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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

' Chronicles tell of deeds :
Time alone reveals the individual.

Cosi '1 crin ti corono, e bramo intanto
Tromba, da cui rimbombi in Vaticano
Encomio eterno di tua larga mano.
Non piu lodi Elicona
Con favoloso canto
L'Ariannea corona ;
Ma di questa ch'io t'offro innalzi il vanto.
Ben merta, che si stime,
Che di bellezza e in grando piu sublime
Quanto nel ciel piu belle
Delle dipinte son le vere stelle.'
From the Ode in lode della Contessa Matilda
Cardinal Barberini (Urban viii.).

PORTRAIT OF MATILDA
(from A fresco at verona)

MATILDA OF TUSCANY
LA GRAN DONNA D'lTALIA

BY
NORA DUFF

WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
I9IO

NOTE
MY grateful thanks are due to Mr. Philip Wicksteed
for most helpful criticism and advice in the
earlier stages of the manuscript of Matilda, to my cousin
Miss Henrietta Tayler at a later period, and to Mrs.
Robert Goff for valuable assistance in the correction
of proofs. It is to the kind courtesy of the Marchese
Lodovico di Canossa that I am indebted for permission
to reproduce the photograph from the fresco portrait
of Matilda in his possession, and to Professor Bellodi
of Mantua for a similar permission, with regard to the
photograph of Matilda's tomb at S. Benedetto Polirone.
I wish also to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to
Father Ehrle, Prefect of the Vatican Library, and to
the various librarians in the public libraries of Italy
who have rendered easy the work of research, and finally
to all those kindly people who have sped Matilda on
her way.
N. D.
Florence
May 1909

Introduction,

CONTENTS CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II

PAGE I

The foundation of the house of Canossa — Siegfried — Azzo or Atto— The
story of Adelaide — Her reception at Canossa — Canossa's triumph — Azzo's
successor Tedaldo — Boniface's rule — His greatness and his tyranny— Jealousy
of Henry in.— Death of Boniface— His wife Beatrice— Hildegarde and Guilla,
wives of Atto and Tedaldo, . ... . . . 10
CHAPTER III
Birth of Matilda probably at Lucca in 1046 — Marriage of Beatrice with
Godfrey of Lorraine — Matilda's Betrothal by proxy to Godfrey's Son in 1053
— Anger of Henry in. who detained Beatrice as Prisoner — Reconciliation of
Henry and Godfrey— Death of Henry in. and return of Beatrice and Godfrey
to Italy in 1057, ....  31
CHAPTER IV
A Short Summary of the Papacy with regard to the Question of Investitures
— The Part played by the Emperors — Charlemagne — Otto the Great —
Charter of Henry n. — Hildebrand the Monk — Education in Rome and sub
sequent History — Attaches himself to Gregory VI. and accompanies him into
Exile — Journey to Rome with Leo ix. — Councils at Rome, Pavia, Rheims
and Mainz, 1048, . . ... .... 37
CHAPTER V
Rise of the Norman Power in the South of Italy — Character of the Norman
adventurers who landed there in the early part of the eleventh century, and
their conflicts with the various races already in possession — At first Leo ix.
adopts a friendly attitude towards them, but soon changes, and determines
to check their aggressions — Battle of Civitate and captivity of Leo— Embassy
of Frederick of Lorraine to Constantinople — Robert Guiscard — Death of
Leo ix. in T054 — Gerbhard of Eichstadt elected Pope as Victor II. — Henry in.
fears the increasing power of Duke Godfrey and is suspicious of his brother
Frederick — The latter retires to Monte Cassino — Death of Henry in. —
Minority of Henry iv. and regency of the Empress Agnes — Death of
Victor 11., 1057 — Stephen ix. — The Antipope Benedict X. — Appointment of
Nicholas 11. in place of the Antipope  57
CHAPTER VI
Matilda's early upbringing — Her training under Arduino della Palude — Her
mother's part in her education — Her appearance— The portraits of her
extant,  76

viii MATILDA OF TUSCANY
CHAPTER VII
PAGE
Lateran Council held by Nicholas II., 1059 — Alliance with the Normans —
Hildebrand as Archdeacon and Abbot of St. Paul's — The Pataria at Milan
— Death of Nicholas, io6r, in Rome — Anselm, Bishop of Lucca, is elected
Pope as Alexander XI. — Lombard Prelates cause Cadalous of Parma to be
Pope with the approval of the Empress Agnes — These rival Popes are the
means of producing a widespread schism in the Church : it is agreed to refer
the whole question of the schism to a Council— The Council held at Mantua
in 1064, when Alexander is unanimously declared the lawful successor to
Peter — Cadalous and his friend Guibert retire to Parma, to conspire once
more against the Pope,  83
CHAPTER VIII
Cadalous and Guibert induce the Normans to invade the Papal Territory —
The Normans march on Rome — Beatrice attempts to entrap Cadalous
— Cadalous, however, reaches Rome, and takes the Leonine quarter —
Duke Godfrey's forces drive off the schismatics and enter Rome — Cadalous
remains in St. Angelo — Holds the fortress for two years— Finally driven out
and flees from Rome — Godfrey is held by some to have been privy to his
escape — Alexander appoints his nephew Anselm as Matilda's spiritual adviser
— Renewed conflict with the Normans— Their rout at Aquino, . . .98
CHAPTER IX
Confusion existing regarding the date of Matilda's marriage with Godfrey of
Lorraine — Vedriani's account — Most probably the marriage took place be
tween 1069 and 1071 — Differences between husband and wife — Matilda's
journey into Lorraine — Return to Italy — Godfrey in Italy in 1073 — Gregory
elected Pope — Evil conduct of the young Emperor — Gregory's Council in
1074, .  . . 104
CHAPTER X
The Abbot of St. Hubert determines to journey to Rome in company with
the Bishop of Metz, and lay his cause before the Pope — They are entertained
in Pisa by Beatrice and Matilda, and Abbot Dietrich is given letters to the
Pope — Gregory receives him and sends him away with power to act against
Duke Godfrey — Godfrey attempts a reconciliation with Matilda — The plot
against the Pope's life in Santa Maria Maggiore is unsuccessful — Gregory is
made prisoner, but is released on the following day — Death of Godfrey in
February 1076, and of Beatrice in April 1076 — Matilda has henceforth to
stand alone — Henry iv. is reproved by the Pope for his evil conduct — Re
taliates by commanding the Pope to vacate the Chair of Peter, and sends an
envoy to Rome with an insolent letter to Gregory — Gregory excommunicates
him and many German bishops — Effect of this on Henry's subjects, who
declare he must have the sentence of excommunication removed, or lose his
kingdom — The excommunicated bishops hasten across the Alps to ask for
absolution— Henry departs from Spires, halts at Besancon for Christmas,
and finally, with great difficulty, crosses the Alps in the winter of 1076-1077, 131
CHAPTER XI
Gregory leaves Rome and is escorted by Matilda and her troops through
Lombardy — On hearing Henry is in Italy he turns aside to Canossa — Arrival
of excommunicated bishops and laymen — They receive pardon — Gregory at
Canossa — Henry's arrival — Penitence and reconciliation with the Pope —
Henry's plot to entrap Gregory frustrated by Matilda's man-at-arms —
Gregory remains in Matilda's strongholds throughout the summer, . . 149

CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER XII
/-..., . „ , , PAGE
Civil war in Germany and the campaign against Rudolf of Suabia— Gregory
still hesitates to excommunicate Henry again — Rebellion of Lucchese against
Matilda — Gregory pronounces anathema on Henry once more and sends
Rudolf the imperial crown ; Henry has Guibert elected Pope at Brixen—
Rout of Matilda's troops at Volta and death of Rudolf— Henry and Guibert
encamp on the meadows of Nero outside Rome, and for three years Rome is
invested during the winter — Anselm's letter to Guibert in defence of Matilda
— Matilda forced to send Canossa's treasure to the help of Rome — Triumph
of the schismatics — Henry's coronation in Rome— The Normans in Rome —
Flight of Henry— Sack of the city,  166
CHAPTER XIII
Gregory's last Lateran Council— Matilda's letter to the faithful in Germany
— Gregory's retreat to Salerno — Extract from his letter to the faithful abroad
— Matilda's victory at Sobara — Death of Gregory, 25th May 1085, at Salerno, 177
CHAPTER XIV
Pestilence and famine visit Italy in 1085 — Death of Anselm of Lucca —
Desiderius of Cassino elected Pope — Refuses the Papacy at first — At length
gives his consent and is installed in Rome as Pope, 1087 — Matilda entertains
Robert of Normandy, but rejects his suit — Matilda learns bad news from
Rome and hastens to take the field once more — Arrives in Rome and confers
with Pope Victor, June 1087 — They agree to attack the schismatics, but are
discomfited — Death of Pope Victor, Sept. 1087, . . . 183
CHAPTER XV
Election of Urban 11. — Arranges for Matilda's second marriage — Matilda
persuaded to consent to it for political reasons — Henry, furious at the
marriage, besieges Mantua, which capitulates — Domnizo's lament over
Mantua,   . igo
CHAPTER XVI
Henry assaults Ferrara, which opens its gates at once to him — Matilda's
troops betrayed by Ugo di Manso and defeated at Tre Contadi — Henry
besieges Montebello, which holds out for a considerable time — Makes over
tures of peace — Matilda consents to consider them — Calls a council of war —
Carpineta — Speeches of the Bishop of Reggio and the abbot of Canossa, . 198
CHAPTER XVII
Henry raises the siege of Montebello and marches upon Canossa — His dis
comfiture and flight — His standard captured and brought to Canossa, where
it is placed in the Church of St. Apollonio— Flight of Adelaide, Henry's wife
— Takes refuge with Matilda— Rebellion of Conrad, who is offered the crown
of Italy — He accepts — Journey of Pope Urban to Lombardy — Welcomed by
Matilda — Council of Piacenza — Separation of Guelf and Matilda in 1095 —
Reasons for the separation not absolutely known, though there are many
plausible ones to be found — Henry's last hostility against Matilda at Nogara
unsuccessful  209
CHAPTER XVIII
The beginnings of the Crusades — Aspirations of Gregory vn. — His letters to
Henry in 1074 — Forced to abandon the idea — Development under Pope
Urban n. at Councils of Piacenza and Claremont — Urban appeals to all true
warriors to fight for the Holy Sepulchre — Departure from Lucca of the
Crusaders in 1095 — Halt in Rome and disillusionment of many who turn
back — Capture of Jerusalem — Death of Urban, 1099,  220

x MATILDA OF TUSCANY
CHAPTER XIX
PAGE
Election of Paschal II. — Death of Antipope Guibert in noo — Matilda pro
motes the founding of the School of Jurisprudence at Bologna, and appoints
Irnerius to codify the Laws of Justinian — Restores and beautifies S. Apol-
lonio at Canossa — The story of the spurs— Cardinal Bernard is made her
director and vicar of the Pope in Lombardy — Matilda renews her donation to
the Roman Church in 1102 — Visit of Anselm of Canterbury to Matilda's
court — Revolt of Ferrara and Parma — The translation of the body of San
Geminiano in Modena — Two miniature portraits of Matilda in the MS.
which gives an account of this ceremony, .  227
CHAPTER XX
Henry's last years, and the conspiracies of his son against his sovereignty —
His piteous letter to the King of France — His death in 1106 at Liege —
Council of Guastalla — Pope Paschal's reception in France of the envoys of
Henry v. , and his message to the young King — Matilda's last visit to Rome
— Her reception of the petition of the inhabitants of Massa Finalese —
Struggles between the cities and the growth of their power — Matilda's
attitude of neutrality in n 10, when Henry v. visits Italy — Henry's arrival in
Rome and abduction of the Pope — He frees Matilda's two vassal bishops on
the arrival of her envoy, Arduino della Palude — Matilda receives Henry v.
at Bianello and entertains him for three days,  242
CHAPTER XXI
Matilda at the baths of Pisa in n 12 — Her failing health and much suffering
— She still insists on keeping all the fasts and vigils of the Church — Her
frequent visits to San Benedetto Polirone — Alarming illness at Monte
Baranzone in n 14 — Revolt of Mantua — Matilda recovers and resolves to
punish Mantua — Raises troops and descends to Bondeno, where a rendez
vous is given — Council of the citizens of Mantua — Resolve to throw them
selves upon Matilda's mercy — She refuses at first to pardon them — But yields
finally at the instance of the Bishop and other members of the court, . . 258
CHAPTER XXII
Matilda's last donation to San Benedetto, and the grand ceremonial at the
abbey — Returns to Bondeno in December, but visits S. Benedetto again at
the feast of the Epiphany — Is carried back to Bondeno in great suffering —
Visit of the abbot of Cluny — Matilda's last Lent — Her final donations to
Canossa's church — She has a chapel built near the rooms where she lies and
dedicates it to St. James — Her last words and death — Domnizo's lament —
No account given us of her funeral by the ancient writers — Burial at San
Benedetto — Changes in the position of the sarcophagus — Finally in 1630 the
remains are transferred to Rome  . 267
Appendices, . . . . . ... . 282
Bibliography   298
Index, ... . . ... 302

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait of Matilda  Frontispiece
From a Fresco at Verona FACING PAGE
Ruins of Canossa  2
From a Photograph by Ferrari, Reggio Emilia
Boniface  20
From the MS. of Domnizo
Beatrice ... .... .76
From the MS. of Domnizo
Matilda  80
From the MS. of Domnizo
Gregory VII  ... 120
From an old Engraving
Tomb of Beatrice at Pisa  138
From a Photograph by Alinari
BlANELLO AND QUATTRO CaSTELLA  1 54
From a Photograph by Ferrari, Reggio Emilia
Matilda, Henry IV. and Hugo of Cluny . . . 155
From MS. of Domnizo
Ruins of Carpineta  202
From a Photograph by Stab. Arti Grafiche, Reggio
Portrait of Matilda  224
From the Fresco above her Tomb at S. Benedetto Polirone
Matilda at Modena  240
From a MS. in the Chapter Archives
Cloister of S. Simeon at S. Benedetto Polirone . 260
From a Photograph by Ferrari, Reggio Emilia
Tomb of Matilda at S. Benedetto Polirone . . 274
From a Photograph by Professor R. Bellodi
Monument to Matilda in S. Peter's .... 280
From a Photograph by Alinari
Seal of Beatrice, and Crosses on the Document
quoted on p. 283  . 284

MATILDA OF TUSCANY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
THE beautiful young girl who appeared to Dante
as guardian of the Earthly Paradise, who sing
ing gathered flowers by Lethe's stream, has
puzzled many a student of the great poet, and all sorts
of conjectures have been made as to her identity. Yet
to the earlier commentators and to those who have
studied carefully the history of Italy before Dante's day
this difficulty could not exist. For to Dante, a Tuscan
of the Tuscans, there could have been only one Matilda —
the great Countess of Tuscany,1 whose name was still
a household word in his days, and who remains for
ever a grand immortal figure in the world's history.
Most fittingly was she placed as guardian of the Earthly
Paradise, she, who to a saintly life added noble deeds,
she, who ruled her people wisely and well, and who in
an age of lawlessness and barbarity stood for law and
order in a most remarkable degree.
Although the barest shell of Canossa remains to tell
1 Benvenuto da Imola, ' L'Anonimo,' a. Florentine of the fourteenth
century, Jacopo della Lana, ' L'Ottimo,' Francesco da Buti, Pietro Alighieri,
' Pseudo-Boccaccio,' — all these make no suggestion that she could be other
than the great Countess.
A

2 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
of its former greatness, a visit to it to-day must serve
to strengthen the conviction that Matilda of Tuscany
and Matilda of the Earthly Paradise are one and the
same person. Canossa uprears its rugged outlines on
a height at the outskirts of the Reggian Apennines,
a huge mass of rock superimposed upon a hill. Frequent
landslips and ill-treatment at the hands of man have
left but a remnant of the castle ; even that remnant is
of a building raised there some centuries after Matilda's
time. As the traveller approaches from the Ciano d'Enza
side, through a region bare and terrible, along the narrow
track with gloomy depths beneath it, suggestive of the
' baize ' of the Inferno, he too has a vision of a sunlit hill.
The massive rock with the ruins of fortified, encircling
walls grows clearer before his eyes, and with each step
forward, the similarity between this hill and the mount
of Purgatory emphasises itself to his mind, the old walls
seeming to mount upwards in circles, as do the terraces
in Purgatory. And his imagination at once reverts to
the lady who dwelt at the summit, even as Matilda in
the Earthly Paradise. He feels that Dante may have
travelled along this very track in visiting Canossa. What
more likely, since the poet seems to know so well the
Pietra Bismantova only some few miles away ? More
of Matilda's citadel doubtless remained in Dante's day,
more traditions were current of her — traditions handed
down by word of mouth from generation to generation,
containing, nevertheless, the germs of truth, since
spoken words were more carefully cherished in the old
times, and memories more tenacious before the know
ledge of a written language grew common. To this day
there are old people in the mountains who will tell you
legends of the * Contessa Matilde ' ! but alas ! she has

RUINS OF CANOSSA

INTRODUCTION 3
become a very shadowy figure, or else has been meta
morphosed into a witch !
In trying to realise something of that Italy of long
ago, we perceive that in Dante's time a more intimate
knowledge of her life existed — that Matilda was then
more than a traditionary name. To the ' divine ' poet,
moreover, she was a living embodiment of some of his
most cherished ideals ; his love and admiration for her
would have been quickened by the knowledge of the
part she played in the history of the city he loved so well.
Never had Florence been so wisely ruled as in
Matilda's days, never had the city been so well protected
as when it rested under the shadow of her great name.
Within the gates in her time factions did not exist,
and law and order prevailed. The surrounding country
districts, however, were overrun by the lesser nobility,
whose castles, built on the hilltops, dominated the river
plain.1 These barons of Teutonic origin had in the old
days been fiercely jealous of the great Boniface, Matilda's
father ; now in Matilda's time they declared themselves
adherents of the Emperor, an assertion which lent them
a pretext for swooping down on the citizens, plundering
their merchandise when they issued forth to the north
or to the south, and hemming them in so that no outlet
for their commerce was passible. It was Matilda alone
who was able to hold these marauders in check, and punish
their deeds of violence ; again and again the Florentines
appealed to her for protection, and, so long as her forces
were available, they never appealed in vain. So that

1 Dal Pozzo inclines to think that the Tuscan Lombards were amongst
Boniface's assailants at the battle of Coviolo. See Dal Pozzo, p. 185. He
says further that they hated the idea of Boniface's increasing power, and
were most anxious to work his downfall.

4 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
when through stress of war the power of the great Countess
was weakened, and her fortunes at a low ebb, the citizens
of Florence loyally repaid her. They withstood the
Emperor in her name, they built a strong circle of walls
around their city, and defended it with such spirit that
the Emperor had finally to abandon the siege and con
tinue his way to Rome, as we shall see hereafter.
To Florence Matilda granted various privileges, and
instituted a system of government which answered so
admirably that, even after her death, the city went on
quietly governing itself under the same conditions, and
was practically autonomous long before it declared itself
a commune. All this may have come back to Dante in
thinking of the great Countess, the one woman who in
Italy had made her name synonymous with that of a
worthy ruler.
If we wish to find another point of resemblance between
Dante's Matilda and her prototype, may we not see it
in the frank laughter and love that Matilda of the Earthly
Paradise flung across the stream to the poet ? For the
real Matilda was, above all things, a friend and lover of
mankind. In reading the history of her life we are struck
by the number of notable characters who paid homage
to this remarkable woman, and who evinced the warmest
admiration and regard for her. From her earliest years
she Was brought into close association with the Popes,
and fought, according to tradition, for Nicholas 11. and
Alexander h. before the walls of Rome. Later we meet
with a long array of famous names — Gregory vn. and
Urban H. amongst the Popes ; Peter Damian, Anselm of
Lucca, our own Anselm of Canterbury, Bernard of Parma,
amongst the famous ecclesiastics ; Arduino della Palude,
who instructed her in the art of war, Domnizo, the priest

INTRODUCTION 5
of Canossa, who wrote lovingly of her deeds, — all these
testify to the worth of her friendship, besides many
others not mentioned here.
Of Matilda the warrior we learn something from con
temporary historians, much from Domnizo the faithful
chronicler, who describes glowingly many a battle fought
and won by his dear mistress. We realise from these
records the heroic part she played — how for over thirty
years she upheld the cause of the Church against the
might of the Empire; how untiringly she fought; how
again and again she raised armies to help the Church's
need ; how she gave everything, her wealth, her vassals,
and her very self, in consenting to two loveless marriages,
for what she believed to be right ; and how but for her
noble defence of the Church, Italy would have remained
an appanage of the Empire and the Pope would have
retained only the power he held as Bishop of Rome.
In the brief spaces of peace that were vouchsafed to poor
unhappy Italy, Matilda saw that the laws should be
properly administered, she built and endowed churches,
monasteries, and hospitals without number. She had
roads and bridges constructed in order to open up hitherto
inaccessible parts of her dominions, she founded the baths
of Casciano and restored the baths of Pisa. To her
public charities were added numerous acts of gracious
kindliness. She succoured the needy and the hungry,
and Canossa was often a very haven of refuge for the
oppressed. The Italian peninsula in the eleventh century presents
no pleasing spectacle. In the south the long-drawn-out
struggle between the last remnants of the Longobard
race and the survivors of the Byzantine rule on the one
hand, against the rival Saracen and Norman invaders on

6 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
the other, devastated the lands of Beneventum, Capua,
Salerno, and the island of Sicily. In the north a latent
national sentiment, a half-unconscious desire to be free
of the German yoke, was continually stifled by the factions
and petty jealousies of the nobles. Here a great marquis
would gain pre-eminence by strategy and force, or an
ecclesiastic would rise to power and unlawfully seize lay
and Church lands alike ; then conspiracies would be set
on foot by the rest against the one successful man, and
there would be no respite until he was overthrown. The
Emperor would be appealed to, and would cross the Alps
to subdue his rebellious vassals, and there would be more
bloodshed, cities would be laid in ashes as examples to
the rest ; and the nobles, ecclesiastic and secular, would
vie with one another in seeking imperial favour, only to
quarrel the more violently or plot against the Emperor,
once he had set his face northwards again.
Into such an atmosphere of conspiracies and wars was
Matilda born. Her father, Boniface, one of the greatest
lords of his day, had certainly devoted himself to amass
ing riches and acquiring territories, but with this saving
grace, that he also encouraged the spread of learning and
protected its source, — the monasteries, in a manner
unequalled by his compeers ; Beatrice of Lorraine, his
wife, possessed rare gifts of graciousness and tact, was
both gentle and strong. The daughter of these two
inherited the best side of both her parents, the strength
of purpose, valour and vigour of her father, and the
softer graces of her mother. In spite of the stormy and
troubled times Matilda's education was extraordinarily
diversified. She could converse fluently in four different
languages, and could correspond in Latin with the great
men her contemporaries ; she wrote her letters herself

