still preserves his remains. In 1034 the community began building the Basilica of San Cesario sul Panaro, which stands today at its center. The town took for its name that of the Patron Saint of its Cathedral, the fifth-century bishop of Arles, Caesarius (Figs. 43.1, 43.1.1). 31 By virtue of its location, this port town was of strategic importance to Matilda of Canossa, who was a frequent visitor 67

medieval castle that once surveyed the Lavino river valley, and was a possession of the family from Canossa by 1055,35 and Zola, a derivation of “curte Cellula,” which was a small monastic community located nearby. Matilda was well connected to Curte Cellula. It is one of the only places Matilda is recorded as visiting after she fled Rome and withdrew into her Apennine fortresses in March 1081. She is recorded here on July 7, 1082, deciding a dispute between two brothers. She confirmed this decision in a separate document, issued a few months later, on February 25, 1083, at her fortress in Carpineti, that is, well within the Apennine refuges constructed by her greatgrandfather.36 Nearly twenty years later, on July 27, 1099, after Matilda defeated Henry IV, “Matilda, gratia dei comitipsa” conceded certain rights to specifically named men of this town,37 possibly to thank them for their loyalty to her dur-

43.1

from her epoch. At the end of her life, in an act dated May 8, 1115, just before her death, she donated to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po, the church and this town, “ecclesia sancti Cesarii and the curtem de Guilzaccara”, specifically stating “omnia mea”, all this is mine.34

44. Zola Predosa (BO) Zola Predosa, today a clean, modern suburb, about 15 kilometers west of Bologna, combines Predosa, the

43.1.1

ing her most difficult years. Finally, a month before Matilda confirmed her donation to Rome and in the presence of the same papal legate, Cardinal Bernardo degli Uberti, Matilda made a large donation of properties to the Monastery of Nonantola. Among these, Matilda included the “castrum e curtem Cellule”, modern Zola Predosa, together with all the buildings and churches consecrated to Saint John the Baptist, Saint Michael Archangel and to Saint Cassiano which stood outside the walls. She signed this act at the castrum of Panzano on October 18, 1102.38 The castle and all the churches were destroyed in a war between Modena and Bologna in 1142. Two years later, those remaining in the area pledged their loyalty to Bologna.

the canons of the Cathedral of Saint Peter (first recorded in 910) in Bologna in memory of her father.39 Bologna was a seat of learning closely allied to Matilda’s campaign to replace German Salic law with a universal code of law enacted over five hundred years earlier by the Roman Emperor Justinian (ruled 527 to 565 A.D.). The Basilica of Santo Stefano (Fig. 45.1) presides over the most ancient sacred quarter of Bologna; this venerable monastery was founded in the fifth century by the bishop Saint Petronius, who persuaded Teodosius II to designate Bologna an imperial city and to concede him the right to start a school. In 533 the Emperor Justinian sent a copy of his code of laws to Bologna. According to a chronicle written by Burchard, abbot of Ursberg (1177-1230), in 1088 Matilda of Canossa invited the jurist Wernerius to resume the study of Justinian law in Bologna thus creating the first university in the world, called the “Alma Mater Studiorum” (see fig. 45.2).40 A slightly later chronicle written by

45. Bologna Bologna never entered the domains of the House of Canossa, but the city is central to her story. Matilda is recorded as making one donation in 1105 of the Church of San Michele in Argelato to

45.1

1) Frugoni 1992. 2) F. Anceschi, Storia e organizzazione della prima grande azienda curtense canossana in Emilia. La corte Vilinianum nel secolo X, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 123. 3) Spike 2004, Appendix. 4) Donizone I, fol. 11r, vv. 96-115, in Golinelli 1987, p. 33; making Guibert who became Clement III, anti-Pope to Gregory VII, a distant cousin of Matilda. 5) Conrad II was king of Germany from 1024 until his death on June 4, 1039; he arrived in Italy in 1027 to be crowned emperor of the Romans by the Pope in Rome. 6) Donizone II, fol. 32r-33r, vv. 843-885, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 56-57. 7) Donizone II, fol. 68r, vv. 767-768, in Golinelli 1987, p. 92. 8) Donizone II, fol. 73v-75v, vv. 941-1022, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 97-99. 9) Donizone II, fol. 77v-78r, vv. 1098-1116, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 101-102. 10) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 96, pp. 264-266. 11) Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 111; Die Urkunden 1998, no. 9, pp. 55-57, dated at Marengo on August 18, 1073 and no. 99, pp. 272-274, dated at Campitello on January 24, 1107. Her mother also benefitted this monastery in a donation dated August 18, 1073. Bertolini 1970. 12) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 99, pp. 272-273. 13) Ibid., no. 132, pp. 338-340. 14) Golinelli 1991, p. 26. 15) Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, p. 27. 16) Donizone II, fol. 57v, vv. 360-363, in Golinelli 1987, p. 81. 17) Donizone II, fol. 63r, vv. 563-564, in Golinelli 1987, p. 87. 18) Golinelli 1987, p. 150, n. 187. 19) Donizone II, fol. 81r, v. 1225, in Golinelli 1987, p. 105. 20) Donizone II, fol. 88r, vv. 1500-1503, in Golinelli 1987, p. 112. 21) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 6, pp. 47-49. 22) Ibid., no. 6, pp. 47-49, at San Prospero in Reggio, December 8, 1072; no. 16, pp. 73-75, at Castellarano, on September 11, 1075; no. 33, pp. 116-119, at San Prospero in Reggio on December 9, 1080. Bertolini 1970 records a separate donation by Beatrice on December 8, 1073.

45.2. Drawing of a Notary, Matricola del Notaio, 12291294, pen and brown ink, Archivio di Stato di Bologna

Odofredo (d. 1265), who studied law in Bologna, stated that, before Wernerius (also known as Irnerius) arrived in Bologna, a man named Pepo had become an authority on Justinian’s books of Roman law (“auctoritate sua legere in legibus”) but had not received any measure of fame similar to that enjoyed by Irnerius. Both of these scholars of Roman law, Pepo and Wernerius, worked within the courts of Matilda and her mother Beatrice and appear in documents issued under their authority.41 Pepo appears among the judges when Justinian’s Digest is cited for the first time in three centuries in a decision issued in March of 1076 at Borgo Marturi under the authority of Matilda’s mother, Beatrice.42 His presence supports abbot Burchard’s statement that Wernerius revived the study of Justinian’s Code of civil law at the invitation of Matilda of Canossa. 70

river and on the north by the lands of the Monastery of Nonantola which he says Matilda donated in 1112 to the Canonica of the Cathedral of San Cesario. The Monastery of Nonantola claimed ownership of this property after Matilda’s death. Their claim was rejected by Pope Callixtus II who recalled that Matilda had attested to his predecessor, Pope Paschal II, that Beatrice, and then she, had possessed this land for 40 years, and defined it as hers “paterni juris praedium”. In 1134, Pope Innocent gave the territory to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po. See Die Urkunden 1998, no. 139, pp. 358-360. 34) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 151, pp. 382-386 (the authenticity of this document is questioned by Goez). 35) Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, is recorded in Zola Predosa on October 5, 1040, according to the Bertolini 1970 . 36) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 34, pp. 119-122, dated at Zola Predosa on July 7, 1082; no. 35, pp. 123-124, dated at Carpineta on February 25, 1083. In these she refers to herself as “Matilda comiptipsa filia domini Bonifatii marchionis”. 37) Ibid., no. 54, pp. 164-167, dated at loco sancti Marci on July 27, 1099. 38) Ibid., no. 71, pp. 208-212. 39) Argelato is located a few kilometers north of Bologna (taking the route to Castel Maggiore); the Romanesque Church of San Michele has been restored through the centuries. This beautiful structure remains the center of the parish of the town of Argelato. Die Urkunden 1998, no. 89, pp. 251-252, dated at Gallicano on July 19, 1105. 40) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 88, pp. 448449. Legal scholars read this passage to mean that Matilda asked Irnerius to restore the pages to their original order and to fix the losses in the texts. See Cortese 2004. The year 1088 has a particular significance to the Gregorian reform because on March 12, 1088, Odo of Rheims, the man nominated by Gregory VII at his death to succeed him was elected Pope Urban II. He had Matilda’s complete support. With the papacy in the hands of a man committed to the reforms of Gregory VII, Matilda would have then turned to the task of reviving the laws of that would support the new administration based in Rome. 41) See McSweeney and Spike 2015, pp. 2129; Brundage 2008, p. 81. 42) Cambi Schmitter 2009, pp. 77-79.

23) See A. Calzona, L’Altercatio tra Mantova e Canossa: immagini ‘diverse’ al servizio della Riforma, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, pp. 20-49; V. Ghizzi, in ibid., no. 30, pp. 436443. 24) O. Rombaldi, La chiesa reggiana dal 962 al 1060, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 95. 25) For a detailed discussion see M. Musini, L’architettura medievale nel territorio reggiano, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, pp. 325330. 26) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 101, pp. 276277, dated at San Benedetto Po on March 1, 1107; no. 106, pp. 285-287, at Baggiovara on September 25-30, 1107; no. 108, pp. 289290, at Governolo in April 1108; no. 109, pp. 290-292, at Montebaranzone in June 1108. 27) See Frangi 1999; see generally Golinelli 2006. 28) Possible biblical references: Sirach 27: 10: “As a lion crouches in wait for prey, so do sins for evildoers;” Proverbs 28: 15: “Like a roaring lion or a ravenous bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.” 29) For discussion of Wiligelmo’s frieze see Spike 2004, pp. 239-252; D. Glass, Leggendo il Genesi nelle sculture della Cattedrale di Modena, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, pp. 177187. 30) “The Cathedral at Modena is arguably the most extensively published of all Italian Romanesque cathedrals.” See Glass 2000, pp. 326-338, at p. 326 and fn. 1 for extensive bibliography. Glass also discusses the Gregorian program of the Cathedral. See also Soli 1974; Pistoni 1987; Spike 2004, pp. 239-249; Spike 2007, pp. 278-288. 31) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 86, pp. 245-246, dated June 22, 1105, and declared her residence at San Cesario sul Panaro; no. 110, pp. 292-295, dated September 16, 1108; no. 116, pp. 307-308, dated June 1109, “Residente comitissa Matilda apud sanctum Cesarium...”. On August 29, 1110 (ibid., no. 122, pp. 318320) Matilda was again in San Cesario sul Panaro from which she confirmed a prior donation. See also ibid., Dep. no. 98, pp. 455456. 32) Ibid., no. 114, pp. 302-304, dated May 1, 1109; and no. 115, pp. 304-307, dated June 9, 1109. 33) Overmann (1895, ed. 1980, pp. 11-12) described the Court of Vilzagara as a large tract of land bordered on the east by the Panaro

Matildan Routes through the Apennines mountains

Route 5

Through the Apennines from Emilia to Tuscany: the Reno and Limentra rivers in the east; the Secchia and the Enza rivers in the west; the Serchio river from San Pellegrino in Alpe to Lucca

Matilda is the gem of an old rock, the last member of a dynasty that originated in Lucca and controlled the passes to the north of that Tuscan base. The countless stone towers that bristle at the crest of every Apennine cliff on this itinerary chronicle the one hundred seventy-five year bond between her family and this land. Her great-grandfather Atto created the fortified system of defense using the natural gradations of the mountains on the eastern bank of the Enza river. Going south, in three parallel lines, beginning at the foothills of Quattro Castella, the fortresses guard the approach to the Passo delle Radici through the Apennines to Lucca.1 Isolated blocks against the sky, each castle is poised atop a valley, and visible from the neighboring ridge. Matilda used the natural defenses of these spectacular mountains to force the Germans to recognize her, Bonifacio’s daughter, as entitled to his lands. The family controlled various passes connecting northern Italy to Tuscany and the itineraries follow the passes: A. The Passo della Collina between Bologna and Pistoia; B. The road connecting the monasteries north of Pistoia, Prato and Florence; C. The pass along the Secchia river valley from Modena to San Pellegrino in Alpe; D. The pass along the Enza river valley from Reggio nell’Emilia to San Pellegrino in Alpe; E. The pass from San Pellegrino in Alpe through the Serchio river valley to Lucca.

A. The Passo della Collina from Bologna to Pistoia along the Reno and Limentra river valleys Today, the main north-south artery of Italy Autostrada A-1 largely follows this eastern boundary of Canossan lands. Matilda’s ancestors had various fortresses which guarded the via Emilia between Bologna and Modena and the entrance to the Apennine mountains along the Reno river valley. Among these were: Vignola,2 Savignano sul Panaro on Monte Morello, and Monteveglio. In a document of 1107, Matilda transferred possession of the castle of Savignano sul Panaro to the Gregorian bishop of Modena, Dodone.3 The towers of the Canossan fortresses and the churches along this route were mostly destroyed during World War II, including the fortress above the Reno river valley at Cantagallo.

46. Monteveglio (BO) The fort at Monte Morello (Savignano sul Panaro) was the first fortress attacked by the troops of Henry IV in the Spring of 1092 and it fell almost immediately.4 Henry IV proceeded south along the Panaro river and attacked the second fortress at Monteveglio. Monteveglio resisted the King’s seige for the entire summer of 1092, thereby thwarting Henry IV’s entry into Tuscany.5 His defeat at Mon-

46.1

teveglio presaged the defeat Henry IV would suffer at Canossa the following October. To thank God for the victory obtained here, Matilda transformed this invincible machine of war into the venerated monastery dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta of Monteveglio, constructed between 1092 and 1100 (Fig. 46.1).

ed in the eighth century, was restored by the Countess Matilda of Canossa (Figs. 47.1, 47.2).

48. Bombiana (BO) On August 9, 1098, Countess Matilda founded the Ospizio di San Michele at Bombiana, in the Reno river valley, with a donation of land for its construction.6 In 1118, Henry V put this hospice under his protection, citing in the document that the hospice was founded by the Countess Matilda.7 The hospice, at one time a dependency of the monastery at Fontana Taona, ceased operations by the fourteenth century. Its exact location remains the subject of speculation by scholars.8

47. Pieve of San Giovanni Battista, Trebbio (BO) The Pieve of San Giovanni Battista, at Gaggio Montano, Trebbio, is located in the Apennine mountains above the Reno river. It remains a magnificent example of Romanesque architecture, preserving sculptures from the eleventh century above the central door and on the capitals in the crypt. The adjacent baptistery is perhaps older than the church, dating from the ninth century. According to local tradition, the ancient pieve, found-

49. Spedaletto in Val di Limentra (PT) A hospice was located in the Val di Limentra on the southern side of the 73

47.1

47.2

Passo della Collina, that connects Bologna with Tuscany. The hospice was operated by the diocese of Prato (“l’ospizio di Pratum Episcopi”). It was recognized by both Matildan Popes, Urban II on December 19, 1094 and Pope Paschal II on November 14, 1105, and by Pope Honorius III on July 7, 1118. Beginning in 1178, the hospice allied with the commune of Pistoia. The hospice functioned until the end of the eighteenth century when it was closed. Matilda stayed at Spedaletto in Val di Limentra in the Summer of 1098 from which she made the donation to the hospice at Bombiana, see no. 48 above, and to the Badia a Taona in the company of the bishop of Pistoia on September 6, 1098, see no. 50 below.9 Of the ancient buildings only the small church and bell tower constructed of simple stone remain.

B. The road connecting the monasteries north of Pistoia, Prato and Florence 50. Badia a Fonte Taona (PT) The splendid Monastery of San Salvatore della Fontana Taona is first recorded in 1004. The monastery, located at the source of a natural spring, operated a hospice at the Tuscan end of the Passo della Collina. Grants from the German King Henry II in 1014 and his successor, Conrad II, in 1026, extended the lands controlled by the monastery through the entire valley of the Limentra river. Originally operated by monks from the Benedictine order, Taona became a possession of the monastery at Vallombrosa by 1090. In this period, about 200 monks lived within its walls. Matilda made donations of property to this monastery in 1098 and in 1104 as did the Counts Guidi, who controlled properties around Florence and with whom Matilda was allied.10 Nothing remains of this rich and powerful institution. 74

51. Baggio (PT) Proceeding down the mountain in the direction of Pistoia is the town of Baggio, which is one of the communities donated by Bonifacio to the Badia a Taona in 1004. According to local tradition, its church was founded by Countess Matilda of Canossa who entrusted its administration to the Badia a Taona.

52. Montecuccoli (FI) At the top of the pass that connects Bologna to Prato in the commune of Barberino nel Mugello is the eleventhcentury Pieve of San Michele. First documented in 990, the pieve was restored c. 1100 by the Countess Matilda of Canossa, as a cellule, or small monastic community, where she stopped en route to the Badia a Taona. The simple stone church was much transformed after 1560.

54.1

53. Scarperia (FI) The Pieve of Sant’Agata is located along the route used by travelers between Bologna and Tuscany. First documented in 984, the pieve’s foundations date to the fifth century and it is among the oldest churches in the Mugello. Local tradition records that the pieve was enlarged circa 1100 by Matilda of Canossa.11 The pieve which retains a beautiful simplicity of form was significantly restored after the earthquake of 1542 (Figs. 53.1, 53.1.1).

53.1

54. San Godenzo (FI) Overlooking the ridge road that connects Florence to Forlì, the Pieve of San Babila in San Bavello, was built, by popular tradition, by the Countess Matilda of Canossa. The pieve, first mentioned in the papal bull of Paschal II in 1103, was largely rebuilt after an earthquake of 1919 (Fig. 54.1). 53.1.1

55. Pieve of Santo Stefano (Castiglioni della Rufina, FI)

on July 12, 1073. His dedication to clerical reform certainly influenced Matilda who lived in Florence from 1058 until 1069. Matilda’s involvement with and donations to Vallombrosa indicate her sympathy with Gualberto’s views. Gualberto was canonized by Pope Celestine I in 1193. Matilda is never recorded as visiting Vallombrosa, although she enriched this monastery. Her first acts in Florence, after a twenty year gap in which Matilda left no trace in the Florentine archives, are dated March 1100. In one she recognizes the congregation of Vallombrosa and takes the monastery under her protection. She issued this document without using any title. Instead it recites that Matilda who by the grace of God I am (“dei gratia si quid sum”) is one with Count Guidone and his son Guidone Guerra. In this same document, Matilda made a donation for the construction of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta at the monastery.12 Three years later, in a document dated November 19, 1103, Matilda and Count Guido Guerra donated half of the castle of Magnale, which guarded the pass at Consuma that crosses the Apennines to the east coast of Italy and the Adriatic Sea, to the Monastery of Vallombrosa in resolution of a dispute between the Counts Guidi and the monks. The following January 31, 1104, the Countess Imilia, wife of Guido Guerra donated the other half of the castle to the abbot of Vallombrosa.13 The castle at Magnale became a Guelf refuge during the battles between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. When Matilda made her first donation to the monastery, in 1100, Bernardo degli Uberti (d. 1133) was the abbot of

The Pieve of Santo Stefano is all that remains of the ancient castle of Castiglioni della Rufina which looked down on the Sieve river along the road from Scarperia toward Florence. Local tradition attributes its construction to the desire of the Countess Matilda. The pieve retains the simple Romanesque form with a beautiful tripartite apse. The church was enlarged in 1338, and restored various times in the twentieth century.

56. Monastery at Vallombrosa (FI) In 1038 Giovanni Gualberto fled to the Pratomagno from the Monastery of San Miniato in Florence after accusing the abbot of simony in purchasing his election. According to a document dated July 3, 1039, the abbess of Sant’Ellero gave the land to Saint Giovanni Gualberto to build Vallombrosa and she also gave an orchard and vineyard at Pitiana at the base of the mountain to sustain the monks. The first church was a modest wooden oratory built around a stone altar. His order named after this monastery, the Vallombrosans, was recognized by Pope Victor II in 1055. At this same council, held in Florence, King Henry III stripped Beatrice and Matilda of Bonifacio’s property and sent them to live in exile in Germany. Three years later, on July 9, 1058, a Romanesque church of stone with monastic cloister was consecrated. The monastery was enlarged to its present size in 1230 (Fig. 56). Gualberto’s zeal in rooting out simony and clerical marriage contributed to a continual turmoil in Florence until the saint’s death when he was 88 years old

Right: 56

the monastery at Vallombrosa. He became Matilda’s spiritual advisor the following year and remained her close ally until the end of her life. He witnessed the document issued at Canossa in November 1102 when Matilda reconfirmed her donation of all her property to Pope Gregory VII’s successors as Pope in Rome.14 He was appointed bishop of Parma by Pope Paschal II in 1104 and was able to obtain possession of the see in the Autumn of 1106 (see no. 38 Parma). The monastery was richly embellished over the ensuing centuries and its Romanesque origins are obscured (Fig. 56). However, two paintings record its relationship with the Countess. In the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, at the right of the altar, is The reconciliation of Gregory VII with Henry IV in the castle of Canossa and in the presence of the Countess Matilda by Niccolò Nannetti (1732). On the end wall of the library is The Donation of Lands to the Badia of Vallombrosa by the Countess Matilda by Fra’ Arsenio (1609).15

river valley. Local tradition attributes the ancient foundations of the Church of San Michele Arcangelo, on the via Matilde di Canossa, 1, to the Countess. The church owns a silver chalice, datable to c. 1200s, which by tradition was donated by her. The presence of Matilda in Montebaranzone is confirmed in various documents dated between June 1108 and June 15, 1114.17 In the Summer of 1114, Matilda fell gravely ill at Montebaranzone. The rumor of her illness became exaggerated and, by the time it reached Mantua, the citizens heard Matilda had died. They over reacted to the news and convinced her guards to grant them entry to her castle at Rivalta, which they then burned to the ground (see no. 8). Matilda was recovering at Montebaranzone when she learned about this treachery. According to Donizone she rose from her sickbed to raise an army and quell the Mantuan rebellion. She got as far as Bondeno, when she was met on the road by a delegation from Mantua seeking her pardon.18 Matilda died a year later, on July 24, 1115, without returning here.

C. The pass along the

59. Rocca di Santa Maria di Serramazzoni (MO)

Secchia river valley from Modena to San Pellegrino in Alpe

The Rocca di Santa Maria stood in the Apennines at 800 meters above sea level and approximately the same distance south of Modena as Canossa was to Reggio. Its position places this Rocca along the southern parallel defensive lines in the Apennine foothills built by Atto to guard the pass from Modena into Tuscany. The Rocca appears in documents as early as 971, listed among the possessions of the bishop of Ferrara. By 1038 the bishop had ceded the fortress to

57. Castellarano (RE) The Pieve of San Valentino was given in feud to the Countess by the bishop of Reggio Emilia and by her donated to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po.16

58. Montebaranzone (MO) Montebaranzone, located today in the comune of Prignano sulla Secchia, was a Matildan fort overlooking the Secchia

Bonifacio. In a document dated April 1108, Matilda returned the fortress to the church in the person of the bishop of Modena. A few months later, after she had arrived at a neighboring castle called Montebaranzone (see no. 58 above), in June 1108, a document records that a group of “homines” of the Rocca di Santa Maria complained to her that the bishop was acting unjustly and that Matilda advised him to stop.19 In these months, the walls of the Cathedral at Modena were rising. The “abuse” complained of was most likely a question of taxation, as the bishop would have needed money for his building fund. The town of Montebaranzone has a annual celebration of this placito, when the Countess took the side of the citizens against the bishop. Nearly inaccessible by road today, the Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta (Fig. 59.1) is all that remains of the ancient Rocca which was restored in the 1900s. Thick squat columns divide the interior nave. The capitals, impressively carved with floral tracery, are datable to the twelfth century and were described by A.K. Porter as “the most beautiful in all northern Italy.”20

D. The pass along the Enza

river valley from Reggio nell’Emilia to San Pellegrino in Alpe

a. On the western bank of the Enza river, after crossing at San Polo d’Enza in the valley formed with the Parma river, are two churches connected to Matilda.

60. Lesignano (PR) The Badia Vallombrosana di San Michele Cavana was built by Bernardo degli Uberti, bishop of Parma. Indicated in a Bull of Pope Paschal II in 1115, it is likely that Matilda contributed to its construction. Frequently restored over the centuries, only the cloister retains evidence of its twelfth-century origins.

61. Neviano Arduini (PR) According to local tradition, the Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta in Sasso built in 1004, was restored by the Countess Matilda. A beautiful gray stone structure of rare authenticity and among the oldest in the Parmese zone, the pieve preserves an octagonal baptismal font from the early 1100s.

