Matilda of Tuscany

Timeline

1. 1046–1076Mantua · LombardyMatilda was born into the powerful Canossa family of northern Italy; her father was Margrave Boniface II of Tuscany, and after his assassination in 1052 her mother Beatrice married Duke Godfrey the Bearded of Lorraine. In 1055 Holy Roman Emperor Henry III briefly took her mother and Matilda to Germany. In 1069 Matilda married her stepfather's son Godfrey the Hunchback at her mother's command, a marriage that was not happy. Her husband died in 1076, after which Matilda began to rule her lands independently and was deeply influenced by the spiritual and political inspiration of Pope Gregory VII.
2. 1076–1100Castle of Canossa · Emilia-RomagnaIn January 1077 Henry IV went to the Castle of Canossa, controlled by Matilda, to do penance before Pope Gregory VII, with Matilda playing a key mediating role as intermediary. Thereafter, as the pope's chief military ally, she repeatedly repelled Henry IV's invasions by force, waging numerous campaigns in Tuscany and Emilia between the 1080s and 1090s to defend the Papal States. In 1087 she formally donated large tracts of land to the Roman Church (the "Donation of Matilda"). In 1089, through the matchmaking of Pope Urban II, she married Duke Welf V of Bavaria, then only 17 (a political marriage, separated c. 1095), an important step in her full support of church reform on both military and diplomatic fronts.
3. 1100–1115Abbey of San Benedetto · LombardyIn the 12th century Matilda was appointed by Holy Roman Emperor Henry V as Imperial Vicar of Italy (1111), trading recognition of imperial authority for temporary stability of her lands. She continued to rule her extensive northern Italian territories and maintain close ties with the papacy until her death on 24 July 1115 at the Abbey of San Benedetto Po; her remains were later transferred by Pope Urban VIII in 1635 to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, making her one of the very few women buried there and testifying to her legendary historical status.