INTRODUCTION 7
without the aid of a clerk. She helped to foster and
develop the love of learning ; she herself was well versed
in jurisprudence, and one of her greatest pleasures was
in collecting manuscripts and mastering their contents.
When we think of these barbarous days and how little
education the sons and daughters of the nobles received,
we are still more astonished at Matilda's attainments.
For in the great feudal castles the boys were taught merely
the rough arts of war, and the girls in the nunneries
acquired a few Latin prayers and the art of executing
rude tapestries. Many of the early German emperors
could only affix a cross to their diplomas. Matilda
therefore seems some centuries in advance of her times,
enjoying almost the knowledge and accomplishments of
the great Renaissance ladies, retaining, however, the
severer simplicity of her own days. And in a way — the
way of perfect liberty of action, since there was no male
relative left her, after the age of thirty, under whom she
could remain in tutelage, as was the custom of those times
— she is curiously akin to the women of our own century.
That the history of her life and the work she accom
plished should have been so strangely neglected in this
country is a matter of surprise. Historians of the Middle
Ages, of the Popes, and of the struggle between the
Papacy and Empire, have but mentioned her in passing,
in connection with the Canossa incident, or they have
laid stress on the fact that she possessed large tracts of
territory, which after her death became the property
of the Church. Yet of the part she played in the history
of Italy, of her magnificent efforts to uphold the Church
against the Empire, of her friendship with Gregory vn.
and their unformulated ideal of a united Italy — the
dream of many a ruler, statesman, and warrior, in after

8 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
years — modern historians are mostly silent. In Italy
certainly, the work of Matilda's life is a recognised factor
in history ; from the early chroniclers down to the
present day, writers have not been wanting to testify
to her fame.
Of Matilda the warrior maid of Holy Church, the
heroine of many a battlefield, the prototype of Tasso's
' Clorinda,' of Matilda the ruler and judge — the friend of
great men and lowly — the gracious chatelaine of Canossa
— we catch glimpses in all these varying accounts, but
of Matilda the woman, of her personal joys and sorrows,
we know so little. Most of the records have perished ;
two only of her letters have come down to us. The times
in which she lived are so far removed from our own,
the happenings of so many intervening centuries have
blurred their outline for us, that it is as if a mist hid her
from us, or a thick veil shrouded her face — a veil we are
unable to draw aside.
Those who have been fortunate enough to gain access
to the Vatican MS. of Domnizo's chronicle, or who have
seen the excellent reproductions of the miniatures in
Muratori's version published by Bethmann, or by Pertz,
must be conscious at once of a keen sense of disappoint
ment if they had hoped to glean from them an idea of
Matilda's personal appearance. These miniatures are in no
sense portraits of men and women ; they are rude symbols
meant to represent the people whose names are written
beside them. Yet they were painted probably in Matilda's
day — at latest a few years after her death. The later
portraits — the fresco at Bianello, the one preserved in
the Canossa Palace at Verona, the one in the Sacristy of
Mantua Cathedral, represent a beautiful woman. Yet
these were all painted a century or more after Matilda

INTRODUCTION 9
had been laid to rest in her tomb at San Benedetto. It
is even so with the written records. Contemporary
history gives us rude outlines, but still nothing that can
satisfy our desire for the fuller understanding of the
woman we would know. Later history fills in the details,
but we have to accept its statements with caution, lest
here imagination may have been given too free a rein.
The following pages are the outcome of some few
years' study of a most engrossing subject, and represent
an effort to piece together the all too fragmentary know
ledge of Matilda which has been handed down to us.
If they serve to kindle a wider interest in a woman whose
name once resounded throughout the length and breadth
of Europe, if they help in any measure to give an idea of
what Matilda's life and deeds have meant to Italy, they
will not have been written in vain.

io MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER II
The foundation of the house of Canossa — Siegfried — Azzo or Atto —
The story of Adelaide— Her reception at Canossa — Canossa's
triumph — Azzo's successor Tedaldo — Boniface's rule — His great
ness and his tyranny — Jealousy of Henry in. — Death of Boniface
— His wife Beatrice — Hildegarde and Guilla, wives of Atto and
Tedaldo.
THE most interesting document concerning
Matilda, inasmuch as it was written while she
was still alive, is the chronicle in rude Latin
verse by Domnizo, a monk of Canossa. In many respects,
however, it gives us only tantalising glimpses of Matilda,
and is mainly occupied at first with recounting the
greatness of Canossa. In fact, the grim old fortress is
supposed to be telling its own story, and the first part
is devoted to the history and doings of Matilda's ancestors.
Siegfried is the first mentioned by Domnizo. A native
of Tuscany and of Lucchese origin, he gained some fame
in warring in the Marches of Lombardy. He left behind
him three sons, two of whom settled in Parma, and
became the progenitors of the families of Guiberti and
Barata. ' Both of them were great and resplendent in honour,'
says Domnizo. But it is to the third son, Azzo or Atto,
that the glory of the house of Canozza belongs. ' Azzo
was as astute as a serpent. In the same way that on
the high Alps the pine tree overtops the oak, in like
manner Azzo surpassed by great lengths his brothers,

THE HOUSE OF CANOSSA n
growing in power, lifting himself on high, abounding in
many things.' x
Azzo attached himself as mercenary to Alard, Bishop
of Reggio, and received from him instead of pay the
rock of Canossa on feudal tenure. This is how Domnizo
makes Canossa tell Azzo's story.2 ' The wise Lothaire,
King of the Lombards, the suzerain of my master Azzo,
had for wife Adelaide, the illustrious Queen. But all too
soon died Lothaire, and contrary to the wishes of Adelaide,
Berengar, a cruel man, was elected King. He, overcome
with anger, made her prisoner, because she did not please
to approve of his election as King, and as he had her in
his power, he shut her up finally in the fortress of Garda
with only a waiting-maid as companion, and a good priest
named Martin. Here they lay for a long time, imprisoned
in the dungeon of a tower ; but finally the priest suc
ceeded with an iron bar in secretly breaking through a
part of the wall, and releasing the Queen and her damsel ;
they escaped safely in men's clothes, which he had
procured for them.
' From there they came to the lake which keeps Mantua
alive, and they adventured themselves in a boat kept
by a good fisherman. The priest invited him to take
him and his companions and row them across. And
when the fisher asked what pay he would receive, the
priest replied : "If you knew who we were, you would
hasten with the greatest joy to ferry us, without asking
for payment " — at which the fisher said : " Tell me
then who you are, if you desire that I should take you
over." And the priest answered him : "If you will
swear to keep it secret, we will reveal to you the entire
mystery, which should satisfy you wholly." They had
1 Dom., lib. i. cap. i. 2 Ibid., lib. I. cap. i.

12 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
not the codex of the evangelist, but immediately the
rough boatman laid on the ground two sticks in the form
of a cross, and erring in nothing, he swore upon it, as if
it had been a beautiful cross. Then the priest, Don
Martin, said to him : " Now, good man, I feel myself
drawn to tell thee more safely everything. This is the
Queen whom some time ago King Berengar made prisoner
in wrath. We are fleeing. Be a faithful friend to us ! "
Therefore, praising God, he took them quickly across to
the other side ; offered them a big fish, and said to the
Queen : " If by chance the omnipotent Lord God restore
you to honour, I hope you will remember me." The
boatman deposited them in the vicinity of a wood that
borders on the lake, and the Queen remained there a
whole week, adoring Christ faithfully, whilst the priest
as her host, went secretly in search of bread. At last
the Queen said, sighing : " How can I enjoy being here,
if the continual thought of being recaptured agonises
me ? Oh, good priest, the Bishop of Reggio, Adelardo,
always remained good friends with us, and now you
might tell him how great is our distress, and perhaps he
will find the means of removing us from here." Then
the exiled priest, though wearied, set forth to Reggio,
and when the Bishop knew who he was, he asked after
the Queen, saying : " Tell me, I pray thee, what has hap
pened to her, which I hope much to learn from thee " ;
and the priest replied : " She died in her dark prison."
At the sad news the Bishop broke into exclamations of
grief, and weeping said : " O great disaster ! And the
crime of it is most manifest ! " The priest perceiving
that the Bishop was horrified at the death of the Queen,
and that he would rejoice greatly to know her still alive,
suddenly told him that she still lived, and desired him to

THE HOUSE OF CANOSSA 13
offer her refuge. " I rejoice greatly that she lives," said
the Bishop, but I do not know that I have under me
any strong castle where she would be safe. However,
there is Azzo, my soldier,1 who has one called Canossa,
in which, if he wills it, the Queen could hold out many
years against the anger of the King." To-morrow,
therefore, thou shalt take our horses and shalt go to Azzo,
as I will show thee, and warmly begging him, thou shalt
perhaps obtain that which thou desirest." At the dawn
of the following day the priest was put on the road to
Canossa, and, arrived there, Prince Azzo interrogated
him closely as to what had happened to the Queen. And
the priest replied that she had died in prison. Azzo
with a full heart broke into bitter tears and lamentations.
Then the other, seeing manifestly that he cried, said to
him aside : " Ah ! she lives, and desires to flee to thee,
and to be by thee sheltered from danger." Hearing this,
the Prince had his own horses taken out and galloped to
where she was. It was the third hour of the day, fine
and warm weather. . . . And when the sixth hour of
the day arrived, high Canossa honoured itself as host
of the illustrious Queen, together with her damsel.
Afterwards, moved by all that had happened, Azzo sent
a secret messenger to the Pope in Rome, supplicating
him, and requesting him for advice in this matter,
inasmuch as he wished to give the Queen as wife to Otto,
whom the people of Alemannia obeyed. Pope John,2
1 The Latin word miles means also 'vassal' according to Leibnitz and
Muratori. See Don Davoli's notes on Domnizo, p. 277.
2 Domnizo's history is at fault here, and it must have been to Pope
Agapetus II., who was Pope from 946 to 955, that Azzo sent his messenger,
since the events just narrated took place in the year 951, and Otto's marriage
was celebrated on Christmas Day of that same year at Pavia, not at Verona.
Agapetus's successor was Pope John XII.

14 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
a man of great probity, wrote commending his
actions, and counselling him to carry his designs into
effect. ' After all these things a nuncio of Azzo's, followed by
a small escort, went to the King in Verona, in which city
Otto had already arrived. Azzo then came to him
bringing with him the Queen, who was there united to
the King in wedlock, and then taking her with him, he
returned immediately to his own land, promising Azzo
that he would do great things for him hereafter. The
Lombard King had not yet heard of the doings of the
Queen, nor could he find out where she had taken refuge,
but he heard at last that King Otto had been in Verona,
and that this had happened by Azzo's help. Therefore,
raging and storming, be collected soldiers, and came to
Canossa, thinking to carry all before him. . . . But I am
of stone, not wood. Azzo remained at my summit and
with him prudent and wise men. Smite ! O Berengar !
Smite as you will with the darts ! that death may gather
in, the sooner, those that you have brought to break our
fortress.' A long Homeric struggle ensued around Canossa.
Besieged for years she emerged at length triumphant.
Otto was instated with honours, first as King at Milan,
and finally confirmed in the title of Emperor by Pope
John xii. in 962. He did not forget his friends, and
Azzo, chief amongst them, was created Count, then
Marquis, with sovereignty over Modena, Reggio, and a
great part of Lombardy.
' And Azzo multiplied my Towers, and lifted up my
walls to the heavens.1 But was it not through me he
became rich, through me that all came to him ? It was
1 Dom., lib. I. cap. ii.

THE HOUSE OF CANOSSA 15
therefore natural that all he had obtained that was
beautiful and precious, helmets, shields, armour, swords
and hatchets, should serve to adorn my vast halls.' Thus
chants Canossa in her glory.
But it was not only for future warlike purposes, or in
memory of his past victories that Azzo embellished and
enlarged Canossa. He took care that it should also be
celebrated for the beauty and sanctity of its church.
Relics of many saints were conveyed there — those of
St. Victor, Santa Corona, and above all, Sant Apollonio,
to whom the church was dedicated, are specially men
tioned. Rich and costly robes for the priests, chased
vessels for the sacred offices were also bestowed upon the
church, and with great pride Domnizo tells us of twenty
crowns of gold and silver and the various chalices and
sculptured tablets, with which the church was enriched.
This was the foundation of the famous treasure of Canossa,
which, more than a century later Matilda, her private re
sources being at an end, was obliged to melt down, in
order to send the precious metal to Pope Gregory, who
was in sore need of money to pay his troops.
Domnizo tells us, moreover, that Azzo further insti
tuted at Canossa a college of monks to chant the Divine
Office, and that this might be done more effectively ' he
caused an organ to be constructed to accompany the
voices of the singers.' It is interesting to note in passing
that this is the first precise mention of any organ being
built and placed in a church in Italy. The organ was
probably conveyed to Canossa and placed in position
between the years 970-976.1
Azzo's eldest son Rodolf died in the flower of his
youth, the second Godfrey entered the Church and became
1 See Don Davoli's notes to Domnizo, note 67, pp. 297-98.

16 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Bishop of Brescia. Tedaldo, the youngest, succeeded his
father, and right well did he maintain the family tradi
tions in remaining faithful to the German kings, and add
ing to the territorial domains of the family. ' He was
most renowned and dear to kings, and the Roman pontiffs
who loved him much, and most sincerely, conceded to
him the domain of Ferrara. He loved the Castle of
Canossa no less than his faith ; and it was he that had
built near the Po, and in the neighbourhood of the
waters of the Larione, the monastery of S. Benedetto,
worthy of the Lord, desiring that a family of monks
should be established there ; and this is a most happy
spot, since here true religion flourishes.' 1
Tedaldo left three sons ; the eldest one, his namesake,
Bishop of Arezzo, is mentioned by the chroniclers as
being a friend of Guido of Arezzo the musician, who
dedicated to him a celebrated necrology. Conrad the
youngest remained associated with his second brother
Boniface, the successor to the marquisate ; unfortunately
he received a mortal wound at the battle of Coviolo, in
1030, and died shortly after from the effects of it.
Boniface pursued the family vocation of acquiring terri
tory, power and riches, content however to remain first
among the princes of Italy rather than seek for any regal
crown. It would appear that before the death of Tedaldo,
Boniface was associated with him in the government of
his domains. Tedaldo is said to have called together his
vassals and the counts over whom he had lordship, and
made them pay homage to Boniface as their feudal lord.
Boniface was in many ways a typical mediaeval lord.
His early training under his father had fitted him for the
1 Dom., lib. 1. cap. iii.

BONIFACE OF TUSCANY 17
position he had inherited, while his own personal char
acter, which was dominated by a large and never satiated
ambition, made him the most remarkable ' Grand
Seigneur ' of his time. He was a singular man, with
that strange blending of vice and piety characteristic
of the Middle Ages. In some respects he was more
enlightened than his contemporaries, for, far from
despising learning and culture as did most warriors of
that age, scornfully declaring that to write and read was
only the employment of clerks, he encouraged the pur
suit of the gentle arts in every way he could, and took
delight in assembling under his roof all the light and the
learning of Italy. In fact the court that he and his
wife held at Mantua has been compared to that of Florence
under the princes of the house of Medici : ' With so
many magnificent spectacles and feasts that all posterity
and all their contemporaries marvelled thereat.' x Yet
while he showered money for pious oblations on churches
and monasteries, he was not above stooping to various
artifices to wrest lands and castles from the bishops, and
heads of monastic institutions. He would offer a few
miserable farms in exchange for a tract of territory
or castle, declaring his intention of paying yearly
rental for the same. But the rent was never paid
and the lands remained in Boniface's hands, while
the clerical party was too weak to enforce its
claims. Muratori cites how many churches, castles,
and monasteries were thus obtained from the Bishop of
Reggio alone.
One incident may be given illustrating to what depths
of ferocity Boniface could descend, were his anger
aroused. In the year 1039 he had been as far north
1 From a review on the Corografia Mantovana, by Giacomo Ottali.

18 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
as the Castle of Miroalto 1 to render help to the Emperor
Henry in. against Odo, Count of Champagne, and after
a successful campaign was returning to Italy. The corn
lay ripe in the Burgundian fields, and he permitted his
cavalry to damage the crops ruthlessly, and even to pas
ture in their midst. The people of the district, greatly
resenting this wanton destruction, caught some of the
stragglers of the mounted troops, and deprived them
of their horses. In fury Boniface turned back, vowing
vengeance. He planned an attack against a neighbour
ing castle, laying an ambush when the lord and his
retainers sallied forth, and succeeded in making a large
number of captives. He then ordered that all their
nostrils and ears should be cut off. ' Three military
shields were piled with these severed members,' says
Fiorentini. Amongst the prisoners was the only son of
a noble matron, who, half distraught with fear lest he
should suffer such indignity, threw herself in front of
Boniface, offering him her son's weight in silver if he
might be spared. Boniface thrust her aside, brutally
remarking that he was ' no merchant but a soldier,' and
the deed was done. And Fiorentini adds, quoting from
an earlier chronicle : ' She obtained further the bellicose
response, " Absit ut hostes ferro capti redimantur
argento " — " Far be it that what was captured by steel
should be redeemed with silver." ' (Fiorentini, lib. i.
P- 36.)
In his later years Boniface devoted himself more than
ever to Holy Church, surrounding himself with monks
and clerics who continually sang psalms in the chapel
1 Miroalto, to-day Morat or Miirten, situated in that part of ancient
Burgundy which now constitutes the canton of Friburg in Switzerland, and
not far from Neuch&tel. See Don Davoli, p. 320.

to)
O >
n w
o H
C
Facsimile of Boniface's signature, A.D. 1038 (reduced in size). fyj
From a document preserved in the State Archives at Lucca. ^

^B°N£f ^civ_5HKp-cHl° &£P^

VO

20 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
of Canossa. He confessed his deeds of violence and all
his sins, and for his acts of simony he even submitted
to a pious flagellation at the hands of the Abbot Guido
of Pomposa. On this account, mayhap, his evil deeds
were covered with a cloak of Christian charity by many
a monkish chronicler, while his upholding of the Church
is glowingly described by Don Luchino da Mantova : x
' Boniface most illustrious Marquis of Mantua and
Ferrara did not fall away or degenerate from his father
Tedaldo, but conformed to him in all clemency and piety,
and united in himself all those Qualities which go to
form a rare and accomplished prince. . . . This gener
ous prince had always a soul inclined to the Christian
religion.' Boniface's exalted position, and the high esteem in
which he was held by the German Emperor, did not fail
to bring him many enemies,2 especially among the
princes of Lombardy, who never let an opportunity pass
of plotting his ruin. (Whatever his faults may have
been, his loyalty to the Empire was unquestionable,
though during the last years of his life this loyalty
received a grievous shock.) Such an opportunity offered
itself to Boniface's jealous fellow-countrymen at the
death of Henry n., when Conrad was elected Emperor
and King of Italy. Most of the Italian nobles refused to
receive another German, and offered the crown else
where — to Robert of France, to his son Hugo, to William
Duke of Aquitaine. Boniface remained faithful to
Conrad, and in consequence the other princes of the
1 Luchino, p. 12.
2 ' The dukes [Boniface and Conrad] showing themselves strong and great
against their enemies like true giants, many people rose up against them.'
Dom. , lib. I. cap. vi.

VI.

CL uctopUcoai cururo rrccrcvmm3C5cvmc tiivuxbo

BONIFACE
FROM THE MS. OF DOMNIZO

BONIFACE OF TUSCANY 21
realm, after having in vain tried to draw away Conrad
(Boniface's brother) from his allegiance, descended upon
the lords of Canossa and offered them battle at Coviolo,
a mile and a half from Reggio. Although Boniface1
issued forth victorious from this combat it was at a
heavy price, since his brother died shortly afterwards
from the effects of a wound received on the battlefield.
The historian Muratori 2 tells us that when the Emperor
Conrad descended into Italy in 1027 to have his election
to the Italian throne ratified by Pope John xx., Lucca,
the Tuscan capital, defied him, whereupon he subdued
it, and Rainieri, the reigning Marquis of Tuscany, who
had been active in the rebellion against the German
allegiance, was despoiled of his possessions. These,
together with the title of Marquis, it is supposed, were
conferred upon Boniface by the Emperor, in return for
the services he had rendered him. There are some
divergences of opinion as to the exact date of Boniface's
accession to the Lordship of Tuscany, and there is no
documentary evidence to prove that he assumed the
government of this state in 1027. The first time Boniface
calls himself Duke and Marquis of Tuscany is in 103 1,
in a document quoted by Sigonio ; and Jacopo, Bishop
of Fiesole, in writing in 1032 of the founding of the
canonicate at Fiesole, refers to Boniface as ' Most Serene
Duke and Marquis of Tuscany.' 3 It is certain that

1 'The audacious lance of Boniface appeared almost a thousand cubits
long to all his enemies, and the sword of Conrad a hundred cubits
broad.' — Dom., lib. I. cap. viii. There is a tradition current that the
family of Canossa, to this day residing in Verona, is descended from
Conrad. 2 Annali d' Italia, anno 1027.
8 This letter is given in Ughelli's Ital. Sac, torn iii. ; also Rena,
vol. ii. p. 60 et sea.

22 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Boniface x took an active part in establishing Conrad on
the throne of Italy, and quelled several rebellious towns,
amongst others Pavia and Parma ; the lands of Tuscany
may therefore have been bestowed on him as a reward
for these services. As a further mark of his esteem,
Conrad honoured Boniface by concluding an alliance
with him, no longer regarding him as a vassal of the
Empire but as an independent prince. The relations
between Conrad and Boniface seem to have been always
of a most friendly nature, Conrad deeming it wise to do
everything possible to conciliate so powerful an Italian
ally, and Boniface upholding him loyally.
1 It is somewhat difficult to ascertain exactly what the tities of Duke,
Marquis, or Count implied at this period, but Muratori in his Dissertazioni
suite Antichita Italiane throws some light on the subject. Counts, he tells
us, were originally the governors of one city only, but their jurisdiction often
extended outside the city, and the tract of country they governed was called
'Comitatus' or 'Contado.' But there were exceptions to this rule, since we
know that Tedaldo was Count of Modena and Reggio ; and, on the other
hand, in the year 994 Verona had two Counts. About the title of Duke
there is some confusion. They were superior to Counts and could create
them, but sometimes they too were rulers of only one city, and sometimes
they had large territories.
The title of Marquis was taken from those provinces called ' Marches,'
that is provinces on the confines of empires or kingdoms which had inde
pendent rulers, these tracts being conceded to certain vassals by Emperor or
King on condition that they were to defend them against the neighbouring
enemies. In time the superior Counts who had lands and cities to rule and
who were first called ' conti provinciali ' — provincial counts — took the title of
Marquis to distinguish them from the lower order of counts (governors of
cities). Then some Marquises had as well the title of Count to indicate that
they were special rulers of some cities. Tedaldo is cited as: Thedaldus
Marchio et Comes Comitatu Motinense.
These titles were not hereditary at first but became so gradually. In an
account of a Council of Charlemagne it is written that after the Emperor the
Counts were the first persons of the Empire. Therefore Counts were often
called Princes. Counts, Marquises, and Dukes assisted at the election
of the Emperors. They also had their special chambers of jurisdiction
for certain offences, and these powers were subject to the Emperor alone,
and they only yielded prerogative to special legates of the Emperor who were
occasionally despatched to render justice on extraordinary occasions. See
also Muratori, Delle Antichita estensi, vol. i. chap. V.