59.1

b. The oldest and best known fortresses of Matilda’s family line the eastern bank of the Enza river.

Church of San Martino as being under the Monastery of Sant’Apollonio of Canossa, although restorations in later centuries eliminated any trace of a Romanesque structure.

62. San Polo d’Enza (RE) This fortess has guarded the Apennine approach to Canossa from the Enza river valley since Etruscan times. In Matilda’s day, it was a fortified borgo surrounded by walls and ringed with moats. The Pieve of Santi Pietro e Paolo, called Plebs de Caviliano in the diploma of Otto II dated in 980, was appropriated by Bonifacio and at his death returned to the administration of Benedictine monks. The church was significantly modified in the seventeenth century.

64. Quattro Castella (RE) The town of Quattro Castella takes its name from four castles atop four hills, of equal height and equidistant apart, which rise in front of the town in a remarkably straight line. These “four castles” offer in a single panorama an introduction into the natural advantages and massive constructions that sheltered Matilda and gave her ancestors control of northern Italy. Of the fortresses which crowned their tops, only the castle of Bianello remains (Fig. 64). Bianello, Matilda’s most important castle after Canossa, is cited three times in Donizone’s Vita Mathildis. Pope Gregory VII met the German King Henry IV at Bianello in early February 1077. In the days following this last meeting, Henry IV repudiated the promises he had made at Canossa the month before and the

63. Ciano d’Enza-Canossa (RE) Originally called Ciano d’Enza, the town took the name of Matilda’s castle, Canossa, in a referendum held at the beginning of the 1990s. From here the road proceeds upwards, to Matilda’s castles of Rossena and Canossa. A document of 1156 mentions the parish

Pope and the Countess permanently broke relations with the German King.21 Two decades later, Bianello was Matilda’s final refuge during the historic siege by the Imperial forces of Henry IV against Canossa in October 1092. Within these impregnable walls Matilda likely heard the news of her miraculous victory.22 Two more decades passed, and Bianello was the site chosen for the resolution of Matilda’s political status. For three days beginning on May 6, 1111, Matilda met Henry V, the son of her great nemesis Henry IV. Henry V called her mother and crowned Matilda Vice Queen of Liguria (“vice regina di Liguria”), a title Matilda never used. By this act, Henry V re-assumed the feudal feuds of her father, Bonifacio, to which Henry V was entitled under Salic law as the closest male relation and as the Salic King.23 Henry V agreed however to honor the donations of properties previously made by herself and her ancestors to certain named monasteries. Henry V abided by this agreement. When the king arrived in Italy to take control of Bonifacio’s feuds, he granted his protection to the Canossan monasteries at Pomposa and at San Benedetto Po.24 Neither Henry V nor his successor, Frederick Barbarossa, were able to reimpose German feudal control over northern Italy. Barbarossa ultimately recognized the privileges previously obtained by the Italian communes from Henry IV and Matilda in the Peace of Constance signed on June 25, 1183.25 Bianello has been occupied continuously to the present day and was beautifully restored when acquired by the Comune di Quattro Castella in the early years of the twentyfirst century. The Church of Sant’Antonino stands at

the base of Bianello’s hill and across from an open field where each May the town hosts a medieval celebration of the Coronation of Matilda of Canossa by Henry V. According to an epigraph on the church, it was founded in 1112. Its present form dates to the sixteenth century. A modern statue of the Countess by Sergio Brizzolesi stands in the parking lot in front. A 1082 document records the donation by bishop Eriberto of Reggio of the “Cappellam Sancti Georgi” to the Monastery at Canossa. Recent archeological investigations have uncovered foundations in the Church of Saint George Martyr (Chiesa di San Giorgio Martire) in Roncolo, a village of Quattro Castella, datable to Matilda’s moment. The church itself was completely restored in the sixteenth century.

65. Santuario Beata Vergine

della Battaglia, Quattro Castella (RE)

The road between Canossa and Bianello ascends in curves through rolling hills. Ridges are separated by grassy slopes, too steep to easily traverse, but near enough to see across quite clearly. The tiny shrine called the Santuario Beata Vergine della Battaglia stands on

66. View of Rossena and Rossenella from the Castle of Canossa

used for conferences and receptions. The slender Tower of Rossenella rises on a hill slightly south of Rossena (Fig. 66). Accessible only on foot, it reflects the original tenth-century plan, a square form built up three levels. The ground floor functioned as a storeroom for supplies; a second provided living quarters for 6 to 7 people; the top floor was used as a sentry post and battle station for defenders armed with hot oil, arrows, and lances. One entered at the second floor, via a retractible wooden ladder for security purposes.26

the place where, it is said, Matilda, in the early hours of October 1092 heard the troops of King Henry IV marching in the opposite direction. At once she sent several escorts to Canossa, surprising and routing the soldiers of Henry IV. The shrine was built in thanksgiving for this decisive victory (Fig. 65).

66. Rossena (RE) The “castellum de Rossena” derives its name from the red volcanic rock on which it sits. Matilda’s great-grandfather, Atto, built Rossena c. 950 as a watch tower rising above the Enza valley with a clear view to his fortress of Canossa. Bonifacio, Matilda’s father, may have enlarged the castle. The oldest portion is still visible at the core of the present structure which retains the rustic forms of a military outpost. Recently restored, the castle is today

67. Canossa (RE) Donizone begins both volumes of the Vita Mathildis here, identifying Canossa as a place of refuge for queens, for Popes, for all people who resist the ire of violent kings. He wrote that Matilda loved Canossa and continuously enriched the castle with new towers.27 Donizone called this isolated moun82

67.1

taintop a “new Rome” (Figs. 67, 67.1). Atto built this castle on a “naked cliff ” (“silice nuda”) in 940 so well fortified that, it was said, not even a ram or a fox could reach its elevated towers.28 Building continued throughout Atto’s life, including the addition of the church (961) and the acquisition of relics of Sant’Apollonio (971). His son, Tedaldo, obtained papal permission to add a cloister on December 29, 975.29 The church had a family crypt where Atto and his wife, Hildegard, Tedaldo and his wife, Guilia were buried.30 Matilda’s

father was buried at Mantua, the center of his court, a fact greatly lamented by Donizone.31 Canossa was the site of the famous humiliation of the German King Henry IV in the snow in January of 1077. The Roman Pope Gregory VII remained protected within its walls, while Henry IV begged to be readmitted to communion with the Church barefoot, garbed only in a penitent’s robe for three days, January 24-28, 1077. After his pardon, Pope Gregory said Mass, and gave Henry IV communion, in the

The entrance to the path that leads up to the ruins of Castle of Canossa

Church of Sant’Apollonio, of which only the apse remains. In Donizone’s telling of this event, the king knelt first before the abbot of Cluny, and then before Matilda, begging their intercession on his behalf with the pope (Fig. 67.2). By February 1077, Henry IV had repudiated his promises and, in the spring of 1081, he returned to Italy determined to unseat Gregory VII as Pope. From March of 1081 until her final victory in October of 1092, Matilda lived exclusively in these mountains. In addition to the twelve monks for whom the Monastery of Canossa was home, bishop Anselmo arrived in July 1081 after being expelled from Lucca. Countless other clerics arrived, from Italy, Germany and France, forced to flee their parishes in fear of their lives for their support of the Gregorian reform. Canossa, says Donizone, welcomed them all. Matilda gave Gregory VII’s cause everything she had. In 1082 she ordered the gold and silver liturgical objects given by her family to the Church of Sant’Apollonio to be melted down and sent to the Pope to pay the soldiers to defend Rome from the siege laid by the German King.32 She said, when her gold ran out, Rome fell to the forces of Henry IV in 1084. The German King named a new Pope, Clement III, who crowned him Holy Roman Emperor. When the Norman armies of Robert Guiscard arrived, Henry left Rome, but Clement III remained on Saint Peter’s throne. The Normans took Gregory VII back to Salerno where he died, in exile, in May 1085. After Gregory’s death, Matilda continued her resistance based at Canossa, the core of the network of mountain fortresses castles whose forlorn towers still bristle on each hillock of

ashy gray earth. Her obstinacy forced Henry IV to return to Italy in the spring of 1090. He conquered all of the towns on the Paduan plain north of the Apennines. He offered a single condition for peace: Matilda had to recognize the papacy of his Pope, Clement III. Tired of the isolation of these mountains after over a decade of war, all of her counselors, bishops, and abbots, advised her to accept. But, Matilda refused. Her rejection and the resistance of her fortress at Monteveglio to the King’s siege (see no. 46), stopped Henry IV’s advance through Italy. In October 1092, the King had no choice but to direct his army against her rocky legions. Following the Enza river, Henry arrived to attack Canossa itself. His martial trumpets were answered by psalms sung from the abbots and bishops and monks living within its ramparts. As the German troops drove toward the summit a miraculous fog rose, rendering the fortress and the mountain ridges invisible. In the confusion the King lost his standard. Henry IV retreated to the Po river plain, defeated. The King’s defeat converted the people of northern Italy to Matilda’s side and to the side of those faithful to Pope Gregory’s reforms of the Roman Church.33 The Communes of Milan, Cremona, Lodi, and Piacenza, former enclaves of schismatic bishops, seceded from the German Empire and united to form their own political unit, called “La Lega” (the League). On Christmas 1094, a decade after Gregory VII’s exile from Rome began, his chosen successor, who had Matilda’s full support, Pope Urban II celebrated Christmas Mass at Saint Peter’s and regained Saint Peter’s throne. 85

67.2

and at her left is the Captain of her army, Arduino of Palude (Fig. 67.3). Donizone lived at the monastery at Canossa eventually becoming its abbot. He probably began the manuscript c. 1110, when Matilda retired again to this mountaintop, as her nemesis’s son, Henry V and his armies plundered the plain below. She told Donizone her version of the momentous events of her and her ancestor’s lives and he put pen to parchment in the monastery’s scriptorium. Donizone

From Canossa, on November 17, 1102, Matilda confirmed the donation of all her property to Pope Gregory VII and his successors as Pope in Rome. The act sealed the withdrawal of the Italian communes from the German feudal system. One final document was issued at Canossa, the principal and irreplaceable chronicle of her life, the Vita Mathildis. On the Frontispiece of Donizone’s work is the Portrait of Matilda of Canossa; at her right is the monk Donizone 86

67.3

recorded that “with Matilda, Beatrice founded two monasteries... the first was at Frassinoro... and the second was Donizone’s own Monastery of Sant’Apollonio at Canossa”.34 Today, the ruins of the historic fortress of Canossa rise on a sharp horn of hard white stone, canus (white in Latin) from which the castle takes its name. Canossa has languished in ruins since 1255 when the citizens of Reggio tore it down stone by stone. A third of the mountain’s original surface has disinte-

grated from erosion, mud slides, and earthquakes occurring in its one thousand year history. In addition to the evocative ruins, a few architectural pieces survive in the museum. The one Matilda herself may have touched is the magnificent baptismal font from the Church of Sant’Apollonio. Decorated with symbols of evangelists, the sculpted figures are distinctively provincial in style and have a wonderfully whimsical air (Fig. 135.2).35

68. Pieve di Pianzo (RE)

of Reggio. The oratory was one of the properties ceded by the bishop of Reggio to Bonifacio in the middle of the eleventh century.37 Local tradition remembers that Matilda restored the small country church: a single apse with blind arcade and unadorned façade.

The beautiful gray stone Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta at Pianzo stands on a small hill a short way from Canossa. It is mentioned in two Papal Bulls of 1057 and 1072 as affiliated to the Monastery of San Prospero at Reggio which suggests that it was constructed at the request of Beatrice and Matilda.

71. Marola (RE) The Abbey Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Marola (Fig. 71.1) was founded by Matilda c. 1092 and supported with the abundant donation of lands.38 Some connect its foundation to “the hermit named Giovanni” who Donizone identified as attending the council held at Carpineti nearby in September 1092. In this event, the monastery’s foundation would have been in thanksgiving for her victory, which the hermit Giovanni predicted. The monastery was consecrated in a ceremony of 1106, which Matilda presumably attended. The simple quiet cloister of the monastery was completed in the first decade of the 1100s. The exterior apse with its blind arcade at the roof line and single arch window, is also original. The broad façade, with a single arched central portal was evocatively restored in 1955. The simple interior is divided into three naves, by two rows of

69. Castle of Sarzano (RE) A squat square crenellated tower is all that remains of the castle of Sarzano. According to a 958 document Matilda’s great grandfather purchased “the forests below and the place of Sarzana”. Lower on the hill stands the ex Church of San Bartolomeo with its bell tower, the Torre del Cassero.36 A deed of 1116 signed by Henry V recognized this castle as part of the possessions of the Monastery of Sant’Apollonio of Canossa. All have been recently restored.

70. Oratorio of San Michele,

Commune of Casina, Sarzana

(RE)

A small Oratorio of San Michele outside the town of Beleo was named in the 980 diploma of Otto II which contained a list of churches in the diocese

71.1

72.1

73. Cagnola (RE)

gray stone columns. The capitals bear a strong resemblance to the whimsical carving on the baptismal font at Canossa. Perhaps a local artisan of some quality carved both. Of particular note is a capital encircled with smiling choirboys.39 A document dated April 13, 1159 contains the first mention of the local cheese today known as Parmigiano Reggiano for which the region remains famous.40 The Abbey of Marola obtained three forms of cheese or “formadio” in addition to three gold lucchese coins as rent for nearby pastures and woods.

The Church of San Prospero was built in 1112.42 The single room church of solid stone blocks rises next to a mountain torrent. The interior columns and capitals are original with strange, primitive carvings of satanic faces with horns. The date of its construction and its appearance in the records of bishop Bonseniore of Reggio as a sister house of the Monastery of Sant’Apollonio of Canossa, connects the origins of this church to Countess Matilda.43 Local tradition also connects Matilda to construction of the Church of San Donnino di Tresinara which is cited in documents beginning in 1191. The architrave around the portal is sculpted with vine tracery.

72. Felina (RE) The Church of Santa Maria Assunta, at Felina is listed in documents as early as 870, and is another of the pieve confirmed to the bishop of Reggio by Otto II in 980. Matilda placed the church under the Monastery of Canossa after the monks contributed their treasure to her in 1082.41 Little remains of the original structure (Fig. 72.1).

74. Carpineti (RE) Rising over 800 meters above sea level, 200 meters higher than Canossa, the castle of Carpineti was the most secure of all Matilda’s castles (Fig. 74). It is also the best preserved. Isolated on the top of 89

Saint Peter himself, that Christ would grant Matilda a great victory. Matilda refused to surrender and her troops decisively defeated those of the German King Henry IV at Canossa one month later in October 1092.44 From Carpineti on March 15, 1102 Matilda issued an act to create an ospedale for the poor at Campo Camelasio. Local historians also connect a second document of Matilda’s dated at “Castellarano” in September 1106 to the creation in this place of a monastery linked with San Prospero at Reggio.45 The year before her death, when she was 68 years old, Matilda was spry enough to return here. Just before her final lingering illness, she is recorded at Carpineti deciding a dispute on April 20, 1114.46 A document of 1117 records the consecration of the Church of Sant’Andrea by bishop Bonseniore of Reggio, “sometime earlier, in the presence of the Countess Matilda of Canossa.” The Church of San Vitale was built according to local tradition by the Countess Matilda. Today it is located in a field down a dirt road at the base of the hill on which Carpineti stands. It is closed to the public and in need of restoration.

74. Rendering of the Castle of Carpineti, from Conoscere Carpineti, by Diva Valli and Stefania Beretti

Mount Antogno, at the end of a winding road, outside the town of the same name, Carpineti’s tower surveys the wide and verdant valley of the Secchia and Dragone rivers. Fig. 76 is a view of the ridge of Carpineti taken from the Pieve of Toano. Carpineti is identified as part of the Apennine network as early as 1043. Matilda’s frequent visits are recorded throughout her life. Pope Gregory VII stayed at Carpineti with Matilda for at least a week, March 1-6, 1077. Another document indicates that this stay was extended until late June, although other records suggest that Pope Gregory VII and Matilda were in Tuscany by early spring. It was at Carpineti in September 1092, where Matilda convened her counselors, including “abbots, hermits and bishops,” to discuss the terms of Matilda’s surrender to the German King Henry IV. Everyone present was exhausted, physically, emotionally and financially. They had retreated to the last safe place, at the top of this insuperable mountain. They had nowhere else to go. The debate ended when a holy man named Giovanni rose to speak. Giovanni foretold, in words directed by

75. Villa Minozzo (RE) Founded on March 15, 1102 by an act signed by the Countess at Carpineti, Villa Minozzo was originally built as an ospedale for the poor at Campo Camelasio47 near to the Terme di Quara. The healthy waters of the baths, which still flow at a constant temperature of 24.4° centigrade, continue to attract visitors, and a modern hospital has replaced the original medieval structure. Right: 76

76. Toano (RE)

World War II, the pieve has been sensitively restored. Sculpted capitals on the interior are reconstructed from pieces of the original Romanesque structure with animals and biblical stories (Fig. 76.2). The beautiful altar is today conserved in the Civic Museum of Reggio.

The fortress at Toano looked down from a height of 944 meters above sea level and onto three river valleys: the Secchia, the Dolo and the Dragone. Across the fertile valley of the Secchia river which winds, a ribbon of silver through fields of fruit trees (Fig. 76), is the ridge we have just crossed at the middle of which is the square tower of Carpineti, a black silhouette against the clear blue sky. The castle guarded the critical junction of three roads. First, the one we have just followed. Second, the road that proceeds down the Secchia river valley and connects with the via Emilia at Rubiera and Modena, along what is today Statale 486. These roads join at this valley and continue south climbing to the Passo delle Radici into Tuscany. Of the Apennine fortress, only the Pieve of Santa Maria survives (Fig. 76.1). Listed in the diploma of Otto II dated October 14, 980, it was restored by the Countess Matilda c. 1070. Completely destroyed during

77. Vitriola (MO) In August 1071, Vitriola appears as one of the locations named in the donation made by Beatrice to the Monastery of Frassinoro.47 The medieval tower di Ca’ de’ Borlenghi, which dates to the end of the eleventh century, was part of a larger fortified complex at the interior of which stood the Church of Sant’Andrea. The fortification defended the approach to Montefiorino, and the road to Modena. By tradition the Church of Sant’Andrea was founded by Matilda of Canossa and her mother Beatrice, possibly at the same time as the foundation of Frassinoro (see no. 79). The large blocks of stones in the simple façade and side walls are original

76.1

to this date. The single arched central portal had a sculpted lunette showing three figures dressed in long tunics at the side of which is an eagle holding a book in his claws and an angel with wings spread. The exact subject is unknown, although the side figures may be symbols of the evangelists. The lunette, today conserved inside the church, is coeval with the church itself, that is, datable to the second half of the eleventh century.

eighth century and had beautifully carved Romanesque capitals which are today preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Reggio. The pieve is next to the mountain of Antognano, which Overmann records belonged to Matilda, in feud from the church in Reggio.48 Palagano is first cited in a deed of 1144 as a village belonging to the lands of the Monastery of Frassinoro; it became an autonomous Commune in 1197.

78. Palagano (MO)

79. Frassinoro (MO) The Monastery of Frassinoro lies hidden within a picturesque mountain village located between the Dragone and Dolo rivers. Locals record that the ancient Roman via Bibulca connected Frassinoro to the Monastery of San Pellegrino in Alpe located at the top of the Passo delle Radici that crosses into Tuscany. The via Bibulca, a path “wide enough for a pair of oxen”, seems to have been eternally traveled by merchants and pilgrims across these moun-

Rising at the crest of Monte Santa Giulia, above the Dragone river valley, the Pieve of Santa Giulia (plebs de Montibus) was founded by the Countess. Destroyed on January 8, 1945 by the Germans, the pieve was completely restored in the 1950s with the original fragments to its twelfth century form, based upon early nineteenth-century photographs. A short distance away is the Oratorio of San Vitale. The pieve dates from the

76.2

tains on their way to or from Rome. The Roman way was revived by the Lombard King Liutprando at the beginning of the eighth century to reopen the Passo delle Radici and connect the Modenese Apennines with Lombard possessions in the Garfa*gnana. A church is recorded here as early as the eighth century; it belonged to the pieve of Rubbiano and was within the jurisdiction of the bishop of Modena.49 On August 29, 1071, Beatrice, Matilda’s mother, endowed Frassinoro as a Benedictine monastery donating twelve “curte” or walled towns, their surrounding lands and income therefrom. The parchment reads that it was founded in memory of the souls of Beatrice’s two deceased husbands, Bonifacio and Godfrey, and of her granddaughter, Beatrice (“per vantaggio dell’anima della fu mia nipote Beatrice”). This document is the only mention of Matilda’s child who was born in the Lorraine, and died there on January 9, 1071, soon after her birth.50 Matilda and her mother visited Frassinoro at least once during the construction of this monastery. On

November 2, 1072, they are recorded as present when the relics of San Claudio, martyr, were translated to the main altar. Beatrice’s gift removed the church from the jurisdiction of the local bishop, in this case the bishop of Modena, and gave the monastery to Benedictines monks, who elected their own abbot from within their community, subject only to Papal Rome. On February 11, 1077, Gregory VII confirmed papal jurisdiction.51 His act, within a few weeks of Henry IV’s dramatic pardon, and the King’s subsequent repudiation, formed part of a larger plan which Pope and Countess developed in these mountains. A few months later, in the fall of 1077, Matilda donated all her father’s property to Papal Rome, removing northern Italy from the jurisdiction, not only of local bishops, but also the German King. This policy to favor monastics over the regular clergy was also mentioned by Donizone, “with Matilda, Beatrice founded two monasteries... the first was at Frassinoro to which Beatrice donated many lands because they both wished to

79.1.1

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79.1

80.1.1

A simple white stone structure, the abbey church was completely restored in the fifteenth century after a mud slide destroyed the original structure (Fig. 79.1). Marble fragments from the original church are displayed in the interior (Figs. 79.1.1, 79.1.2). The most precious item, displayed on the side altar, is a splendid eucharistic dove, used to conserve the consecrated host, made of copper, enamel and precious stones. According to local tradition the dove was a personal gift of Matilda to the abbot of Frassinoro, datable to c. 1071-1100.

elevate the monks over the canons. The second was Donizone’s own Monastery of Sant’Apollonio at Canossa”.52 Much of the wealth bestowed on this monastery by Beatrice was squandered by the abbot. In 1099, Pope Paschal II complained to Matilda regarding a violent attack and robbery by men sent by the abbot against Carpi, one of the castrum included in the Beatrice’s original donation. The Pope asked Matilda to compensate the church in Carpi for the damage suffered, demanding that the abbot cease further violence. By Papal Bull dated December 5, 1107, Paschal II removed the abbot and placed Frassinoro under the abbot of the Monastery of Chaise-Dieu in France. No natural relationship between these two abbeys has ever been explained and the decision created many tensions between the two houses over the centuries.53

80. Montefiorino (MO) The Pieve of Rubbiano dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin is among the most beautiful of the rural Romanesque pieve built by the Countess. First documented in 880, it is mention in Beatrice’s August 29, 1071 donation to the 95

80.1

nicely carved with floral motifs. Even the holy water font is period, decorated by two swimming female sirens. It stands atop a short column. Next to the church is a simple square bell tower, which may be one of the few original surviving (albeit restored).

Monastery of Frassinoro. According to local tradition, the pieve was restored “as part of the politics of the Countess Matilda of Canossa to build hospices along the mountain passes like the via Bibulca in order to assist travelers and religious pilgrimage.” The pieve has a simple façade, with a single arched central portal, and a raised roof that delineates the nave and two side aisles (Fig. 80.1). Alternating blocks of unfinished stones mark the entire right side of the façade. On the exterior of its splendid apse, the cornice is carved with pendentive ornament (Fig. 80.1.1). A single arched window in the apse lights the stone altar. The simple stone interior is divided by six columns (Fig. 80.1.2). The capitals are

81. Prati di San Geminiano (MO) In the Dragone river valley beneath the Frassinoro Monastery are fertile farmlands that were once the site of a hospice dedicated to San Geminiano, the same saint whose relics sanctify the altar of the Duomo of Modena. In July of 1105, in an act made at Pieve Fosciana, on the Tuscan side of the Passo delle Radici, Matilda took the hospice under Right: 80.1.2

View of the Passo delle Radici at San Pellegrino in Alpe on the border between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany

E. The pass from San Pellegrino in Alpe through the Serchio river valley to Lucca

her protection (“nos hospitale sancti Geminiani iuxta Alpem positum nostra in tutela”) and under the protection of the bishops of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and the abbot of Frassinoro.54 The act was made in the presence of “good men” from both Lombardy and Tuscany, that is on both sides of the Apennines, and indicates Matilda’s intent to encourage cooperation among communities to promote travel and pilgrimage across the Apennines. Although it is indicated on ancient maps, no trace of the hospice remains.