BONIFACE OF TUSCANY 23
Conrad's successor, Henry in., however, did not pursue
the same policy. When in 1046 he, together with his
wife Agnes, descended into Italy for the Imperial corona
tion at Rome, they stayed on their way in Piacenza, where
Boniface received and entertained them right royally. In
course of a familiar conversation Henry expressed pleasure
at the taste of a particularly powerful vinegar prepared at
Canossa. Overjoyed at such an opportunity of proving
his devotion and affection to his sovereign lord, Boniface
hastened back to Canossa, where he ordered a flagon to
be delicately wrought in silver, together with a silver
car and a yoke of oxen, and filling the flagon with the
choicest vinegar, he had all these placed in a real cart
further ornamented with most costly draperies, and
drawn by two white oxen. He despatched this princely
gift to Henry, accompanied by a numerous band of pages
and esquires. The following year, as the royal couple
were on their way back from Rome, they were received
in Mantua by the governor of that city, Boniface's
deputy, who presented them with a hundred magnificent
horses, and two hundred falcons equipped for the chase.
The Empress Agnes expressed surprise at such a magnifi
cent present, and Henry remarked that Boniface alone
of all Italian, or German princes, could have vassals under
him capable of bestowing such rich gifts.
But these incidents aroused the Emperor's fears and
excited his jealousy, and from this time forth Boniface
was looked upon with suspicion, and Henry proceeded
by fair means or foul to undermine his power — nay,
more than this, to try to make away with him altogether.
He began by endeavouring to lure him out of Italy,
promising him unbounded power, wealth, and estates
in Germany, would he but return there with him. But

24 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Boniface could not be tempted to leave his native land.
Henceforth all sorts of means were used to entrap him.
Upon one occasion Henry demanded his immediate
attendance at a Council, intending that Boniface should
be conducted to a remote room in the castle, and there
kept prisoner. Henry was anxious to effect his capture
as rapidly and as secretly as possible, for Boniface was
too popular with his own vassals to risk raising a hue and
cry about him. Boniface went, but attended by such
a retinue that Henry was disconcerted, for some chance
words that the Empress Agnes had let fall the day
before had put the Duke upon his guard. When he
reached the palace gates he was told that he alone could
be admitted, but in a haughty way he thrust the guard
aside, and his followers entered with him. He was then
conducted from room to room, and at last admitted to
the presence of Henry, who was not in Council, but
alone. Henry terrified at seeing Boniface attended by
such a retinue, feared that his plot had been discovered,
and that Boniface's men had slain his guard, and had
now come to take vengeance upon the Emperor himself.
But when he saw the Duke's soldiers attempted nothing
and paid him the usual obeisance, he pretended that he
had only summoned Boniface for a very important and
private Council. Boniface replied with similar artifice,
regretting that as he only came to serve his Majesty,
he should have entered his presence in such a manner,
but the guard had refused to admit his retinue inside
the palace at all, and having heard that his Majesty
meditated a sudden departure from Italy, he feared
these extraordinary orders had been the result of some
court machinations to exclude his faithful followers and
himself from the Royal Presence for some sinister reason.

BONIFACE OF TUSCANY 25
He had therefore forced his way in thus, to assure his
Majesty of his own fidelity and promptitude, together
with that of his followers. Henry accepted the explana
tion with as good a grace as possible, and proceeded to
offer some plausible reasons for the sudden summons
he had given Boniface, concluding by recommending
him in all things to be vigilant concerning the interests
of the Empire.
This incident only served to increase Henry's dislike,
jealousy, and distrust of Boniface's enormous power and
personal sagacity, and the following morning he made
a further attempt to secure his person, begging him to
come and form part of the bodyguard for that night,
thinking in this way he would come very slightly attended,
and that, having posted a number of mercenaries about
the town, it would be easy in the darkness to take him
prisoner. Boniface rode forth, with fewer followers it
is true, but these were armed to the teeth, and each bore
a lighted torch attached to his lance, making the small
company appear larger than it was, and the mercenaries
evidently feared to attack it, for Boniface rode home in
safety again when the night was over.
After the failure of these plots Henry was unwillingly
obliged to leave Italy to attend to his rebellious subjects
at home,1 leaving Boniface in full possession of his
wealth, territories, and immense power. Boniface
1 The German historian Giesebrecht casts some doubt upon these stories
of the Emperor's faithlessness to Boniface. Giesebrecht says further that
somewhere about 1047 Boniface seems to have deserted the Emperor's
cause, and to have entered into a secret alliance with the Tusculan barons,
and probably also with Gisulf of Salerno. See notes to Giesebrecht's
History, and also vol. ii. p. 436.
Frizzi (Memorie per la Storia di Ferrara, vol. ii.) says these attempts
against Boniface took place 'about 1047.' It is possible therefore that
Boniface's devotion to Germany had received some great check.

26 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
ultimately perished at the hands of assassins, during a
hunting expedition in 1052, — it was said out of revenge
for some of his tyrannical acts, but a certain suspicion
lurks in one's mind that Henry may have been privy to
Boniface's violent death. Domnizo, perhaps out of
respect to Matilda, only remarks that ' Boniface aban
doned this world,' and then describes his place of sepulture
in Mantua.1
The historian Vedriani gives the following account of
Boniface's death : 2 'In Modena in the year 1051 there
was occasion for great grief in the unhappy news of the
death of the Marquis Boniface. Seven years previously
in Brescia he had escaped from a plot against his life
and against the State. The conspirators fled to Verona,
which city for having offered them a refuge was taken
and sacked, and many of their adherents were also
banished from Mantua. Amongst these was one Scarpetti
Canevari. ' The Marquis, already an old man, and no longer
thinking of anything but the affairs of his soul, had a
galley built to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Syria — not so much out of devotion as for a penitence
for his sins, which, according to Hermannus Contractus,
had gained for him the name of " tyrant." Now while
this galley was being constructed he went one day a-
hunting towards the river Oglio in a domain called
Spineta, not far distant from Martino dall' Argine, a
castle belonging at that time to the Prince of Bozzolo.
' In following a wild beast, he separated himself so far
from his retainers that the barking of the dogs or the
huntsman's horn was hardly to be heard. Dismounting

1 Dom., lib. I. cap. xvi.
2 Ved., vol i. p. 497 et seq.

BONIFACE OF TUSCANY 27
from his horse to rest beneath the shade of a tree, he
happened to be near a bush, where Scarpetta, who
knew him, was lying hid, and he, moved by wickedness,
and thinking to do a deed which would be pleasing to
the enemies of the Marquis, put a poisoned arrow to
his bow, and shot it straight at the heart of the un
happy Prince, who, hit in the left breast, expired
at once. This unfortunate death was written in
characters of blood and bewailed with many tears,
not only by the Marchesa but by all his people. He
was buried in the beautiful mausoleum with this
epitaph : 1 '"Hie jacet egregius Dominus Boni-
facius Marchio et Pater Serenis-
issimae Dominae Comittissae Matildae
Qui obit MLII. Die VI. Ma. II. INDCV.
' " Here lieth the excellent Lord Boniface Marquis and
Father of the Most Serene Lady Countess Matilda,
who died on the 6th day of May 1052."'
From the day that Henry turned against Boniface,2
' the love of the lords of Canossa was tempered,' remarks
Don Tosti,3 ' and the whole of Boniface's lordship, which
had been as a citadel of the Empire on the neck of Italy,
1 Of the ' beautiful mausoleum ' nothing remains to this day but an
insignificant black stone let into the wall of the west side of the Lady Chapel
of the Cathedral at Mantua. It was only after a long search that this tablet
was found and identified by the present writer ; the sacristan being positive
that the Marquis Boniface was not buried there ! The stone bears the Latin
inscription given above.
2 Besides being Duke of Tuscany Boniface is sometimes called Duke of
Lucca, and Marquis of Tuscany, Lord of Ferrara, Verona, Mantua, Reggio,
Parma, Lucca, Pisa, Florence, Pistoia, Modena, Count of Canossa, Duke of
Spoleto, and Camerino. It is certain that at the death of Boniface no other
Italian Prince could be found his equal in riches and power. The whole of
Tuscany, the greater part of Liguria, Umbria, and Piceno, from the Cremona
Alps to Viterbo, was under his sway.
3 Tosti, lib. 1. p. 37.

28 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
was converted into a refuge and defence, not only for
the destinies of Italy but for those of the Church of
Christendom as well.' This was indeed the turning-
point in the policy of the house of Canossa. Up till now,
its interests and that of the Empire had been one, and
since the days of Atto and Otto the friendship and good
feeling between Emperor and vassal lord had been main
tained. Now through the Emperor's jealousy and
treachery the situation was changed, and henceforth
all its interests became purely Italian, entirely bound
up with that of the Papacy. At first it looked to the
Papacy for help and support, and in return the Papacy
began to count upon this great feudal house as its strongest
ally. Boniface was twice married. Of his first wife Richilda 1
very little is narrated beyond the fact that she was the
daughter of ' Guilberto Conte del Palazzo in Rogeneto,' 2
who was Vicar Imperial of Reggio in 1021, and another
authority says Vicar Imperial in Verona. Very soon
after her death,3 Boniface set forth on a second
1 Rena gives two documents concerning Boniface's first wife of the years
1016 and 1017 respectively. The first is a grant of Henry u. of certain lands
in the Ferrarese country to Richilda. The second is the deed in which
Richilda, together with her husband, bestows those lands on the abbey of
Nonantula. In the first Richilda is only styled 'Countess,' and at the foot
there is a cross with ' signum manus pro Richilde Comitissa.' In the second
parchment Boniface simply calls himself ' Boniface Marquis,' and does not say
of what territory. Muratori (Ant. It., vol. i. p. 71) says that in the year
1004 Boniface made a donation to the abbey of Polirone in which deed he
is entitled ' Marquis,' and mentions two other documents of the same year
where he is called ' Bonifacius gloriosus Marchio.' As Tedaldo only died
in 1007 those documents seem to imply that Boniface assumed the title of
Marquis before the death of his father.
2 Mellini, p. 12., quotes from Sigonio as to Guilbert's position at Verona.
Mellini says further that Richilda died after 1034, and Boniface's second
marriage took place in 1037.
3 ' Our liege Lady Richelida ended her days without leaving any child, an
only daughter having died before her, and when she left us the poor lost in

BONIFACE OF TUSCANY 29
wooing. His choice fell on Beatrice,1 daughter of the
Duke of Lorraine, and Domnizo takes delight in describing
Boniface's magnificent following, and the splendid home
coming of the bride. For three months they kept open
house at Marengo, one of Boniface's castles. Precious
perfumes were dispersed like water during the banquets,
and by some mechanical means wine was made to run
from the wells into rich vessels of silver, while delicate
viands were served at the meals, and troupes of jongleurs
and troubadours entertained the guests.2
Beatrice appears to have been a remarkable woman
in all respects. During her husband's lifetime she evi
dently took but small part in public affairs, yet governed
her household with wisdom, and is mentioned by one
historian as a ' sapient, brilliant and learned princess.'
The court at Mantua was a centre of light and learning,
and Canossa was far famed for its brilliance and culture
during the whole of Beatrice's reign there. Later, when
called to govern, first in her son's name, and then during
Matilda's long minority, she displayed the greatest
sagacity and prudence.
The women of the house of Canossa appear to have
been most fitting mates for their lords. Of Atto's wife,
Hildegarde, it is written : 3 ' She was a princess adorned
with every grace and of great worth, with a cultivated
mind and pious spirit. A princess gifted with the art
her a great helper, as Domnizo testifies. She was buried with great pomp
at Nogara, in the Veronese country, in a church endowed by her . . . where
vestiges of her sepulchre are to be seen unto this day (a.d. 1666).' — Ved.,
vol. i. p. 494.
1 Beatrice was a niece of the Empress Gisela, wife of Conrad 11. She and
her sister Sophie had been educated at the Imperial Court, and were looked
upon by Gisela as her adopted daughters. See Giesebrecht, vol. ii. pp. 276,
318. 2 Dom., lib. I. cap. x. J See here Dal Pozzo, p. 149.

30 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
of governing wisely. Prudent and good, a wise adviser,
exhorting her husband to good works, a lady of sound
judgment and singular prudence in governing, inclined
to works of piety.'
Guilla, the wife of Tedaldo, is thus described by Dal
Pozzo : 1 ' Born of the Counts of the Rhine, a most pious
princess, appreciated by every rank of people ' ; and
Domnizo says : 2 ' The Duchess Guilla, who, for her works
of piety, was dear alike to great and small.'
1 Dal Pozzo, p. 179. 2 Dom., lib. I. cap. v.

BIRTH OF MATILDA 31

CHAPTER III
Birth of Matilda probably at Lucca in 1046— Marriage of Beatrice
with Godfrey of Lorraine — Matilda's Betrothal by proxy to
Godfrey's Son in 1053 — Anger of Henry in. who detained
Beatrice as Prisoner — Reconciliation of Henry and Godfrey —
Death of Henry III. and return of Beatrice and Godfrey to Italy
in 1057.
FN ROM this illustrious house, founded by Siegfried,
noted for its noble women and warlike men,
sprang Matilda, who played so great a part
in the history of her day. Although the fact J has not
been absolutely proved, it is almost certain she was born
in Lucca, or at the Castle of Porcari a few miles distant.
Beatrice purchased the Castle of Porcari in 1044,2 and
in 1047 it is known that Boniface was in Lucca adjudging
various difficulties amongst his subjects.
Boniface left three children, Frederick or Boniface,
Matilda, and ' Beatrice ' or ' Beatricio.' It is a curious
fact that about the sex of the last-named child there
appears some doubt ; in some genealogies it is called
Beatrice and referred to as a girl, in others, where Boni-
1 Historians are greatly divided as to which city should be accredited with
the honour of being Matilda's birthplace. Mantua and Modena, Cremona
and Verona are mentioned, and many others. (See Don Davoli, p. 352.)
' She was born in Mantua and was given the name of Matilda in baptism to
renew the glorious memory of Saint Matilda, Empress, daughter of Theodoric,
Duke of Saxony,' writes Vedriani (vol. i. p. 496).
In speaking of the meeting between Henry v. and Matilda in the year mi
Dean Milman says : ' He conversed with her in German, with which, as born
in Lorraine, she was familiar' (Latin Christianity, book viii. chap. ii.).
2 Fiorentini, lib. 1. p. 35.

32 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
face is said to have left two sons, the name is written
Beatricio.1 Beatrice was left sole guardian of her children, and
although she appears to have governed wisely and ably,
she was fully alive to the dangers of her position as a
defenceless widow with vast wealth and territory, a ready
prey for unscrupulous freebooters. As a matter of policy
therefore, she contracted a second marriage with Godfrey
of Lorraine in 1053. It is said that the Sovereign Pontiff
Leo ix., being in Mantua on his way from Germany, per
formed the marriage ceremony in that city in the church of
San Pietro; at the same time Matilda, then a child of seven,
was solemnly affianced to Godfrey's son by a previous
marriage, generally known as Godfrey the Hunchback.
This alliance aroused a storm of anger on the part of
Henry, and he declared it ought not to have taken place
without his permission. Godfrey of Lorraine was in
open revolt against Germany, and Beatrice had com
mitted the sin of lese-majesty in marrying the enemy of
her sovereign. She was a widow and only a woman,
and could not command in Tuscany, and it belonged to
1 In the history of Riccobaldo, a Ferrarese of the thirteenth century,
mention is made (p. 347) of three children, Rudolf, Frederick, and Matilda,
and the ' two first died during one of Boniface's absences from Italy. '
Mario Equicola (p. 26) says Boniface had two sons and one daughter.
Don Luchino (p. 13) mentions Beatricio a boy; this child Beatricio, or
Beatrice, evidently died at an early age.
There seems a great uncertainty, however, about these children, the boy
is sometimes called Frederick, sometimes Boniface ; is it probable that there
were two sons ? In 1053 Beatrice made a donation to the abbey of Fenonica
for the souls 'of my son and of my daughter' (see Overman, p. 123). Yet
we are told that the only son did not die till 1055 (pp. 123-124).
On the other hand, this is not conclusive evidence since Rena who gives
the whole document (vol. ii.) remarks that Frederick, the son referred to in
the deed of gift, died in the following year, as if it were not unusual to make
a donation for the souls of the living. The words used are ' pro remedio
animae quondam Bonefacii Marchionis et animae filii et filiae meae.'

SECOND MARRIAGE OF BEATRICE 33
the Emperor to give the investiture to the male child.
For Henry insisted that the Duchy of Tuscany and all
Boniface's vast possessions in Italy were only held under
feudal tenure from himself. Godfrey was a man of great
force of character and quite capable of stirring up the
whole of Italy against the Emperor, so that Henry's
objections were not groundless; but the means he took
to protect himself were of questionable integrity. He
descended into Italy the following spring, 1055, was in
Verona in April and celebrated Easter at Mantua.
Possibly both Godfrey and Beatrice thought it would
be well to attempt a reconciliation, and they first of all
sent ambassadors with protestations of their good faith,
and bearers of the following message : —
' That he, Godfrey, had espoused the Marchesa
Beatrice, Henry's " sister," with the fullest concurrence
of Pope Leo, and with all those honours which were due
to a princess of her rank. This he had done, not to plot
against "the majesty of Caesar," nor to be created King
of Italy, but in order to establish himself far away from
those States where he knew he was in little favour,
and also to do away with the suspicion that Germany
bore him of attempting to reobtain the greater and
better part of his dukedom, which his ancestors and his
fathers before him had possessed for long series of years
in feudo nobile.' The ambassadors added : ' That he
would be entirely content with the dowry of his wife,
and as he was a relation, he would be a faithful subject
— nor did it behove a prince to live and die in a minor
condition than that of a prince.' 1
1 Vedriani, vol. ii. p. 10. Frederick, Duke of Upper Lorraine, father of
Beatrice, died without leaving a son. His dukedom was then bestowed on
Gozelo of Lower Lorraine, Godfrey's father. ' Thus were the two duchies
united under one ruler.' See Giesebrecht, vol. ii. p. 276.
C

34 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Then after having obtained a safe-conduct, Beatrice,
taking with her her little son, and accompanied by her
mother,1 went down to Mantua in the hopes of melting
the Emperor's heart. But Henry remained implacable,
and at first refused to see her. Vedriani2 says that
Beatrice ' dissimulating her fears ' met the Emperor at
Trent, and with great difficulty obtained an audience.
When in his presence she said ' with all submission ' —
That she had dared to present herself thus before his
Majesty, knowing within herself that she had done
nothing, which for reasons of State, she was not permitted
to do. That, while she was hardly thinking of it, the
Holy Pontiff had, in his own person, arranged the mar
riage with the Duke, and concluded and celebrated it
with his own hands. She herself had consented to it,
in order to be provided with a defender for her States
who would not be obliged to live on the other side of
the Alps — a noble and free princess, uniting herself thus
to a prince noble and free, without any ulterior designs. —
She supplicated his Majesty, therefore, to remember that
it was not a just thing to impute to her as a crime that
which she had done through necessity ; — that which in the
Roman Empire ladies of high rank were always permitted
to do.' This spirited address had no effect on the
Emperor, for without regard to the safe-conduct he had
given, he kept her a close prisoner in her own city of
Mantua, and treated her with the utmost rigour. Henry
was only too glad to keep these two as hostages, above
all to have Frederick in his hands, so as to deprive
Godfrey of every excuse for administering the affairs of
1 Matilda, mother of Beatrice, was daughter of the Duke Herman II. of
Suabia and sister to the Empress Gisela.
2 See here also Lambert of Hersfeld, ann. 1055, p. 174 ( Ckron. rer. Germ.).

REBELLION OF DUKE GODFREY 35
his step-son. The Emperor was careful, however, not
to subject the little boy to the same rough treatment
that his mother underwent.
In spite of these precautions the boy died,1 and
Matilda therefore was left sole heiress, and Mura
tori 2 says : ' She assured herself against all violence
by retiring to the impregnable rock of Canossa.'
Probably her step-father thought it advisable to secure
her safety thus. On the other hand Fiorentini seems
to think that Matilda was often at Lucca during
the years of her mother's imprisonment, so that it is
possible that she passed her time between the two.
Godfrey, ill-pleased that his wife and mother-in-law
should remain in the hands of Henry, departed into
Germany, to stir up rebellion against him there, and
Henry was forced to leave Italy, taking his illustrious
prisoners with him. In a very interesting passage the
historian Vedriani s tells us, that Beatrice went willingly
in order to see again Germany 'where she was born,' and
she did not grieve at parting from Matilda, knowing that
she was high-spirited, and that she was looked upon as
sovereign Lady by both the Godfreys — father and son —
and ' respected.'
Godfrey, together with Baldwin, Count of Flanders,
was able to create considerable disturbance in Germany,
but about the middle of the following year (1056) Godfrey
became reconciled to the Emperor. The details of this
pacification are wanting, but it is evident that Henry
restored him to full favour and liberated Beatrice. From
1 A story was circulated that the Emperor had made away with Matilda's
brother and sister. This seems entirely incredible. See Arnulf of Milan
(lib. IV. p. 118).
2 Annali oV Italia, anno 1055 ; also Don Tosti, lib. I. p. 56.
3 Vedriani, vol. ii. p. 16.

36 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
documentary evidence 1 it is known that Godfrey was
at the Imperial Court at Treves on the 30th June 1056.
A few months later, after the death of Henry in., when
a council was assembled at Cologne, Victor 11. presiding
in the name of the young King Henry, the rebel vassals
Godfrey and Baldwin of Flanders were formally restored
to royal favour. Godfrey's right to govern the Italian
States in conjunction with his wife during Matilda's
minority was recognised, and shortly afterwards the
two Tuscan rulers left the North and returned to Italy.
1 See Giesebrecht, vol. ii. p. 527.

THE EARLY PAPACY 37

CHAPTER IV
A Short Summary of the Papacy with regard to the Question of
Investitures — The Part played by the Emperors — Charlemagne
— Otto the Great — Charter of Henry 11. — Hildebrand the Monk
— Education in Rome and subsequent History — Attaches him
self to Gregory VI. and accompanies him into Exile — Journey to
Rome with Leo ix. — Councils at Rome, Pavia, Rheims and
Mainz, 1048.
FOR the better understanding of the events
which immediately followed the return of
Godfrey and his wife into Italy in 1057, ft
is necessary to take a slight survey of what was occurring
elsewhere in the peninsula during the years in which
Matilda was growing from childhood to womanhood.
Indeed to trace events to their sources we must go back
some considerable way, since we have here to consider,
if only in a very superficial degree, the history of the
Papacy, and what events conspired to bring about that
struggle for temporal and spiritual supremacy in which
Pope and Emperor were engaged for so many generations.
Some two and a half centuries earlier, the Pope had
been only Bishop of Rome with very limited civil author
ity over the city, but owing to the rivalries of the many
contending factions, he had often been called to fill a
position of supreme temporal power for the time being,
and from this fact his powers and position were gradually
strengthened. From the North, however, came a common foe, against

38 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
which Pope and Romans, people and clergy united.
Various hordes of barbarians descended into Italy, some
of them absolutely hostile, some, since they were pro
fessing Christians, with ideas of conciliating the Bishop
of Rome, and of thereby acquiring for themselves more
power and territory. For the sake of expelling the for
mer, the help of the latter was solicited, and again there
were cases when foreign aid was called in to quell the
rebellious Roman nobles and restore some order. Then
as reward for services rendered, the Bishop of Rome,
later called Pope, would bestow the kingdom of Italy,
or the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, upon Frankish
or German conqueror, little right as he had to do so. At
the same time, the more orderly amongst the Roman
princes and people were rendered willing to receive as
King or Emperor the foreigner who succeeded in removing
the oppression under which they were labouring at the
time. Rome, remembering her past glories of Empire,
still dreamed that an Emperor might restore them,1
while to the barbarian invader the name of ' Csesar ' had
magic in its sound, and Italy proved an allurement so
strong that Frankish monarchs and German kings were
drawn thither, neglecting their home ties, their home
responsibilities, on the chance of establishing a firm
foothold on ' this side of the mountains,' as the Italian
phrase has it. History repeated itself over and over
again — in the case of French Pepin first called ' Patricius '
of Rome and Pope Stephen in. in 754, of the mighty
Charlemagne and Popes Adrian 1. and Leo in. in 774 and
800, and of Otto the Great and Pope John xn. in 962.
1 ' Ce titre d'empereur qui, donne dans Rome par le pape, semblait aux
imaginations confuses du moyen age, l'investiture de Dieu transmettant
l'heritage des Cesars.' — Villemain, vol. i. p. 160.

THE PAPACY, CHARLEMAGNE, AND OTTO 39
Each succeeding king or emperor bestowed gifts on
the Roman See. Charlemagne left immense treasure
at the Vatican, and acquired for the Pope the towns of
Capua, Sora, and Arpi, several small Tuscan towns, and
amongst others Viterbo and Soano, reserving, however,
for the citizens the rights of municipal government.
Charlemagne at his coronation promised by a solemn
oath to protect and defend the Holy Roman Church,
and the election of the Pope was henceforth supposed
to be confirmed by the Emperor.
Before Otto the Great was crowned Emperor (he who
married that Adelaide, whose fortunes we have followed
for a brief space in Chapter 1.), he took the following
oath : x 'To thee, Lord Pope John, I, Otto, promise and
swear, by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and by the
wood of the cross that gives life, and by the relics of the
saints, that if, by the permission of God, I enter into
Rome, I will exalt, according to my power, the Holy
Roman Church, and thee its head, and that never shall
thy life be taken away by my will or advice, by my
avowal or orders, that I will hold no court, nor render
any justice without thy advice on such things as concern
thee, within the city of Rome.'
Otto hereafter made magnificent presents to the Pope,
confirmed the donations of Charlemagne, granted further
privileges to the Papacy, and distributed largesse to the
barons, the clergy, and the people of Rome.2
Some fifty years after, the relations between the
Emperor Henry 11. and Pope Benedict viii. appear to
have been of the friendliest, the Pope meeting the
1 See Villemain, vol. i. p. 166, also Bonitho (ed. Jane), p. 588 et seq., for
various versions of the oath of Otto.
2 Richter, p. 89. For the document of Otto's privileges to the Church see
Mon. Germ. Hist., vol. i. p. 322.

40 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Emperor in January 1014 at Ravenna, where they held
a great synod together, and vital matters, both ecclesi
astical and lay, were discussed and amicably settled.
Later, in 1020, the year of the Emperor's coronation,
a similar friendly synod was held in Rome, where both
the great rulers of Church and State presided. In that
self-same year the Pope paid a visit of state to Germany
and consecrated the Church of St. Stephen at Bamberg,
when the Bishopric of Bamberg was assured by the
Emperor to the See of St. Peter, and great rejoicings were
held throughout the land. It would seem almost as if
the ideal of Dante's De Monarchia were realised, and the
Church and State were exercising each its special function.
' Wherefore man had need of a twofold directive power
according to his twofold end, to wit, the supreme pontiff
to lead the human race, in accordance with things re
vealed, to eternal life ; and the Emperor to direct the
human race to temporal felicity in accordance with the
teachings of philosophy. And since none, or few (and
they with extremest difficulty) could reach this port,
were not the waves of seductive greed assuaged and the
human race left free to rest in the tranquillity of peace,
this is that mark on which he who has charge of the
world and is called the Roman prince should chiefly
fix his mind, to wit, that on this threshing-floor of
immortality life should be lived in freedom and peace.' 1
A contemporary writer (Bebo of Bamberg 2) speaks
glowingly of those days. ' The peasant rejoices in the
1 De Monarchia, book in. pp. 277-278 ; translated by P. H. Wicksteed,
Temple Classics.
2 ' Agricolae namque laetantur in campo, clericalis virtus gaudet in choro,
pro distributis divinae gratiae donis unusquisque concessis instruitur studiis
et per virtutis tuae defensiones optatas dives sibi videtur ipsa paupertas.' —
From Giesebrecht, vol. ii. p. 173. For original see Epistolae Bambergenses,
6 (ed. Jaffe, vol. v.).

CHARTER OF HENRY II. 41
field, the cleric in the choir, every one can improve the
gifts bestowed on him by Heaven undisturbed, and
under the protection of Imperial power, even poverty
seems rich.'
Yet in spite of friendly relations between individual
Popes and Emperors, in spite of the occasional cessation
of hostilities, and their concerted action now and then
in putting a stop to abuses, and amicably discussing
affairs of Church and State, it is undeniable that there
was an undercurrent of caution — that the one power
strove to safeguard itself against the other, that on the
whole they grew to look upon each other as deadly rivals.
For there is a charter extant of this very time, of the
days of Henry n., which although it renews the privileges
of Otto the Great and confirms the Church in many of
her possessions, yet it sets forth clearly the relative
position of Pope and Emperor. The Popes' claims to
several towns in Tuscany, and their dependencies, to the
exarchate of Ravenna, to the Sabine territory and its
dependencies, to the isle of Corsica, and a crowd of domains
in Lombardy, to several towns in Apulia, Naples, and to
Sicily ' when God should deliver it over into the hands of
the Emperor ' ! x are confirmed. And in return for these
concessions the Emperor reserves to himself an important
part in the Pope's election, in making the clergy and
people of Rome take a solemn oath, that no freshly
elected Pontiff should be consecrated until he had sworn
in the presence of the Imperial envoys and the people,
to uphold and maintain the rights of the Empire. Fur
ther, that every year the Pope's envoys should report to
the Emperor in what manner the governors and judges
1 See Mon. Germ. Hist., vol. iii. p. 554 5 ' Necnon patrimonium Sicilie,
si deus nostris illud tradiderit manibus. '

42 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
were administering justice in the lands of the Church,
and, on the other hand, that imperial commissioners
were to inform the Pope of all complaints they had
heard, so that a remedy could be sent immediately,
either by the Pope, or by fresh envoys of the Emperor.1
Thus it will be seen that each power was jealous of the
other, and each tried to gain the ascendency. It will
readily be understood how factions were hereby developed,
and how unscrupulous men would side now with this
party, now with that, whichever might happen to be
momentarily the stronger.
As the riches and territories of the Holy See increased,
so did her authority, and in the case of the German
emperors, who finally superseded all others, as rulers
of the Holy Roman Empire, the Popes gradually took
upon themselves to say that, as the Emperor's election
could only be ratified by their sanction, they had the
right to object to and annul that election,2 and the
Emperor declared that, since the Pope could only be
Pope by virtue of the protection of the Emperor's power,
he had an equal right to object to the choice of the
bishops and clergy. In many cases the Emperor seemed
justified in objecting, when, for instance, men of notori
ously bad morals were raised to the Pontificate, or when
1 This charter is believed to have been given in 1020 at Bamberg or Fulda
after the Emperor's return from Rome, and the Pope's visit to Germany.
2 See Bryce on the subject of Charlemagne and Leo in., chaps, iv. and v.
Also the letter of Archbishop Siegfried of Mainz to Pope Alexander II. in
the spring of 1066 : ' As the crown of our kingdom and the diadem of the
whole Roman Empire has been given to St. Peter into thy hands.' And
Peter Damian's threat at the Council of Frankfort, 1069, that if Henry IV.
should put away his wife Bertha, the Pope would withhold from him the
Imperial Crown. Siegfried's letter is quoted by Giesebrecht (vol. iii. p. 130)
who says further that Siegfried addressed a second letter to the Pope in the
autumn of 1066, couched in the same terms. For an account of the Council
of Frankfort see Giesebrecht, vol. iii. pp. 149, 150.

'INVESTITURES' 43
there came the great outcries against simony, and even
the Holy See itself was bought and sold.
Besides these difficulties about the supreme Head of
the Church and Empire, a further note of discord was
added to the turmoil by the emperors occasionally
arrogating to themselves the right of appointing bishops
to the various ecclesiastical sees contrary to the Pope's
wish. In many cases, it is true, the bishops were feudal
lords and held vast estates, so it behoved the Emperor
to have some say in their election ; but that the whole
matter should be taken out of the hands of the Church
was a direct usurpation of a part of her express function.
So, as a small cloud on the horizon destined to grow
into a mighty storm, came the struggle over the
' investitures,' which lasted for centuries, producing
heroes and fanatics, involving the fate of nations, and
causing Italy to become one vast battlefield for the rival
parties of Guelf and Ghibelline.
' These times of terrible confusion, and centuries of
unhappy memory,' writes Muratori, ' in which one
witnesses the sad spectacle of sons fighting against
fathers, subjects against their lawful princes and em
perors, advocates of the Church against the Church
itself, and the sacred pastors, in their divisions, forgetting
entirely the character they had to uphold, forgetting
alike sacred laws and ecclesiastical discipline. The
sovereign Pontiff willed that he should no longer have
to depend on the approbation of the Emperor for his
election or consecration, and that the election of bishops
should be left to conventions of the same, and that it
should not be lawful for emperors or the princes to give
the investitures to bishops and abbots with the ring and
the pastoral staff ; the which had really opened the door

44 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
to a thousand scandalous acts of simony. The emperors,
on the other hand, sustained their pretensions by quoting
ancient usages, founded on several pontifical decrees,
and on the rights of the Regalia, of which a donation
had been made by antecedent " Augusti " to the Church,
with the obligation, they said, to recognise imperial
authority ... so a most lamentable schism was caused,
with other disorders of which the historians speak at
length. In this confusion, the princes, the bishops, and
the people, no less of Germany than of Italy, followed
that party which seemed to them the more just, or the
more useful, and those people may not be wrong who
think that many again listened to, or followed, the
secret persuasion of their own interests, which ought
certainly to be the last, but is often the first motive,
and the most efficacious counsellor in our resolutions.' 1
The question whether the Pope's election should rest
entirely in the hands of the clergy was the chief point
in that part of the conflict which raged during the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, aggravated, no doubt, in several
acute crises by the characters of the Emperors Henry
iv. and v.
Although Henry n. was called ' saint,' and was capable
of acting in concert with a Pope for the general weal of
Christendom, as we have already seen, his allegiance to
the Church was not entirely undivided, for he was jealous
of ecclesiastical authority and kept the bishoprics and
abbeys of his realm subordinate to himself. He granted
these high offices to men likely to favour his interests —
if the abbots resisted his will, he would change them,
at the same time insisting that severe discipline should
be maintained amongst the monks, and that they should
1 Muratori, Antichita Estensi ed Italiane, vol. i. p. 14.

LATERAN SYNOD OF 1027 45
yield full obedience to whichever abbot it was his sovereign
pleasure to place over them. His successor, Conrad the
Salic, was of a different stamp. It is true that after his
coronation in Rome a great synod J was held on the 6th
of April 1027 at the Lateran, and here again both Pope
and Emperor presided, and after some ecclesiastical
disputes had been settled, matters of a more secular
and personal nature, as well as political affairs, were dis
cussed. The close union of Church and State exhibited
here is worthy of notice. Yet on the whole Conrad
had no strong feelings towards Church reform ; he
was too much occupied with the safeguarding and
developing of his own power within his own realm to
bestow much attention on the affairs of the Roman
Church, so that for a time under the house of Tusculum —
that house which gave to Rome so many worthless
Popes — the hold of the Papacy over matters temporal
was weakened. It was to the influence of Conrad's son,
Henry in., in reforming the Papacy from without, to the
1 To students of English history it may be of value to note that King
Canute was present at this synod, and the extract that Giesebrecht gives
(vol. ii. p. 249) from Canute's letter to the English bishops is extremely
interesting : ' Pope John and the Emperor Conrad convened a great assembly
of Princes at the Easter festival in Rome ; all the Princes from Monte
Gargano, as far as the shores of the sea near Rome, were present. They
received me with much consideration, and honoured me with beautiful
presents, the Emperor especially paid me much honour, with many costly
gifts and magnificent mantles and raiment. I treated with the Emperor,
the Pope and other Princes who were present, for the needs of my people,
the English as well as the Danes, especially so that better conditions and
safe conduct should be granted to them on the road to Rome, and that
henceforth so many of the passes should not be denied to them, nor should
they be burdened with heavy tolls on the way. The Emperor considered my
demands very just, and King Rudolf (of Burgundy), in whose hands those
passes rest especially, and the other Princes received commands to allow
henceforth all my subjects — merchants as well as Pilgrims — to proceed over
the passes unmolested and free of tolls under safe conduct to Rome, and in
like manner to return home.'

46 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
influence of a greater mind than Henry's, that the Church
once more lifted up her head, and renewed her twofold
struggle — the struggle for temporal supremacy, in order
to have the material power to strengthen herself in the
deadlier struggle against the vices of the day. But in
the days of Henry in. there was a moment of respite in
the conflict, since Pope and Emperor were at unison over
matters of reform.
For the spiritual supremacy of Rome first and above
all things, for her right on earth to bind and loose,
Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory vn., lived and died.
Before he rose to power, there were not wanting Popes
who felt that if Rome were to prove herself worthy of
resisting the might of the Emperor she must first set
her own house in order. But it was the monk Hildebrand,
' that ardent flagellator of the Church,' who actually
brought about the crusade against simony and the
concubinage of the priests, who stimulated, advised and
encouraged Pope after Pope to untiring efforts in the
way of reform. For Hildebrand's was a master-mind
with that happy combination of strength and imagina
tion capable of achieving great things. He saw what
a terrible position it was for the Church, which hitherto
had been the supreme court of appeal against sin, dis
order, and oppression, to have its dignitaries called into
court as criminals, and what retrogression it would mean
if, in future, moral force were to count as nothing, and
brute force were to have the pre-eminence. As a writer
on those times remarks : 1 ' It was not enough to preach
to the people " Believe in Christ," the Redeemer of
every injustice, since the ministers of Christ were com
mitting fornication with the workers of iniquity.'
1 Don Tosti, lib. i. p. 49 (ed. 1859).

HILDEBRAND 47
Hildebrand stands out from the background of history
as one whose singleness of purpose was complete, whose
whole life was given undividedly to one object, in whom
there was no swerving from the path he had chosen,
no compromise, and no sign of weakness. Calumny
has been unsuccessful against him ; even those who would
detract from the greatness of his fame by laying stress
on his ambition, can hardly say there was anything
base about it, since it was never his own glory or his
own advancement that he sought, but always that of
the Master he served.
Like that of many another great man, his life was of
humble beginning. Born of obscure parents about 1013,
at the little village of Rovaco near Soana, a few miles
from Orbitello, he was sent at an early age to the monas
tery of Santa Maria sulT Aventino in Rome, to be edu
cated by his uncle the abbot, so that from his childhood
he was, as he himself says,1 ' brought up in the house
of St. Peter.' Later on he went to the celebrated
monastery of Cluny,2 at that time renowned for the
austerity of its rule ; it is not known whether he com
pleted his novitiate there or at Santa Maria, but the years
1 ' Debito amore apostolorum principis, qui me ab infantia mea sub alis
suis singulari quadam pietate nutrivit et in gremio suae clementiae fovit'
(Reg., i. 39). 'Sanctus Petrus a puero me domo sua dulciter nutrierat'
(vii. 23). ' Audi me servum tuum, quern ab infantia nutristi ' (iii. 10, A).
2 Cluny, a Benedictine abbey situated in the ancient kingdom of Burgundy,
lying to the north-west of the town of Macon, was founded in 909 and
became later the mother-house of thousands of abbeys scattered over Europe.
Its founder, William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, in endowing it, freed it
from all submission to civil powers, and from the very first, the election of the
Abbot rested with the monks themselves. Cluny was able therefore to take up
and maintain an independent position in the great struggle between ecclesi
astical and temporal power, and the whole of its traditions rested on the idea
that the Church should be absolutely free and unhampered, with regard to
the election of her bishops and pastors.

48 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
passed at Cluny amid the good Benedictines must have
had great influence upon his character. From there he
is said to have visited the German court, where he
preached so eloquently that Henry in. remarked he had
never before heard the Word of God expounded with
such conviction.
Returning to Rome in 1044, he witnessed the Church
of Rome at one of its most degraded periods. After the
Tusculan barons had disgracefully caused to be elected
to the Papal See a boy of twelve, Benedict ix.,1 after a
misrule of ten years, this feeble and depraved Pope
(whom the Romans had twice before driven out, and
who had been twice reinstated, it is said, by Imperial
favour) roused the anger of the citizens to such a pitch
by his excesses, that once more they cast him out from
their midst and appointed John, Bishop of Sabina, who
assumed the name of Sylvester in. and is said to have
paid Benedict for this privilege. But this new Pope
had not sufficient strength of character to make himself
master of Rome, and at the beginning of the year 1045,
Benedict, by the aid of his relatives and their ill-gotten
gains, was able once more to resume the tiara, Sylvester
retiring to his erstwhile bishopric. Benedict's position,
however, was untenable, and now there appeared a
third claimant for the Papacy in the person of John
Gratian the arch-presbyter, of the Church of Saint John
of the Latin Gate. He was one of the most religious
1 This account of the years 1044-45 is given mainly from Giesebrecht,
vol. ii. p. 410, etc., and from the Chron. Mon. Cass, of Desiderius in the
appendix to the Sacred Dialogues.
There are many confusing versions of what occurred in Rome at this
period. Some historians, Stephens for instance, say that the three Popes
were in possession of Rome simultaneously ; others, Villemain, Sismondi,
Cantii, and Lanziani, mention yet another claimant, 'John xx.,' and say that
John Gratian assumed the Pontificate only after the other three were deposed.

ANARCHY IN ROME 49
amongst the clergy, a man greatly respected by the
more order-loving amongst the citizens, and to his
Church many offerings were made. With the large sums
of money in his possession, he proceeded to buy out
Benedict, this time successfully, and in May 1045 was
consecrated in Rome under the name of Gregory vi.
To a man imbued with a sense of what the. Church of
God should mean, the state of anarchy prevailing in her
midst during these years must have been a most appalling
spectacle, and have served to engrave more deeply in
Hildebrand's heart the resolve that in the future these
things should cease. For throughout Italy the most
frightful disorder existed. The high-roads, which were
nothing better than ill-kept tracks, were infested by
brigands who respected no man. Pilgrims to Rome
itself were frequently plundered and murdered. In the
neighbourhood of Rome the nobles, often no better than
robbers themselves, pillaged the country under the
pretence of punishing the followers of one or other of the
antipopes, while she possessed within her walls hardly
one cleric untainted with the sin of simony. The city
itself presented a scene of murder and bloodshed ; even
the altars of the churches were not held sacred, for the
offerings deposited thereon were carried off immediately
by evil men, who spent the proceeds in rioting and
debauch. Yet about this time, on the other hand, many a monk
and many a hermit was uplifting his voice against the
vices of the priesthood, and endeavouring by preaching
and by example to turn men from their evil ways to
lead better lives. Here and there they were successful
in winning over some disciples, or in effecting a real
reform in the life of some great feudal lord. Amongst

So MATILDA OF TUSCANY
these isolated teachers we may notice in passing Peter
Damian, the hermit monk of Avellana near Gubbio,
Romuald at Camaldoli, John Gualberto at Vallombrosa,
and the far-famed Abbot Guido of Pomposa.
The new Pope, however, was eager for reform, and
proceeded at once to administer justice with a firm hand.1
He had murderers tried by court of law, and condemned
to death ; he levied troops, and when sentence of ex
communication failed, he retook by force the Church
lands, which had been seized unlawfully by the Roman
nobles. Years before on the Aventine he had known Hildebrand,
and had been struck by the boy's abilities. He now
appointed him one of his chaplains and showed him great
favour. Gregory's rule, however, was a short one. Although
the question of the Papacy appeared to have been
satisfactorily settled, there still lingered an element of
discontent in Rome, for the two antipopes had not been
entirely disposed of, and counted some adherents, and
there was a strong feeling of dissatisfaction amongst the
strictest of the clergy and laity, owing to the fact that
Gregory had purchased the Papacy. Appeals were
made to the Emperor, then on his way to Rome to be
crowned, that he should come and settle the matter
once and for all. A council was held at Sutri, in the
presence of the Emperor and many princes of the Church,
where the Bishop of Sabina's claims were first disposed
of. He was judged guilty of simony and condemned to
pass the rest of his days in a monastery. Then Gregory's
cause was tried. He defended himself well by saying
that having amassed riches, he thought he could not
1 See Vitae Rom. Pont. (Mur., Rer. It. Script., vol. iii. pt. n. p. 343).