Near the top of Monte Chiozza, 1525 meters above sea level, stands a small cluster of gray stone buildings – a ristoro or bar for drinks and sandwiches, a gastronomia for cut meats and mountain specialties, like sausages and truffles, an inn and a church – much as they have for nearly 1,500 years. The air is crisp, no matter what the temperture in the valley from which the road ascended. The panorama from the church extends across the Alpi Apuane chain, miles of naked mountaintops, with the occasional wisp of white cloud floating below. The border between Emilia and Tuscany passes directly through the length 98

of the sanctuary of this church, placing exactly half of the church in each province. Various local legends describe that the location of the border was set by an epic struggle between two bulls, because each province wanted to claim the body of the saint who died in these mountains in 643. The bulls established the border, and the burial spot of San Pellegrino, a royal pilgrim, son of the King of Scotland. He had renounced his throne to travel to Rome and became a hermit living in these mountains. Renowned for taming wild beasts and defeating devils, he also offered hospitality to other travellers who passed along the via Bibulca from Reggio and Modena to Tuscany. The church, San Pellegrino in Alpe, was dedicated on August 10, 643, and is first mentioned, “Hospetale di San Pelegrino”, in a notarial deed issued at Castiglione di Garfa*gnana on the road

towards Lucca and dated August 6, 1110. The earliest document in the Archives of San Lorenzo, in Florence, today conserved in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, is dated 1022 and records a donation of San Pellegrino in Alpe to the monks of this monastery who administered this complex as a rest stop for travelers. Matilda is not recorded here, but she surely stopped to stay with these monks, as she constantly traveled across this mountain pass between her properties in Lombardy, Emilia and Tuscany. Massive and heavy these alpine structures were built to withstand raw mountain weather, centuries of winds and snow and rain. With few windows, and little architectural adornment, the Church and Ospizio of San Pellegrino does not resemble the other Romanesque structures in this guide. As a penance pilgrims would carry

The church and ospizio of San Pellegrino in Alpe

stones up the mountain and leave them near the village in a place called the Devil’s Circle (Giro del Diavolo), socalled because before depositing their stones pilgrims circled the pile three times. The original hospice where travellers stayed the night was converted in 1987 into a museum of rural culture of this area of the Apennines which contains countless artifacts of daily mountain life.

chio river many times during her life. She built at least one bridge that spans this river and still stands, north of Lucca at Borgo Mozzano (see no. 86).

82. Pieve Fosciana (LU) It took Matilda no more than eighteen days to travel, on foot, by horse or oxdrawn carriage, from San Cesario sul Panaro, no. 43, where she signed a document on June 22, 1105, to Pieve Fosciana (“villa Foxana”), where she attended a hearing, eighteen days later, on July 10, 1105.56 When Matilda arrived, a group of dignataries from either side of the Apennine divide, Lucca in Tuscany and Carpineti in Emilia, were gathered with Peter, abbot of the Badia de Pozzeveri and his lawyer, Fralmone. The Badia de Pozzeveri is south-east of Lucca, on the via Francigena. The abbot asserted a claim to certain lands between Pieve Fosciana and the badia, in the area near Bagni di Lucca. Matilda recognized the monastery’s possession of the properties. This document is cited in the websites of two towns in the Val di Lima, Cocciglia, “1105 – The Countess Matilde of Canossa gives the incomes of the Church of San Michele to the abbot Pietro of the monastery of Pozzeveri,” and Granaiola, which states that nobles with the surname, “Porcaresi”, are mentioned as friends of the Countess Beatrice of Lorena and her daughter Matilda. In a second document, also dated from Pieve Fosciana in July 1105, Matilda took under her protection the hospice just up the road on the Emilian side of the pass (see Villa Minozzo no. 75).57 This act also notes the presence of leading citizens (“good men”) from both Lombardy and Tuscany (“bonorum hominum Lombardie et Tuscie”), that is, people who would be interested in

The Serchio river The final leg of this itinerary begins at Pieve Fosciana and follows the Serchio river valley. Matildan buildings line the river banks, from its origin near the mountain pass at San Pellegrino in Alpe along its course to Lucca, ending at Nozzano, west of Lucca where the Serchio river flows into the sea. The monasteries, churches and castles that line the Serchio form a sophisticated and comprehensive defensive line. The final stop, the castle at Nozzano, guarded the fluvial approach from the sea to Lucca, and ultimately the southern approach to the Canossan Apennine fortifications. The Serchio river was of particular importance to the Lucchese for trade. In his royal grant dated June 1081 which exempted the Lucchese from “the harsh customs of Bonifacio”, the German King specifically granted his protection: “We concede besides that if any (citizen of Lucca) enters the Serchio or Motrone rivers, with a boat or otherwise to do business with the Lucchese, they shall not be harmed or impeded from traveling or being on the abovenoted rivers or otherwise be injured or interfered with in any way.”55 Matilda traveled the length of the Ser100

82.1

83. Molazzana (LU)

the establishment of a safe haven for travel between their communities on either side of the mountain pass. What makes these documents interesting is not just the communication and coordination required to bring these men from disparate locations to the place and at the time when Matilda crossed the Apennines and arrived in Tuscany, but also the evidence of local governments composed of men interested in promoting public works for the common good. The Pieve of San Giovanni Battista at Fosciana is recorded as among the pieve built by San Frediano, bishop of Lucca. By local tradition, the pieve was restored at the request of the Countess Matilda. Restored many times over the centuries it is today a pretty church located beside a flowing stream (Fig. 82.1).

Molazzana (Mulazana) is among the properties recognized as belonging to the Badia de Pozzeveri in the ruling signed by Matilda in July 1105 at Pieve Fosciana. Little remains of the ancient Rocca, documented since 849, or of the ancient Church of San Frediano, which was restored, according to tradition by the Countess Matilda. On its foundations stands the present parish church.

84. Gallicano (LU) Of the castle that guarded this river crossing, only the Pieve of San Jacopo remains, built, according to local tradition, by the Countess Matilda. When Matilda left Pieve Fosciana, she crossed the river at Gallicano where she made a donation to the canons of the Cathedral at Bologna on July 19, 1105.58

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85. Barga (LU) The Pieve of Santa Maria a Loppia dates its foundation to 1058 when Matilda’s mother Beatrice restored a baptismal pieve dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. “It was the fourth of February 1058, a Saturday, when the bishop of Lucca, Anselmo da Baggio, the future Pope Alexander II, arrived at Loppia to consecrate the new sacred building and to begin a new era of history...” Countess Beatrice of Canossa ordered the building in this valley and she, together with her 12 year old daughter, Matilda, attended the consecration. In 2008, the church was completely and sensitively restored in honor of its 950th anniversary. The Pieve of Santa Maria a Loppia was attached to the castle at Loppia which looked down on the Serchio river until its destruction in the thirteenth centu-

ry. To encourage the people of Barga to remain faithful to Matilda and to hold this important position on the Apennine pass connecting Emilia and Tuscany, Matilda’s second husband, Duke Guelf of Bavaria, granted them certain concessions at the beginning of the German King’s siege of Mantua in June 26, 1090.59 The Pieve of Santa Maria remains a beautiful, solid gray stone structure of typical Romanesque form. The façade reflects the tripartite nave and raised roofline over the central portal. A series of tall blind arches on the face of the façade anticipate the ornate arcades that decorate churches of the next generation, as for example the cathedral at Lucca. A Quattrocento square bell tower with single double arched windows rises above the semicircular apse (Figs. 85.1, 85.1.1). The interior of the church, its arches built of

85.1

85.1.1

102

86. Borgo a Mozzano (LU)

alternating white and black stones, seems more ornate than the brick constructions on the opposite side of the Apennines. A Quattrocento crucifix rises above the altar, and the apse is decorated with frescoes later in date.

The Ponte del Diavolo (Fig. 86.1) crosses the green Serchio river a kilometer north of the Borgo. A marvel of medieval engineering the bridge was commissioned by the Countess Matilda around the year 1100 and is still in use as a footbridge today. Uniquely constructed of stone arches, none in size equal to any other, and the last of unusual breadth and height, Matilda’s bridge was clearly built with the facilitation of river traffic in mind. This is the first stone arch built across a river in nearly a millennium. To build this bridge, Matilda revived the engineering of the ancient Roman arch, at least two examples of which Matilda knew from her travels in and near Rome: - The pons Fabricius built c. 62 B.C. It is the oldest bridge in Rome, completely intact from Roman antiquity and remains in use today. The pons Fabricius crosses the Tiber and connects Rome to the Isola Tiberina where Matilda lived when she was in Rome c. 1075 to 1081 (see Rome no. 136; Fig. 136.1). - The Ponte dell’Abbadia at Vulci built by the Etruscans c. 90 B.C. The bridge in southern Tuscany is located on the road between the town of Soana in which Hildebrand of Soana, the future Pope Gregory VII, was born and Matilda’s town of Corgnito at Tarquinia. The bridge is documented in 809 as attached to a Benedictine monastery. By the eleventh century control of this bridge was contested by the citizens of Orvieto and by the Aldobrandeschi family, which controlled Soana and to whom Hildebrand was in some manner related (Fig. 86.2). Sometimes called “Devil’s Bridge”, the name derives from a local legend told in

Bagni di Lucca (LU) The town of Bagni di Lucca perches on the rocks above the clear rushing waters of the Lima, a tributary of the Serchio river. The Romans knew these hot water springs as Bagno a Corsena, but they were known as Bagni di Lucca as early as 983. To find the Terme one must go even higher to the nineteen thermal springs that flow from the Colle di Corsena above the town into two natural grottoes. Noted as a cure for rheumatism and arthritis, among other ailments, the springs were visited by the Countess Matilda who suffered from gout.

Castello di Lucchio-Castello di Limano (LU) Atop hills on opposite sides of the Lima river valley stood two fortresses which protected the road through the Apennines. By local tradition, both rose at the order of the Countess Matilda of Canossa. They are the only fortresses which she is thought to have possessed on the road between Modena and Tuscany that passes through Abetone. Nothing remains of either fort, except ruined rock walls on the crest of the hills, above a cluster of houses, accessible only by foot. Nonetheless the view from these summits recalls their dominant position on the Tuscan side of the pass with views that extended across the Lima valley and included that the road that branched west toward Lucca and east toward Pistoia.

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a variety of forms. All involve a devil who agrees to complete the bridge overnight, either to its original design or within the time demanded, in exchange for the first soul to walk across. At the bridge’s inauguration, the builders sacrificed a pig or a dog (depending upon the version) to satisfy the devil’s demands and the devil disappeared into the Serchio’s flowing waters. Since the 1500s the bridge has also been known as the “Ponte della Maddalena” taking this name from an oratorio dedicated to the saint whose statue stood at one end of the bridge. The bridge has been renovated over the centuries: first, under Castruccio Castracani c. 1300, later, in 1836 after flood damage and again, in 1900 when a fifth arch was joined onto the right side of the bridge.

87. Diecimo (LU) First documented as early as 761, the town of Diecimo (tenth) is named for the Roman mile marker placed on the road from Lucca. Received by the bishop of Lucca in a donation in 941, a castle and seat of the curia existed here in Matilda’s time. She may have built the bridge at Borgo a Mozzano to facilitate access between this castle and the road to the Apennine pass which begins a short distance upstream, on the opposite bank, of the Serchio river. In a document signed “Mactilda comitissa Tuscie”, Matilda confirmed the bishop of Lucca’s rights to this castle dated September 26, 1078.60 This is one of only two documents in which she acknowledges the existence of her first husband, Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine,

Left: 86.1

86.2

105

87.1

87.1.1

106

87.1.2

88. Pieve di Brancoli (LU)

who died in February 1076. In a formulation which she quickly discarded, Matilda based her authority to act both as his widow and as the daughter of her deceased father, calling both “her men” under Salic law. In later documents Matilda relies solely on her position as Bonifacio’s daughter. She is next recorded in Diecimo on September 23, 1111 when she made a donation to the Church of San Vito in Pisa.61 Of the castle where Matilda stayed nothing remains. However the ancient Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta, documented as a baptismal pieve since 919, is a jewel of Romanesque architecture whose reconstruction is attributed to the Countess (Figs. 87.1, 87.1.1). The pieve has beautifully maintained its eleventh century origins: a simple gray stone basilican structure of three aisles ending in a semi-circular apse. The flat façade has a raised central roofline that reflects the tripartite nave within. On the façade is an architrave of branches intertwined with human figures, attributed to Biduino (twelfth century) (Fig. 87.1.2). The church has many interesting fragments of early sculptures, including a bas relief of the prophet Isaiah and a Roman sarcofa*gus.62

The view from the piazza in front of this small pieve extends across the Serchio river valley to the city of Lucca about 5 kilometers distant. The Pieve of San Giorgio is one of the 28 baptismal churches founded by San Frediano, bishop of Lucca, in the sixth century. Mentioned in archives since 1062, its construction was likely supported by Matilda’s mother, Beatrice. A somber gray exterior, that recalls the Lombard romanesque, the pieve’s walls are great blocks of marble, squared at the angles. The raised central roofline reflects the tripartite nave. Antique columns flank a rectangular central doorway (Fig. 88). Basilican in shape, pristine white classical columns divide the church into three naves, ending in a semi-circular apse of pure white stone. Three tall slit windows in the apse illuminate the altar. At the center of the church, a magnificent ambone signed Guidi and dated 1194 stands on delicate antique columns. The holy water font, decorated with twined plants, dates to Matilda’s moment. The octagonal baptismal font carved with leaf tracery and small heads dates to later in the twelfth century. The altar is supported by six columns of which the central is a standing royal figure, who, some say, is the Countess Matilda (Fig. 88.1). 107

8) Zagnoni 2004. 9) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 50, pp. 154156, at Spedaletto in Val di Limentra, on September 6, 1098. 10) R. Zagnoni, La abbazia di San Salvatore alla Fontana Taona, in Antilopi, Homes and Zagnoni 2000, p. 192 f. Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 50, pp. 154-156, at Spedaletto in Val di Limentra, on September 6, 1098; doc. no. 78, pp. 228-229, at Vignole dated January 14, 1104. See also ibid., Dep. no. 97, p. 455. 11) La chiesa fiorentina 1970, p. 147; http://www.prolocoscarperia.it/-pieve-di-santagata.html, accessed September 25, 2014. 12) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 57, pp. 178180, dated March 1100 at Florence. 13) Golinelli 2007c, p. 123. 14) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 73, pp. 213217, dated November 17, 1102, at Canossa. 15) G. Spinelli, in Golinelli 2003, no. VI.11 and VI.12, pp. 139-141. 16) Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 6. 17) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 109, pp. 290-292, dated at Montebaranzone in June 1108; doc. no. 132, pp. 338-340, dated at Montebaranzone, June 15, 1114. 18) Donizone II, fol. 82v, v. 287 et seq., in Golinelli 1987, pp. 106-107. 19) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 108, pp. 289-290, dated at Governolo in April 1108; doc. no. 109, pp. 290-292, dated at Montebaranzone in June 1108. 20) Cristina Pifferi at http://linformazione.etv.it/archivio/20080920/45_MO2009.pdf. 21) Donizone II, fol. 51r, vv. 125-132, in Golinelli 1987, p. 75. 22) Donizone II, fol. 66r-v, vv. 680-695, in Golinelli 1987, p. 90. 23) Donizone II, fol. 81v-82r, vv. 1246-1259, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 105-106. 24) See Governolo and Bologna, above. Zanardi 1997, p. 12. These imperial documents are witnessed by “Wernerius iudex bononiensis” who is likely the legal scholar who Matilda invited to teach Justinian’s code of civil law at Bologna. In these documents, Wernerius appears to represent the interests of the Countess before the emperor. 25) Federico Barbarossa e i Lombardi 1991. 26) Bernabei 2004, p. 83. 27) Donizone II, fol. 48r, vv. 53-57, in Golinelli 1987, p. 72.

88.1

1) Manenti Valli 1990. 2) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 78, pp. 228-229, dated at Vignole on January 14, 1104. 3) Frison 1991. 4) Donizone II, fol. 64r, vv. 603-608, in Golinelli 1987, p. 88; Muratori and Catalano 1828, p. 286. 5) Donizone II, fol. 65r-v, vv. 648-659, in Golinelli 1987, p. 89. 6) Die Urkunden 1998, doc. no. 49, pp. 151154, at Spedaletto in Val di Limentra, dated August 9, 1098; Dep. no. 97, p. 455. 7) R. Zagnoni, La abbazia di San Salvatore alla Fontana Taona, in Antilopi, Homes and Zagnoni 2000, p. 192 f. 108

28) Donizone I, fol. 11v, vv. 120-134, in Golinelli 1987, p. 33; fol. 14v, vv. 235-238, in Golinelli 1987, p. 38. 29) O. Rombaldi, La chiesa reggiana dal 962 al 1060, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 95. 30) Donizone I, fol. 19v, vv. 400-405; 22v, v. 469; 25v, vv. 583-596, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 41, 44, 47. 31) For lament see Donizone I, fol. 25v-27r, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 48-52; Donizone I, fol. 25r, vv. 572-574, in Golinelli 1987, p. 47. 32) The donation is recorded in the preface to Donizone’s manuscript, fol. 1-2 in the Codice Vaticano Latino 4922, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 25-26; Matilda reimbursed the Cloister prior to confirming her donation to Rome, see Die Urkunden 1998, no. 72, pp. 212-213, dated at Panzano, October 18, 1102. 33) Donizone II, fol. 65r-67v, vv. 636-735, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 88-91. 34) Donizone I, fol. 40v, vv. 1147-1150, in Golinelli 1987, p. 64. 35) Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. 42, p. 454. 36) Bernabei 2004, pp. 97-98. 37) M. Musini, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, p. 272, fn. 111. 38) Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 7; Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 57, p. 428, dated March 1086 to 1092; Dep. no. 66, p. 434, dated 1102. 39) M. Musini, L’architettura medievale nel territorio reggiano, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, pp. 273-282; and G. Milanesi, in ibid., cat. 45, pp. 462-467. 40) Sulle tracce di un re 2009. 41) Golinelli 1987, p. 25, fn. 5, p. 115. 42) Golinelli 1987, pp. 298-303; M. Santacatterina, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. no. 131, pp. 568-569. 43) Golinelli 1987, pp. 298-303; M. Santacatterina, , in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. no. 131, pp. 568-569. 44) Donizone II, fol. 65r-67v, vv. 636-735, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 88-91; Matilda is recorded on October 5, 1092 at Carpineti where she made a donation to the Monastery of San Benedetto Po, see Die Urkunden 1998, no. 44, pp. 142-143. 45) See Die Urkunden 1998, no. 69, pp. 205206; no. 95, pp. 263-264. 46) Ibid., no. 130, pp. 335-336.

47) See Bucciari 1985; Bedoni 1990, p. 253. 48) Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 6. 49) See G. Milanesi, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. no. 44, pp. 461-462; Bedoni 1990; see also Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 25, pp. 407-408. 50) See U. Longo, I Canossa e le fondazioni monastiche, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, p. 133. 51) See Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 25, p. 407. 52) Donizone I, fol. 40v, vv. 1147-1150, in Golinelli 1987, p. 64. 53) G. Milanesi, in Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa 2008, cat. no. 43, pp. 461-460. See also Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 114, pp. 465-466. 54) Ibid., no. 88, pp. 249-250, at Pieve Fosciana in July 1105. 55) See Spike 2004, Appendix; Tommasi 1847, Appendix. 56) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 86, pp. 245-246, at San Cesario sul Panaro, dated June 22, 1105; and no. 87, dated at Pieve Fosciana on July 10, 1105. 57) Ibid., no. 88, pp. 249-250, dated at Pieve Fosciana in July 1105. 58) Ibid., no. 89, pp. 251-252. 59) Ibid., Dep. no. 50, p. 423, dated at Mantua on June 26, 1090. 60) Ibid., doc. no. 26, pp. 97-100, at Sancto Cipriano prope Pertusiam, on September 26, 1078. 61) Ibid., no. 124, pp. 322-323. 62) Ghilarducci 1990.

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Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Lucca is situated at the crossroads of all of the rivers and Roman roads that cross Tuscany and end at Rome. There is significant overlap as these travel routes also cross one another at various points. The five principal Matildan routes are listed here. Route 6, the via Cassia, pp. 112-123, begins at Lucca, no. 89, and ends at Prato, no. 92. Autostrada A-11 follows this ancient route. Route 7, the Arno river, pp. 124-147, begins at Matilda’s villa at Pappiana located between Lucca and Pisa, no. 93, then follows the Arno river from Marina di Pisa, no. 94, through Florence, no. 103, to the Arno’s source at Terra Barbitana, no. 109. Route 8, the via Cassia, pp. 148-153, begins south of Florence at Pitiana in Reggello, no. 110, and ends at Santa Maria delle Vertighe, no. 116, where the road intersects with Autostrada A-1. Route 9, the via Francigena, pp. 154-160, begins at the border of Tuscany, north of Lucca, at Castelpoggio, no. 117, and ends at Sutri, no. 131, located 35 kilometers north of Rome. Route 10, the via Aurelia, pp. 170-175, begins at Livorno, follows the Mediterranean coast and ends at Tarquinia, no. 135, located 90 kilometers north of Rome. The Church of Saint James the Elder, Altopascio, no. 121

Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Route 6

Along the via Cassia and the foothills of the Apennines

89. Lucca

Lucca, in this precise moment, produced the men who would transform Italian society: Anselmo di Baggio and his nephew also named Anselmo, successively bishops of Lucca, 1057-1073 and 1073-1086. Their strident opposition to simony and lay investiture and imposition of celibacy on the clergy polarized the local church. Anselm I’s election in September 1061 as Pope Alexander II also polarized the Empire. The German bishops opposed to Roman Church reform elected another candidate, Peter Cadulus, bishop of Parma, as Pope Honorius II (see Parma no. 38) and, when the Queen Regent failed to support Honorius as Pope, the bishop of Cologne kidnapped her son, the future Henry IV, naming himself Regent in her stead. Donizone writes that, “the Tiber ran red with the blood of the partisans”,3 but neither side won a decisive victory. The compromise negotiated by Matilda’s stepfather, Godfrey, just before Henry IV reached his majority in 1064, permanently weakened the German Reich. It left the German bishops with the wealth of the Empire that they had removed from the royal treasury during Henry IV’s minority, and the fiery reformer, Anselm, bishop of Lucca, as Pope of Rome. Anselm II became bishop of Lucca at his uncle’s death in April 1073 – when Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII. Their alliance each to the other and

In 742, Lucca became an important pilgrimage destination with the arrival of the relic of the “Volto Santo (or Holy Face).” The crucifix, whose face is believed to have been carved by Nicodemus, is located in a Renaissance chapel in the nave of the Cathedral of San Martino, and is venerated to this day (Fig. 89.1). According to Donizone, the Canossan dynasty began in Lucca. The monk wrote about Matilda’s great-grandfather in his first chapter, “Atto was the first prince, astute as a serpent, who was of the noble line of Sigefredo, an illustrious prince from the county of Lucca, who sired two famous sons, the eldest called Atto and the second, the younger, called Gerardo.”1 Atto left Lucca in 940, following the Serchio river to the pass which crossed the Apennines toward Modena. He built Canossa, and then the other castles listed on Route 5. No one records him returning to Lucca, but his son, Tedaldo, did – as Duke of Tuscany when the then Duke of Tuscany, Ugo, died without heirs on December 21, 1001. The German Kings recognized the Canossan claims. Henry II named Tedaldo as Duke of Tuscany in 1012; Conrad II so named Bonifacio in 1033.2 After the deaths of Bonifacio in 1052 and the German King Henry III in 1056, the Queen Regent Agnes named Matilda’s step-father, Godfrey, Duke of Tuscany.