HENRY III. AND POPE CLEMENT II. 51
employ them better than by taking the pontifical power
into his own hands and using it honestly and for the
general good of the Church. He frankly avowed his
bargain with Benedict, and was convinced at length
that he had done wrong in this matter. Thereupon he
himself acknowledged his guilt, descended from the
pontifical throne, and laid aside his episcopal garb.
Benedict was not present at this synod, and no conclusion
was arrived at as to his claims. However, a few days
later in Rome, at another great synod convened by the
Emperor, Benedict was formally deposed.
Henry had acted with great determination and decision.
He was not averse to keeping the bishoprics and livings
of his own dominions within his own hands, nor to
appointing German bishops to Italian sees, but his
opinions as to simony were most pronounced, and the
scandal in the Roman Church had to be put down with
a strong hand. It now remained for him to appoint a
new Pope, and for once the Romans were willing to
abide by his decision, and they accepted unquestioned
the Emperor's nominee. No fitting Italian cleric was
to be found, and Henry's choice lighted upon Suidiger,
Bishop of Bamberg, who was forthwith declared Pope
under the title of Clement 11. Suidiger had lived a most
blameless life, and in his own bishopric was much beloved.
He accepted with great hesitation the honours thrust
upon him, and shortly before his death, he wrote with
yearning of his beloved church at Bamberg, calling her
his ' friend,' his ' sister,' his ' bride,' his ' pure white
dove,' expressing the grief with which he had renounced
her, and the joy with which, had God willed it, he would
have led there a quiet retired life.
Here in Rome all was changed. On Christmas Day

52 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
1046 Suidiger was consecrated Pope, and on the self
same day Henry and his wife Agnes received from him
the Imperial Crowns. It was indeed a great day for the
German domination in Italy. A German Pope to be
crowning the German Emperor and Empress, a German
army encamping round the walls of Rome, and received
everywhere within the city with signs of joy and satis
faction. Hildebrand accompanied the deposed Gregory into exile
in Germany, and, the latter dying shortly after, Hilde
brand returned to Cluny where he was made prior.
Clement n. only survived his predecessor a short while,
and in 1048 another German subject of Henry's was
elected Pope, Damasus n., who enjoyed his dignity for
twenty days :— killed by poison, said the Germans ; by
the judgment of God, said the Italians. However this
may have been, the Romans were for the moment
singularly submissive to the Emperor, for they sent a
deputation to him, asking him to nominate a fresh
Pope. Henry complied by choosing Bruno, Bishop of
Toul, a distant cousin, ' a man of great piety and of an
imposing exterior,' says one historian. At an assembly
of bishops and nobles at Worms the Emperor's choice
was fully ratified. Bruno, however, protested vehemently
against his own election, and after fasting and praying
for three days, declared himself unworthy of the honour
done to him. His scruples finally overcome by the
persuasion of the Emperor, he yielded and took upon
himself the burden of the Pontificate, beginning at once
to look about for suitable men who would help him in
the great task he had undertaken.
Now it happened that at this time Hildebrand was
in Worms, having been despatched there by the Abbot

HILDEBRAND AND POPE LEO IX. 53
of Cluny with an important message to the Emperor.1
The ex-chaplain of Gregory vi. was known at least by
name to Bishop Bruno, who forthwith summoned him
to his presence, and offered him a place in his entourage
if he would accompany him to Rome. ' I cannot,'
replied Hildebrand. ' And why not ? ' questioned the
new Pope. ' Because, without any canonical investiture
and by the royal and secular power alone, you are going
to take possession of the Roman Church.' This remark
made such an impression on Bruno, that he announced
before the Worms Council and the Roman deputies, that
he would only accept the Pontificate if, upon arriving
in Rome, the Roman clergy and people freely confirmed
his election.
Finding his scruples satisfied, Hildebrand consented
to accompany the Bishop and his suite to Rome. There
seems to have been a strong bond of sympathy between
this Pope-elect and the young prior of Cluny. Possibly
in the long journey southwards, which lasted two months,
they discussed those reforms, which Hildebrand so
ardently desired, and which Bruno, should his election
be confirmed, proposed to effect.
The Roman barons, people, and clergy welcomed Bruno
heartily, his election was fully approved, and he took
up his position without further hesitation, assuming the
title of Leo ix.
Grateful for the advice given him by Hildebrand, the
Pope conferred on him the post of cardinal sub-deacon
of the Roman Church. In this capacity he took part
in the administration of civic government, and the care
1 According to Villemain ; but Voigt, Giesebrecht, and others say that Leo,
before departing for Rome, paid a visit to Toul and from thence to Cluny,
and it was at the great Burgundian abbey that this memorable conversation
took place.

54 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
of the Papal exchequer was also entrusted to him. He
showed extraordinary ability in dealing with these
mundane matters, and by making friends with some of
the Jews of the Trasteverine quarter, two in particular,
Benedict, a convert to Christianity, and his son Leo, he
learnt many a valuable lesson of finance. This meagre
little cardinal, undersized and of insignificant exterior,
must soon have been well known in every part of Rome,
and his influence widely felt. Now also his talent for
making friends became manifest, for not only did he
number many amongst the Trasteverines, but he managed
to keep on good terms with the Roman nobility, and
thus to strengthen Leo's position within the city walls.
Yet, in the midst of all his activities over secular affairs,
he never lost sight of the one great object of his life, the
reform of the Church he loved so dearly. Many a great
man was stirred by his influence to strenuous effort in
this direction, and the reforms he so ardently desired
were those that Leo ix., Victor n., Stephen x., and
Alexander n., preceding him in the Pontificate, one and
all attempted in the Church at large.
As we have already seen, Henry in. was in favour of
Church reform, and so long as it did not encroach on his
own political power, he was willing to give his support
to the Church by his presence at councils, and even by
his own exhortations. At Pavia (1046) and earlier still
he had manifested the greatest indignation at the traffic
in livings. A short while before the election of Gregory
vi. he had thus expressed himself to the clergy at a
Council1 he had assembled, probably at Constance:
1 An account of this synod is given by a contemporary writer, Rudolfus
Glaber, a monk of Cluny, but he does not mention the year or place of
assembly. Giesebrecht points out that it must have been held either prior

COUNCILS HELD BY POPE LEO IX. 55
' You, who ought to spread blessings everywhere, you
are losing yourselves in lust and avarice ; be it in buying
holy things, or in selling them, you are equally worthy
of malediction. Even my father, for the peril of whose
soul I suffer daily, gave himself over too much to this
damnable vice. But in future he amongst you who
sullies himself thus, shall be cut off from the service of
God. For it is by these degraded practices that we draw
down upon ourselves famine, pestilence, and war.'
In the first year of his Pontificate Leo ix. held four
councils with the object of putting down simony: at
Rome, Pavia, Rheims, and Mainz. The most im
portant of these was at Rheims, where he examined
especially the charges of simony brought against the
bishops and clergy, and deposed and excommunicated
many of them. The Archbishop of Galicia was excom
municated for arrogating to himself the title of ' apos
tolic,' which the Popes alone reserved exclusively for
themselves. The sitting of the council was terminated
by a declaration of the Church against many abuses
both secular and ecclesiastical. It was forbidden that
a man should be raised to the dignity of bishop without
the election of clergy and people, that any should buy
or sell Holy Orders, and that any lay person should usurp
the functions of the priesthood. Priests were prohibited
from demanding any fee for burial, baptism, or the
visitation of the sick, to practise usury or to carry arms.
to, or in, 1045, as Rudolf's chronicle concludes with events happening in
that year. See Giesebrecht, vol. ii. pp. 381-382. It would seem likely that
the synod may have been held at Constance as Villemain says (vol. i. p. 288),
since Rudolfus Glaber speaks especially of German and Burgundian bishops
being present, and the city of Constance was not far from the Burgundian
border. See Raoul Glaber, Les Cinq Livres de son Histoire (ed. Prou.,
Paris, 1886), lib. V. cap. v. Voigt (vol. i. p. 8) also gives Constance as the
meeting-place for this synod.

56 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Rapine, violence to the poor, incest, and bigamy were
denounced in the strongest terms, and some great seigneurs
were excommunicated for having committed these
crimes. At the Mainz Council, Henry with his court and a
great number of nobles was present. Here simony
and the marriage of priests were again rigorously for
bidden. On his return to Rome Leo, aided and sustained by
Hildebrand, continued his work of reforming the Church.
In spite of all the councils, the actual work of reform
progressed but slowly. Leo ix. was not a strong enough
man in himself, nor was the Papacy at that time in a
position to enforce effectually the measures recommended.
For a new menace to its power presented itself in the
south of Italy, where an alien race had succeeded in
establishing itself and was growing so formidable, that
as ally or foe it had to be counted with, by Pope and
Emperor alike. Very briefly indeed, we must see how
this people affected the history of the peninsula, at the
period with which we are concerned.

SOUTH ITALY IN ELEVENTH CENTURY 57

CHAPTER V
Rise of the Norman Power in the South of Italy— Character of the
Norman adventurers who landed there in the early part of
the eleventh century, and their conflicts with the various races
already in possession— At first Leo ix. adopts a friendly attitude
towards them, but soon changes, and determines to check their
aggressions— Battle of Civitate and captivity of Leo— Embassy
of Frederick of Lorraine to Constantinople — Robert Guiscard —
Death of Leo IX. in 1054— Gerbhard of Eichstadt elected Pope
as Victor n. — Henry in. fears the increasing power of Duke
Godfrey and is suspicious of his brother Frederick — The latter
retires to Monte Cassino — Death of Henry in. — Minority of
Henry IV. and regency of the Empress Agnes — Death of Victor 11. ,
1057— Stephen ix. — The Antipope Benedict x. — Appointment of
Nicholas 11. in place of the Antipope.
THE Eastern Empire which had once held
complete sway in Sicily and the south of
Italy had been ousted from Sicily by the
Mussulmans, and almost entirely from its rule on the
mainland by the Longobards. At the beginning of the
eleventh century, however, the south of the peninsula
was divided into a number of petty states, which may be
described roughly as follows : — The territories once held
by the Longobards in the extreme south, the provinces
of Apulia and Calabria, had been reconquered, and were
governed by catapans, representatives of the Eastern
Emperor sent there from Constantinople to administer
the affairs of state. Amain, Naples, and Gaeta on the
coast from south to north formed for the time being

58 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
three small separate republics, while Salerno, Capua,
and Beneventum were the respective capitals of Longo
bard principahties, governed by the last rulers of that
once mighty race.
These principalities bordered on the north with the
pontifical State and the Duchy of Spoleto, and this
proximity to the Popes' possessions gave rise to many a
dispute, and many a small fight. Byzantium still held
nominal sway over the whole of this country, and in no
way acknowledged the independence of the Longobard
princes or the autonomy of the republics. It is true
that the former were in a somewhat anomalous position ;
in theory they held their lands as fiefs of the Eastern
Empire, yet occasionally they would do homage to the
Western Emperors, when one of these appeared with an
army in the south. The Duchy of Beneventum was
often looked upon as a Western Imperial fief, and that the
Papacy had some shadowy rights to lands in Calabria
and the Duchy of Beneventum is shown by allusions
to them in various documents. The Byzantine rulers
were not in a position to protect effectually their South
Italian possessions, and the paucity of their troops in
occupation made rebellion amongst the inhabitants an
easy matter, while it left the coasts open to Saracenic
invaders, who now owning the entire islands of Sicily
were ever ready to swoop down on the mainland for
piratical purposes.
Such an attack took place in Salerno in 1016, and the
inhabitants made an appeal to some Norman pilgrims
who had landed by chance in Italy on their way home
from Jerusalem. These latter, fired by their love of
adventure, and filled with pious horror of the infidels,
as true sons of the Church at once espoused the cause

NORMANS IN SOUTHERN ITALY 59
of the Salernitans against their enemies, and succeeded
in driving off the invaders. The Normans were rewarded
with much gratitude, and costly gifts were pressed upon
them. The presents they sternly refused, and continued
their homeward journey. They were accompanied by
envoys from the Salernitans to their country-folk at home,
to beg that more warriors would come and take service
with them against the infidel, and bearing with them
spices, fruit, and precious mantles of silk, as proof of the
riches of the land of the south, and of what was to be
gained by serving its rulers. This embassy was not
without effect, and from that time onward, hosts of
Norman warriors made their way into the southern parts
of Italy.
Here indeed was a great field for enterprising mercen
aries, and the Normans were exactly the right people to
take advantage of the existing state of affairs in this
new land of adventure. Robust to an astonishing degree,
valiant and undaunted by reverses, they possessed all
the sturdier qualities of manhood which were lacking
in these Southern people, for even the original Longobard
strain was waxing feeble, and there was no force left to
resist the steady onslaught of a more vigorous race.
So taking advantage, now of this rebellion, now of that,
amongst Longobards or Greeks, allying themselves
occasionally with the East or West, later with the
pontifical power itself, the Normans gained for them
selves a foothold in the south and in Sicily, and their
domination gradually spread over all those lands held
by Greek, Lombard, and Saracen.
At first the Popes and the German Emperors were
inclined to look with favour upon the Normans in the
south of Italy, thinking that their rising power would

60 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
act as a counterbalance to that of Byzantium. The
influence of the East was always dreaded at this time.
In fact, an expedition taken by Henry n. in 1022, into the
south, where the Byzantines were again gaining ground,
had resulted in the submission of Salerno and Capua
to the German overlordship, and in 1027 the Emperor
Conrad appears to have conceded to the Normans the
right to settle in the countries of the south of Italy, in
order to fight the Greeks,, and again in 1038 he is said to
have settled disputes between the Normans and the
local inhabitants. In 1047 Henry in. invested several
Norman lords with the lands they had already conquered,
and because Beneventum refused to receive him, he
authorised the Normans to attack the city, and in a
measure he encouraged these acts of aggression within
the principality itself.
But some years later there ensued a revulsion of feeling ;
outcries against the Norman cruelties were heard on all
sides, and came to the ears of the Pope Leo. ' From
being welcomed as deliverers they soon became the
oppressors,' and that petition from our ancient Litany,
' From the fury of the Northman, good Lord deliver us,'
may have been voiced even in southern Italy.
These outrages, together with a wish to limit the power
of this new people and to reserve to the Papacy its rights
in the south, must have actuated Leo in the course he
eventually took. At first he was merely desirous of
maintaining order, forcing the Normans to restore to
the Church those lands and properties they had pillaged.
In a visit he paid to the south in 1049 he appears to have
been partially successful in his undertakings, and acting
in the name of the Emperor as well as in that of the
Church, his actions were invested with a great measure of

POPE LEO IX. AND THE NORMANS 61
authority and made an impression even on the Normans.
In the year 1051, after having driven Landulf and
Pandulf, its ruling princes, into exile, Beneventum offered
to submit itself to the Pope, and in July of the same
year Leo made his way to that city, and afterwards
visited other towns in the south, for the purpose of
restoring peace and order amongst Longobard princes,
Norman warriors and vassals of the Emperor.
At first two of the Norman chiefs had gained his con
fidence, and they had rendered him help at Beneventum,
but a tumult breaking out between the citizens and the
Normans, aroused Leo's anger and suspicions (wrongly,
as it was afterwards proved, for the outbreak had been
instigated by the Greeks). From this time forth, how
ever, Leo's attitude towards the Normans completely
changed, and he resolved to try and expel them at least
from Beneventan territory. He was supported in his
views by his own immediate followers. The cardinals
and the young chancellor of the Pope, Frederick of
Lorraine, Leo's special protege, evinced great hatred and
contempt of the Normans ; Frederick was wont to say
that with a hundred warriors he would drive them out
of Italy. Leo himself was not so sanguine, however,
and employed more cautious measures to attain his end.
During a visit to Germany in 1051-52, he exchanged his
rights over the bishopric of Bamberg and the abbey of
Fulda for Beneventum — and then tried to raise an army
wherewith to attack the Normans. A motley crowd of
Germans flocked to his standard, and in the south,
Frederick the chancellor had managed to collect together
a small army of Italian malcontents, and received also a
certain amount of support from the lesser Italian lords —
those who had suffered much at the hands of the Normans.

62 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
He even went so far as to negotiate with the Greeks to
gain their help in this undertaking.
Near Civitate, in the valley of the Fortore, which
marks the boundary between the Beneventan territory
and Apulia, the Pope encamped with his army, and here
the Normans met him. At first their commander tried
pacific negotiations, for their own position was not a very
secure one. Their chief ally, Guaimar, Prince of Salerno,
had been assassinated shortly after the disturbance at
Beneventum, and they knew the Greeks to be inimically
disposed towards them : also they were sorely pressed
for provisions. Moreover, they had started their career
in Italy as defenders of the Church and wished to remain
on good terms with its head. So they proposed to
disband their troops if the Pope would only confirm them
in their possessions as vassals of the Church, and release
them from the ban under which he had placed them
when his anger had been kindled at Beneventum.
But these overtures were ill received by the Papal party,
and a battle ensued. The Normans were entirely
victorious, and the Pope in Civitate awaited the issue
with dismay. But the victors acted generously. With
a curious volte-face, more characteristic of southern than
of northern blood, they assumed the humble position
of the vanquished, craved pardon of Leo for what they
had done, begged for absolution with every show of
reverence, conducted the Pope to Beneventum, some
twelve miles distant, and offered to escort him to Capua,
when he should wish to return to Rome.1 In spite of
this generosity on the part of the conquerors, there is no
1 The historian Chalandon has called in question this submission of the
Normans and the mildness of the Pope (Chal., vol. i. p. 139-140). But
Giesebrecht (vol. ii. p. 503) gives it full credence.

IMPRISONMENT OF POPE LEO IX. 63
doubt that Leo was more or less forced to remain at
Beneventum until some sort of an agreement had been
made with the Normans, and it is to be presumed that
the Pope consented to invest them with the lands they had
conquered. Villemain (vol. i. p. 308) says further that
the Pope paid a large sum of ransom money.
The Pope employed his time in Beneventum in study
ing the Greek language and in addressing various letters
to East and West. To Constantinople he made the
warmest overtures, expressing a desire that the two
Churches might be reunited in the faith, and also his
hopes that the Normans might yet be expelled from the
peninsula ! An embassy headed by Frederick of Lorraine
was despatched with this letter to Constantinople. The
result of the battle of Civitate was a severe blow to the
authority of the Papacy in the south, and a great help
to the prestige of the Normans. In a measure they
legitimised their position, and from henceforth they
became a power to be reckoned with in the internecine
politics of Italy.
The commanders at this memorable battle had been
Richard, Count of Aversa,1 and the two brothers,
Humphrey and Robert Guiscard. These two young
warriors were the sons of the Sieur de Hauteville, a poor
Norman seigneur whose patrimony was not ample
enough for the needs of his numerous family, so that
one member after another had left home and made
their way to other lands. Their history can be read
elsewhere. The one who most concerns us here is
Robert Guiscard, who had arrived in Italy some six
1 This countship of Aversa had been founded in 1030 by a Norman knight,
Rainulf. It was the first territory acquired by the Normans in Italy.
Giesebrecht, vol. ii, p. 332.

64 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
years before the battle of Civitate and, already making
his name famous in warfare, was destined to become
the most celebrated of his numerous brethren.
Starting in such poverty that he knew not where to
turn for subsistence, he pushed his way upwards ; often
unscrupulous in his methods, ready to avail himself
of every opportunity for advancement, and gathering
round him a crowd of adventurers, he took service under
one ruler after another as it suited his ends, and suc
ceeded in winning for himself fame, riches, and territory
beyond all dreams. He was treated as of royal birth,
and his children were sought in marriage by many a
princely house of East and West. Undaunted by mis
chance — on the contrary, spurred on by it to more
vigorous efforts, he was in truth a splendid fighter, a great
man and brave, with flashing blue eyes, clear-cut features,
ruddy complexion, and of a height that towered head
and shoulders above his hosts of armed warriors. Yet
it was not only on account of his military talents that
Guiscard shone supreme amongst his compatriots. Well
did he deserve his nickname Guiscard (Wiscard, i.e.
Wizzard, or Wiseacre). His powers of organising the
government of his states, his extraordinary political
abilities, which enabled him to look beyond the issue
of the moment, made him in many respects the equal of
Gregory vn. Although at first Guiscard and Gregory were
at issue, a strong feeling of friendship grew up between
them, and even if the former's allegiance to the Papacy
were not undivided, there is no doubt that it was to his
better nature that the exiled Pope appealed, when
finally the grim old warrior offered him a refuge in
Salerno. At times the Normans proved a thorn in the side of

DEATH OF POPE LEO IX. 65
the Papacy, at other times a staunch support to its
weakness. Though they counted themselves faithful sons
of Holy Church, and were pious, as warriors went in those
days, they were too easily swayed by the love of gain
to be reckoned upon as allies with any degree of security,
and it was only when there was hope of plunder, or
promise of rich reward, that their help was to be obtained
as a certainty.
At one moment, when all the rest of the powerful lords
in Italy had abandoned his cause, Gregory vn. stood with
Matilda and Guiscard as his only two supporters — yet
Guiscard did not stay the sack of Rome, and was too
full of ambitious plans of empire to employ his whole
might in defence of the Church. But in spite of all the
drawbacks to the Normans as allies, it is undeniable
that their power was a great factor in the development
of the Papal supremacy, and a restraining influence on
the might of the German emperors.
Leo ix. lived only one month after his return from
captivity. He expired in Rome in April 1054, deeply
regretted by the Roman people, who regarded him as a
saint.1 He had won the hearts of all men by his broad
human sympathies, and even in enforcing canonical laws
and denouncing the vices of the day he never failed to
show love and pity towards the individual offender,
whilst many an act of mercy tempered his sternest
judgments. He was sincerely mourned by Hildebrand,
and years afterwards, when the latter was Pope, he was
in the habit of speaking of Leo ix. with the greatest rever
ence and affection, and enjoined upon the bishops not to
let sink in oblivion the precious memories they retained
of him, but to commit them to writing : ' the which,'
1 See Giesebrecht, vol. ii. pp. 465-466.
E

66 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
remarks Villemain,1 ' he would no doubt have undertaken
himself, had he not been more fully engaged in surpassing
him than in depicting him ' !
Many months elapsed before a worthy successor to
Leo could be found, and it was owing to Hildebrand's
representations that the Emperor was prevailed upon
to nominate Gerbhard, Bishop of Eichstadt, to the
Holy See.
Hildebrand had been sent to Germany at the head of
an embassy to consult the Emperor upon this important
question, and it required considerable diplomacy to
secure the man most fitted, in his opinion, to become the
supreme head of the Church. Henry was loth to part
with his favourite bishop, a man of great astuteness,
devoted to the Emperor, and enjoying his entire con
fidence, yet in nowise likely to forget his duties and
position as a churchman. Gerbhard himself was not
anxious to become Pope, refused the honour with great
insistence, and even went so far as to send special mes
sengers to Rome to try and prejudice the Romans against
his election.2 But at length Henry was induced to add
his entreaties to those of Hildebrand, whereupon Gerbhard
yielded, stipulating, however, that his election should
be ratified by the Roman people ; and in the following
year this was accomplished, and he was welcomed in
Rome as Pope Victor n. In all ways the new Pope
confirmed Hildebrand's expectations. He identified him
self at once with things Italian, and, whilst zealously
devoting his life to the work of reforming the Church upon
the principles laid down by his predecessors, he still con
tinued a staunch friend and supporter of the Emperor.
It was shortly after Victor's accession to the Pontifi-
1 Villemain, vol. i. p. 314. 2 Giesebrecht, vol. ii. p. 511.

HENRY III. AND CARDINAL FREDERICK 67
cate that Henry in. paid that memorable visit to Italy,
to try and reduce the power of Godfrey of Lorraine, as we
have already seen in Chapter in. (1055). The Emperor
regarded Godfrey's plots as very far-reaching indeed, and
his suspicions at this time included even Godfrey's brother,
Cardinal Frederick. The latter, upon his return from the
East after the death of Leo ix., had retained his appoint
ment as chancellor (at all events till 1055), but now the
Emperor seems to have suspected him of greater power
than he possessed. Tales of the treasures the legates
had brought back with them were freely circulated,
while Henry imagined Frederick would be able to further
his brother's cause by means of the relations he had estab
lished with Constantinople. These fears were groundless,
however, for although the embassy had been well received
at the Eastern court, and loaded with presents by the
Emperor, a rebellion had broken out immediately after
its departure, and the Patriarch of Constantinople had
pronounced his ban on the legates, even as they had
previously excommunicated him. The result was a
complete rupture between the two Churches of East and
West, and although Frederick and his companions had
safely landed in Italy with their treasures, they were
shamefully robbed by a certain Count Thrasimund of
Teano on their way to Rome, and, naturally enough, for
the time being all negotiations with Byzantium were at
an end.
Henry, unmindful of these occurrences, wrote to the
Pope, commanding him to secure the person of this
dangerous cardinal and have him conveyed to Germany.
Frederick, however, was warned in time to protect him
self.1 Taking refuge at Monte Cassino, he divested him-
1 Giesebrecht, vol. ii. p. 516.

68 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
self of his ecclesiastical robes, and donned the habit of
a monk. Fearing still that the enmity of the Emperor
would pursue him, he begged the abbot's permission to
retire to the island monastery of Tremiti in the Adriatic,
a dependency of Monte Cassino, and there he abode for
some months till the hue and cry was over, when he
returned once more to Monte Cassino.1
Henry's great trust in Pope Victor was evinced in a
very marked manner. No latent jealousy of Papal
encroachments seems to have possessed the Emperor's
mind. On the contrary, he gave back into Victor's
hands the rights over many bishoprics and towns, formerly
wrested from the Papacy, invested him with the Duke
dom of Spoleto and the March of Camerino, and created
him Vicar Imperial in Italy. In his attitude towards
the Church Henry seems to have been entirely actuated
by a desire for her reform, and a wish to establish a state
of lasting concord between the two great powers of
Christendom. When, at the moment of the Church's
degradation, he had been appealed to for help, he had
used the authority given him, wisely and well, and had
placed the very ablest man he could find in St. Peter's
1 The famous abbey of Monte Cassino, erected to commemorate the
burial-place of St. Benedict, is situated on a high hill midway between
Rome and Naples. During the Middle Ages it was renowned for its enormous
library of precious manuscripts, for its treasures of gold and silver, and for
the learning and science of the brethren. The monks displayed the greatest
activity in collecting and transcribing MSS., and the library contained a
greater number of profane writings than was to be found elsewhere. Two of
its historians are still famous — Amatus and Leo Ostensis. At a very early
period the science of medicine was largely cultivated in the monastery. Its
abbots were most carefully chosen, and many of them became subsequently
Popes, two of whom concern this period — Stephen ix. and Victor in.
Monte Cassino was the Mecca not only of the Southern Lombards, but also
of the rude Normans. ' They robbed, but they fervently reverenced St.
Benedict, and singing psalms they went on pilgrimages to his grave.'
— Gregorovius, vol. iv. pp. 163-164.

INFLUENCE OF HENRY III. ON PAPACY 69
chair. And at the end of his career, in the appointment
of Victor n. he had deprived himself of a proved and
trusty counsellor for the greater good of the Church.
Relying entirely on this his friend's integrity, he endowed
him with powers such as had never before been granted
by individual Emperor to individual Pope.
Had Henry been spared yet longer to rule his realm,
the history of Europe might have been differently
written, and it is possible that Papacy and Empire would
never have arrived at that extreme point of deadly
rivalry they were destined to reach in later years. When
we think of the long weary struggle for supremacy, upon
which these two were shortly to embark, of the anarchy,
the strife, and the agonies endured by Italy, it is pleasant
to linger a moment over this page of history, to pay a
passing tribute to the memory of a truly great ruler.
With Hildebrand as Pope, and Henry in. as Emperor,
what might not Christendom have achieved ? But
henceforth no peace — a sword, rather — was to be her
portion, and many a long year of bitterness was in store.
It was not without great anxiety for the safety of his
realm that Henry in. passed away (October 1056). He
had declared his forgiveness of all his enemies, and made
peace with many a rebellious vassal, and in his last
moments, in the presence of the Pope (then visiting
Germany) and the great lords spiritual and temporal,
who had gathered round him, he had caused his little
son to be again acknowledged as his successor,1 and
commended the Empress to the special care of the
Pope. The dying Emperor's fears were not groundless, for
1 Already in his cradle Henry had been recognised as his father's successor
Giesebrecht, vol. ii. p. 474.

70 - MATILDA OF TUSCANY
who could imagine that the princes of the realm, held in
check by a stronger man than themselves, would remain
contented under the government of a weak woman and
a child ?
Of Agnes of Poitiers (daughter of that William of
Aquitaine to whom the crown of Italy had once been
offered) history would have heard but little, had she
died the consort of an emperor. Beautiful, well educated
for the period, truly charitable and well intentioned, she
possessed on the whole those negative qualities which
would fit any woman for a secondary position in a great
realm ; but as Empress-regent a task was given her
far beyond her powers, and her career was deplorable.
With no strength of character or discernment, she was the
ready dupe of any ambitious ecclesiastic, who could easily
obtain influence over her by making some show of piety.
Intrigues arose on all sides and throve the more lustily
as the Empress's incapacity to grapple with the situation,
and rightly administer the affairs of that enormous
kingdom, became more marked. Such a woman was not
qualified to train a son to become a worthy ruler, and
can we wonder that in the midst of an atmosphere of
intrigue, jealousy, and lying on the one hand, and of
weakness of purpose, caprice, and want of judgment on
the other, a child should grow up into such a man as
Henry iv. ?
For the moment, however, there was quiet in the land ;
the princes, who had been greatly mollified by the
Emperor's last acts, were stunned at the news of his
death, for he was still a man in the prime of life, and
they rallied round the young King and his widowed
mother in a more conciliatory way than was their wont.
Pope Victor lent the Empress his advice and support,

DEATH OF POPE VICTOR II. 71
and was the means of adjusting all the outstanding
grievances of Godfrey of Lorraine and Baldwin of
Flanders, as we have already seen. After spending
Christmas with the Empress and little King at Regens-
burg, the Pope attended another Council of State to
assist the Empress in her deahngs with the remaining
princes of the realm.
Church affairs, however, recalled the Pope to Italy,
and journeying back with Godfrey and his wife, he waited
awhile in Tuscany, arriving in Florence some time in the
spring of the year 1057. He kept Easter in Rome, and
then returned to Florence to visit Godfrey. Here he
was met by Frederick of Lorraine, by this time abbot
of Monte Cassino, and Victor raised him to further
honour by creating him Cardinal Priest of St. Chrysogonus
in Rome. Special privileges were also conceded to Monte
Cassino ; its abbots were allowed the use of dalmatics
and sandals on feast days, and the highest place amongst
abbots at every assembly. A limit was set to Victor's
activities, however, for in the course of the summer
he was seized with fever at Arezzo, and died there on
the 28th of July (1057).
With the passing of Victor n. and Henry in. the history
of the Papacy enters on a new phase. We have seen
how Henry in. had on the whole worked for the Church's
welfare, and how zealously he had participated in the
work of her reform, so that for the time being, there
had been less question of her freeing herself entirely
from all submission to temporal power. But the idea was
still latent, and as the authority of the Empire weakened
during the long minority of Henry iv., and submission
to such a faithless Emperor as Henry iv. proved himself
to be grew more and more repugnant, whilst the Church

72 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
strengthened her position in the process of reform, the
idea of an entire separation could not but receive fresh
stimulus, and the emancipation of the Church from
temporal authority grew to be an absolute necessity,
in the minds of such men as Gregory vn. The political
circumstances were indeed favourable to the furtherance
of this idea. Germany was as a house divided against
itself, and it was doubtful if it would ever again be in a
position to assert the authority it had once exercised
over the Papacy.
Very rapidly after Victor's death a new Pope was
elected and crowned in Rome. Without consultation
with the German court, without, as far as is known, the
approval of Hildebrand, Frederick of Lorraine was
raised to the Pontifical See as Stephen ix. The Romans
doubtless wished to conciliate Godfrey, now one of the
most powerful rulers in Italy, and at the same time to
gain for themselves an ally against the dreaded Normans,
since Frederick's hatred of that people was well known.
Stephen's reign, however, was a short one, but he em
ployed it to the utmost for the furtherance of those plans
which he had at heart. Two most important appoint
ments for the future of Italy were made by him. He
transported Peter Damian, already a man of note, from
his hermitage, and created him Bishop of Ostia, and he
gave the bishopric of Lucca to Anselm of Milan.1 He
also granted fresh privileges to the abbey of Cluny, and
provided another abbot for Monte Cassino, in the person
of Desiderius, a young man full of promise. He despatched
Hildebrand to Germany to try and justify his election
to the Empress Agnes, since she, acting as regent for
her son, had still a right to be consulted.
1 Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 22.

PONTIFICATE OF STEPHEN IX. 73
Hildebrand's diplomatic talents must have been taxed
to the utmost, and at first he was but ill received, for
the Empress was very dissatisfied with the appointment
of the new Pope, and mistrusted him and his family
as well as Hildebrand. At length, however, the task
was accomplished, and Hildebrand returned to Italy with
full credentials for the new Pontiff. Yet this had been,
doubtless, a most unwelcome mission for him ; it is not
very probable that he approved of Stephen's accession,
knowing, as he did, the latter's attitude towards the
Normans. In deadly earnest the new Pope set to work to rid
Italy of these settlers in the south. The treasures of
which he had been robbed by Count Thrasimund had been
restored, and handed over to Monte Cassino, and these
he now demanded of the abbot, in order to spend the
money in raising an army. He also prepared an embassy
to start for Constantinople to appeal for help from the
Eastern Emperor.
After Victor n.'s death Godfrey had seized upon the
territories of Camerino and Spoleto, handed over to Victor
by Henry in., and no opposition had been offered to these
proceedings, though the Roman nobility were beginning
to look upon him with a jealous eye. There was a
report current at this time that Pope Stephen intended
to offer the crown of Empire to his brother Godfrey, and
so to break entirely with the German royal house. Italy
would have been willing enough to throw off its allegiance
to Germany, but whether it would have accepted the
adopted Tuscan as its liege lord is open to question.
Also if Stephen had intended to make headway against
the Normans,1 he could hardly have risked incurring the
1 See here Wattendorf.

74 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
enmity of the German court ; and however powerful
the Tuscan house had become, it would not have been
able to fight North and South at one and the same time.
We mention this story in passing as it is given full cred
ence by many historians, and it is also referred to by a
contemporary writer.1
In the meantime, the Pope, anxious to see his brother
Godfrey, decided to journey to Tuscany, but before
starting he evidently had some premonition of his
approaching end, for he assembled the Roman nobles,
bishops, and priests, and adjured them most solemnly
not to appoint his successor until Hildebrand's return,
should he himself die while absent from Rome.
Whatever Pope Stephen's plans for Italy may have
been, they were brought to an untimely end. He set out
for Florence, and on his way he visited the lately founded
abbey of Vallombrosa, where he was seized with mortal
illness, and passed away in the arms of the saintly abbot,
Giovanni Gualberto (March, 1058), again admonishing the
clergy, almost with his last breath, to wait for Hildebrand
before nominating a new Pope. However, the Roman
nobles immediately elected a creature of their own,
Benedict x. He reigned in Rome for a few months,
when Hildebrand returning from Germany, and halting
in Florence, wrote a most indignant letter to the cardinals,
censuring them strongly for not having obeyed the
injunctions of Pope Stephen, and awaited his, Hilde
brand's, return.
A great assembly of bishops was convened in Florence
forthwith, and the then Bishop of Florence, Gerhard of
1 Leo Ostensis' Chron., lib. n. cap. 99, mentions the report that spread
abroad at this time. See also Chalandon, vol. i. p. 165. Giesebrecht says,
however, the report is hardly to be credited (vol. iii. p. 21).

ACCESSION OF POPE NICHOLAS II. 75
Burgundy as he was called, was elected Pope. ' He
(Hildebrand) set up a legitimate Pope against a false
one, an apostolic Pope against Antipope, with the good
grace also of Duke Godfrey,' writes one of Hildebrand's
warm admirers.1 Godfrey was, in fact, pressed to uphold
this election, and assembled troops to support the new
Pope. Moreover, Hildebrand, still anxious at 'this time
to legitimise the Pope's election according to custom
previously laid down,2 was the means of having an
embassy despatched to the Imperial court to have
Gerhard's election confirmed. It is probable that Gerhard
himself had accompanied it, and his nomination was
thus confirmed by the Emperor without any difficulty.
Benedict, unable to face all the power directed against
him by the archdeacon,3 was forced to abdicate after a
council held in Sutri in January 1059, an(i his rival entered
Rome in triumph, accompanied by Hildebrand, Godfrey,
Beatrice, and Matilda, early in the year 1059. Bishop
Gerhard was promptly hailed as Pope by the Romans
under the name of Nicholas n.4
1 Ved., vol. ii. p. 2. 2 Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 25.
3 Chalandon, vol. i. p. 166 ; Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 25. Bonitho (Liber
ad Amicum, p. 640) refers to Hildebrand as ' the archdeacon ' already in the
year 1057. Voigt says, ' Hildebrand— who had recently been made arch
deacon of the Roman Church ' — in 1059 (vol. i. p. 73).
4 ' The Romans, as easily moved as are leaves, and ready to make Popes
or Antipopes according to the caprice of the moment ' — ' I Romani volubili
piu delle frondi, e pronti indifferentemente a far Papi ed Antipapi, secondo
il lor capriccio.' Thus does Vedriani describe the Roman people at this
time (Ved., vol. ii. p. 20).

76 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER VI
Matilda's early upbringing — Her training under Arduino della Palude
— Her mother's part in her education — Her appearance — The
portraits of her extant.
JT will be readily understood how the events just
narrated, how in fact all the circumstances of
Matilda's early years, would help to mould her
character in one direction and serve to develop her
inherited tendencies. From a very early age she must
have heard of her father's devotion to the Emperor, and
how ill he had been rewarded. Then her mother's
captivity and enforced absence in Germany, while she
herself had to be carefully guarded lest the Emperor
should attempt to lay hands on her, must have made a
deep impression on her childish mind. Added to this the
deep piety of Beatrice, the cordial relations entertained
by so many Popes with the Tuscan princely house.the fact
that one amongst them was her step-father's brother, that
his, Pope Stephen's, successors always found a warm wel
come in Florence, and that during the whole of her youth
the real seat of the Papacy may be said to have been in
Florence rather than in Rome, — all these would have
proved powerful factors in the building up of the ardent
religious character, of that firm ally of Holy Church,
who was later to become ' the wonder of Italy.'
Yet the daughter of Boniface could not but have
some masculine traits of character. At an early age

XJ en^Pevsl?v:cLAR.lSC>mfc'l<jr/STiBiST^KeBcArRJ^

BEATRICE
FROM THE MS. OF DOMNIZO

MATILDA'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS 77
she was eager to learn knightly accomplishments. ' Dis
daining with a virile spirit the art of Arachne, she seized
the spear of Pallas,' remarks Vedriani,1 Under the able
tuition of Arduino della Palude, who afterwards became
the general of her army, she learnt how to ride like a
lancer, spear in hand, to bear a pike as a foot-soldier, and
how to wield both battle-axe and sword.
As she grew up, tall and slender, yet agile and strong,
she accustomed herself to wear a cuirass of steel. Vedri
ani, the Modenese historian, tells us that two suits of
her armour were kept until his days in an armoury of
one of the Quattro Castelli,2 and in the year 1622 were
sold a vil ftrezzo in the market-place of Reggio ! Would
that the fate of these could be traced !
Of Beatrice's part in her daughter's education, let
Domnizo speak:.3
' Who could relate with what prudence Beatrice main
tained herself in honour for the whole of the thirty years
that she lived after the death of her husband Boniface !
Cities, castles, the marches, her own lands she held and
governed uprightly.
' From early childhood she educated in a beautiful
manner her daughter Matilda, who had an elevated and
temperate mind ; together with her she built two
monasteries, so that He who holds the reins of Heaven
might protect her ! '
' The people, as well as I, know well,' he says further
1 Vedriani, vol. ii. p. 19.
2 The ' Quattro Castelli ' (Montezane, Montelucio, Bianello, and Monte-
vetro) are four castles built by Matilda on four hills, and stand like sentinels
guarding one of the ancient approaches to Canossa. At the foot of Bianello
or Bibbianello, as it used to be called, is a small hamlet called to-day Quattro
Castella. This castle has been lately restored, and is now inhabited.
3 Dom., lib. I. cap. xvii.

78 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
in speaking of Matilda, ' that whatever I may say of so
great a lady is nothing compared to what she merits ;
nevertheless it is fitting that they should learn to admire
her better.
' She shines as brightly as does the star Diana.
' She is upheld, irradiated, and wonderfully sus
tained by hope, — therefore greater joys are reserved
for her.
' She loves much the Divine Word by whom all things
are created.
' She delights and praises those servants of hers
whom she finds full of humility, and they honour and
obey her with reverence.
' Prosperity does not alter her, nor do misfortunes
disturb her.
' Prudence accompanies her every action, and the
fame of her name is spread far over every kingdom.'
Later on, he tells us of his beloved mistress's appear
ance and accomplishments : ' She has always a cheerful,
smiling countenance and a calm, peaceful mind. . . . She
knows well the Teuton tongue, and speaks besides the
beautiful language of the Franks.' l
Another writer tells us that she was in the habit of
riding gaily at the head of her troops, surrounded by a
goodly band of noble knights, that as she had accustomed
herself since early girlhood to feats of arms, she seemed
almost to disdain womanly accomplishments in times
of peace, and her favourite form of amusement was the
chase. We are also told that she wrote Latin like the clerks,
that she was most prudent and sagacious in the council
chamber, that she ruled her people with firmness and
1 Dom., Int. to lib. n.

MATILDA'S CHARACTER AND BEAUTY 79
with loving-kindness. So that if Arachne's accomplish
ments were despised, Pallas Athene dowered her doubly
with bravery and with wisdom.
Gracious and kindly as she was to the lowly and the
distressed, she never forgot that honour and homage were
due to her as sovereign lady. No man amongst her
vassals, were he prince, marquis, count, or knight, dared
enter her presence without bending the knee in obeisance.1
This was her due in the sight of man — far otherwise did
she regard herself in the sight of her Maker. ' Matilda,
by the grace of God, if she is anything.' Thus runs her
favourite form of signature, and maybe here we have the
very keynote to her character.
Matilda took great delight in the so-called liberal arts,
encouraging in every way the spread of learning, and
at a later period of her life collected at Canossa vast
quantities of manuscripts. Of the monasteries and
hospitals she built, of the baths that she had constructed,
and the strong bridges over otherwise unfordable rivers,
there is no end to the tale. Up and down Tuscany one
may find the written records of these, hidden away in
the archives of many a city. It is a thousand pities that
the memory of all she accomplished for the good of her
own people should be buried thus, and the story of her
brave and long-enduring struggles for the Church which
she loved so truly and so nobly should only reach us as
a faint echo down the intervening centuries between her
days and our own.
Remarkable as was her beauty at a very early age,
there exists unfortunately no authentic portrait to do
1 'Omnes Principes, Marchiones, Comites, Proceres ceteros, omnesque
Milites tanta diligentia gubernabat, qu6d genu flexo in consiliis ante illam
avidissim£ se prosternebant.' — From a MS. in the Estense Library, Modena,
published by Muratori, Rer. It. Script., vol. vi.

80 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
it justice. In her time, pictorial art was in its extreme
infancy, as may be seen from the miniatures illustrating
Domnizo's poem, in the Vatican MS.1
There are, however, three most interesting portraits
of Matilda of a later date. The first of these is now
in the sacristy of the Cathedral at Mantua. The
second was discovered in the Church of the Holy
Trinity at Verona about the year 1864, when some
experiments were being made in removing frescoes
from the walls, and this portrait was discovered beneath
a more modern painting. It is supposed to be the work
of some Greek artist, and was possibly executed about
the beginning of the thirteenth century. The Church of
the Holy Trinity was built in the year 1073 ; in that
year Matilda and her mother were both in Verona, and
made a donation to the Abbey of San Zeno,2 that ancient
and famous abbey, so often the temporary resting-place
of foreign emperors and kings. It is possible, therefore,
that a fresco portrait of Matilda may have been painted
in that very year, and that the one so lately brought to
light is a copy from an earlier and original work.
This Verona portrait is now in the possession of the
Marchese Lodovico di Canossa, and is preserved in his
palace at Verona itself. Professor Ferretti of Reggio
possesses the third, which was discovered at the Castle
of Rossena, within a short distance of Canossa.
Professor Ferretti in his monograph on ' Canossa '
1 One of the portraits in this MS. representing Matilda seated on a kind of
throne with a man-at-arms on one side of her, and on the other a monk
(presumably Domnizo) who holds a book in his hand, is evidently the
original of the one printed as a frontispiece to some of the editions of
Fiorentini's Life of Matilda, and is also given in an edition printed in the
year 1609 of Mellini's treatise on the Great Countess,
2 See Appendix B.

M ATH

iLdis Luce^TwcoKkocCAi>c c^vtAvd"

MATILDA
FROM THE MS. OF DOMNIZO

MATILDA'S EARLY JOURNEYS 81
mentions two fresco paintings, which are supposed
to be portraits of Matilda — one in the Castle of
Nozzano, near Lucca, the other in the ancient fortress
of Bianello.1 These two he characterises as rough and
coarse. There are one or two other portraits to be found,
differing greatly from the Vatican MS. type. One in
Sardi's Storie Ferrarese and one in Matilda, by Dal Pozzo,
but from what source they are derived, or of their
authenticity, it is difficult to judge. Attached to a
document belonging to the archives of Monte Cassino
there is said to be a seal, impressed on which is a portrait
of Matilda and her husband Godfrey.2 Domnizo says of
her mother, ' The beautiful Beatrice was of royal race,
of the race of the masters of the world,' and he tells us
further that Matilda was tall, with the beautiful features
of her mother, while she had inherited her father's
southern complexion.
Even as a small child what travellings to and fro she
must have had ! Backwards and forwards to Lucca and
Canossa in the very early days with father and mother,
and these journeys to and from Canossa can have been no
easy matter, since for many months in the year the ele
ments combine to make the fortress well-nigh inaccessible.
The struggle for life in these regions is still a fierce one,
and tends to raise a hardy race of people even to-day.
This mountain home of Matilda and its inaccessibility
must have served also to develop the hardier traits in
her character. Later, under her step-father's escort,
1 A copy of the Bianello fresco is now hung in the small museum at the
summit of Canossa.
2 Don Tosti's Storia della Badia di Monte Cassino, vol. i. p. 427, contains
a reproduction of this impression. The workmanship of the original seal
must have been extremely rough and coarse, and the 'portraiture' is
disappointing.

82 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
she doubtless visited some of the towns over which she
held sway — Mantua, Pisa, Reggio, and Modena. Then
on her mother's return from Germany much time was
spent in Florence ; and at the age of fifteen came the
great journey to Rome, when Godfrey and Beatrice were
called upon to uphold Nicholas.
One wonders when was the first time that Hildebrand
beheld the young Tuscan princess. Possibly in Florence,
in the year that Nicholas n. was elected Pope, and she,
a keen young girl, was hearing details of the councils,
and eagerly preparing for that first warlike journey.
The archdeacon may have travelled southward with
the Tuscan princes. It is possible that Matilda, with
her step-father and her mother, was present at the Council
of Sutri in January 1059, which was held for the purpose
of deposing Benedict x.
Peace being temporarily restored, the Tuscan princes
left the neighbourhood of Rome and returned home.
But the peace was of short duration. Matilda's child
hood was at an end, and the stern, warlike career was
about to begin in real earnest.