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both to Matilda significantly advanced the reforms of the Roman Church which bear Gregory’s name and led to the great conflict between Church and State the first act of which began in the snow of Matilda’s castle in 1077. When Matilda donated Tuscany to Papal Rome in a ceremony at the Lateran in the Autumn of 1077, the Lucchese objected because the donation did not “take into account her blood relationship to Henry nor the submission which she owed him as king.”4 Thus, when Henry arrived in Italy in the Spring of 1081 to unseat Gregory VII and re-take Rome, the Lucchese allied with the King and against Matilda. They banished their Gregorian bishop, Anselm II, who fled to Canossa. They sent a delegation to Rome to meet the King. To reward their loyalty, on June 23, 1081, Henry IV granted to the Lucchese certain exemptions from feudal

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income which she would otherwise have sent to Gregory VII to pay the soldiers who were defending Rome. This edict, the first of many feudal exemptions Henry IV would issue to communes in Canossan territory, contributed to his initial military success. Rome fell to the Germans in the spring of 1084. Ultimately, it was Henry’s and Matilda’s liberation of the communes (Lucca among them) from the obligation to pay taxes to the German feudal overlord that ended German control of the Italian peninsula. The Cathedral of San Martino (Fig.

taxes and obligations and protection of the walls around Lucca (Fig. 89.2). In the royal proclamation, Henry never mentioned Matilda, a fact which seems to contradict some scholars who assert that the King issued an Imperial Ban against Matilda.5 Instead, the King referred only to the feudal rights and abuses of her father, Bonifacio (who by this date had been dead 30 years). The omission leaves open the question whether Matilda, as a woman, had any legal right to collect these feudal taxes, although certainly one of the factors in Henry’s grant was to deprive her of 114

89.3.1

89.3), founded by San Frediano in the sixth century, was restored by bishop Anselm I.6 The restoration, begun in 1060, lasted a decade. 7 The Cathedral was consecrated in 1070 at a ceremony presided over by Anselm I, who, by 1061, had been elected Pope Alexander II. Beatrice may have assisted in the restoration as she, together with Matilda, is noted as present at the consecration ceremony. 8 Matilda’s presence is uncertain as most sources place Matilda in the Lorraine, where she lived for two years with her first husband, Godfrey the Hunchback, from Christmas 1069

to Christmas 1071. When their only child died, at or near birth, Matilda returned to Italy in January 1072. Thereafter she is recorded frequently in Lucca, together with her mother, the duch*ess, holding court and making donations between 1072 and 1075. 9 In a document of March 4, 1074, Matilda is in Pisa where she made a donation to the Monastery of San Ponziano in Lucca.10 Presumably this monastery was located in the piazza of the same name where the Church of San Ponziano, later in date, now stands. Matilda spent her first Christmas after 115

89.4

Briccole, in the commune of Castiglione d’Orcia (SI), a stop along the via Francigena. This is one of only two documents in which Matilda refers to her first husband, Godfrey, “viro meo” (my man) stating that he was duke. The Cathedral of San Martino was repeatedly restored. Its current aspect is from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. However, the Lucchese remember the Countess. A small bust of a woman gazes down benevolently from above the minor arch of the porch leading into the church. Tradition says it represents the Countess Matilda of Canossa (Fig. 89.3.1). Across the piazza from the Cathedral is the back of the Church of Saints Giovanni and Reparata, which faces an adjacent piazza (Fig. 89.4). In 1992 archaeologists discovered the foundations of a fifth-century basilica adjacent to a paleo-Christian Baptistery. A

her mother’s death in Lucca with Pope Gregory VII staying at her palace here on their journey that ended in the confrontation at Canossa. The Pope probably celebrated Christmas Mass 1076 at Lucca’s Cathedral with bishop Anselm II. In the Spring and Summer of 1077, the Pope traveled through Tuscany with Matilda. She made various decisions in favor of Anselm II and donations to the Cathedral of San Martino in Lucca.11 Her support of Anselm II is further confirmed in a document of September 26, 1078 when she donated the castrum of Diecimo to him.12 In this document she refers to herself as the Countess of Tuscany. The following year on September 17, 1079 Matilda confirmed the donation of the small town of Castillione Bernardesco in Volterra to the bishop of Lucca for the building of the Cathedral of San Martino.13 She issued this document from Le 116

Romanesque basilica dedicated to Saint Reparata was constructed on these foundations during Matilda’s lifetime of which a fragment of pavement from an original “domus” or house church from the first century A.D. remains (Fig. 89.5).14 One of the few decorations remaining from later additions to this church is in the transept to the right of the altar. The stark white marble funerary monument was sculpted by Vincenzo Consani in 1872 as a memorial to the Countess Matilda (Fig. 89.5.1). Matilda is also credited with the construction of Church of Sant’Andrea, on the via Sant’Andrea, circa 1100 (Fig. 89.6).15 In 1070, Pope Alexander II began restorations of the Church of San Michele in Foro, in the piazza of that name, documented for the first time in 795. Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, presumably contributed to the Pope’s building fund. Matilda was absent from Lucca for the next fifteen years. She returned in November 1096 to welcome Pope Urban II who arrived at the head of an

89.5

army of soldiers bound for Jerusalem and the First Crusade. Her presence is indicative that the Lucchese returned to her side. At this time, Pope Urban II named a Gregorian, Rangerius, as bishop of Lucca. Rangerius wrote a hagiographic biography of his predecessor, Anselm II, which resulted in Anselm II of Lucca becoming the first saint of the Gregorian Reform. Documents indicate her presence in Lucca with

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Leaving Lucca, the towers of the fortresses owned by Matilda’s family as dukes of Tuscany are still visible from A-11, including Castrum Vivinaia, Montecatini, Serravalle Pistoiese, Monsummano. They surveyed the via Cassia and Arno river valley from the foothills of the Apennines and formed part of the network of castles by which Matilda’s family controlled the passes between Tuscany and Emilia.

90. Castrum Vivinaia at Montecarlo (LU) When Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, succeeded to the duchy of Tuscany, by appointment of Conrad II, among the properties he acquired was the Villa Vivinaia. This site looked down on the upper Arno river valley between Lucca and Florence, as well as dominating the Valdinievole. Its position at the southern edge of the Apennine mountain range connects the villa Vivinaia to the chain of castles along the Apennine ridges by which the family from Canossa controlled the passes between Lucca and Pistoia in Tuscany and Modena and Reggio nell’Emilia (see Route 5).

89.6

Rangerius in the spring of 1100.16 At Matilda’s death in 1115, the history of Lucca as a free Italian Commune begins. Lucca’s status as a free Commune, its authority over its walls and the territory within the six mile circumference, set by Henry IV in his June 1081 proclamation, was confirmed by his successor, the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa.17

Signature of Henry IV on an Imperial Decree signed at Lucca on July 19, 1081. Archivio di Stato di Lucca, Santa Giustina

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The Villa Vivinaia, nestled in the Garfa*gnana hills overlooked the ancient via Cassia. In 1038, Conrad II is recorded at the Villa Vivinaia as Bonifacio’s guest. In that same year, Pope Benedict IX left Rome to meet the German Emperor here. Documents record that the Emperor was accompanied by his wife, Gisela, who was Beatrice’s aunt, and their son, Henry, the future Henry III. Under Matilda, Vivinaia assumed the dimensions of a fortified town. After her death, the castrum of Vivinaia became a free commune.18 Matilda did not issue any documents from the Villa Vivinaia, but she is reported to have stayed here frequently during her travels. The Florentines sacked and destroyed the ancient fortifications of the Castrum Vivinaia, home to the dukes of Tuscany, and it was rebuilt in a slightly higher location by the Lucchese Castruccio Castracani in 1333. All that remains of the Villa Vivinaia is its name, attached on a plaque on a private gate, adjacent to the local cemetery, a short distance outside the medieval walls of Montecarlo. Presumably, the view remains much the same, a spectacular panorama across the valley formed by the Arno river. Beneath the town of Montecarlo on the road to Pescia is the Pieve of San Pietro in Campo which is noted in documents beginning in 846. Attached to the Villa Vivinaia when Bonifacio controlled the castrum, the church was rebuilt during Matilda’s time. It remains a beautiful example of Romanesque style of the 1100s. The façade is composed of large gray blocks of pietra serena, which in typical Lucchese style rise at the center, above the nave. The lower roof line is adorned

90.1

with a blind arcade, as is the single apse. A square biforal window adorns the upper level above the central portal. Beside the central doorway are two flat pilasters on the top of each is a carved animal figure. A square white marble lintel defines the single doorway, above which is a decorative white marble arch (Fig. 90.1). In the presbytery are traces of the ancient floor, built with flat river rocks.19

91. Pistoia Pistoia is at the Tuscan end of the pass at Abetone through the Apennine mountains that connects Modena and Bologna in Emilia to Tuscany. Pistoia is noted as early as the second century A.D. along the via Cassia. By the fifth century it had an Episcopal seat and the Cathedral of San Zeno is first documented in 923 (Fig. 91.1). Matilda spent at least some summers in Spedaletto in Val di Limentra, in the 119

mountains north of Pistoia (see no. 49),20 and her presence in Pistoia is frequently noted.21 The bishop of Pistoia is frequently mentioned as among the men in her court. Matilda and her mother donated property to the bishop of Pistoia and the canons of the cathedral of San Zeno in August of 1074.22 Thirty years later, from the opposite side of the Abetone pass, that is in the Modenese Apennines, on September 1104 Matilda recorded the presences of Cardinal Bernardo degli Uberti, vicar of Pope Paschal II, the bishops of Modena and Pistoia, and Count Guido Guerra, when she restored to the canons of San Zeno of Pistoia the court of Pavana and the castle of Sambuca Pistoiese.23

During the siege of Prato, in June 1107, Matilda placed two churches, Santa Maria Assunta a Limite, and Santa Maria Assunta a Gello, located on opposite banks of the Arno river, under the protection of the bishop of Pistoia, and donated to the diocese the revenues from these churches24 (see no. 100 Limite and Gello). These donations supported a general strategy to assure control of the northern bank of the Arno river, at Fucecchio and Limite, and of one of its tributaries, the Ombrone, at Gello just outside Pistoia. The result strengthened control over significant waterways, with the effect after her death of providing Florence with passages to Lucca, Pisa and the sea.25 When the Cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1108, Matilda made

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92. Prato

a donation to its reconstruction.26 The Cathedral was rebuilt again in 1202 after another fire and nothing of the church’s present structure, except possibly the sturdy bell tower, dates to Matilda’s moment. Matilda also contributed to the restoration of the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena al Prato (Saint Mary Magdalene in the Fields), which was located across the piazza from the Cathedral. The Baptistery, documented in 1155, is built on its foundations.27 According to local histories, Pistoia became an independent commune in 1105, presumably with privileges granted by the Countess. Pistoia’s “statuto dei consoli” are dated in 1117, that is, two years after Matilda’s death.

Sources record Matilda in June 1107 at Prato where she participated with her soldiers and militia from the communes of Florence, Lucca, and Pistoia, at the siege of the castrum of Prato. The castrum was destroyed after three months and burned to the ground. The precise reason for this siege is never discussed by Donizone, and no sources reveal why Matilda devoted her energies and resources to it. Occurring some twelve years after the 1095 Council at Piacenza, Matilda’s victory in Italy against partisans of Henry IV seemed complete. Some historians therefore attribute the siege to the newly formed commune of Florence for reasons of commerce,28 others to quell a rebellion

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against Matilda.29 It is most likely the continued enmity of the Alberti family, lesser feudal nobles to whom the castrum of Prato pertained, that inspired the attack. The siege at Prato routed a stronghold of the Alberti family whose fortunes, allied to those of Emperor Henry IV, fell with his own. Henry IV had lost his crown to his son in January 1106, and he died in August of that same year. To take advantage of the Imperial disarray, Matilda’s alliance attacked the castrum of Prato, burning it to the ground. Matilda issued two documents at Prato in June 1107, in the presence of the bishop of Pistoia (see no. 91). Both donations transferred control over the Arno river valley to supporters of the Gregorian reform. The commune of Prato developed from Borgo al Cornio, which stood outside the castrum walls around the Pieve of Santo Stefano noted in documents by the tenth century. Work to restore and enlarge the church began after the siege of 1107, and may have been assisted by the Countess. The Duomo of Prato stands on its foundations (Fig. 92.1). The small pieve over the centuries was transformed into the notable Romanesque-Gothic structure we see today. The nave, side walls and lower bell tower are datable to the mid-1100s. Particularly beautiful are the flat pilasters with round arches of white and green marble that proceed down the exterior wall of the nave toward the square bell tower. The upper bell tower was added in 1356. The graceful Romanesque cloister was added by the end of the twelfth century. The Duomo of Prato has a single central portal and a raised roofline above the central tripartite nave. Much restructured over the centuries, the façade has late gothic (1386-1457)

and Renaissance additions (14281438). In 1386 construction began on the chapel for the relic of the Holy Girdle or Belt of the Madonna. Given to Saint Thomas by Mary during her Assumption, the relic by legend was in Prato by 1141. Contemporaneously with the chapel, the magnificent façade of alternating white and green marble stripes was added by Lorenzo di Filippo. The exterior pulpit was created by the early Renaissance masters, Michelozzo and Donatello, for display by the bishop of the holy relic on Marian feast days. The lunette above the central door is by Andrea della Robbia. The Abbey of San Fabiano (on the via del Seminario) is first mentioned as a Benedictine monastery outside the walls of the city in documents in 1081. Probably part of a hospice for pilgrims along the via Cassia, the present structure dates from the end of the twelfth century.

1) Donizone I, fol. 11r, vv. 96-101, in Golinelli 1987, p. 33. 2) Cantini 1796, pp. 34, 46. 3) Donizone I, fol. 41v, v. 1185, in Golinelli 1987, p. 65. 4) Tommasi 1847, p. 16, Appendix Doc. 1. 5) Spike 2004, Appendix; Tommasi 1847. Wickham 2003, p. 49: “There is absolutely no sign in Lucchese documents of an imperial or marchesal ban...” against Matilda. To the contrary see e.g. Hay 2008, p. 91. 6) There were two Anselm’s, uncle and nephew, who served consecutively as bishops of Lucca: Anselm I, served from 1057-1073, he retained the Bishopric of Lucca after his election as Pope Alexander II, September 1061 until his death in April 1073. Anselm II was elected as bishop at his uncle’s death, although he spent from 1081 until 1086 in exile from Lucca under Matilda’s protection in Canossa. He died at Mantua in the Spring of 1086 and

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is buried in the Cathedral of Mantua. See Mantua no. 9. 7) See e.g. Die Urkunden 1998, no. 18, dated between 1072 and April 1076, a donation by Beatrice and Matilda to the bishop of San Martino; ibid., Dep. no. 21, p. 405, notes two donations by Beatrice and her daughter Matilda in years between 1070-1076. 8) See for example Gazzarrini 1997, p. 2. Documents record Beatrice in Lucca, without Matilda, in November 1070 and September 1071, and making donations to the Monastery of San Ponziano at Lucca in January 1073, and to the Church of Lucca in September 1071: see Bertolini 1970. 9) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 5, pp. 44-47 (in Lucca, September 8, 1072); no. 7, pp. 49-52 (in Lucca, February 8, 1073); no. 14, pp. 6870 (in Florence in favor of bishop Anselm II of Lucca, May 7, 1075). 10) Ibid., no. 12, pp. 64-66. 11) Ibid., no. 20, pp. 81-83, at Florence with Pope Gregory VII, dated June 6, 1077, Matilda renders a decision in favor of Anselm II with respect to houses in Montecatini; no. 21, pp. 83-85, at Pappiana on June 21, 1077, in favor of Anselm II. 12) Ibid., no. 26, pp. 97-100. 13) Ibid., no. 28, pp. 104-107. 14) Bellato 2001. 15) Sabbatini 2005. 16) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 51, pp. 157-158, in Lucca dated 1099; no. 52, pp. 158-161, near Lucca dated June 16, 1099; no. 59, pp. 183-184, dated at Sursiano on April 10, 1100. 17) See Spike 2015, exh. no. 5, a man named Rabodo was named by Henry V as Marchese of Tuscany immediately after Matilda’s death, but failed to impress his authority on Tuscany whose towns were largely self-governing since 1100. 18) Bianucci 1983, p. 15. 19) Ibid., pp. 54-58. 20) On August 9, 1098, Matilda is recorded in Spedaletto in Val di Limentra in the mountains north of Pistoia where she made a donation of land to the hospital at Bombiana. Die Urkunden 1998, no. 49, pp. 151-154. Her donation was confirmed on June 21, 1118, by the German King Henry V in an act witnessed by “Irnerius iudex.” See Quattro Castella, Bianello, no. 64. 21) Repetti 1833-1846, App. p. 42, notes that

Matilda was with Guido Guerra in Pistoia on December 16, 1098. Die Urkunden 1988 does not date this reference (see ibid., Dep. no. 103, pp. 458-459) which is fully one year before the appearance of Guido Guerra as “adopted son” in a document signed at Brescello in November 1099. 22) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 14, pp. 68-70. 23) Ibid., nos. 81, 82, pp. 234-239. 24) Ibid., no. 103, pp. 279-281. 25) Ibid., no. 102, pp. 278-279. Of particular interest, in the donation to Fucecchio, Matilda names the bishop of Pistoia, the abbot of Nonantola, and others frequently named as witnesses, including Ugo de Manfredi and Arduino. 26) Ibid., Dep. no. 113, p. 465, undated. 27) Regesto delle chiese italiane 1996, p. 34. 28) Dameron (1991, p. 70) writes, “control of the river and the highway from Florence to Lucca (the old via Cassia) led to Florentine military campaigns against the Alberti at Prato in 1107 and the Adimari at Monte Gualandi in 1114. Apparently the primary goal of the commune was to control the highways and to assure themselves access to the emerging market centers.” 29) Kleinhenz (Medieval Italy 2003, p. 929) writes: “in 1107 Prato and the Alberti defied Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany. Her army of Lucchesi, Florentines and Pistoiesi destroyed Prato after a 3 month long siege. The Pratesi rebuilt the town, and it flourished without interference from Alberti lords.” In a document issued from Prato in June 1107, Matilda refers to herself as “ducatris” which may support the argument that the siege was intended to quell a rebellion, see Die Urkunden 1998, no. 102, pp. 278-279.

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Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Route 7

Along the Arno river

93. Pappiana (San Giuliano Terme, PI)

teach and preach the Good News to the Romans. In thanksgiving for his safe journey, Peter consecrated bread and wine in memory of the new covenant on a white marble slab. A shrine was built over this first altar (Fig. 94.1.1). The present basilica was built during Matilda’s lifetime on the foundations of two earlier churches, one dating from the fourth and the other from the seventh centuries. The bell tower was destroyed by bombing during World War II, but the beautiful tripartite apse (Fig. 94.1) and the walls of the nave, decorated with a Lombard blind arcade at the roof line and regularly spaced square vertical pilasters, remain a magnificent example of Romanesque architecture. At the roofline are also ceramic basins (the originals of which are in the National Museum of Saint Matthew in Pisa) of Islamic, Majorcan and Sicilian manufacture decorated with geometrical and figurative motifs which are datable to Matilda’s lifetime. Pope Gregory VII would surely have visited this Petrine shrine during his visit to Pisa in 1077 and said mass at this sacred altar of the Apostle who by tradition was the first Pope of Rome. Pope Gregory VII’s identification with the first Apostle is so complete that he speaks of himself as Peter “now living in the flesh”.3 Matilda’s connections to Peter are no less strong. Pope Gregory VII’s correspondence calls her the “daughter of St.

Matilda had a villa at Pappiana, located mid-way between Lucca and Pisa, where she is recorded in June 1077 during her travels with Pope Gregory VII. In 1103 she donated the villa and its income to assist in the construction of the Cathedral at Pisa, see no. 95.1 According to local tradition, the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, consecrated in 803, was restored by the Countess Matilda in 1100. The baths of San Giuliano were noted as early as the third century B.C. Pliny the Elder referred to the therapeutic properties of the “waters of Pisa”. The ancient Romans built an aqueduct here, of which eight beautiful arches still stretch in the countryside towards the sea. The terme today is a modern facility which advertises that its waters are ideal for respiratory ailments. Local tradition credits the Countess as financing radical restorations of the baths in 1112.2

94. Marina di Pisa (PI) At the delta of the Arno river, where the port of Pisa existed since Etruscan times stands the Basilica of San Piero a Grado. Under ancient Rome, the delta was a bustling port, with ships lined at wharves unloading cargo and passengers from distant shores. Forty-four years after the birth of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter landed at Pisa, the only port of ancient Rome north of Ostia, to

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Peter”, a description repeated frequently by Donizone. Within a few months of their visit to Pisa, in the Autumn of 1077, Matilda repudiated the German King who betrayed his promises to her. In Rome, at the Lateran Palace, Matilda gave “all her goods to St. Peter who holds the keys, the heavenly doorkeeper became her heir and she the heir of Peter.”4 Donizone emphasizes that Matilda named Peter, not the papacy, but the Saint, as her heir. Matilda confirmed this donation to the church of Saint Peter twenty-five years later, in November, 1102, in the only document she ever signed in the castle of Canossa. This is to say that although no record connects Matilda or Gregory to the sacred shrine of San Piero a Grado, it is probable that this altar where Peter said his first Mass is where Matilda resolved to dedicate her life and her fortune to his church. Despite a lack of documen94.1.1

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tary connection, its origins, the date and the style of the church, her presence in Pisa and her devotion to Saint Peter implies some participation by the Countess in its construction. Although later in date, of particular note is the fresco cycle on the walls of the nave painted by Deodato Orlandi from Lucca on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1300 and dated between 1300-1312. In thirty-one panels the frescoes depict the lives of Saints Peter and Paul and episodes in the lives of the Emperor Constantine and Pope Sylvester I that led to the consecration of the first Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. Below this cycle are portraits of forty-nine popes, beginning with Peter and ending with Leo III.