POLICY OF POPE NICHOLAS II. 83

CHAPTER VII
Lateran Council held by Nicholas II., 1059 — Alliance with the
Normans — Hildebrand as Archdeacon and Abbot of St. Paul's —
The Pataria at Milan — Death of Nicholas, 1061, in Rome —
Anselm, Bishop of Lucca, is elected Pope as Alexander 11. —
Lombard Prelates cause Cadalous of Parma to be elected Pope
with the approval of the Empress Agnes — These rival Popes are
the means of producing a widespread schism in the Church :
it is agreed to refer the whole question of the schism to a
Council — -The Council held at Mantua in 1064, when Alexander
is unanimously declared the lawful successor to Peter — Cadalous
and his friend Guibert retire to Parma, to conspire once more
against the Pope.
NICHOLAS II. pursued the same policy as his
immediate predecessor. Guided by Hilde
brand, he waged war against simony and the
immoralities of the priesthood, and steadily endeavoured
to reduce the imperial power with regard to ecclesiastical
investitures, especially in the matter of the election of
the Pope. Hildebrand's recent visit to Germany must
have shown him how useless it would be in the immediate
future to look for any help from that quarter, with regard
to the work of reforming the Church. There were many
forces then at work in Italy, all tending towards the
disintegration of the imperial power. In the north the
extreme ill-will manifested to the German bishops
placed there by Henry in. — the great princes, cool
towards imperial interests, engaged rather in furthering
ambitious plans for their own aggrandisement, now

84 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
that there was no restraining hand upon them — in the
south the ever-increasing power of the Normans — the
thought of all these must have convinced him, that
if the Church were to persevere in her task of self-
reform there was no other course open to her but to
create for herself an absolutely independent position.
The immediate result of this line of policy was shown
in the two most important acts of Nicholas's reign — the
decree passed at the Lateran Council of 1059, and the
alliance of the Papacy with the Normans.
The following is an extract from that decree : — ' We
decree and appoint that, on the death of the present
Pontiff of the universal Roman Church, the cardinals
shall in the first place proceed to a new election, regard
being had to the honour and reverence due to our dearly
loved son Henry, who is now styled King, and who it is
hoped will hereafter, by the grace of God, become
Emperor.' So that the Emperor's power of vetoing the
election of the cardinals was reduced to a mere shadow.
It may be remarked in passing that amongst this great
assembly, comprising as it did all the bishops and arch
bishops of Italy (with the exception of the Archbishop
of Ravenna), and an innumerable host of lesser clergy,
only a few French and Burgundian bishops were present,
and not a single high dignitary from Germany.1 It is
not to be wondered at, therefore, that the decision of
the Council met with great opposition on the other side
of the Alps, and that shortly after, a legate sent by
Nicholas to the German court was refused an audience.
Now was a fitting moment to treat with the Normans,2
since the Papacy stood in great need of a powerful ally
to support the position it was establishing for itself.
1 Giesebrecht, vol iii. pp. 42, 43. 2 Chalandon. vol. i. p. 213.

NICHOLAS II. AND THE NORMAN CHIEFS 85
Duke Godfrey's army had retired from Rome after
installing Nicholas, and since some of the Roman barons
were still indignant at Benedict's deposition, Nicholas
needed troops to uphold him. Hildebrand therefore
made advances to Richard of Aversa, Guiscard's brother-
in-law,1 through the intervention, it is believed, of
Desiderius, abbot of Monte Cassino. Richard had lately
conquered the domains of Capua, and had been on friendly
terms with Desiderius, when the latter was prior of St.
Benedict's at Capua. This Norman, Chalandon tells us,
had acted less as a brigand than any of his compatriots ;
he had respected the Church's lands. He willingly
undertook to subdue the rebellious Roman lords and suc
ceeded. A chronicler2 of these times says that soon after
Richard's expedition, the Normans begged the Pope to
visit Apulia so that they might reconcile themselves
with the Church. Nicholas therefore left Rome, and
in the summer of 1059 nekl a synod at Melfi in Apulia.
Ecclesiastical questions were first dealt with, and then the
Pope received the oath of fidelity from Robert Guiscard,
and solemnly invested him with the Duchy of Apulia,
Calabria, and Sicily, while Richard was given Capua as a
fief. Robert swore to protect and respect the domains
of St. Peter and to uphold and help the Pope in occupying
the Papal See, and to further any future pontifical election
provided it was carried out with all the honour due to
St. Peter, and according to what had already been laid
down by the cardinals and the Romans, lay and clerical,.
Thus a bond of union was established for the time being
with these mighty warriors, and the Holy See gained
powerful allies capable of protecting it against the
turbulent Roman nobles, and possibly against Germany,
1 Chalandon, vol. i. p. 168. 2 See Chalandon, vol. i. p. 169.

86 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
while the Normans x gained a very definite right to the
lands of the south of Italy and to Sicily, although the
greater part of that island was still to be conquered.
In the autumn of 1059 the Pope returned to Florence,
to administer the affairs of that bishopric, which he had
retained in his own hand. Here he lived in close inter
course with Duke Godfrey and his family, only returning
to Rome to celebrate Easter, or to hold there the great
ecclesiastical synods. All other matters were dealt
with by Hildebrand, who showed himself as eager to
serve the Church in her economic difficulties as he was
with the greater questions of reform. Since the days
of the three rival Popes (1044) the Papal exchequer had
been reduced to a very low state, and Hildebrand, by
making friends with various of the Jewish inhabitants
of the Trasteverine quarter of Rome, as we have already
seen, had learnt how to deal with the Papal treasury to
advantage. About this time he was made abbot of
St. Paul's ' without the walls,' an abbey renowned alike
for its riches and for its strict obedience to monastic
discipline. Hildebrand at this time certainly learnt how to become
all things to all men ; severe within the precincts of his
own abbey, he yet assumed a certain splendour of dress,
and this, together with the retinue he maintained, drew
down upon him the reproofs of his more ascetic friend,
Peter Damian. The Bishop of Ostia was unhappy in his
bishopric, and had wished to resume his hermit life at
Avellana ; but Hildebrand would not hear of this. He
saw very clearly that Peter's abilities were still needed
for the Church militant, so in spite of many a letter of
1 Henceforward the Norman chiefs called themselves Princes and Dukes
' by the grace of God and St. Peter.' — Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 50.

ANSELM OF BAGGIO 87
remonstrance Peter was bidden to remain at his post
by the man whom he called ' his holy Satan.' Peter
Damian's services were shortly afterwards called upon
for a most important mission, and he was despatched to
Milan to re-establish Papal authority within its walls.
The Church of Milan, retaining as it did the rule of
St. Ambrose, had long withstood the supremacy of Rome.
But for the fact that the feeling against Rome as Rome
was so strong, the political rupture with Germany would
in Lombardy have been more complete, for at the time
of Henry in.'s death the bishops he had placed there
found their position almost untenable, and in Pavia,
a bishop appointed by the Empress Agnes had to give
place to one chosen by the people themselves, while the
same thing would have happened in Asti but for the
intervention of the Marchioness Adelaide. The Lombard
bishops, wealthy beyond all others, with hosts of vassals
at their command, were amongst the most schismatic
of Italy — not only did they purchase their sees, but the
higher nobles were their greatest friends, and willingly
married the bishops' daughters. In the midst of all this
schism there grew up a strong reactionary party headed
by Anselm of Baggio, Bishop of Lucca. He was Milanese
by birth, and had been educated at the Norman abbey
of Bee under Lanfranc, and there he had imbibed many
ideas for reforming the Church. At first, as a young cleric
he had been well received in Milan, but he preached so
strongly against simony and the marriage of the priests,
that he became very unpopular, and for a time'he retired
to Germany, where he acted as chaplain to Henry in.
In 1056 he was appointed to the vacant See of Lucca,
and this preferment brought him into relationship with
Godfrey, Beatrice, and later, with Cardinal Hildebrand.

88 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
His preaching in Milan had not been in vain. In
1056 a deacon called Ariald declaimed boldly against the
marriage of priests, declared that ordination should be
made without fees, and spoke in favour of the supremacy
of Rome. His sermons made a deep impression ; he
was soon joined by others, a young cleric named Landulf
in particular, but among their partisans were numbered
the most unruly of the town, and these proceeded to
very violent measures. As the rabble joined them more
and more, they earned for themselves the name of
Patarines or rag bags, from a Milanese word signifying
'rags.' First given them in derision, they themselves
adopted this name with delight, since to the fanatics
amongst them it seemed to indicate the poverty of Christ
that they were trying to imitate. This movement gradually
spread to the other towns of Lombardy, and though
ostensibly ecclesiastical, the Pataria was also a political
movement in some sense, for it tended to the diminishing
of German influence. Matters had reached a severe crisis
between the people and Archbishop Wido of Milan, when
Peter Damian and Anselm of Lucca were despatched to
settle their disputes.
After narrowly escaping with his life, so unruly were
the Milanese, Peter Damian managed to quell the strife
and proclaimed the supremacy of Rome. He commanded
the presence of the archbishop and suffragan bishops of
Asti, Alba, Vercelli, Novara, Lodi and Brescia at a council
in Rome, where they appeared and promised full sub
mission to the Pope, whereupon Nicholas reinvested
Wido (who had temporarily been deprived of his bishopric
by Peter Damian) by presenting him with the episcopal
ring. That these Lombard bishops, formerly such devoted
adherents of the Empire, should bow themselves before

ANSELM AND CADALOUS 89
the authority of Rome, was a great step in advance for
the Papal power ; even if this submission were but short
lived, it showed at least how weak had grown the once
mighty influence of Germany in the ' Paradise ' of Italy.
When on the death of Nicholas in 1061 Anselm, the
good Bishop of Lucca (' a person eminent in doctrine,
with great experience in worldly affairs '), was elected
Pope, by cardinals, bishops, and clergy, and in accord
ance with the decree of the late Pontiff, quoted above,
those who had imperial interests in Italy protested.
Moreover, the Lombard prelates, who, as we have already
seen, were the most lax of any in their morals, with
Guibert Corregese of Parma at their head, knowing
Anselm's strict views concerning ecclesiastical discipline,
determined to oppose his election, and worked upon the
feelings of both the Empress Agnes and the young
Emperor, by declaring that the imperial rights were
being superseded, and that it was time for the Emperor
to assert his prerogative.
On the very day (1st October 1061) that Anselm was
enthroned in Rome under the protection of the Normans,
his opponents held a council in Bale,1 where the Lombards
and all those clergy who feared Anselm's rule, prevailed
on the assembled archbishops to annul his election, and
in his stead they caused Cadalous, Bishop of Parma, to
be nominated Pope. The Empress and her son were
present at the council and assented to the proceedings.
Cadalous was a man of bad character, who had been
censured at three different councils for his evil life, and
had the charges been pressed he would probably have
been deposed from his bishopric. That they were not,
may have been owing to imperial influence, for when
1 Giesebrecht, vol. iii. pp. 73, 74.

90 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Henry in. was in Italy for the first time, Cadalous had
managed to gain the Emperor's favour, although the
Bishop of Parma had never been attracted to the reforms
of the Church, and became the most bitter opponent
of the Pataria faction. He had held his see for
twenty years, and with much of his own private wealth
he had helped to restore and embellish the seat of his
bishopric,1 so he was popular within the walls of Parma
itself, and had also a strong adherent in Guibert, a
Parmesan of good birth and distinguished bearing, who
had likewise been a favourite of the Emperor Henry in.,
and had lately been appointed imperial chancellor by
the Empress Agnes.
The nomination of Cadalous to the Papacy was not
popular among the German prelates ; moreover, it was
in direct opposition to the reforming tendencies of the
late Emperor ; and it was very evident that before the
Empress's consent to this step was won, her own private
inclinations must have been overruled. On the other
hand, the Roman aristocracy and the Campagna nobles
who had resented the Papal alliance with the Normans
were ready to offer their support to Alexander's rival.
Benzo, Bishop of Alba, was sent in advance to prepare
Rome for the entry of Cadalous (who assumed the name
of Honorius n.), and to collect recruits, while in Lombardy
Cadalous and Guibert were busily engaged in gathering
together an army wherewith to march to Rome. The
Patarines were terrified and forced to flee, and Beatrice
opened many of her cities to them as a refuge. Duke
1 The old cathedral of Parma was burnt down about the year 1058, and a
new and more beautiful building was begun under Cadalous's auspices. He
also rebuilt, upon another site outside the walls, the episcopal palace, adorn
ing it with many towers. See Affo, vol. ii. pp. 63 and 69. The alabaster
throne of this antipope is still preserved behind the choir in the cathedral.

CADALOUS BEFORE ROME 91
Godfrey hastened to levy troops in all the towns and
states which owed allegiance to his step-daughter. With
part of these, Matilda, accompanied by her mother,
hastened into Lombardy, where they met the schismatics
and gave them battle. ' Now there appeared in Lombardy
at the head of her numerous squadrons the young maid
Matilda, armed like a warrior, and with such bravery,
that she made known to the world that courage and
valour in mankind is not indeed a matter of sex, but of
heart and spirit ' (Dal Pozzo, p. 263).
The army of the antipope was not, however, entirely
defeated in this encounter. It may have been held in
check for the moment, but was soon able to cross the
Apennines and ere long take up its quarters in the
meadows of Nero, outside Rome.
In the meantime, Hildebrand and Alexander had not
been idle ; mainly through the instrumentality of Leo
the converted Jew they had managed to raise an army
of mercenaries, for Norman help was not available just
then, Richard of Capua being busy fighting within his
own domains. These, however, proved no match for
the schismatics, who gained a footing in the Trasteverine
quarter of the city, while some of the rebel Romans held
St. Angelo. The latter were unable to maintain their
position, however, and were shortly dislodged by a fresh
body of troops raised by the aid of the wealthy Leo. But
before matters could finally be decided, the appearance of
Duke Godfrey with an overwhelming army put an end
to further combat.1 The Duke intervened between the
1 Here Vedriani, and several of Matilda's biographers say that she was
present at this engagement, and Vedriani adds that she shared with Arduino
della Palude the command of a body of 400 archers, as many pikemen,
and a detachment of cavalry, and that they nearly cut in pieces the army
of Guibert in endeavouring to unite themselves with Godfrey's cavalry, and

92 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
contending parties, and demanded that they should each
lay their cause before the young King or his repre
sentative, and await his decision, and that meanwhile
Alexander and Cadalous should return to their respective
episcopal sees. To this course they grudgingly consented,
though it is doubtful whether Cadalous would have yielded
without further struggle, had he known how events in
Germany were conspiring against him. Cadalous went
back to Parma, and Alexander to Lucca, the latter glad
enough to spend the summer attending to ecclesiastical
affairs within his old beloved diocese, for he never dis
sociated himself entirely from Lucca ; even in his
decrees he is thus designated, ' Primate of the universal
Church and Bishop of Lucca.' To Lucca therefore went
the Tuscan princes in company with the Pope, possibly
for the sake of escorting and guarding him well, for the
adherents of Cadalous were still many and active.
In the meanwhile the internecine politics of Germany
suffered a change. A strong party of malcontents
resolved to oust the Empress-regent from her place and
substitute a different form of government. They were
charged the enemy with such fury that Guibert was obliged to relinquish
the assault and retire with his forces behind the entrenchments. Guibert
(' a man of great stature and a robust cavalier of his times, but as his physical
strength was greater than that of an animal, so was his sense of justice less
than that of a man ') performed prodigies of valour, but in vain. Both he
and Cadalous seeing that the day was lost, saved themselves, for the time
being, by abandoning the campaign, and retired to Parma.
Vedriani further tells a pleasant story of how Matilda had occasion thus
early to show the world how she abhorred massacres, sternly forbidding her
army to slay the vanquished foe, only allowing them to take just vengeance
on some of the Germans, who had grossly maltreated the people of the
neighbouring districts. Then he adds : ' The Pope and the Roman people
rejoiced greatly at this victory, and could never tire of beholding this
valorous semblance of a woman, who surpassed in bravery and courage
even the most brilliant and manly warriors. '
Fiorentini writes guardedly on this subject and refers to Sigonius and Platina.

HANNO OF COLOGNE 93
tired of a woman's rule, and they hated most her favourite
counsellor, Henry of Augsburg. Headed by Hanno,
Archbishop of Cologne, they conceived the bold idea of
carrying off the young King, and this they accomplished
by strategy. Shortly after Easter, 1062, when the
Empress and her son were staying at St. Swithberths
(now Kaiserswerth) on the Rhine, the King was per
suaded to go and inspect Hanno's magnificent barge,
then moored alongside the landing-stage. The barge
was forthwith freed from its moorings and vigorously
rowed up stream. In spite of the boy's attempts to
escape — for he threw himself overboard and had to be
rescued — he was eventually taken to Cologne, where it
was decided that the guardianship of the King, and the
regency of his kingdom, should rest in the hands of the
bishop of that diocese in which for the time being he
happened to reside. Hanno was the most powerful
amongst the prelates of the time, and he contrived that
the King should most frequently be in his own diocese, or
in that of his two chief friends, Gunther of Bamberg, and
Siegfried of Mainz. Filled with ambition for his own
advancement, Hanno cared in no way for the worthy
upbringing of the boy under his care, but indulged the
young King's whims as it suited his own ends, while
Henry conceived for his guardian the greatest dislike
and mistrust.
The Empress Agnes, who amidst tears and lamentations
saw her son torn from her care, took no steps to force
the bishops to restore him. Perhaps, much as she loved
her son, she was not sorry to be compelled to lay aside
the burden of government, for in secret she had long
nourished a great desire to retire from the world into a
convent. Some months later she was reconciled to Hanno

94 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
and his friends ; and over the heart of her son she always
retained an influence, though, alas ! it was not suffi
ciently strong to mould his manhood aright. So during
the following Christmas festivities (1063) a curious sight
was witnessed in Rome. She who twelve years previously
had appeared there in company with her husband, with
all the pomp and ceremony of an Empress, attended by
nobles and retainers without number, now entered the
city as a humble penitent, mounted on a diminutive
horse, and clad in a long woollen robe of sombre hue.
Agnes had come to throw herself at the feet of Pope
Alexander and to ask pardon for what she deemed her
sin, in upholding Cadalous. She was received with
infinite compassion by the Holy Father, and was granted
the pardon that she sought. Hereafter, although the
widowed Empress occasionally crossed the Alps to
visit her son, Rome became her home for many years ;
here she lived contentedly the life of a recluse, a stead
fast friend to Popes Alexander and Gregory. Her piety,
which manifested itself in fasting, almsgiving, and a
most simple mode of life, was much commended.
The German bishops, after having settled the question
of the guardianship of their King, convened a council
at Augsburg (28th October 1062) to inquire into the
contentions of the rival Popes. It was agreed that an
envoy should be sent to Italy,1 and if Alexander's election
1 The account which Vedriani gives of the reception in Rome of the envoy
(whom he declares to have been Hanno himself), although inaccurate in
many details, is interesting to note in passing, for he makes Hildebrand reply
to the royal messenger : ' That the ratification by the Emperor of the election
of a Pope was required by the Holy See, not because the Royal or Imperial
consent was necessary, but so that the Royal Power, in thus ratifying it,
declared itself a protector of Ecclesiastical liberty against those animated by
personal ambition, or those who at times, by the aid of simony, had falsely
corrupted the Chair of Peter' (Ved., vol. ii. p. 30). If Hildebrand did not

THE COUNCIL OF MANTUA 95
did not prove to be wholly irregular, he should be re
instated temporarily in Rome, and there continue in his
apostolic duties until such time as a larger synod could
be assembled to sift the whole matter more thoroughly.
Burchard, Bishop of Halberstadt, Hanno's nephew, was
chosen as envoy. His inquiries in Italy proved favour
able to Alexander, who was forthwith installed in Rome,
thanks to the combined efforts of Duke Godfrey, and
some Norman troops furnished by Richard of Capua.
Cadalous's party still held the fortress of St. Angelo,
for the wily bishop was by no means willing to remain
quiescent during Alexander's provisional occupancy of
the Apostolic See. In spite of the efforts of Godfrey and
Beatrice to bar his passage, he once more crossed the
Apennines, appeared before Rome, and gained the
Leonine quarter. Many a street fight ensued, but
nothing decisive occurred in his favour. Peter Damian,
upon his return from an embassy to France (October
1063), was moved by the disorderly state of Rome to
write a strong letter of appeal to Archbishop Hanno
(who had lately been made co-regent of the kingdom
with Adalbert of Bremen), begging him to hasten the
time of the synod, as had been agreed in Augsburg.
Hanno complied, decided to attend the council in person
as the King's representative, and Mantua was the city
chosen for the place of assembly. Curiously enough, the
summons to the synod was ill received in Rome by
Alexander's adherents. Cadalous's activities were
waning, for his resources were almost at an end, and his
erstwhile allies, the Campagna nobles, had deserted him.
actually utter these words, it was doubtless this spirit that moved him to
desire the ratification by Germany of the Pope's election. There is some
authority for them, however, in Cardinal Nicholas of Aragon's account ( Vit.
Rom. Pont., p. 302). Here, too, Hanno is said to be the envoy.

g6 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Why, therefore, should Alexander be compelled to sub
mit his cause to the decision of Germany, when the
opposition to his election had all but disappeared ?
Hildebrand was indignant with Peter Damian for having
pressed the matter of the council. However, there was
was no other course open to Alexander and his party
but to comply with the summons. This synod attracted
universal attention, and we can well believe that Vedriani
gives us a true picture of the proceedings, for he writes
of the ' magnificent preparations ' made by Beatrice and
Matilda for the reception and entertainment of so many
distinguished guests, since the Pope, and the King's repre
sentatives from Germany, were to be accompanied by an
infinite number of prelates and princes, the ' greatest in
the world.' Then we are told how Matilda and her step
father, with a large squadron of cavalry, proceeded to
Rome to escort the Pope and the College of Cardinals on
their journey. They were met by Beatrice on the con
fines of Mantua, and safely installed within the city.
Duke Godfrey then hastened to meet the German embassy
coming from the north, and Beatrice and Matilda rode
forth a little way from the city to greet them. Truly it
must have been a wonderful assembly then gathered
together in the little city of Mantua !
On the 31st of May (1064) Alexander celebrated High
Mass in the cathedral, after which the council proceeded
to its work. Hanno stated the accusations made against
Alexander : — That he had caused himself to be elected
Pope contrary to the established rule, that he had pur
chased the Pontificate, and that he had allied himself
with the Normans against the interests of the Empire.
Alexander solemnly justified his conduct with an oath,
and as Cadalous was not present to advance his claims,
the council declared itself satisfied that Alexander's

TERMINATION OF COUNCIL OF MANTUA 97
appointment was legitimate, and he was forthwith hailed
as lawful successor to St. Peter, a solemn Te Deum
was chanted, after which Cadalous's cause was tried and
he was excommunicated. But the following day, when
the council was still sitting, a terrible tumult broke out
in the town, instigated by the partisans of Cadalous.
The insurgents broke into the cathedral and would have
attacked the prelates, who were hastily preparing for
flight, when the timely arrival of Beatrice with an armed
force put the rebels to rout. Peace was restored, and
the synod terminated its work, after which the various
bishops departed. Pope Alexander lingered in Lucca
for a time on his way south, while Cadalous (who had
been awaiting the news of the result of the synod near
by, in the Cremonese country), nothing daunted by the un
favourable issue, returned with Guibert to Parma to collect
money and forces for further efforts against the Pope.
NOTE TO CHAPTER VII
There are many conflicting accounts of the Council of Mantua
— even the date of it has been contested (see Giesebrecht, vol. iii.
pp. 1106-1107); the most likely year, however, seems 1064.
Two ancient writers (Amalricus Augerius in Fit. Rom. Pont. ;
Muratori, Rer. It. Script, vol. iii. pt. 11. p. 356), and Ptolemy of
Lucca, a thirteenth-century historian, in his Historia Ecclesiastica
(Mur., Rer. It. Script., vol. xi. p. 1073, etc.), distinctly say
that Alexander held the council in Henry's presence.
Vedriani mentions Henry's attending the council, and Pigna
in his history of the Este family says ' Caesar came to Italy and
was royally received in the City of Mantua by Beatrice and
Matilda. . . . Beatrice and Matilda honoured Caesar with divers
festivities.' The German historian Giesebrecht, however, says
that Henry remained in Germany, under the care of Adalbert
of Bremen, during Hanno's visit to Mantua to attend the
council.