Godfrey, is recorded in Pisa in 1067 preparing a naval expedition against the Normans. In 1063, Admiral Giovanni Orlando and the Pisan navy, assisted the Norman Roger I, in conquering Palermo from the Saracens. Part of the treasure acquired in the sack of Palermo was used to fund the building of Pisa’s Cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta and part of the construction was financed by donations from the Countess (Fig. 95.1). Beatrice maintained a palace in Pisa where she and Matilda frequently resided. 5 Pisa was part of the Duchy of Tuscany during Beatrice’s lifetime, and she is recorded sitting in tribunal together with Matilda’s husband, her son-in-law, Godfrey the Hunchback, in Pisa on January 17, 1073.6 In early 1076, Donizone records that Matilda stayed in Pisa after Beatrice fell ill until her death on April 18, 1076. 7 Beatrice’s tomb, a re-used Roman sarcophagus of unusual beauty and rare preservation, was placed in Pisa’s Cathedral, then

95. Pisa Pisa was the principal port of Tuscany. It belonged to the duchy of Tuscany under Matilda’s great uncle, Ugo, and was sacked by the Saracens in 1011, just after his death. Matilda’s step-father,

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under construction. The sarcophagus was removed from the Cathedral in 1810 and is today in the Camposanto.8 Vasari called it the most beautiful of the ancient Roman sarcophagi and wrote that both Niccolò Pisano and Michelangelo studied its skillful carving and dynamic composition (Fig. 95.1.1). Donizone lamented Beatrice’s burial in Pisa, rather than at the family seat of Canossa. He disparaged Pisa as “a grimy city filled with pagans, Turks and Libyans and others from those parts, and dark Chaldeans who run about on the beaches.”9 After Beatrice’s death, Pisa developed independently of Imperial feudal restraint, with the blessing of both Gregory VII and Henry IV. Thus, by June 1077, when Matilda is recorded near Pisa,10 Pope Gregory VII approved the “Laws and Customs of the Sea.”11 Henry IV likewise excused Pisans from taxes charged on the road between Pavia and Rome (the Italian portion of what is called the via Francigena), and

granted them free use of the pastures outside the commune’s walls. In addition, he granted protection to all wives and children of the men at sea.12 As he had at Lucca, Henry omitted any mention of Matilda. Instead he reaffirmed the rights established under Bonifacio’s maternal uncle and predecessor, Ugo, Duke of Tuscany.13 Pisa’s critical importance to Matilda and the Gregorians is further indicated by the concessions made by her ally Pope Urban II in 1091 and 1092, that is, when Matilda was most threatened by the German King. In 1092 the Pope raised the church of Pisa to a Primacy and its occupant to the rank of Archbishop. At the same time, the Pope enriched the diocese by conferring on its archbishop supremacy over the churches in Corsica and Sardinia and Matilda confirmed this grant.14 In 1097 Pisa answered Urban II’s call to arms and sent a fleet of 120 ships to participate in the First Crusade, led by their archbishop Daibert. At their victory in

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June 1100 and she donated additional property to the building of the cathedral at Pisa. At this time, she confirmed the privileges from feudal obligations previously conceded by the German King in July 1081.16 Her largest gift to the construction of the Cathedral was to the canons of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta at Pisa in 1103 from the monastery at Nonantola, when Matilda transferred to them her land outside the city walls and her fort at Livorno, which controlled access to the Mediterranean for Pisa and the communities along the Arno river.17 Some scholars see Matilda as the female face at the eleventh triangular bracket on the first order of the loggia. Certainly, the Pisans could have included this sculpture of her in homage for her donations to this Cathedral (Fig. 95.1.2).18 Of the structures on the Campo dei Miracoli, only the Duomo was built during Matilda’s lifetime; the Baptistery (1152) and the Bell Tower (1177) are later in date. The Cathedral contains multiple quotations from Moorish and Muslim architecture that Pisans brought back from their conquests in Sicily and Jerusalem. Like the Basilica of San Piero a Grado, no. 94, ceramic basins, Islamic in origin, adorn the exterior. The large granite Corinthian columns that separate the Duomo’s nave from its side aisles were taken from the mosque at Palermo, captured by Pisans in 1063. The inset black and white marble stripes along the arches and upper register resemble the decoration inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Located atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque took its present form by 1036 and was used by the Crusaders as a church after the cap-

95.1.2

1099, Pisa’s archbishop Daibert became Patriarch of Jerusalem. Pisa’s development as a naval power fueled the growth of Tuscany’s other cities. Expanding markets for wool from Florence and silk from Lucca led these towns, together with Siena, to develop financial instruments to facilitate their trade. Through international trade the Tuscan comunes developed the instruments for modern banking. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo at Pisa was consecrated by Pope Gelasius II in 1118, three years after Matilda’s death. Matilda witnessed, and generously supported its construction, throughout her life. Matilda’s first donation for the construction of the Cathedral at Pisa was made in southern Tuscany, at Borgo Marturi (Poggibonsi) and is dated August 27, 1077, shortly after her visit and that of Pope Gregory VII to Pisa earlier that same year. The donation included the condition that priests of the cathedral of Pisa live chastely and in community (“communiter et caste vivent”)15 – one of the tenets of the Gregorian reform. She returned to Pisa in

Right: 95.1.3

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ture of Jerusalem by the First Crusade in 1099 (Fig. 95.1.3).19 Documented by 1051, the Church of San Vito is mentioned as a beneficiary in two Matildan documents: one dated June 27, 1077 from her villa at Pappiana,20 and the other dated September 23, 1111 from Diecimo.21 Of the original structure, nothing remains. The present church was rebuilt after World War II. Matilda’s donation to the building fund of the Duomo at Pisa in 1103 included the Church of Saint Nicholas and lands it owned along the Arno river. First mentioned in documents in 1097, the church is located on the via Santa Maria that connects the piazza dei Miracoli with the Arno river. In 1297-1313, when the church became a monastery of the Augustinian order, it was enlarged, possibly by design of Giovanni Pisano. The present Church of Saint Peter in Vinculis (San Pierino) is built on the foundations of a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo and an earlier church, evidence of which remains in the large vaulted crypt. Around the year 1000, legend records that this church became the repository of a unique copy of the Digest, a part of the Corpus Iuris Civilis, enacted by the Emperor Justinian in 530-533.22 The present Church of Saint Peter in Vinculis (San Pierino) was consecrated by the Gregorian archbishop of Pisa a year after the Duomo in 1119. Given Matilda’s interest in the revival of Justinian’s Digest, at Bologna in 1088 (see no. 45) it is likely that she also participated in the restoration of this church. Like the Duomo, it is a beautiful example of Pisan Romanesque. Inside the nave, the inlaid pavement dates from the 1200s.

96.1

96. Terme di Casciana (PI) “A water so miraculous that it restores life” are the words of Matilda of Canossa, quoted in the brochure for Terme di Casciana. The spring is called “Fonte Mathelda” and the local shop sells bottles of the water under her name: “Pure Mathelda Thermal Water.” The water has mineral salts and oils which enrich the skin. According to local tradition, Matilda discovered the Terme of Casciana when her aging and ailing blackbird was revived by bathing in a small pool formed by a crater and fed by this spring. Matilda suffered from gout and when she bathed in these warm springs, the waters relieved the countess’s pains. Matilda then ordered the construction here of the first thermal baths.23 By local tradition Matilda was in Terme di Casciana on May 1, 1112, or when she was 66 years old. She had probably begun to feel the pain of the gout which would leave her bedridden within three years. Two documents of April 7 and 13, 1112, record Matilda at Massa in the vicinity of Pisa, which could place her here that May.24 Whether on this date or another, the strength of local tradition makes it most probable that 130

96.2

97. Volterra (PI)

Countess Matilda visited these baths, appreciated their curing waters, and built or restored the Church of Santa Maria Assunta which originally stood over the thermal springs. The Romanesque structure was entirely rebuilt when Federico Montefeltro reconstructed the baths in 1811. At the time of this restoration, pipes were laid to divert the waters away from the interior of the church to the baths located to the right of the church at the side of the piazza Garibaldi (Fig. 96.2). In 1512 Ciriaco Anconitano, who was treated and healed of a skin disease by these waters, wished to thank the Countess by placing a stone plaque at the entrance to the baths. It states: “The Great Countess Matheldis for the benefit and to preserve the health of mankind, generously instituted and preserved these waters for the health and cure of men of all generations.” From this moment the baths became known as the Bagni Mathelda (Fig. 96.1).

The city stands at the top of the mountain from which flows the Era river north to the Arno and the Cecina south to the sea. Among the oldest settlements in Italy, Volterra was a cultural center as early as the ninth century B.C. and later became the capital of the powerful Etruscan Confederation which controlled central Tuscany from the

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Pesa river in the west to the Mediterranean Sea. In 260 B.C. Volterra submitted to Rome, and then to successive Carolingen, Lombard, and Frank rule. In documents from 1075 to 1107, Matilda is recorded in Volterra or its environs making various donations to the canons of the Cathedral of Santa Maria and to the bishop of Volterra.25 From the Badia of Santa Maria at Florence on May 5, 1114, Matilda ceded all of her property in the diocese to the bishop of Volterra.26 Matilda’s donations contributed to the restoration of the Cathedral dedicated to Mary which stood at one end of a piazza across from the octagonal Baptistery in the center of Volterra. The Romanesque church begun in 1103 by bishop Rogerio Ghisalbertini suffered damage in the earthquake of 1117.27 The present Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta was consecrated by Pope Callisto II on May 20, 1120, after Matilda’s death.28 The Cathedral retains a simple Romanesque façade; the central portal was added in the thirteenth century and is attributed by Vasari to Nicola Pisano (Fig. 97.1). The interior was completely redone in 1580-1584, in late Renaissance style. Matilda’s donations served to reinforce the authority of the bishops of Volterra and to extend their jurisdiction over a vast territory. By 1150 the Commune was dominated by a series of powerful bishops, against whom the people of Volterra struggled for its independence.

and a fortress called Salamarzana. The monastery administered the crossing, and the castle guarded the bridge, known as the “pons Bonifilii”. First recorded in 1002, a flood of the Arno in 1106 destroyed both the bridge and the monastery. During the siege of Prato, in June 1107, Matilda confirmed to the Monastery of San Salvatore at Fucecchio possession of the castrum of Montalto and its income. Presumably the monks used this land to re-build the monastery on “higher ground”, after its destruction during the flood of the Arno river the previous year (Fig. 98.1).29 Seven years’ later, Matilda’s “adopted son”, Guido Guerra and his wife, Imilia, made a further donation to the monastery in a document dated October 29, 1114, agreeing to an exchange of lands with the prior of the Monastery of San Salvatore at Fucecchio.30 A medieval tower still rises above Fucecchio where the Salamarzana fortress stood. Its simple square stone form, with slit windows, is a unique reminder of the ancient fortification which defended the Arno and communicated with neighboring towers to the east, west, north and south.

98. Fucecchio (FI) The via Francigena crosses the Arno river at Fucecchio and is listed by archbishop Sigerico as a stop along his route. Fucecchio grew up around a monastery dedicated to San Salvatore 98.1

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99.1

99.3

99.2

99.4

99. San Miniato (PI)

to the center for German interests and collection of feudal taxes in Tuscany from the time of Otto I. A document of 999 in Lucca records the mountain and castle called Sanminiato (“in loco et finibus ab castello et Monte ubi dicitur Sanminiato”). Bonifacio, as Duke of Tuscany on behalf of the German Empire, con-

The mountaintop fortress of San Miniato overlooks the bridge at Fucecchio and dominates the valleys of the Arno and Elsa rivers – the junction where the via Francigena crossed the road between Pisa and Florence. Its position over-looking the major thoroughfares of Tuscany made San Minia133

trolled San Miniato from at least 1027 until his death in 1052. He built the Palazzo dei Vicari on the central piazza across from the municipal palace and the cathedral (Figs. 99.1, 99.2). It has a simple square form with narrow slit windows like many of Matilda’s towers. For this reason, San Miniato claims that Matilda of Canossa was born here. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and San Genesio (Fig. 99.3) is built in red brick on the foundations of a twelfth century church. When the church at San Genesio at the foot of this hill was abandoned, the saint’s name was added to this Cathedral’s. It is much restored. The crenellated bell tower of the Cathedral, called the Torre di Mathilde, was built by Maria Maddalena d’Austria in 1622. Bonifacio’s palace was sequestered by the German King Henry III at the Council of Florence in 1055 and he made it a direct dependence of the

Empire.31 Nonetheless Matilda retained property here. One of the first documents issued by Matilda, without her mother, is dated in Pisa on March 4, 1074. She recites that she resides in Pisa, as “ducatrix” and “marchionissa”, and donated to the Monastery of San Ponziano in Lucca, six houses near San Miniato.32 After Matilda’s death, the Communes and the Empire struggled for control of this strategic hilltop, possession of which flip-flopped between them in the centuries following Matilda’s death. The importance of this hill is such that in World War II, the Germans and the Allies fought for its possession. The German insistence probably accounts for the identification “al Tedesco”, of the Germans, after its name. The via Francigena, which begins at Luni, continues south along the banks of the Elsa river (Fig. 99.4) and is discussed in its entirety at Route 9.

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102

100. Limite and Gello (FI)

102. Artimino (Carmignano, PO)

Located between Fucecchio and Florence on opposite banks of the Arno are two churches, Santa Maria Assunta at Limite and Santa Maria Assunta at Gello. During the siege of Prato (see no. 92) in June of 1107 the Countess put these churches under the protection of the bishop of Pistoia.33 Her purpose was to give to the Gregorian bishop control of the Arno and the trade route that connected Florence to the sea. The churches were rebuilt in the nineteenth century.

Artimino (Fig. 102) overlooks the Arno river valley and the bridge over the Signa river. Outside its medieval walls is the enchanting Pieve of Santa Maria and San Leonardo. The pieve, dedicated to Mary until the late 1500s when the dedication to San Leonardo was added, is first documented in an Imperial decree of Otto II dated February 25, 998 which conceded the pieve to the bishop of Pistoia. Local tradition attributes its restoration to Matilda of Canossa (Fig. 102.1).

101. Vinci and Cerreto Guidi (FI) According to local tradition, the Pieve of San Pietro at Sant’Amato was built around 1100 by desire of the Countess Matilda of Canossa. The simple gray stone façade has a single central portal marked by a gray and white stone arch. A notable example of Tuscan Romanesque it has a single semi-circular stone apse reflecting the interior basilican structure (Fig. 101.1).

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103. Florence

Matilda’s grandfather, and his nephew, her father at a ceremony held in the Badia Fiorentina.34 In those years that Bonifacio was Duke of Tuscany, he continued an intense building program begun by his grandmother, Guilia, which his daughter, Matilda, would continue. In 971, Guilia established the first Benedictine monastery within the city walls, the Badia of Santa Maria and Santo Stefano, the “Badia Fiorentina” (Fig. 103.1). Bonifacio made a donation to the Badia in 1009 to build the second, larger cloister, and in 1031 the Badia established a ospedale to welcome visitors to Florence. Also under Bonifacio, in November 1040, the canons of the Cathedral built a ospedale to welcome pilgrims dedicated to San Giovanni Evangelista in the piazza across from the Baptistery. In addition, Bonifacio added a new altar to the Cathedral dedicated to Santa Reparata which his brother, Tedaldo bishop of Arezzo, inaugurated in 1036 (Fig. 103.2). The walls of the Basilica of San Miniato began to rise under Bonifacio. Its

When Florence emerged out of the dark age of barbarian invasions, it retained the structure of a Roman military camp, the skeleton of which continues to define the city’s central core. The tall column that stands in the piazza Repubblica marked the center of Florentia, founded to guard the bridge at the narrowest point of the Arno river, where the Ponte Vecchio stands today. The Christian community grew up on the opposite bank, across the Ponte Vecchio, where a paleo-Christian basilica and cemetary was built, the spot marked today by the Church of Santa Felicita. Above the town on the hill to the south stood a small shrine to the first Christian martyr, San Miniato. Charlemagne wintered here in 786, and gave the hillside surrounding the shrine of San Miniato to the monks who cared for his tomb. All the Ottos (I, II, and III) stopped in Florence on their road to Rome to visit Ugo, the Great Duke of Tuscany (968-1001). When Ugo died without heirs, he was succeeded successively by his brother-in-law,

103.1. View of the Badia Fiorentina and the Palazzo del Podestà by Giuseppe Zocchi (1711-1767)

Right: 103.2. Floor of Santa Reparata today located beneath the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence

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cornerstone was laid on April 27, 1018 and the structure was completed in 1063, under the patronage of Godfrey, Beatrice and Matilda. Built over the Saint’s shrine which had fallen into ruin, the Roman columns and capitals today in its crypt were recovered from the earlier construction. The same bishop instituted a mercato outside the city walls with his share of the proceeds from sales going to finance the church’s construction (Fig. 103.3). We know that when Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, and her step-father Godfrey settled in Florence in 1057, the city was already gripped by monastics determined to reform the Roman Church in the image of Saint Benedict’s Rule. What remains little explored is the extent to which Bonifacio’s “noble devotion” contributed to the explosion of that religious fervor.35 Two of the most significant reforming voices: Giovanni Gualberto and Gerhard of Burgundy arrived in Florence while Bonifacio was Duke of Tuscany. By April 16, 1048, Gualberto had established a monastery closer to town at San Salvi.

Gerhard of Burgundy became bishop of Florence in 1046. Twelve years later Gerhard will be elected Pope Nicholas II, against the wishes of the German and Lombard bishops and some noble families of Rome. Nicholas II was installed at Saint Peter’s on January 24, 1059, with the assistance of the troops of Matilda’s step-father, Duke Godfrey, and of Hildebrand’s largesse with the Romans.36 He immediately enacted the Cluniac reforms at his first Lenten Synod the following March which condemned simony; abolished lay investiture of the clergy by local nobles or kings; reserved the choice of Pope to election by a group of cardinal bishops; and imposed celibacy on all members of the clergy. That is to say, the man most responsible for enacting the Cluny inspired reforms of the Roman Catholic Church was raised to the bishop’s hat under Matilda’s father, Bonifacio. Matilda is first recorded in Florence in June 1055 when she was nine years old. She arrived with her mother, Beatrice. The two females were the only surviving members of the Canossan dynasty.37

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the political alliance between the duchy of Tuscany and the monks and Romans, like Hildebrand, who sought to reform the Roman Church and make it independent of Germany.39 Matilda’s second exile from Florence was likewise brief. Her step-father Godfrey took the surely reluctant twentythree year old bride to the Lorraine to marry his son, Godfrey called the Hunchback. The marriage occurred sometime before the elder Godfrey’s death on Christmas Eve 1069 and ended when Matilda abandoned her husband, returning to Italy in the winter of 1071. Godfrey the Hunchback did not relinquish his marital rights to the March of Mantua or the Duchy of Tuscany. To the contrary, Godfrey held court from the Spring of 1072 until August of 1073 throughout Bonifacio’s domains, including Florence where Godfrey is recorded together with Beatrice, but not Matilda, in the early months of 1073.40 After her husband’s departure, Matilda resumed the political alliance established by her father, and strengthened by her step father, with the reform faction of the Roman Church. She sits for the first time in Florence in placita with Beatrice on May 7, 1075. They grant possession of property in the town of Montecatini to bishop Anselm II of Lucca, a staunch partisan of Church reform.41 Two years later, on June 6, 1077, Matilda is again in Florence to hear the same dispute, deciding again in Anselm’s favor.42 In the space of these two years, Matilda’s husband and mother had both died, Gregory VII had excommunicated the German King Henry IV, and had pardoned him in the famous confrontation in the snows of Canossa (see no. 67). Threatened by the

103.3

The German King summoned them to appear before a council of 120 bishops in the Church of Santa Reparata. At this council, Henry III named a German as Pope Victor II. And as King, he escheated to himself all of Bonifacio’s lands which Beatrice had tried to preserve for her daughter Matilda when she married after Bonifacio’s death to Godfrey, her cousin from the Lorraine. Henry III declared their marriage treason because it had been made without his permission. The German King arrested Beatrice, forcing her and Matilda to return to Germany with him. For these acts, the Florentines refer to Henry III as “the Black”.38 Matilda, Beatrice and her second husband Duke Godfrey of Lorraine returned to Florence in 1057, after Henry III’s premature death. They made Florence the center of their court and Matilda lived here her entire adolescence until she departed for her first marriage in 1069. While Matilda’s teens are undocumented, the records of Godrey’s years as Duke are abundant. His tenure significantly strengthened 138

German and Lombard troops which milled in the Po valley below Canossa’s ramparts, Matilda and Pope Gregory VII spent the first six months of 1077 isolated in her Apennine fortress. When the Pope and Countess descend from the mountain top, one of their first stops was Florence where Gregory VII is also recorded on June 28, 1077. It can only be because Matilda felt safe here. The Renaissance Florentine historian Francesco Guicciardini wrote that Florence belonged to the Countess Matilda, who gave it, together with all of Tuscany, to the Roman Church.43 She made her donation in the Autumn of 1077 and, immediately thereafter, in 1078 enlarged

and reinforced the walls around this city – to protect her jewel from the aggression of the German Emperor Henry IV. The following year, 1079, Matilda transferred jurisdictional and administrative powers formerly reserved to the margrave to the Florentines themselves.44 This means that Matilda liberated Florence two years prior to Henry’s act of June 1081 exempting Lucca from various the feudal customs “harshly imposed since the time of the Marchese Bonifacio.” It is possible that Matilda’s act inspired the Lucchese petition to the King. By all accounts, the Florentines were sufficiently independent by 10901093 that they had formed a citizen’s

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103.5

council to collect and disperse taxes, keeping for the citizens imposts previously paid to the German King and his feudal representative. Donizone barely mentions Florence and it is difficult to reconcile Matilda’s relations with Florence to those she had with other towns, like Mantua and Lucca, in her father’s domains. For them, Matilda was the foil against whom they fought, an oppressive medieval lord, rather than a benign protectress as the Florentines remember her. Of them all, only Florence remained faithful when her other cities defected to the Imperial side. Yet even as the Florentines accepted Matilda as their Countess, they developed as a free commune under her protective wing. No documents record Matilda again in Florence until March 1100, an absence of nearly twenty years. The Florentines used this to their advantage, establishing an administration and jurisdiction within its walls and in the surrounding countryside.45 Upon Matilda’s arrival she made two donations, one to the canons

of the Cathedral, and the other to the monks of Vallombrosa,46 and she began building a new palace, “her favorite home which she visited frequently”.47 The palace was built outside the walls of the city, in recognition of the city’s municipal autonomy.48 As early as 1101 a document attributes administration of the Commune of Florence to men with the title, consols.49 When Pope Paschal traveled north to meet Matilda at Modena, he held a Council in Florence in September 1106. Although Matilda is not recorded as present, she certainly would have made her palace available to Gregory’s successor. Florence remained a jewel of continuing interest to the Empire. Conrad, Henry IV’s eldest son, allied with Matilda after his father’s defeat at Canossa in 1092. He was proclaimed King of Italy under Pope Urban II in the fall of 1093, but repented his decision when his younger brother, Henry V, was substituted by the German dukes as heir to the German crown. As 140

a result Donizone wrote, a discord arose between Conrad and the Countess and rumors implicated Matilda in Conrad’s premature death which occurred in Florence on June 27, 1101.50 Conrad’s brother arrived a decade later – after his father’s death, and with a force of 30,000 German troops. He considered Italy his birthright and expected Pope Paschal to crown him Holy Roman Emperor. Henry V cut a swath of terror across Lombardy, arriving at Florence on Christmas 1110. The Florentines celebrated solemn Christmas mass with him and provisioned his men and horses. Henry V left the next day. When the German King returned after Matilda’s death, he appointed one Rabodo as Duke of Tuscany, but the Florentines did not accept any successor to the Countess. Rabodo failed to reassert German order in Tuscany and died in a battle at Lastra a Signa in 1119. The inability of the Germans to dominate Florence effectively ended the Duchy of Tuscany for nearly 450 years.51 Many of the great Florentine monuments are built on foundations attributable to the generosity of the family from Canossa. The activity of building and restoration of churches in Florence in the latter half of the eleventh century was so active that Mons. Timothy Verdon refers to it as a Romanesque Renaissance.52 The paleo-Christian churches of Santa Felicita (1056) and San Lorenzo (1060) were restored. Beatrice made a donation to the Church of Santa Felicita near the walls of Florence in February 1073.53 In 1072, Beatrice took under her protection the chapel dedicated to Mary outside the walls of Florence on which foundations stand the Church of Santa Maria Novella.54 During the renovations to Santa

Reparata, the Baptistery of Saint John the Baptist was consecrated as the Cathedral of Florence at a ceremony conducted by Pope Nicholas II on November 6, 1059. At this ceremony, Duke Godfrey, Beatrice, Matilda and Hildebrand, the future Pope Gregory VII were all present. In 1064 Duke Godfrey, with his wife Beatrice, his son Godfrey the Hunchback and Beatrice’s daughter Matilda, made a donation to the Baptistery of Saint John the Baptist in Florence.55 The Baptistery remained the Cathedral of Florence throughout Matilda’s life (Fig. 103.4).56 According to local tradition, in 1092 Matilda took under her protection the Church of Santa Trinita.57 Santa Trinita is first documented in July 19, 1077 when it was recognized as a dependence of the Monastery of Vallombrosa (Fig. 103.6). Paschal II recognized the

103.6. The Romanesque counterfaçade of the Church of Santa Trinita (from Santa Trinita, Florence 2009)

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Paradise. Mathelda assumes responsibility for Dante, as Virgil her fellow Mantuan, fades away. She carries Dante across the river Lethe where he meets Beatrice, his guide to Paradise. In the Renaissance, and indeed through the eighteenth century, commentators on the Divine Comedy never doubted that the solitary figure of Mathelda in Eden represented the Countess Matilda, a noble and virtuous woman and a great administrator of men.60 Directly above the central altar of Santa Maria del Fiore in Brunelleschi’s dome Federico Zuccari (1572-1579) painted a female figure which conforms to Dante’s description of Mathelda (Fig. 103.5). Zuccari certainly knew who Countess Matilda was as he portrayed the Countess as the mediator of Pope Gregory VII and the German King Henry IV in his Vatican Sala Regia frescoes of 1573 (Fig. 136.4).61 In Florence’s Duomo, Zuccari painted a solitary female figure standing on a grassy hill, on the same level as the turmoil of hell. Her feet are firmly placed on the terra firma but she sees Heaven. She looks up toward the figure of Christian charity directly above her head, as cupids store her shield and armor. Some art historians call her the ‘church militant’, but her arms of war are being replaced by other cupids with the indicia of government, a robe and a crown. Like Dante’s Mathelda, Zuccari shows a female governor. Mathelda delivers man to Paradise through the Cardinal virtues of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance. These are the same virtues which the monks of San Benedetto Po emphasized in their tribute to the Countess produced in 1151, over a century before Dante’s own tribute to her (Fig. 20.1.2).

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104.1.1

church in a Papal Bull of 1115, the year Matilda died. The church had preserved a reliquary of Giovanni Gualberto and vestments of San Bernardo degli Uberti which today are in Vallombrosa.58 Florentines remember Matilda as a leader who “governed with a benevolent sway.” Her praises, La lauda di Matelda were sung long after her death in Florence’s churches, according to a passage in Boccaccio.59 Dante places Mathelda in the closing cantos of Il Purgatorio in Earthly Paradise, a peaceful kingdom on earth from which souls depart for 142

104. Pieve di San Pancrazio (San Casciano in Val di Pesa, FI)

an act of November 13, 1074.63 Among the oldest churches dedicated to the Madonna, the Chapel to the left of the main altar preserves a painting of the Madonna attributed to the hand of Saint Luke the Evangelist. The painting, said to have been brought to Italy in the first decades of Christianity by Saint Romolo, was re-discovered during the excavations for the foundation of this church. It is believed to be the place where the Virgin wished her shrine constructed. The Romanesque structure was restored frequently and most of the present church dates from the middle of the fourteenth century (Fig. 105.1). The interior is restored in a Renaissance style after bombings in 1944 substantially destroyed the church. To Michelozzo and Luca della Robbia are attributed the chapel devoted to the Madonna of Impruneta.

Of the many ancient pieve in San Casciano, only the Pieve of San Pancrazio, located on a hill above the Pesa river, is said to have been restored by the Countess Matilda (Figs. 104.1, 104.1.1).

105. Impruneta (FI) The Basilica of Santa Maria, once a pieve on the pilgrim route, is today at the center of Impruneta. First referred to as a dependence of the Badia Fiorentina on May 11, 1032, the “plebs Sancte Mariae in Pineta” was consecrated to the Virgin by Pope Nicholas II in a ceremony attended by Beatrice and Matilda on January 3, 1060.62 By some reports, the reform Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida assisted at the consecration. Reconstruction of the church, attributed to Beatrice, is confirmed in

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106. Badia a Ripoli, Florence

The Monastery of Camaldoli owes its origins to the family from Canossa in the person of Matilda’s uncle, Tedaldo, who as bishop of Arezzo (1023-1036)

encouraged Saint Romualdo (9521027) to create a hermitage in this wilderness. Saint Romualdo was born in Ravenna and became a monk at Sant’Apollinare in Classe. In 1027, bishop Tedaldo dedicated five cells and a small oratory as an isolated hermitage of prayer and spiritual retreat for Saint Romualdo. Saint Pier Damiani, a strong advocate of Church reform and an early ally of Hildebrand (the future Pope Gregory VII), wrote the Life of Romualdo about 15 years after the saint’s death in 1042. Damiani knew Matilda well, having first appeared in her mother’s court in 1072 as Prior of the Hermitage of Fonte Avellana, see no. 108. After Saint Romualdo’s death, a short distance down the mountain, the monks built a church and monastery and a hospice for the sick in the vicinity. Their cures were developed from herbs grown

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The Abbey Church of Saint Bartholomew in the piazza of Badia a Ripoli (Fig. 106.1) was founded in 790 as a convent of Benedictine nuns. According to local tradition, it was restored by the Countess Matilda. The local legend is memorialized in a painting at the left of the main altar entitled Countess Matilda gives the Church its Charter, by Francesco Conti (c. 1700) (Fig. 106.2). The church became a possession of the monastery at Vallombrosa in 1188. It suffered significant bombing damage in World War II and has been completely restored.

107. Camaldoli (AR)

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in these woods. This hospice operated until the Napoleonic suppression of 1810. The hermitage today, located within a protected nature reserve, Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, remains a spiritual retreat and still sells herbal cures. The guest house was begun under the priorate of Blessed Rodolfo (1074-1089) and is recorded as receiving guests by 1080. Among the members of this community was Raniero Ranieri, who became Pope Paschal II. Elected on August 13, 1099, at the death of Pope Urban II, Paschal was the third, and last, of the Gregorian Popes who Matilda knew and supported. His death on January 21, 1118 followed hers by only three years. The present buildings date from a sixteenth century restoration attributable to Giorgio Vasari. The complex was completely restored beginning in the 1950s.

Dante mentions the Hermitage of Fonte Avellana in Paradiso (canto 21, vv. 106-111) with such affection that some hypothesize he visited here. The present structures date to 1325.

109. Terra Barbitana (Caprese Michelangelo, AR) Terra Barbitana is what medieval documents called Caprese Michelangelo. The name refers to the Goths and Lombards who inhabited the area. The town lies along a narrow winding mountain road that connects Camaldoli to LaVerna and Caprese to Arezzo. The road travels across the mountain range that separates the Val d’Arno from the Val Tiberina. The Tiber river originates in these mountains and from here flows to Rome. Matilda’s uncle, Tedaldo, bishop of Arezzo, is recorded here in 1030. A notice records the presence of Matilda in the land of “Barbaritana” (“terra illa, que dicitur Barbaritana”) at some time between 1078 and December 1079,65 together with Constantino, bishop of Arezzo, presumably her uncle’s successor. In this document Matilda extends her protection to an Abbey of Santa Fiora, which today is unidentified. Goez presumes this refers to the Abbey of Santa Flora e Lucilla in Arezzo, but this church is recorded as being founded in 1278. Rather closer was the Abbey of Santa Flora in Subbiano (along Statale 71, 12 kilometers outside Arezzo). In the Terra Barbitana, the Abbey of Santa Flora guarded the Casentino portion of the Arno river valley and a nearby mill. Of the complex, only the tower, built c. 1100 and the mill which still functions, remain. Today the tower is a five star hotel.

108. Fonte Avellana (PU) The Hermitage of the Holy Cross at Fonte Avellana was also founded by Saint Romualdo and operates under his Rule. It seems far outside the territorial jurisdiction of Canossa, as it is located some distance away in the mountains east of Gubbio. Yet one of the first acts made by Beatrice, in the presence of Matilda, after the failure of her first marriage and return to Italy, is in favor of this Hermitage. On July 7, 1072 from the Modenese hills south of Vignole, Beatrice granted various named churches with their appurtenant lands to the Hermitage of Santa Croce in Fonte Avellana.64 The petitioner was the Hermitage’s then prior, Saint Pier Damiani. In 1076, that is four years after Damiani’s death, Pope Gregory VII placed the hermitage under papal protection. 145

1) Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 21, 22, pp. 83-87, at Pappiana on June 21, and June 27, 1077; doc. no. 74, pp. 217-220, at Nonantola in 1103, when she donates her villa at Pappiana to the canons of the Cathedral at Pisa. 2) See website of San Giuliano Terme. 3) Wilken 1999, pp. 26-32. 4) Donizone II, fol. 52v, vv. 173-175, in Golinelli 1987, p. 76. 5) Letter of Gregory VII to duch*ess Beatrice and her daughter, Matilda, April 15, 1074, Book I, 77, p. 109, in Emerton 1932 (ed. 1990), p. 34, where he reproves them for entertaining (excommunicated) bishops from Germany who were traveling to Rome at Eastertide in March and April of 1074. 6) Bertolini 1970. 7) Zucchelli 1916, p. 25, who states that after Beatrice’s death the Genoese navy attacked this port and did much damage. 8) The Camposanto, at the north end of the complex, is a graceful arcade of gothic arches begun in 1278 to contain the dirt brought back from Jerusalem after the Fourth Crusade (1146). The burial sarcophagus of Beatrice, Matilda’s mother, stands at the center of the north wall, having been removed from its original position inside the Cathedral in 1810. On February 7, 1810 Cathedral authorities opened the tomb during its transfer to the Camposanto. They found ashes and fragments of a wooden scepter, four globes, of which one was ivory and three were lead, and 4 small copper coins, one embossed with a seal. Zucchelli 1916, pp. 3-13. 9) Donizone I, fol. 46r, vv. 1355-1361, in Golinelli 1987, p. 70. 10) Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 21 (June 21, 1077) and 22 (June 27, 1077), pp. 83-87, both at her villa at Pappiana. 11) Heywood (1921, p. 8) writes Pope Gregory VII recognized the customs of the sea “consuetudines quas habent de Mare” established by the Pisans in 1075 and this was approved by the Emperor Henry IV six years later, citing at fn. 4, Muratori 1738-1742, IV, p. 19. At page 10 Heywood writes that Matilda governed the city with a Viscount Ugo and that Pisa was not governed by independent consuls until shortly before the descent of Frederick Barbarossa into Italy in 1154. See also Wikipedia entry on Pisa, accessed September 6, 2014: “In 1060 Pisa had to engage in their first battle with Genoa. The Pisan victory helped to consolidate its position in the Mediterranean. Pope Gregory VII recognized in 1077 the new ‘Laws and customs of

the sea’ instituted by the Pisans, and, in the summer of 1081, the German king Henry IV granted them the right to name their own consuls, advised by a Council of Elders. This was simply a confirmation of the present situation, because in those years the marquis had already been excluded from power. In 1092 Pope Urban II awarded Pisa the supremacy over Corsica and Sardinia, and at the same time raising Pisa to the rank of archbishopric.” 12) Rossetti 1977, pp. 237-243; Ronzani 1991, p. 189. 13) The failure of Henry to mention Matilda indicates that he never considered her as heir to the Duchy of Tuscany, a position which, under Salic law, a woman was legally incapable of holding. The last Duke of Tuscany in Pisa as far as the German Reich was concerned was Matilda’s great uncle, Ugo. To the contrary see Robinson 1999, p. 215, and Hay 2008, p. 92. 14) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 51, p. 424, dated June 28, 1091, and Dep. no. 53, p. 425, dated April 24, 1092. 15) Ibid., no. 23, pp. 87-92, quoted language at p. 91, at Poggibonsi on August 27, 1077. 16) For a discussion of Henry IV’s edict freeing Pisa from feudal imposts see Spike 2004, p. 251 and Appendix. For Matilda’s acts see Die Urkunden 1998, no. 61, pp. 186-188, at Pappiana near Pisa, dated June 7, 1100; no. 63, pp. 190-192, dated 1100; no. 125, pp. 324-326, dated April 7, 1112 at Massa when she issues a judgement regarding Orlando of Pisa. 17) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 74, pp. 217-220 at Nonantola in 1103; Zucchelli 1916, p. 25. 18) R. Piccinelli, in Golinelli 2003, VI.14, pp. 142-143. 19) This observation was made by Dorothy Meek Porter during a visit to the Temple Mount in the Spring of 1998. 20) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 22, pp. 85-87. 21) Ibid., no. 124, pp. 322-324. 22) Church documents record that this manuscript was taken on October 4, 1783, to the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence, where it is conserved today. This may in fact be a different codex from the Codex Pisanus brought from Amalfi to Pisa a century later, c. 11351137 arriving at Florence in 1406. 23) Inghirami 1841-1843, p. 29. It may also be true, as recorded by Giuseppe Caciagli in his book on Cascina (2000), that these baths were known by the ancient Romans as Castrum de Aquis. Two documents from 823 and 840,

146

41) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 14, pp. 68-70. 42) Ibid., no. 20, pp. 81-83. 43) Guicciardini 1561 (ed. 1984), pp. 145146; see also Grimm 1900, p. 13. 44) Dameron 1991, p. 67; Procacci 1996, p. 144. 45) See Dameron 1991, p. 68, in 1084 Florence began to establish its own charisma, accepting submission of rural communities in the name of its patron saint, John the Baptist. 46) Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 56 and 57, pp. 176-180. 47) She is recorded in the area of Florence in documents of 1101, 1103, 1105 and 1107 (Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 77, pp. 226-227; 90, pp. 253-254; 91, pp. 254-255; 103, pp. 279-281. 48) Procacci 1996, p. 144. 49) Cantini 1796, p. 74. 50) Donizone II, fol. 72v-73r, vv. 917-940, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 96-97. 51) Rubinstein 1942, p. 204. 52) Verdon, Coppellotti and Fabbri 1999, p. 26. 53) Bertolini 1970. 54) Verdon, Coppellotti and Fabbri 1999, p. 116. 55) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 2, p. 392. 56) La chiesa fiorentina 1970, p. 104. See also Verdon, Coppellotti and Fabbri 1999, p. 26. 57) See Barocchi 1980, p. 75, who states that the chapel dedicated to the Madonna and probably built over the oldest part of the building was destroyed in the flood of 1966. 58) Before being named Matilda’s spiritual advisor by Pope Paschal II, Bernardo degli Uberti was prior of the monastery at San Salvi in 1091, and thereafter abbot of the monastery at Vallombrosa. 59) Gardner 1928, pp. 15-16. 60) “Mathelda contessa, femina di somma nobilità et di grandissime virtù nell’amministrazione”. Callegari 2008. 61) Verzár Bornstein 2010, pp. 73-89. 62) See website of the Basilica of Impruneta. 63) This document is cited in the article on the Basilica of Impruneta in Wikipedia Italia, but I have not yet been able to find the document or other notices confirming its existence. 64) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 3, pp. 39-42. 65) Ibid., Dep. no. 31, p. 411.

both in the archbishop’s archives of Lucca, record the Pieve of Santa Maria de Aqui here. 24) Die Urkunden 1998, nos. 125 and 126, pp. 324-329 (there are many Massa’s in Italy, but the April 7 document refers to land in Pisa and to a certain Gualando of Pisa as being present with Matilda. To the contrary is the April 13 document which refers to a donation to San Benedetto Po of land near Ficarolo in Emilia). 25) Ibid., no. 17, pp. 76-78, at Volterra on October 23, 1075; no. 24, pp. 93-94, at Poggibonsi on February 11, 1078 ; no. 104, pp. 281-283, at Volterra on July 23, 1107; Dep. no. 59, p. 429, at Volterra on July 14, 1095. 26) Ibid., Dep. no. 84, p. 446. 27) Ibid., Dep. no. 67, pp. 435-436, donation to bishop Rogerius of Volterra made at Parma 1102-Groppina 1103. 28) See website of the diocese of Volterra, accessed September 29, 2014. 29) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 102, pp. 278279. Of particular interest, in the donation to Fucecchio, Matilda names the bishop of Pistoia, the abbot of Nonantola, and others frequently named as witnesses, including Ugo de Manfredi and Arduino. 30) Golinelli 2007c, p. 123. 31) See F. Salvestrini, in Golinelli 2003, entries nos. X.14 and X. 15, pp. 394-395. 32) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 12, pp. 64-66, at Pisa on March 4, 1074. 33) Ibid., no. 103, pp. 279-281. 34) Cantini 1796, p. 34, in a Bull of Henry II dated 1012 at the Badia Fiorentina, Tedaldo is named as the Marchese of Tuscany, with the duch*ess, Giulia, mother of Bonifacio who was the Duke of Tuscany, and his brother, Tedaldo, the bishop of Arezzo. 35) See e.g. Howe 1988, pp. 317-339. 36) Kelly 1986, p. 151. 37) Matilda’s father was assassinated in a hunt on May 6, 1052. A parchment records a donation made on December 17, 1053 by Beatrice to the Monastery of Fenonica, “for the repose of the souls of Bonifacio and of her children.” See Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), I, pp. 79-81; Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980), p. 105. How the children died is not known. 38) Cantini 1796, p. 60. 39) See Spike 2004, Chapter 2, for a more complete discussion of these years in Florence. 40) See e.g. Overmann 1895 (ed. 1980) pp. 109-111. 147

Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Route 8

Along the via Cassia south of Florence

The ancient via Cassia followed the Arno river along the south western side of the Pratomagno mountain to Arezzo as far as Siena. At Siena the via Cassia merges with the via Francigena and continues to Rome (see Route 9). On the mountain ridges that look down on the via Cassia between Florence and Arezzo, Matilda of Canossa is remembered as having founded or rebuilt the following rural churches, or pieves, between 1100 and her death in 1115.1 These pieves are among twenty four listed as baptismal churches in the diocese of Fiesole in a Papal Bull of Paschal II in 1103. 2

110. Pieve of San Pietro at Pitiana (Reggello, FI) Pitiana stands at the base of the Pratomagno mountains, below Vallombrosa. It is first mentioned in a document of 1028 as a fortified town built around a pieve dedicated to Saint Peter. On July 3, 1039, the abbess of the convent at San Ellero gave an orchard and vineyard around this pieve for the sustenance of the monks at Vallombrosa.3 The pieve is among those along the via Cassia that tradition remembers as restored by desire of the Countess Matilda of Canossa.

111. Pieve of San Pietro at Cascia (Reggello, FI) A small church first existed at the summit of this hill which overlooks the Arno valley sometime in the fifth to sixth centuries. By 1040, the Castelnuovo of Cascia and the pieve were recorded as a possession of the Counts Guidi. Emanuele Repetti (1776-1852) recorded that the pieve was begun on January 4, 1073 as a dependency of the Abbey of Nonantola, according to a stone set in the apse. The stone no longer exists, but this would not contradict the local tradition, written down in 1717, that credits the building of this pieve to the desire of the Countess Matilda of Canossa in the last decade before her death in 1115.4 The Pieve of San Pietro at Cascia (Fig. 111) remains a beautiful example of 148

Romanesque architecture lovingly restored in the 1990s. A magnificent tripartite apse of simple stone blocks rises above green fields, unadorned except for three single slit windows. The brown stone façade is undecorated, except for a row of pilasters and arches carved in relief in the square that rises above the central nave. The severity of the stone façade with its simple square central portal is relieved by a graceful columned porch. At right is a large bell tower of a square military form which scholars believe pre-dates the pieve, being a military tower of the Castelvecchio of the Counts Guidi or even a relic of the Lombards from as early as the sixth century.

Inside, the simple basilican form culminates in a semicircular stone apse, unadorned except for a stark stone altar. Two rows of columns divide the nave into three aisles. Some capitals depict men on horseback, animals and figures in the Romanesque style. A fresco by Mariotto di Cristofano, 1420, of the Annunciation adorns the left wall of the nave. The Giovenale Tryptich of the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints by Masaccio (dated at bottom, 23 April 1422) commissioned by the Castellani family previously in the church is today in the museum next door.

111

149

112. Pieve di Sant’Agata ad Arfoli (Pietrapiana, Reggello, FI) The church, bell tower, cloister, and rectory, all of brown stone, rise prettily in the fields along the mountain ridge at the base of the mountain of Vallombrosa. Below is a spectacular view of the verdant Arno valley. The castle of Arfoli is mentioned in documents of 1200s as pertaining to the Counts Guidi. First recorded in 984, Sant’Agata ad Arfoli is considered to be the oldest pieve in the diocese of Fiesole.5 The name “arfoli” implies that the church was originally built by the Goths, who revered Agatha as the protectress of breastfeeding women. By local tradition this older church was restored by the Countess Matilda of Canossa (Fig. 112).

112

113

150

114. Pieve of San Romolo at Gaville (FI) Recorded in 1030, this pieve looks across the Arno valley to the pieve at Pian di Scò. Local tradition records that the Pieve of San Romolo was built by Matilda of Canossa. It was sensitively restored in the 1960s (Fig. 114). Located at the end of a road, surrounded by olive groves, the simple brown stone church looks like others built by Matilda. The flat stone façade is raised above the single central portal. Above the door is a rounded arch and in the central raised portion is a biforal window divided by a single column. At the rear is a beautiful single rounded apse with a slit window in the middle. Inside, the church is basilican in structure with three aisles divided by columns ending in a single semi-circular rounded apse. The absolute simplicity of the façade constrasts with the fantastic sculptural capitals of the columns within, decorated with many Romanesque motifs of geometric and floral elements, animals, and human figures. Beside the pieve is the Rectory built in the mid 1700s which is today a museum dedicated to agrarian culture and the “contadino”.

113.1

113. Pieve of Santa Maria at Pian di Scò (AR) The majestic Romanesque form of the Pieve of Santa Maria at Pian di Scò is visible from the valley below and across the opposite ridge (Fig. 113). Entry to the church is from a terrace that overlooks the Arno valley. Pian di Scò is mentioned as a pagus (administrative center) of ancient Rome as early as 127 B.C. The pieve itself was cited in a donation dated March 12, 1008, as among the churches given by the Ubertini family to the Abbey of Santa Trinità in Alpe, located at Reggiolo, east of Pian di Scò. The community of Pian di Scò arose around the pieve in the eleventh century, within fortified walls, the remains of which are still visible. At this time, by tradition, the pieve was restored and dedicated to Mary, by the Countess Matilda of Canossa (Fig. 113.1).6

114

151

115. Pieve of San Pietro at Gropina (AR)

the abbey at Nonantola in 780 and it remained a dependency of this abbey until it returned to the diocese of Arezzo in 1191. The Pieve of San Pietro was restored by tradition according to the desire of the Countess Matilda of Canossa (Fig. 115).7 By the 1200s the castle at Loro Ciuffenna, named for the nearby Ciuffenna river which flows into the Arno, pertained to the Counts Guidi, who were allies of the Countess.

The majestic gray stone church sits alone in a small piazza beyond which extends a magnificent view of forested mountains and the Arno valley below (Figs. 115, 115.2). One of the most beautiful Romanesque pieve in Tuscany, San Pietro at Gropina is located along a ridge road that connects Reggello to Arezzo, called the “via San Pietro.” Its rather stark exterior belies the magnificent sculptural richness within, including sculpted capitals that relate the biblical stories and an extraordinary early ambone (Fig. 115.1). First mentioned in a document of 774, the pieve was given by Charlemagne to

116. Santa Maria

delle Vertighe

(Monte San Savino, AR) In the summer of 1072 Beatrice and Matilda issued a document from a house at Vertighe in the Aretino near to

115.2

115.1

152

115

116

the church dedicated to Mary.8 A year later, the church was listed as a priory of the Monastery of Camaldoli. The Church of Santa Maria delle Vertighe stands above the Autostrada exit to Monte San Savino. Surrounded by a grove of cypress trees, the church looks down on the Val di Chiana and across the valley to Cortona on the opposite rise. In the mid-1400s a Renaissance church was built around the medieval chapel. At the same time a porch was built around the church to shelter pilgrims who came to worship. A beautiful and venerated icon of the Madonna and Child is preserved above the high altar. Santa Maria delle Vertighe was dedicated as the Patron Saint of the Autostrada del Sole (A-1) in 1964 by Pope Paul VI (Fig. 116).

1) See e.g. TCI Toscana 1974, p. 369; Lanzarini 2000. 2) The date of the Papal Bull is variously reported as March 6, 1102 (i. e. 1103, likely depending upon the traditional Florence calendar which began the year on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation) and March 15, 1103. The latter date is taken from Repetti 1833-1846, vol. V (1843), p. 603. Diario manoscritto di Cammillo Tabarrini Pievano dal 1688 al 1740, quoted in Lanzarini 2000. 3) Encyclopedia of Monasticism 2000, p. 556. 4) Diario manoscritto di Cammillo Tabarrini Pievano dal 1688 al 1740, quoted in Lanzarini 2000. 5) La chiesa fiorentina 1970, p. 147. 6) Bruschetini 2001; Lanzarini 2000. 7) For historical notices see Fabbri and Francioni 2003. Matilda is recorded at Gropina making a donation to bishop Ruggiero of Volterra and to four citizen consuls in 1103, Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 67, p. 435. 8) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 8, p. 396.

153

Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Route 9

Along the via Francigena from Luni to Rome

The via Francigena connects Canterbury to Rome. Its route is defined by a diary written in 990 by archbishop Sigerico. The diary lists the seventy-nine monasteries and hospices that he stopped at on his return from Rome where he received the papal pallio that signified his appointment as Canterbury’s archbishop. The route had a sufficient number of travelers that by 1036 the German Emperor Conrad II issued a diploma which ordered the dioceses of Reggio, Modena and Tuscany to protect this road to Rome.1 In Italy, the via Francigena crosses the Apennine mountains at the Passo della Cisa, at “monte Bardone,” which is west of the Enza river and outside Canossan and Matilda’s territory. Today the Autostrada A-15 follows this route. The pass ends at Luni, stop XXVIII on Sigerico’s list. Luni is located at the border between Liguria and Tuscany, after which pilgrims on the via Francigena entered Tuscany and the territory of Matilda. Matilda’s donations along the Francigena begin at Castelpoggio which overlooks the road between Luni and Carrara and offers spectacular views of the Magra river valley, the plain of Luni and the Mediterranean Sea beyond. The towns which are located at the intersection of the via Francigena with the via Cassia or the Arno river and discussed above will be listed below, without a number, to indicate their traditional position on the via Francigena.

154

117. Castelpoggio (MS) Castelpoggio is first mentioned in a document of 997 when it was listed as part of a defensive network of castles protecting the port of Luni. A steep road rises from the town gate that ends at the church dedicated to the Nativity of Mary. Consecrated in 1583, the church sits on the foundations of an ancient shrine dedicated to San Sisto which was built by Matilda of Canossa. According to local legend, on August 6, the feast day of San Sisto, the Countess of Canossa, called the “Principessa di Lucca” by the people of Castelpoggio, was traveling along the mountain road. At Castelpoggio she and her retinue were surprised by a terrible wind and hailstorm. She prayed for salvation to San Sisto and the storm immediately ceased. In thanksgiving, Matilda ordered ordered the construction of a church dedicated to Mary and a hospice, dedicated to San Sisto, to be built here.2 As a result Castelpoggio became a stopping place for pilgrims and travelers. (Fig. 117).

118. Minucciano (LU) Minucciano, like Castelpoggio, stands atop a mountain ridge along the Monte Argegna, with a view over the Magra river valley and the delta where the Serchio river runs into the Sea. By the year 1000 the town had become a possession of Lucca and had the privilege of coining money called “Barbone minuc-

Maior, it was then the site of the largest military encampment adjacent to Lucca. “Campmaior” is stop XXVII in the diary of Sigerico. The Abbey Church of Saint Peter (Badia di San Pietro) rises in the fields just outside the town center (Fig. 119.1). Benedictine monks founded the monastery with a foresteria, or guest house, for pilgrim travelers, in 768 on the road links between Luni and Lucca. Its location on a principal travel route through Tuscany made the abbey of importance to Matilda of Canossa who restored the church in 1100. Her interventions were confirmed during a recent renovation. Once surrounded by a gray stone wall, of which only the gate remains, the simple gray stone abbey church, its Romanesque façade, the semi-circular apse and the austere nave with three aisles are all original to Matilda’s moment.5

117. Pilgrim plaque on town hall of Castelpoggio

cianese”.3 This privilege attests to its strategic and economic importance on the border between the Garfa*gnana and the Lunigiana and along the route of the via Francigena as it entered Tuscany. A hospice of Saint Nicholas existed here beginning in the eleventh century. The ancient Church of Saints Simon and Jude was built circa 1100 at the desire of the Countess Matilda according to local tradition.4

120. Elici (LU)

Camaiore faces the sea at the jagged edge of the Alpi Apuane chain. Known to the ancient Romans as Campus

Along the mountain ridge of Massarosa, on the road to Lucca, rises the Romanesque Pieve a Elici (Fig. 120.1). From its small piazza is a spectacular view of the valley and the Mediterranean Sea. It overlooks both ancient coastal roads, the via Francigena and the via Aurelia. Originally dedicated to

119.1

120.1

119. Camaiore (LU)

155

Saint Ambrose, this is one of the twenty-eight rural pieve founded by Saint Frediano, bishop of Lucca from 560 to 588. The present church was restored at the desire of the Countess Matilda, circa 1100. Its elegant gray form rises on a plateau providing a calm oasis at the end of a steep, winding forested road.

Torre Matilde is the historic symbol of this city. The oldest building in Viareggio, it was constructed by the Lucchese (1534-1541) as a defensive fortification against the invasions of pirates and Pisans. Its name, like that of the Torre Matilde at Livorno, likely recalls an earlier tower built by the Countess to guard this strategic port where the duchy of Tuscany meets the Mediterranean Sea.

Viareggio (LU) From Elici, the road to the sea arrives at Viareggio. After Lucca became a free commune it secured this area, in alliance with the Genoese, as a deep water port with access to the Mediterranean. The Castrum Via Regia appears in documents by the 1170s. Its name most likely derives from Via Regia, or Royal Road, and refers to an Imperial road built by Frederick Barbarossa which linked Lucca to the sea, and ended here. Today, a square grey tower looking down on the marina and called the

Lucca Two roads from the north through the Apennine mountains arrive at Lucca: the pass following the Serchio river, discussed above at Route 5, which is entirely within Matildan territory, and the via Francigena, which enters Matildan territory at Luni and continues under her patronage to Bolsena at the southern end of Tuscany. Lucca is stop XXVI on Sigerico’s route.6

121.1

156

121.2

Capannori (Capannule, LU)

founded the hospice of Altopascio and the Church of Saint James the Elder, presumably with the assistance of Beatrice,10 for pilgrims and travelers on the via Francigena. The connection to Matilda exists because the abbot Nikolas da Munkathvera called the hospice at Altopascio after her name, “Mathildar spitali” or “Hospitium Mathildis,” in his diary of the hospices that he stopped at on the road to Rome written in 1154.11 Altopascio, today a stop on Autostrada A-11, remains a splendid example of the architectural form of a medieval hospice (Fig. 121.2). The Church of Saint James the Elder (San Jacopo Maggiore) retains the white and green marble façade (Fig. 121.1). The two lions that once graced its central portal are preserved within the nave of the church. A donation signed by Matilda to the Monastery of San Ponziano in Lucca for the construction on a public highway of a pilgrim hospice is one example of Matilda’s donations to monasteries to promote pilgrimage, travel and trade (Archivio di Stato, Lucca, Fig. 121.3).

Located east of Lucca on the via Francigena, Capannule was the market town referred to with privilege of Henry IV dated June 23, 1081 (see pp. 56-57).

121. Porcari / Altopascio (LU) The castrum, or walled town, of Porcari controlled a narrow pass between the hills of the Valdinievole and was strategically placed to observe the traffic along the road which intersected the routes of both the via Cassia and the via Francigena. First mentioned in a document of donation of April 30, 780, Porcari is listed as stop XXV by Sigerico. The castrum of Porcari was bought by Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, in 1044 and sold by her in 1055. 7 Matilda’s seventeenth century biographer Fiorentini wrote that Beatrice sold the castle in the early Spring of 1055 to raise money after Bonifacio’s death and to provide for herself and her daughter Matilda during their exile in Germany by Henry III.8 Perhaps to provide for the loss of Porcari as a stop along the via Francigena, in 1060, bishop Anselm I of Lucca9 157

121.3

Fucecchio (FI) Fucecchio, where the via Francigena crosses the Arno river, is stop XXIII in Archbishop Sigerico’s diary (see no. 98 Fucecchio).

San Miniato (PI) Borgo San Genesio, located at the base of the mountain at the top of which stood Bonifacio’s fortress at San Miniato. Borgo San Genesio is stop XXII in Archbishop Sigerico’s diary. Because of frequent flooding of the Arno river, Borgo San Genesio was abandoned in 1200, and entirely destroyed in 1248. Its inhabitants moved to the higher ground of San Miniato which added the name of San Genesio to its cathedral (see no. 99 San Miniato). 122.1

158

122. Borgo Marturi (Poggibonsi, SI)

identified as the legal scholar who preceded Wernerius as a teacher of law at Bologna (see no. 45 Bologna).14 A year later, Matilda is again recorded in Borgo Marturi together with Pope Gregory VII as their journey through Matilda’s territories, which began after the dramatic events at Canossa, proceeded towards Rome. On August 27, 1077, Matilda made a donation of property to the bishop of Pisa to assist in the construction of the Cathedral. 15 She makes this donation as “the daughter of Bonifatii marchese and duke, who professes to live under Salic law” and signs simply “Matilda”. On her return from Rome the following February 11, 1078, Matilda made a donation of property to the bishop of Volterra. 16 Calling herself “dux et marchionissa,” she uses the signature written inside a hand-drawn cross that she will henceforth adopt for the first time: “MATILDA DEI GRATIA SI QUID EST” (Matilda who by the grace of God is) (Fig. 122.2). After 1099, Matilda is frequently documented at Borgo Marturi. In April 1100, Matilda ordered property

The ancient Roman settlement of Borgo di Marte, later called Marturi, stood on a hill above the Elsa and Staggia rivers and at the crossroads of the via Francigena and the road to Volterra. Because of its strategic position Giovanni Villani called Borgo Marturi the navel of Tuscany. Many documents tie Matilda to Borgo Marturi which was the center of her government in south Tuscany. Justinian’s Digest is cited, for the first time in centuries, in a case heard at Borgo Marturi in March 1076. 12 The case involved a property dispute between a man named Sigizone of Florence and the Monastery of San Michele di Marturi regarding ownership of the Church of Sant’Andrea di Papaiano, located on a hill above town (Fig. 122.1). The dispute was heard by Nordillo iudex, or judge, whose authority to decide the dispute derived from Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, duch*ess and marchese.13 Among those present was “Pepone legis doctore,” who has been

122.2. Example of Matilda’s signature from a donation to the bishop of Massa MarittimaPiombino in Tuscany and dated at the Villa Magisi, on December 28, 1103[4]. Archivio di Stato, Florence (Die Urkunden 1998, no. 77)

159

returned to the Gregorian bishop Rangerius of Lucca.17 On November 11, 1103 Matilda issued an order in favor of the nearby monastery at Pozzeveri.18 In the Autumn of 1109, Matilda resolved certain land disputes.19 On June 20, 1099, at Borgo Marturi, Matilda made a donation to the Monastery of San Michele,20 which monastery she further enriched with a donation made from Cavallare sul Cecina, a town along the coastal via Aurelia,

on July 24, 1107.21 No trace remains of the Monastery of San Michele. A chronicle records a donation made around 1099 to 1100 by Countess Matilda, “special daughter of St. Peter”, and Count Guido Guerra to the Church of Saint Mary for the construction of a hospice for the poor in Borgo Marturi.22 The Cathedral at the center of medieval Poggibonsi, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, is the likely beneficiary of this donation (Fig. 122.3).

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123. Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore (SI)

around Monte Amiata and who were in some manner related to Hildebrand of Soana, the future Pope Gregory VII.25

The Historie di Cipriano Manente da Orvieto, published in 1561, recorded that in 1103 the Countess Matilda restored and enlarged the Abbey of Monte Oliveto in Siena among other monasteries.23 Located near the town of Buonconvento and along the via Francigena between Siena and San Quirico d’Orcia, the abbey was completely rebuilt in the 1300s under Saint Bernardo Tolomei (1272-1348), the founder of the Olivetan order of Benedictines.

125. Monastery of San Salvatore at Monte Amiata (SI) As the road continues south, the volcanic bowl shaped peak of Monte Amiata looms at the horizon. Monte Amiata divides southern Tuscany, separating the Val d’Orcia on the east from the Maremma. Monte Amiata forms part of the chain of volcanoes which run along the spine of the Italian peninsula and end at Mount Etna in Sicily, the last active volcano in Italy. At its summit, Monte Amiata rises 1738 meters (or 5,218 feet) above sea level. Monte Amiata last erupted 180,000 years ago, but subterranean activity continues to heat the waters of Italy’s great thermal springs or terme, such as Bagni San Filippo, Bagno Vignoni, San Casciano dei Bagni and Saturnia, along these long sloping ridges. Their bubbling hot waters and strong sulpher odor serve as reminders of the ancient earth which still boils below our feet. The Monastery of San Salvatore is stop X in archbishop Sigerico’s diary. It is located near the summit of Monte Amiata on a ridge road that connects it to the Monastery of Sant’Antimo and the castrum of Montalcino, stop XIII on Sigerico’s route. Three documents of Matilda, all dated in the 1070s, mention this monastery.26 In two of these documents, dated 1072 and 1078, Pepo is listed as the advocatus, or lawyer, of the monastery’s abbots. Pepo is likely the legal scholar who appeared at nearby Borgo Marturi when Justinian’s Digest is cited for the first time in over three centuries and the man who

124. Castiglione d’Orcia (SI) Le Briccole is stop XI in the diary of archbishop Sigerico of Canterbury. The hospice was dedicated to San Pellegrino and administered by monks from the Camaldoli order. In a document dated September 7, 1079 at Borgo Briccole, Matilda made a donation of the small town of Castillione Bernardesco (or Gherardesco) in Volterra to the bishop of Lucca as a contribution for the building of the Cathedral dedicated to San Martino in Lucca.24 The document is of particular interest because it is one of only two in which Matilda acknowledges her deceased husband, Godfrey, stating that he was “her man” (viro meo). As her authority to act Matilda refers to her husband, Godfrey who was duke, and to her father Bonifacio who was also duke and marchese. She alleges that she lives under Longobard law, while acknowledging that her dead husband, Godfrey, lived under Salic law. Le Briccole is today a part of Castiglione d’Orcia which in Matilda’s time pertained to the Aldobrandeschi family who controlled the southern perimeter 161

preceded Irnerius in the study of the Digest at Bologna. The Church of San Salvatore at Monte Amiata reflects its Romanesque origins and Renaissance additions made in 1581 by abbot Pietro Rocca. Its austere façade is flanked by two square bell towers, only one of which was completed (Fig. 125.1). Its interior consists of a single sun-filled nave with a wide barrel vault raised

above the crypt below. At the top of the wide staircase, above the altar, hangs a magnificent wooden crucifix carved by a pilgrim from the Abbey of Vézeley in Borgogne in 1140. Two side doors lead down to the crypt which is among the most beautiful and evocative in Italy. It is also among the oldest, dating to the foundation of the monastery by the Lombard King Rachis, May 15, 747.

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There are thirty five columns, of which twenty four are original. Each column and its capital have a unique form and design with zoomorphic, floral, and abstract motifs. The complex is harmonious and its effect is enhanced by a system of lighting installed for the Great Jubilee of 2000 (Fig. 125.2).27

with His blood, taken from the Preatorium in Jerusalem. The relic made Acquapendente a pilgrim destination along the via Francigena, stop IX in the diary of archbishop Sigerico.

127. Grotte di Castro (VT) “In 1077”, according to local historians, “the countess Matilda of Canossa gave a part of the land of Tuscia, comprising the caves to the Roman Church; this is the first official act where the name [Grotte di Castro] appears.”28 The church dedicated to San Pietro Apostolo (Saint Peter Apostle) was also by tradition built at the desire of the Countess Matilda. The church was consecrated three years after her death in 1118 by the bishop of Orvieto to whom Matilda donated this territory.

126. Acquapendente (VT) All of the histories of this medieval town contain this sentence: “The town was bequeathed to the Church by Countess Matilda of Tuscany in the twelfth century.” Her donation included, according to tradition, the castle at Proceno. Built by Pope Gregory V in 997, ownership of the castle must have passed to Matilda’s father as Duke of Tuscany. Matilda donated the castle to the bishop in Orvieto. Both Matilda’s castle and the Benedictine monastery beside which it stood were destroyed circa 1166. In that year, a miraculous vision of the Madonna encouraged the citizens to liberate themselves from the feudal powers of both Church and State. The Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre (Santo Sepolcro) is first mentioned in documents in 1025. Although the church has been much restored over the centuries, its large crypt remains a magnificent example of Romanesque architecture. Its twenty two stone columns are original. The capitals are richly adorned with elaborate abstract, floral and zoomorfic motifs, including birds and heads of rams. In the middle a stair excavated in stone leads down to a shrine which is said to be of the same dimensions as the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, from which the cathedral takes its name. A pyramidal stone tabernacle contains the reliquary of the column of Jesus’ Flagellation, bathed

128. Bolsena (VT) Bolsena is exactly 100 kilometers from Rome, located on the northern shores of the beautiful blue Lake Bolsena, itself a basin of a former volcanic crater. Bolsena attracted pilgrims to worship at the shrine of Santa Cristina, stop VIII on the route of archbishop Sigerico. Cristina was martyred, during the persecutions of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian c. 304 A.D. Her principal accuser was her father, an official of imperial (pagan) Rome, but the young Cristina, despite terrible tortures, refused to renounce her faith. At her death, Cristina was buried in the catacombs cut into the volcanic rock outside of town. A shrine to her memory was built over her tomb by the end of the fourth century. Countess Matilda of Canossa is said to have developed a devotion to this strong and faithful young woman. Matilda built a church over Santa 164

Cristina’s shrine which was consecrated by Pope Gregory VII, possibly with Matilda present, on May 10, 1078. This early date means that the Church of Santa Cristina is among the first to receive Matilda’s patronage. The simple Romanesque church (Fig. 128.1) was later significantly enlarged to accommodate pilgrims to visit the altar over Santa Cristina’s tomb where, in 1263, the miracle of Corpus Domini occurred. At the miracle of Corpus Domini, blood flowed from the host during its consecration, spotting the marble stone floor, and proving the dogma of transubstantiation. The stone spotted with blood is today preserved in the Chapel of Miracles. In the interior of the basilica, at the middle of the nave, is a white marble door called the Portale della Contessa Matilda (Fig. 128.1.1). The white mar-

ble portal dates to the late eleventh century and was likely the front door to the Romanesque church built by the Countess in 1078. Intricately carved vines trail up the side pilasters. At the center of the lintel is the Agnus Dei, the lamb of God, flanked by various figures. To the right of the Lamb are the three Magi worshipping the Child in his mother’s arms, behind Mary is an angel and Saint Joseph. Although many churches in this guide are dedicated to Mary, this is among the very few images of Mary datable to Matilda’s moment. To the left of the Lamb are five figures, four of whom appear to be women and none of whom are identified by martyr’s palms or halos. The second from the left wears a crown and holds a large jar. She could be the Countess Matilda shown making her donation to the construction of this beautiful church.29

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129. Orvieto (TR)

Viterbo is spectacularly documented in two large frescoes that dominate the Sala Regia on the first floor of the Palazzo dei Priori. They cover the entire west wall. Painted in 1588 by the Bolognese Baldassarre Croce,33 the map on the left shows the lands of Tuscia donated by Matilda of Tuscany to the Church and on the right identifies with particularity the towns and territories in the Viterbese by name. While the legend on the map states that Matilda’s donation occurred in 1113, this document signed by Matilda on that date remains as yet undiscovered.34 Like other Matildan towns visited on these itineraries, Viterbo became a free Commune in 1095, that is during Matilda’s lifetime, when it adopted its first Statuto Comunale (community statutes).

The city of Orvieto is splendidly sited and well fortified atop a high plateau above the Tiber river plain. The outline of its magnificent Cathedral is visible from the A-1 Autostrada. Although Matilda is not recorded in Orvieto by any contemporary document, the city’s website declares that Orvieto was a part of her dominions which passed, at her death in 1115, to the Roman Church. Pope Hadrian IV recognized Orvieto as an independent Commune in 1156 and it was well ruled by elected magistrates, consuls, and captains of the People (Capitani del Popolo).30 The Historie di Cipriano Manente da Orvieto, published in 1561, recorded that the Countess Matilda restored and enlarged the Badia of San Severo d’Orvieto, among other monasteries, in 1103.31 This notice is repeated in the Renaissance biography of the Countess, Trattato di Domenico di Guido Mellini dell’origine, fatti, costumi, e lodi di Matelda, la gran Contessa d’Italia, published in 1584, which cited with particularity the octagonal bell tower added to the complex by the Countess.32 The beautiful Badia of San Severo e Martirio is today a luxury hotel located a short distance from Orvieto (Fig. 129.1). It retains a Romanesque form and its location on a hilltop evokes the generous hospitality offered to pilgrims and travelers by the hospices built by the Countess along the pilgrim routes.

131. Sutri (VT) Sutri is 50 kilometers (or 33 miles) from Rome, stop III on Sigerico’s diary. Its fortress protected Rome on the north. In 1046, the year of Matilda’s birth, at the Church of San Silvestro Papa (Pope Saint Silvester), the German King Henry III convened the Council of Bishops which set into motion the events that determined Matilda’s life. At the Council of Sutri, on December 23, 1046, Henry III deposed Hildebrand’s uncle, Pope Gregory VI, on the grounds that he had purchased the papal office, the sin of simony. The King exiled the Pope to Germany and Hildebrand accompanied him. He appointed in his stead a German who died within weeks of entering Rome, as did his successor. It was his third appointment of Bruno of Toul in 1048 that involved Matilda’s family in papal politics. Bruno of Toul, who took the

130. Viterbo According to local histories, Viterbo, stop VI in Sigerico’s diary, passed to Bonifacio when he assumed the Duchy of Tuscany and formed part of the Donation of Matilda of Tuscany to Pope Gregory VII. Matilda’s presence in

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name Pope Leo IX, was Beatrice’s great uncle. Before accepting the papal appointment, he met Hildebrand and made an alliance with his Roman family, the Pierleoni. This Roman family of converted Jews ensured Leo IX’s election and retention of the papal throne from 1049 until his death in 1054. Hildebrand served as papal advisor to Leo IX and his two successors, until his own election as pope in 1073. Upon his elevation to the papacy, Hildebrand took as his papal name, Gregory VII, to legitimize the papacy of his uncle – and to repudiate the judgement of Henry III issued at Sutri. In 1111, Henry III’s grandson, Henry V, met Pope Paschal II in Sutri in order to reconcile Rome to the German Empire. In the document, Iuramentum Sutrinum, the Pope renounced the Church’s property rights in the Empire and, in exchange, the Emperor

renounced the right to nominate and invest bishops of the Church. The pact was denounced by the bishops of the Church when presented later that year in the Basilica at Saint Peter’s and never took effect. According to the history of Sutri written by Ciro Nispi-Landi (Rome 1887) the Countess Matilda donated the bells to the Church of San Silvestro Papa in Sutri as a memorial of the Council held here in 1046. The church retains its original Romanesque form, a single nave divided into three aisles by a two rows of columns. And, the bells donated by the Countess Matilda of Canossa still ring (Fig. 131.1).

1) O. Rombaldi, La chiesa reggiana dal 962 al 1060, in Canossa prima di Matilde 1990, p. 101. 2) Ricci 1984, p. 20. A church dedicated to Mary was built by Matilda of Canossa; it was later dedicated to the Nativity of Mary in the seventeenth century. Enlarged between 1743 e 1755, it was restored in the 1980s. 3) Repetti 1833-1846, vol. II, p. 810. 4) Church of Santi Simone e Giuda (Minucciano), http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_dei _Santi_Simone_e_Giuda_(Minucciano), last accessed May 19, 2015. 5) Sabbatini 2005, p. 230. 6) Wickham 1998, p. 9. 7) On June 14, 1044, Matilda’s mother, Beatrice, purchased for 250 libbre of silver, the court and castle of Porcari, and sold it for liquid funds from Pisa, on May 31, 1055, according to Bertolini 1970. 8) Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), vol. II, p. 55. In June of 1055, King Henry III summoned Beatrice to Florence where he found her guilty of treason (for marrying Duke Godfrey without his consent). At this same council the German King confiscated Bonifacio’s property, escheating it to himself. The King then exiled Beatrice and Matilda to his royal court in Germany.

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18) Ibid., no. 75, pp. 220-221 (document dated November 11, 1103, “comitisse Matilde”). 19) Ibid., no. 121, pp. 316-318 (document dated 25 September-24 December 1109, “Matilda dei gratia si quid est”). 20) Ibid., no. 53, p. 161, both as “comitissa et ducatrix” and as the daughter of Bonifacio. She signed with her unique signature. 21) Ibid., no. 105, pp 283-285 (document dated at Cavallare sul Cecina, July 24, 1107, as “Matilda dei gratia si quid est”). Ibid., Dep. no. 75, p. 440, notes a further donation to abbot Iohanni of the Monastery of San Michele for construction of a monastery on the Elsa river. 22) Ibid., Dep. no. 100, p. 457, dated between 1099 and 1100. 23) Ibid., Dep. no. 68, p. 436; Fiorentini 1642 (ed. 1756), vol. 2, p. 286. 24) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 28, pp. 104-107. 25) Giusti 1976, p. 22. 26) On June 7, 1072, Beatrice decided a property dispute in favor of the Monastery of San Salvatore at Monte Amiata (Die Urkunden 1998, no. 2, pp. 35-39); on February 19, 1078, or two years after her mother’s death, Matilda presides over a donation of lands to the monastery (ibid., no. 25, pp. 95-97). In 1079, Matilda confirmed possession of the Church of Santa Lucia in Paciano (Perugia) to the Monastery of San Salvatore at Monte Amiata (ibid., no. 29, pp. 108-109). 27) Corvini 2006. 28) Mariaflavia Mabottini, the town archivist, says that this statement is based upon the map in the Palazzo Comunale in Viterbo, no. 130. See generally Ruspantini 1988, pp. 52-53. 29) See Piazza 2006, pp. 46-47. 30) Website of the Commune of Orvieto. 31) Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 68, p. 436. 32) Mellini 1584, as cited on the website of the Hotel la Badia, Orvieto. 33) Baldassare Croce (1558-1628) was active as Director of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome and painted frescoes in many churches in and around Rome including the Sala Clementina in the Vatican. 34) The only documentary evidence of Matilda’s donation to Rome is a later copy of a document she signed at Canossa in November 1102, confirming the donation she first made in the Lateran Palace in Rome in 1077.

9) In his history of Altopascio (Emerton 1923), Professor Ephraim Emerton writes that the earliest reference to the ospedale at Altopascio is a bull of Pope Innocent III in 1198. In it he refers to its foundation by bishop Anselm of Lucca, but as there were two Anselm’s who sat consecutively (I, 1057-1073; II, 1073-1086), the dating of the hospice’s foundation cannot be more precise. Anselm II was exiled from Lucca in 1081 taking refuge at Canossa with Matilda. His relations with the Lucchese were difficult beginning in 1077. Ephraim concluded that it is most likely that the founding of Altopascio occurred under bishop Anselm I of Lucca who enjoyed the full support and patronage of Matilda’s mother, Beatrice. 10) See also Lorenzi 1904, pp. 44-45, who states that the hospice at Altopascio was most likely founded between 1084-1097 with the generous donations of the Countess Matilda. He concludes that the proximity to Porcari, Villa Vivinaia, and the noted generosity of Beatrice also probably contributed to the origins of Altopascio. 11) Andreucci and Lera 1970, p. 78; Lorenzi 1904, pp. 44-45. 12) The document is published in its entirety by Cambi Schmitter 2009, no. 9, pp. 77-78. See also Spagnesi 2013, p. 8. Radding and Ciaralli 2007, p. 184; Zanardi 1997, p. 22. 13) “in presenzis Nordilli missi domine Beatricis ducatricis et marchionisse”. 14) Odofredo (d. 1265), who studied law in Bologna, wrote that, before Irnerius arrived in Bologna, a man named Pepo had become an authority on Justinian’s books of Roman law (“auctoritate sua legere in legibus”) but had not received any measure of fame similar to that enjoyed by Irnerius (also called Warnerius and Wernerius in documents). See Dizionario biografico dei giuristi italiani 2013. See also Nicolaj 1997. 15) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 23, pp. 87-92, at Borgo Marturi dated August 27, 1077, signature reads: “Ego Matilda in hac cartula offertionis a me facta subscripsi”. Also named is “Ardericus iudex” followed by a list of male witnesses some of whom live under Salic law and others under Longobard law, the document concludes with the signature of “Teupertus notarius domni imperatoris”. 16) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 24, pp. 93-94. 17) Ibid., no. 58, pp. 181-182 (document dated April 3, 1100, “comitisa Matilda”).

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Matildan Routes in Tuscany

Route 10

Along the via Aurelia from Pisa to Rome

Livorno

Isola di Gorgona (LI)

This fishing village on the coast stood beside an island fortress built by Matilda of Canossa in 1089 to defend the port of Pisa. Mentioned in an act of 1103, at Nonantola, the Castrum Liuurni was among the properties Matilda donated to the canons for the construction of the Cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta at Pisa.1 Matilda’s donation transferred to the bishops of Pisa contol of access from the Arno to the Mediterranean Sea. Today the fortress built by Matilda is enclosed within the massive red brick bastions of the Fortezza Antica designed by Antonio da Sangallo (1521-1534) for the Medici Grand Dukes to protect the deep water port for Pisa. At the center of the Renaissance walls, and visible above them, stands a round tower called the “Mastio della Contessa Matilda.” The round tower rebuilt circa 1241 was considered a miracle of medieval engineering and consisted of two concentric cylinders linked by a spiral staircase. Livorno became an independent commune in 1593. As a major port, it suffered much damage by bombing during World War II and the Fortezza Antica has been substantially restored.

The island of Gorgona is located 18 km off the coast of Livorno. Sparsely inhabited, and known for its natural beauty, Gorgona forms part of the Tuscan archipelago along with the islands of Capraia, Pianosa, Elba and Giglio. Named Urgon by the Greeks, it was known by the Etruscans and colonized by the Romans. In 461 a colony of hermits is recorded who later became a dependency of the Abbey of San Colombano of Bobbio. In a document issued at Diecimo on September 23, 1111, Matilda donated the Monastery of San Gorgonio on the island of Gorgona to the Church of San Vito located on the outskirts of Pisa. By what authority she acts is not evident, other than her care for the welfare of this place of a divine cult. She makes the donation, stating simply she is, “Matilda dei gratia si quid est.”2 The monastery is said to have arrived at its maximum splendor during this moment, when it was under the authority of Benedictine monks.

132. Castelnuovo della Misericordia (LI) The ancient Roman Castrum Camajani was rebuilt by Godfrey, Duke of Tuscany, and Matilda’s step-father. He also dedicated a church to Saints Stefano and Donato. On August 31, 1067, Godfrey donated this Castelnuovo or “new castle” to 170

Guido, bishop of Pisa for the “mensa pisana” or the Misericordia. The Pia Casa Misericordia of Pisa continues to retain income from lands and buildings in this town, from which the area obtained its name.

heard at Celagito in the Serchio river valley near Pieve Fosciana.6 Matilda’s decision enriched this monastery by granting possession, and thus income, from the castle of Cumulo to this monastery.

133. Rosignano Marittimo (LI)

134. Suvereto (LI) Suvereto is in the mountains of southern Tuscany, known as the Maremma, and is located near to the ancient Etruscan settlement of Populonia (Piombino). During the tenth century a walled castrum and church dedicated to San Giusto was built here. By the twelfth century a castle was built here by the Counts Aldobrandeschi who controlled this south western perimeter of Monte Amiata and who were in some manner related to Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII. The Rocca Aldobrandeschi dominates the walled borgo and the vast and fertile plain that stretches beneath it. The town became a free Commune in 1201. Outside the medieval walls, in the valley between Suvereto and Sassetta and near to a fresh water stream, is the small gray stone church dedicated to the Santissima Annunziata. It is today on private property and at risk of being abandoned. In the thirteenth century this small church was attached to a hospice built to care for workers in the environs. Local legend records that the complex was built “by the desire of Matilda of Canossa, being the ninety-eighth of the one hundred churches she had to build in order to obtain the right to say Mass”. This is the only place which records its numeration and this particular twist to the legend of the one hundred churches of Matilda of Canossa.

The medieval castle of Rosignano rises above the modern town. It is first mentioned in a document of 1071 as part of the possessions of the Duchy of Tuscia owned by Godfrey and Beatrice of Lorraine. Called by a local historian, the largest of the feudal courts pertaining to the March of Tuscany, the castle, together with a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, like much of the rest of this coastal territory passed to the archbishop of Pisa at Matilda’s death.3

Massa Marittima (GR) On December 28, 1103 from Villa Magisi, which is in southern Tuscany inland from the sea, Matilda heard a case involving the bishop of Populonia regarding the town of Trecasis (Archivio di Stato, Florence).4 Populonia is the medieval name for the diocese of Massa Marittima and Piombino. Thus it is likely that Matilda contributed in some manner to the construction of the cathedral dedicated to Saint Cerbonius which is this bishop’s seat.

Monastery of Santa Maria di Valserena (PI) In mountains east of Cecina, Monastery of Santa Maria looks down on via Aurelia and the sea.5 On April 28, 1100, Countess Matilda found in favor of its abbot in a case 171

135. Tarquinia (VT)

by Louis the Pious, and consistently confirmed by later German Emperors. Bonifacio reserved decision in the dispute. In 1072 the abbots of both monasteries argued their case in Rome before Pope Alexander II. The Pope ruled in favor of the monastery of Farfa which based its claim on the perpetuity of recorded title established by the Roman laws of Justinian. After Hildebrand ascended to the papal throne as Pope Gregory VII, he confirmed this decision on December 10, 1073 granting possession of the Church of Santa Maria in Mignone to the monastery of Farfa.8 A document dated at Tarquinia on March 26, 1080 records that Matilda enforced these prior papal rulings. She guaranteed possession of the Monastery of Santa Maria in Mignone, as well as the Church of Saint Peter Apostle, outside the walls of Corgnito, to the monastery at Farfa.9 “Nordilo causidicis” is recorded at Matilda’s side. “Nordilo” is likely the same “Nordilo iudex” who was her inhouse expert on Justinian’s Digest, having cited the Digest in deciding the case in Borgo Marturi, also in southern Tuscany, in March 1076, under the authority of Matilda’s mother, Beatrice.10 At Matilda’s death both Tarquinia and Corgnito became free communes governed by consuls elected by the people. The sculpted capitals in the dark local stone date from a major reconstruction of Santa Maria in Castello after 1121 (Fig. 135.1.1). During the Crusades many fleets stopped here before continuing to Jerusalem, the most famous recorded being that of Richard the Lion Hearted in 1190. A short time later, the Knights of Jerusalem built a church and

Tarquinia stands on a long ridge or plateau, called the Pian della Civita, above the blue sea between the Marta and Mignone rivers. The town’s origins are Etruscan, ample evidence of which exists in the local museum. It has been known, since ancient times, as the granary of Rome. Matilda’s castle called Corgnito was a small fortified area on a promontory overlooking the sea that stood apart from Tarquinia proper. An arched portal guarded by a round tower today separates the castle from the town of Tarquinia (the exterior wall and tower date to 1436). From this tower a straight road leads to a tall square Romanesque tower called “Bastione detto di Matilde.” Next to the tower, at the end of the piazza, is the Church of Santa Maria in Castello, which is recorded in a document of 1111. Local tradition recalls that a church of more modest dimension stood on this site within fortifications constructed by Matilda of Canossa. Evidence of this earlier structure was found during recent renovations (Fig. 135.1). In 1051, Matilda’s father is recorded at his castle called Corgnito where he presided over a dispute between the monastery at Farfa and the Monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian (Trastevere, Rome) over possession of the Monastery of Santa Maria in Mignone. The Monastery of Santa Maria controlled the plain of the Mignone and its port on the sea, just north of Civitavecchia and Rome, and the salt flats that produced salt for the region, including Rome.7 The monastery at Farfa based its claim to Santa Maria in Mignone on a grant from Charlemagne, confirmed

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ospedale here dedicated to Saint John. In 1245 Tarquinia-Corgnito resisted a fierce attack by Frederick II who attempted to return the Italian communes to German control. Over time the town became increasingly allied to Rome. The Etruscan Museum in the Palazzo Vitelleschi contains many beautiful Etruscan tombs of ladies and men lying on their sides in the Etruscan manner. Two pieces are of particular note for Matilda scholars. Dated to the sixth

century before Christ they offer potential Etruscan sources for sculpture in Matildan churches. The first is a carving in relief on the side of a tomb of two lions attacking a stag. The carving resembles remarkably that of a lion on the baptismal font in the Narbonne Museum at Canossa (Fig. 135.2). Even more noteworthy are two free-standing sculptures of Etruscan lions (Fig. 135.3) that resemble those carved by Wiligelmo which flank the portal at Modena (Fig. 135.4).

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1) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 74, pp. 217-220; Zucchelli 1916, p. 25. 2) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 124, pp. 322-323. 3) Caciagli 1999. 4) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 77, pp. 226-227, at Villa Magisi on December 28, 1103. 5) Today a Cistercian monastery for cloistered nuns, via Provinciale del Poggetto, 48, 56040 Guardistallo (PI). 6) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 60, pp. 184-186. Repetti 1833-1846, vol. I, p. 651. On April 28, 1100, Countess Matilda held a tribunal to determine a dispute between the Monastery of Serena and Counts Ugo and Gherardo, brothers and sons of the Gherardeschi family, regarding possession of a Castle of Cumulo in

the lower Arno valley. The tribunal found in favor of the abbot. 7) The Monastery of Santa Maria in Mignone is mentioned in documents as early as 801 and appears for the last time in a document of 1667. No trace of the monastery remains today. Curiously, in this same year, 1667, the name of the Church of Saint Peter Apostle which was also the subject of these decisions was re-dedicated to Santa Maria Annunziata. 8) For a complete discussion of the period see Stroll 1997, pp. 43-46. 9) Die Urkunden 1998, no. 30, pp. 109-111. 10) The document is published in its entirety by Cambi Schmitter 2009, no. 9, pp. 77-78. See Borgo Marturi no. 122.

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The Eternal City

Rome

136. Rome

All roads lead to Rome was a medieval saying, certainly Rome was the destination for those who stayed in the churches and hospices built or restored by Matilda of Canossa along the routes we have just traveled.

Matilda is first recorded in Rome in June 1073, about 1,000 years after Saints Peter and Paul. Like them she came from the provinces. By Matilda’s time, the Roman empire had collapsed inward and the impoverished city controlled little of its surrounding territory, but the marble monuments and stone bridges arching over the Tiber river built by the ancients still stood. Some had been transformed into Christian churches, and others into fortresses, that bristled with stone towers. Matilda traveled to Rome with her mother, Beatrice, to attend the consecration in Old Saint Peter’s of Hildebrand as Pope Gregory VII. Hildebrand had been elected pope by popular acclamation at the funeral mass of his predecessor, Alexander II, on April 22, 1073 in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli. The basilica, consecrated in 439 A.D., has the chains which bound Saint Peter in prison in Jerusalem below its altar. Michelangelo’s statue of Moses is in its nave. Hildebrand’s elevation, aided by the wealth of his Roman family, the Pierleoni, and opposed by the German bishops, led to a complete collapse of relations between the German State and the Roman Church. During this struggle, Matilda supported and allied with Hildebrand and the Church of Rome. From the winter of 1074 until the Spring of 1081 when Henry IV’s army separated them, Matilda and Pope GreRight: 136.1

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the Lucchese and the Pisans, remember Matilda’s connection with this tower. Her head looks across the rushing waters of the Tiber towards the City of Rome (Fig. 136.2). Today called the Torre Caetani after a later owner, the tower still guards the island end of the Ponte Fabricio, now a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Tiber river (Fig. 136.1). Built in 62 B.C. the bridge, the oldest in Rome, retains the name of Fabricius, the ancient Roman who engineered its construction. When Matilda lived in Rome, that bridge had spanned the Tiber river for 1,000 years. It represented an accomplishment of engineering long forgotten in the northern lands which her family ruled. The bridge’s solidity and utility surely encouraged Matilda’s singular decision to build the bridge across the Serchio river at Borgo a Mozzano (see no. 86) and improve the passage of people and goods between Lucca, Canossa, and the Paduan plain.3 Matilda’s years in Rome, less than a decade, were brief given the Countess’s long and active life of sixty-nine years, but they were perhaps the most significant. We can be certain of this because after Matilda left Rome, every act she took, she did as the “Daughter of Saint Peter”.4 The rock on who Christ built his church is mentioned over thirty times in Donizone’s poem about her. The two battles which Matilda is known to have fought, at Sorbara in 1084 and at Canossa in 1092, were won, according to Donizone, through the intercession of Saint Peter.5 Matilda equated her enemies to Nero who ordered the crucifixion of the Saint,6 and her allies were those who remained faithful to him.7 In her act of donation to the Church of Rome, Matilda named Saint Peter as her universal heir.8

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gory VII spent considerable time together, in Rome, at Canossa, and traveling along the roads followed by these itineraries. Matilda was between 28 and 35 years old, a beautiful woman from a wealthy and aristocratic family. She quickly became a part of Gregory’s papal court, a society accustomed to the splendid palaces bequeathed by the ancient Romans. Within months of their meeting she is universally acknowledged to have become Pope Gregory VII’s closest advisor. To his allies, Matilda was called his most astute counsellor (“in consiliis astutissima”). Their enemies accused her of being the Pope’s mistress.1 No one denies, then or now, Gregory VII’s own testimony regarding the confidence he had in her good judgment.2 The years she lived in Rome with Gregory VII were certainly the happiest of her life. During these years in Rome Matilda lived on the Isola Tiberina in a tower built c. 1020 by the Pierleoni family (Fig. 136.1). A document in the Roman archives of 1087 records Matilda returning possession of the tower to the Pierleoni, after which date there is no further record of her in Rome. The Romans, like 178

All four patriarchal basilicas in the City form an integral part of her biography. Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls is the monastery to which Beatrice’s uncle, Pope Leo IX, named Hildebrand administrator upon their arrival in Rome in 1049, after Hildebrand’s German exile. It also contains the tomb of Hildebrand’s uncle, Pier Leoni, who was buried here in 1051 when Hildebrand was prior of this church. Santa Maria Maggiore is where Gregory VII was kidnapped as he distributed the Eucharist at Mass on Christmas Eve 1075. Founded on August 5, 356, after a miraculous snow fall, its cavernous nave is decorated with golden mosaics of the fifth century that depict scenes from the Old and New Testament (Fig. 136.3). Saint John’s in Lateran calls itself the oldest church in the world. Built by

Constantine and consecrated in 342 it is the titular church of the bishop of Rome. Gregory VII lived in the adjacent palace which was the center of his papal court. Matilda’s 1077 donation to Saint Peter was made in the Pope’s Palace in the Chapel of the Holy Cross and states it was made in the presence of representatives of all the ancient Roman families.9 These marvelous feats of engineering and splendid examples of the stories told with paint, mosaic, and chisel on stone surely influenced Matilda’s ambitious building program. The Rotunda of San Lorenzo which Matilda built in Mantua (see no. 9) in 1081, that is the year she fled Rome from the armies of the German King, bears a striking resemblance to the ancient brick octagonal Baptistery of Saint John in Later-

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an. Above the entry door of the Baptistery is the name of Henry IV and the year 1064.10 The two enormous porphyry columns that flank this door are said to have been contributed by the German crown in honor of the King’s coming of age which occurred in that year. Matilda may have built the Rotunda of San Lorenzo, modeling it after the Baptistery she knew well from her time in Rome, as her response to Henry IV’s seige of Rome. Solid and permanent, she built the church in the center of Mantua, the town where she was born and where her father was murdered. It was Matilda’s announcement, perhaps, that from these, her father’s, lands and from this, her alliance with Rome, she would not be moved. In the Vatican Palace between the Sistine and Pauline Chapels is the Sala Regia where the popes receive the ambassadors to the Holy See. The papal throne is set on the south wall behind

which are two frescoes by Federico Zuccari (c. 1574). The fresco at right celebrates the victory of the Christian army over the Turkish Muslim attack at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. The fresco at the left illustrates the Pardon of Henry IV by Pope Gregory VII at Canossa (Fig. 136.4). Matilda stands beside the pope and behind the kneeling King. Her hand which hovers above the King’s back seems to enforce the submission of the King to the Pope. Matilda’s bones rest near Saint Peter’s own in the basilica that bears his name; she is one of only three women buried in the nave of Saint Peter’s. Her tomb is literally a pillar of his church, the third from the right in the nave, across from the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (Fig. 136.5). Her bones were brought to Rome in 1630 by Pope Urban VIII who used bribery to remove them from the Monastery of San Benedetto Po where she had lain for over five hundred years. On Matilda’s casket the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini carved the scene that etched her name in history: the humiliation of her cousin, the German King Henry IV, as he knelt before the Roman Pope Gregory VII at her castle of Canossa. Above the casket, Bernini designed a statue to honor the Countess. She is dressed in billowing robes and wears a simple crown. In her outstretched left arm Matilda holds a general’s baton, in reference to the battles she fought and won against the German King. Her right arm cradles the papal tiara, in reference to her dedication to Peter’s successors.11 In her right hand, Matilda holds St. Peter’s keys. The keys were given to the Apostle upon his nomination as the head of Christ’s Church, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will

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1) Tosti 1859, pp. 187-191. 2) Cowdrey 2001, 11, p. 532; Emerton 1932 (ed. 1990), p. 60. 3) See Borgo a Mozzano no. 86 above. 4) Donizone II, fol. 53r, v. 203; fol. 60r, v. 478, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 77, 84. 5) Donizone II, fol. 57r, vv. 351-352; fol. 64v65v, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 81, 88-89. 6) Donizone II, fol. 53r, v. 245, in Golinelli 1987, p. 77. 7) Donizone II, fol. 57r, vv. 351-352; fol. 68r, v. 755, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 81, 92. 8) “Saint Peter, to whom Matilda left all of her possessions.” Donizone II, fol. 85r, vv. 13751376, in Golinelli 1987, p. 109. 9) See e.g. Die Urkunden 1998, Dep. no. 37, p. 415. 10) “Anno octavo Dni Henrici imperatoris ind(ictione) septima - Mense Junii die V Nos Q. de omnibus hominibus mansionariorum venerabilis Basilicae Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi quae appellatur Constantiniana Maioribus gradibus et minoribus, videlicet... (L’anno ottavo corrisponde al 1064).” http://www.medioevo.roma.it/html/ architettura/bas-glat01.htm, last accessed May 19, 2015. 11) Donizone II, fol. 57r, vv. 351-352; fol. 68r, v. 755, in Golinelli 1987, pp. 81, 92. 12) Letter of Gregory VII to Hermann Archbishop of Metz, March 15, 1081, Registrum Book VIII, 21, p. 547, in Emerton 1932 (ed. 1990), pp. 186-187. 13) “URBANUS VIII PONT. MAX. / COMITISSAE MATHILDI VIRILIS ANIMI FOEMINAE / SEDIS APOSTOLICAE PROPUGNATRICI / PIETATE INSIGNI LIBERALITATE CELEBERRIMAE / HUC EX MANTUANO SANCTI BENEDICTI / COENOBIO TRANSLATIS OSSIBUS / GRATUS AETERNAE LAUDIS PROMERITUM / MON. POS. AN. MDCXXXV.”

build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). On this grant, Gregory VII based his authority to excommunicate the German King. “No one”, wrote the Pope, “is exempted from the authority of the Church and from Her judgment there is no appeal.”12 Matilda devoted her life and her wealth to support the centrality of the Church in her territory and the authority of the pope in Rome over the Church. As a result, she is the only person not a pope ever shown holding Saint Peter’s keys. Above her casket Pope Urban VIII placed the following inscription: “Pope Urban VIII to the Contessa Matilda, a woman of virile soul, champion of the papacy, famous for her piety, celebrated for her generosity, her bones were brought to St. Peter’s from the Monastery of San Benedetto Po in Mantua, and placed in this monument as a sign of her merit, with eternal praise and gratitude, in the year 1635.”13

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Photo credits

Author’s archive: figs. at page 54, 57, 118, and figs. 1.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 11.1, 12.1, 13.1, 14.1, 15.1, 16.1, 16.1.1, 16.1.2, 16.1.3, 16.2, 19.1, 20.1.1, 20.2, 23.1, 24.1, 25.1, 29.1, 30.1, 31.1, 33.1, 35.1, 35.1.1, 37, 37.1, 41.1, 42.1, 42.1.1, 42.1.2, 42.1.3, 42.1.4, 43.1, 43.1.1, 45.1, 45.2, 46.1, 47.1, 47.2, 53.1, 53.1.1, 54.1, 56, 59.1, 66, 67.2, 67.3, 76.2, 86.2, 89.5.1, 89.6, 90.1, 91.1, 92.1, 97.1, 98.1, 99.1, 99.2, 99.3, 99.4, 101.1, 102, 102.1, 103.1, 103.3, 103.5, 104.1, 104.1.1, 105.1, 106.1, 106.2, 111, 112, 113, 113.1, 114, 115, 115.1, 115.2, 116, 119.1, 120.1, 121.3, 122.1, 122.2, 122.3, 125.1, 125.2, 128.1, 128.1.1, 129.1, 131.1, 135.1, 135.1.1, 135.2, 135.3, 135.4, 136.1, 136.2, 136.3, 136.4, 136.5. Florence, Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore: figs. 103.2 (courtesy Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, photo Gianluca Moggi), 103.4 (Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore/Panini). Modena, Archivio Storico Diocesano di Modena-Nonantola: figs. 42.2, 42.3. Elaine Poggi: figs. at page 37, 84, 98, 99, 110-111, and figs. 14, 20.1, 20.1.2, 38.1, 38.1.1, 38.1.2, 38.1.3, 39, 64, 65, 67, 67.1, 71.1, 72.1, 76, 76.1, 79.1, 79.1.1, 79.1.2, 80.1, 80.1.1, 80.1.2, 82.1, 85.1, 85.2, 86.1, 87.1, 87.1.1, 87.1.2, 88, 88.1, 89.1, 89.2, 89.3, 89.3.1, 89.4, 89.5, 94.1, 94.1.1, 95.1, 95.1.1, 95.1.2, 95.1.3, 96.1, 96.2, 117, 121.1, 121.2.

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AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE 'ONE HUNDRED CHURCHES' OF MATILDA OF CANOSSA, COUNTESS OF TUSCANY - PDFCOFFEE.COM (2024)