98 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER VIII
Cadalous and Guibert induce the Normans to invade the Papal
Territory — The Normans march on Rome — Beatrice attempts
to entrap Cadalous — Cadalous, however, reaches Rome, and
takes the Leonine quarter — Duke Godfrey's forces drive off
the Schismatics and enter Rome — Cadalous remains in St.
Angelo — Holds the fortress for two years — Finally driven out
and flees from Rome — Godfrey is held by some to have been
privy to his escape — Alexander appoints his nephew Anselm as
Matilda's spiritual adviser — Renewed conflict with the Normans
— Their rout at Aquino.
MANY and various are the plots ascribed to
Cadalous and Guibert at this period.
After having collected sufficient sums of
money to raise troops, they set to work once more to
overthrow Alexander and to contest the Papacy. Also
they are said to have suborned Cencius, son of the
prefect of Rome, and he and his adherents promised their
support within the walls, while at the same time these
two arch-schismatics are supposed to have entered into
a secret alliance with the Normans.
Certain it is that about this time the aggressions of
Richard of Capua were an added anxiety to Alexander,
for Richard had extended his conquests northwards,
had taken several towns, and had not always respected
the Papal territory ; finally, intoxicated with his suc
cesses, he had appeared at the gates of Rome and de
manded to be made Patricius, a title generally reserved
for the Emperor-elect. It was quite evident whither his

CADALOUS AND GUIBERT 99
ambition was leading him, and once more Alexander was
forced to rely on his friends in the north.
Alexander is said to have sent word to Matilda, begging
her to hold herself in readiness to come and succour Rome
once more, if necessary. As soon as she heard of the
antipope's proceedings she prepared to oppose him.
Duke Godfrey with a body of cavalry was at once de
spatched to meet the Normans, while Beatrice, and
doubtless Matilda with her, only lingered behind to
collect a sufficiently strong force, with which they
endeavoured to entrap Cadalous on the Aemilian Way,
and prevent his march southwards. Somewhere near
Forzelli Beatrice had a deep trench dug in the road and
covered with straw and dust — ' the same kind of trap
that the vineyard owners employ to catch wolves,' says
Vedriani.1 ' I know not,' he adds quaintly, ' whether
Cadalous, a true wolf, and false Pope, fell in.'
Evidently if Cadalous did fall in, he managed to
extricate himself quickly, for he arrived outside Rome,
together with Guibert, and again encamped by the
meadows of Nero, from which point they proceeded to
assault the city.
The following night, through the aid of their partisans
within, Cadalous and Guibert succeeded in taking the
' Leonine ' quarter,2 and they then sacked the Vatican
Palace and St. Peter's.
The Tuscan army, commanded by its two princesses,
1 Ved., vol. ii. p. 34.
2 During the Pontificate of Symmachus, at the end of the fifth century, a
Papal residence was built near the Church of St. Peter's, and foreign pilgrims
began to establish settlements there. These were called ' scholse ' or
'borghi,' and the whole district was sometimes called the Borgo. In the
ninth century Pope Leo iv. surrounded this region with a wall to protect it
against the ravages of the Saracen invaders, and from that time forth it was
also known as the ' Leonine city.'

ioo MATILDA OF TUSCANY
must have pursued Cadalous closely, and arrived to the
rescue of Rome the day after the taking of the Borgo.
Again Vedriani gives us a delightful picture. ' In the
face of the schismatics she, Matilda, entered Rome with
her army, with such a train of provisions that Richard
began to form plans for retreat to some strong place.
Matilda kissed the feet of the Pope, and then took counsel
with her captains on the best way of delivering the city
from the siege. Rallying the faint-hearted Romans, she
attacked the enemy with such fury, that they were forced
to abandon the greater part of the Borgo, and could only
retain the castle of St. Angelo ; ' x and they continued
to hold this fortress for a considerable period of time —
a couple of years, say some historians.
It is very difficult to arrive at a true conclusion with
regard to this fact. We are inclined to think that there
is some confusion about Cadalous's first and second attack
of Rome, and that possibly from 1063 until 1065 the
Borgo was in a state of disaffection, for we are told that
during these years Alexander transacted business at the
Lateran Palace. Therefore St. Angelo may have been
in the hands of the schismatics all the time, although
Cadalous and Guibert were not shut up there during the
whole two years, as is sometimes stated. We may con
clude that Guibert and Cadalous defended themselves
for a considerable time in St. Angelo, but finding their
cause was growing hopeless, they fled from Rome with
the greater number of their adherents, but were overtaken
outside the city along the Flaminian Way near Ponte
1 The tomb of Hadrian, called later the castle of St. Angelo, on the right
bank of the Tiber, converted into a fortress in the fifth century, sometime
previous to the invasion of the city by the Ostrogoths in 537, was henceforth
regarded as the citadel of Rome, and the possession of it was considered an
equivalent for the mastery over the whole city.

DEFECTION OF DUKE GODFREY 101
Molle. Here an engagement ensued in which they were
utterly routed, and report says they would have been
captured had they not purchased their liberty for a con
siderable sum of money and been allowed to go in peace.
Some accounts say that it was Cencius who was thus
bribed, while other historians imply that the elder
Godfrey, Matilda's step-father, was privy to their escape.
That there was some treachery on Godfrey's part, about
this time, is evident from the letters of Peter Damian.
' An unheard-of news has reached us,' writes Peter
Damian to Godfrey ; x 'it has caused us great grief
and stricken us with inmost sorrow ; it has closed my
lips — those lips which have been accustomed to praise
you. It is that you are in communication with Cadalous,
that vile and rotten member cut off from the Church . . .
that abject filth. This is what the peasants in the
country, the merchants in the fairs, the soldiers in the
public places, cry aloud to us.'
Godfrey is said to have been greatly biassed by his
two chaplains, who upheld the views of the schismatics
with regard to the marriage of priests, and who declared
further that a bishopric or a benefice might be purchased
without the sin of simony being committed, provided
that the consecration was gratuitous.
Alexander, becoming anxious lest Matilda should be
influenced in any way by the heretical opinions of her
step-father, desired that she should take his nephew
Anselm, a man of great piety and learning, as her spiritual
director. The relations between Matilda and Anselm were
of a very happy nature, and from this time forth Matilda
1 An Italian version of this letter is given by Rena, vol. ii. p. 60 it seq.
See also Villemain, vol. i. p. 362 ; there is an allusion to it in Giesebrecht,
vol. ii. p. 154 ; also see note.

102 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
could always depend on his spiritual comfort and advice.
Later on, when Anselm became Bishop of Lucca, he was
enabled to help her with her temporal affairs as well,
and uphold her authority with her turbulent subjects in
that city.
Although the rebellion was successfully quelled, and
the schismatics expelled from Rome itself, peace was not
yet restored. The Normans, dissatisfied with the rout
of Cadalous, continued to overrun Campania, and hoped
to gain entire possession of the province. Matters
became so threatening that Matilda, Duke Godfrey, and
the Pontiff himself, decided to take the field and drive
off the invaders. It was thought that the presence of the
Holy Father would animate and encourage the Catholic
soldiery, and strike terror to the hearts of his enemies.
The two armies met near Aquino, and there a long and
sanguinary fight ensued, lasting eighteen days. The
Normans were beaten back and forced to restore the
Church territories to the Pope ; Godfrey and Matilda
with their army once more returned to Rome, where
Matilda was hailed as a conqueror and treated with
every honour. Fiorentini1 says that the engagement
at Aquino took place in the middle of the month of May
1066. Such is an outline of the account given by most of
Matilda's biographers, anxious to glorify their heroine.
Cardinal Nicholas of Aragon says too, describing the
manner in which the Normans were overrunning Cam
pania : 2 ' Therefore the Archdeacon Hildebrand, unwilling
1 Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 92.
3 Vitae Rom. Pont., p. 303. There is a very similar passage in Bonitho,
Liber ad Amicum (ed. Jaffe), pp. 652-53, and that is certainly contemporary
evidence.

THE CHURCH OF MONTE CASSINO 103
to tolerate these aggressions, appealed for help to the most
powerful Duke Godfrey in the recovery of the patrimony of
the Blessed Peter. At his summons the celebrated Duke,
together with the illustrious Countess Matilda, quickly
collected an immense army and hastened to Rome, and
set forth against the Normans in great force . . . and
having recovered the city of Capua, and restored it to the
Roman Church, the glorious Duke and the Countess
Matilda returned with joy to the care of the Lord
Alexander.' Yet, on the other hand, later historians
declare that there is no contemporary evidence in favour
of the statement that she accompanied her step-father
on this expedition, nor do these writers make much of
the battle of Aquino.1 It is certain, however, that some
sort of an agreement was arrived at between the con
tending forces, and that Alexander and Richard were
reconciled is evident, from the fact that the following
summer, 1067, Alexander stayed at Capua on his way
to Rome after a journey jnade in southern Italy, to
promote the work of Church reform. Sometime later,
in the year 1071, an immense assembly of Norman chiefs
and southern bishops, together with princes from all
parts of Italy, were gathered at Monte Cassino, when
Pope Alexander consecrated the new abbey church. The
presence of a great number of South Italian bishops was
a proof how much the Papacy owed to the Normans,
since they had been the means of wresting many of these
sees from the hands of the infidels — or from the Eastern
Church. 1 See Chalandon, vol. i. p. 221 ; also Overman, p. 124. The latter, how
ever, mentions Bonitho's account of Matilda's presence in the south of Italy,
but is inclined to discredit it, since it is confirmed by no other writer of the
period.

104 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER IX
Confusion existing regarding the date of Matilda's marriage with
Godfrey of Lorraine — Vedriani's account — Most probably the
marriage took place between 1069 and 1071 — Differences between
husband and wife — Matilda's journey into Lorraine — Return to
Italy — Godfrey in Italy in 1073 — Gregory elected Pope — Evil
conduct of the young Emperor — Gregory's Council in 1074.
IT is a curious and harassing fact that so little
reliable information about Matilda is available ;
many documents that would have helped us
have perished, or disappeared, and it is often difficult to
arrive at any satisfactory conclusion from the histories
of her life still extant. Her birthplace is uncertain, even
the year of her birth disputed, and as regards her mar
riage with Godfrey the Hunchback, there are many con
flicting accounts, each of which places it in some different
year, covering the times between 1059 and I072 -1
Vedriani in his picturesque way says : 2 'In the same
year ' (i.e. 1059) ' the Countess Matilda, who, in her travels
to Florence and Sutri, and in returning to Mantua, had
been admired by the populace as an unusual spectacle
of beauty and valour, and had been seen as a new Bellona
amidst the armed companies, having reached the mar-
1 Overman (p. 124) inclines to think that Godfrey and Matilda were
formally betrothed in the year 1057. Repetti (vol. vi.) says that in 1055 an
act of donation to the abbey of Jean Batiste at Florennes, in the Duchy of
Luxembourg, mention is made of both mother and daughter (i.e. Beatrice
and Matilda) being already married at that date.
2 Vedriani, vol. ii. pp. 23, 24.

MATILDA'S FIRST MARRIAGE 105
riageable age of thirteen . . . was married at Mantua
(according to the wish of the Duke of Lorraine and
Beatrice) to the Prince Godfrey. A sister of this prince,
named Ida, of holy life and manners, was married at the
same time to Eustace, Count of Bouillon, and was
mother of Godfrey of Bouillon, who was afterwards
created King of Jerusalem. There did not exist between
these two who were thus joined together that passion
of love which is called by philosophers " love of love,"
but only that affection of human love, which consists in
true friendship.'
We are inclined, however, to think that the worthy
Modenese historian has mistaken his dates, and has also
confused the two Godfreys, since in her several journey-
ings, and in her visits to Rome and the campaigns against
Cadalous, he says further that Matilda was accompanied
by the two Godfreys, father and son. Godfrey the elder
undoubtedly accompanied Matilda to Rome and into the
field of battle, but there is no documentary evidence to
prove that his son Godfrey was ever in Italy before 1072 -1
The most probable date for Matilda's marriage seems
to have been between 1069-1071.
Duke Godfrey had occasion to visit Lorraine in the
year 1068 or 1069 ; in 1069 he was stricken by mortal
illness, and it is believed that both Beatrice and Matilda
hastened from Italy to Lorraine and were present at his
deathbed. Duke Godfrey's death is described by a contemporary
chronicler in a very graphic way.2 As he felt his end
approaching he betook himself to his castle of Bouillon
in the Ardennes, and commanded the presence of the
1 See Dieckmann, p. 17.
2 See Chron. Huberti Andaginensis (ed. Migne).

106 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
abbot of St. Hubert, Dietrich by name. Godfrey made
him a full confession of his sins, and with heavy sobs
handed over to him the sword he had loved so well,
knowing that his time had come, and that never more
could he draw it in battle. Then he had himself carried
to the neighbouring Church of St. Peter, and explained
to the abbot in the presence of his son Godfrey, how he
had determined to build here a monastery, in accomplish
ment of a vow he had made before the Pope. He then
presented the abbot with a precious casket containing
relics of the saints, which had formerly been collected by
the Marquis Boniface. Godfrey now wished that the.
casket and its contents should form part of the endow
ment of the abbey, and desired the abbot to see to the
accomplishment of his vow, when he himself should be
no more. The abbot gave the promise very unwillingly,
knowing how unacceptable it was to Godfrey's son, who
was not so devoted to the religious life as was his father.
At length, however, Dietrich complied with the dying
warrior's request, and in a happy frame of mind Godfrey
was taken from Bouillon to Verdun, where he peacefully
awaited his last hour, attended by Matilda and her mother.
Here at Christmas 1069 he breathed his last.
Godfrey, whose history has concerned us here in so
far as it touched Matilda's, had known the most curious
reverses of fate. Born to a great inheritance, he had
been driven from it as a fugitive, and had endured days
of utter misery ; then a lucky stroke of fortune had
placed him in a position of almost kingly grandeur —
tradition has it that an imperial crown might have been
his, and although that high place was never granted
him, for the rest of his life he occupied an unusually
prominent and influential position. But his latter days

MATILDA'S FIRST MARRIAGE 107
were marred by the suspicion of his allies, and there was
something lacking in his character which prevents his
name from standing out clearly amongst the great men
of these times. Posterity can see in him only a man who
knew how to use the moment to the best advantage for
himself, but whose ambition ever had some mysterious
check on it, and he certainly had not learned the value
of truth and righteousness, in spite of the possession of
very manly qualities. ' He had been feared by all,
trusted by few,' and his death was a relief to allies and
enemies alike.
Some historians think that Matilda's marriage to the
younger Godfrey was actually consummated at that time.
This seems the most likely date,1 for although there is a
document, dated 1st of January 1071, at Pisa, in which
Matilda is referred to as ' daughter of Marquis Boniface
of blessed memory,' as Dieckmann has pointed out,
there is nothing in this document to prove that she was
present when it was drawn up. On the 28th of September
of this year Beatrice,2 alone at Frassinoro, makes a
donation ' for the soul of my beloved daughter Matilda,'
which seems to indicate that Matilda is very far from
her. It is possible, therefore, that Beatrice returned to
Italy alone after the death of Godfrey the elder ; if this
were so, she would hardly have left Matilda had she not
been already married.3
In the Chronicle of St. Hubert,4 the monastery in the
Ardennes to which Duke Godfrey made his dying dona
tion, there is mention made that the younger Godfrey
and the Abbot Dietrich quarrelled, as Godfrey refused to
1 Pannenborg, p. 26. z Idem, and see Overman, pp. 125-126.
* See Overman, pp. 126, 243-244.
4 Chronicon. S. Huberti Andag. (ed. Migne).

108 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
carry out his father's wishes with respect to the donation,
and that after this ' his wife Matilda left him and returned
to Lombardy ' ; and in January 1072 we have evidence
that Matilda was with Beatrice at Mantua,1 where there
is a parchment in which she styles herself ' Countess and
Duchess,' an exceedingly rare thing with her.
Absurd legends have grown up around the subject of
Matilda's marriage. For instance, Mellini quotes two
accounts of earlier writers, one of which says that Matilda
made war upon her husband, and the other that she had
his head cut off as she could not stand his barbarous
treatment ! Riccobaldo, a Ferrarese historian of the
thirteenth century, after describing Matilda thus : ' A
woman of great talent, admirable courage, and marvellous
strength . . . she had great beauty, which she retained even
to the last years of her life,' relates calmly that, because
she could not brook his interference in the government of
her states, she had her husband murdered, and richly
rewarded the murderer. Of the more sober-minded
writers after Vedriani, come many who say that Matilda
consented to a political marriage with the younger
Godfrey, in order that both he and his father might be
induced to fight against Cadalous — others say against the
Normans, but that she expressly stipulated that it
should only be a marriage of state.
Those of her biographers who lived at a time when the
division between laity and clergy, between the purely
secular and the cloistered life, had grown more distinct,
and who, being biassed by ecclesiastical opinions, are
anxious to prove that Matilda's life must have been the
ideal life of a woman of later days, either ignore her
marriages, or declare that neither of them was ever
1 See Pannenborg, p. 26.

MATILDA'S FIRST MARRIAGE 109
consummated. For in the latter part of the Middle
Ages the Church held that woman's devotion to God
could only be proved by renouncing the life of the world
for the life of the cloister. Now Matilda unquestionably
devoted her life to the service of God and His Church,
but it was necessary to prove in the eyes of these his
torians that she had conformed as far as possible to the
ecclesiastical ideal, and that although compelled to live
in the world she was in no respect of it, and that she
practically lived the fife of a nun.
Obedience ? Was she not obedient to every command
laid on her by Pope, bishop, or priest? Poverty ? Had
she not stripped herself of wealth and possessions for
the good of Holy Church ? Therefore she could not fail
likewise to have kept the nun's third vow. But the
researches of modern historians have completely dis
posed of this constructive attempt of the priestly bio
graphers, and as Matilda x repeatedly refers to Godfrey
as her husband, it seems highly probable that the filius
hereditarius,2 whose existence was at least contemplated
in a contemporary instrument, was actually born to
Godfrey and Matilda, though in any case he did not
survive his infancy. It is curious to note in passing
that while Italian contemporary history either wilfully
ignores the possibility of this child, or else was really
ignorant of the circumstances, a century later there are
many allusions to it. Although grotesque legends were
current about Matilda's son, it would seem as if they all
came from some thin source of truth, as if something —
1 In a donation to the Church of S. Martin in Lucca of the year J079,
Matilda calls herself ' Marchioness and Duchess, widow of the late Godfrey
who was Duke,' and later refers to the ' afore-mentioned Godfrey who was
my husband.' From Fiorentini's collection of documents, p. 105.
2 Overman, p. 243 ; Dieckmann, p. 17.

no MATILDA OF TUSCANY
some vague, remembered story — had slowly filtered down
from far Lorraine and found its way into Italy, to be
straightway hidden far beneath the surface in a deep bed
of fiction.1
The following is the so-called ' Legend of Orval ' (from
Clouet's Hisloire de Verdun, vol. ii. p. 109), often referred
to by modern writers. It is to be regretted that so
interesting and detailed a narrative of Matilda's son
should have no documentary evidence to support it, and
must therefore be regarded entirely as fiction. The dates
are obviously inaccurate, and moreover, as Dieckmann
points out, had this six-year-old son been in existence at
the time of his father's death, Duke Godfrey would hardly
have bequeathed his estates to his nephew, Godfrey of
Bouillon : —
' The Duchess Matilda, when she came to this country,
was still young : she had with her her only son, who was
eight years of age. They were seeking both a refuge and
wise counsel from Godfrey of Bouillon, their relation,
after the assassination of the glorious Duke Godfrey of
Lorraine. Matilda, full of sadness, wished to renounce
the world and confide her son to the care of Richer of
Metz, who shortly afterwards became Bishop of Verdun ;
but the Duke of Bouillon dissuaded her from taking this
step, saying that the young heir to so large estates ought
to be instructed from his youth upwards in the arts of
war, as well as in the science of government ; and many
days were passed in deliberating on this subject. It was
the winter season, which, in this particular year, was of
such rigour, that on the Semois, the river of Chiny, the
1 See Chronica de Civitate Januensis, * edita a Frate Jacobo da Voragine,
chap, xiv ; Historia Imperatorum of Riccobaldo (about 1295) > Chron. de
reb. Ven. of Lorenzo dei Monaci, and Ughelli's Italia Sacra.

LEGEND OF MATILDA'S SON ill
ice could bear the heaviest carriages. The people of the
neighbourhood amused themselves with sporting on the
ice : they even held a fair on the river, with all sorts of
shows ; and the young prince, attracted by the noise,
ran out of the castle to play upon the ice with the children
of his own age. In the middle of their games a terrible
thing occurred : the ice broke under his feet, and as he
fell into the water the sharp edges of the ice cut off his
head. He alone perished in this accident, which leads
one to suspect that the wicked men who coveted his
heritage had prepared this trap for him. Thus perished
this young prince, in 1079, two years after his father.
Matilda's grief is indescribable : she bitterly regretted
the abandonment of her plan of confiding her unfortunate
son to the care of Richer at Metz. She had him buried
by the side of his ancestors, and then fear seized hold of
her when she reflected that this tragic event was perhaps
the result of a conspiracy against her son, and she hastily
departed for Italy, almost as if in flight.'
Fiorentini, in the first part of his Life, declares that
there is little doubt that Matilda was actually married
to Godfrey the younger, that the marriage took place
probably about 1069 by proxy,1 but that it was not
consummated till 1072. It can be proved that Godfrey
was in Italy in 1072-73, and was exercising his rights as
Duke and Marquis of Tuscany in conjunction with
Beatrice at Pisa and Ancona.2 Moreover, Fiorentini says
that Godfrey the younger was never in Italy before io72.s
Dal Pozzo also places Matilda's marriage by proxy in the
1 In Part II. he contradicts this, and after much reasoning on the matter,
inclines to think Matilda was not actually married to Godfrey. See Part II.
pp. 321-327. See here Don Tosti, pp. 296-97 (ed. 1859).
2 Overman, pp. 127-128. Also Muratori, Annali, vol. vi. p. 20.
8 Fiorentini, lib, I. p. 101.

112 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
year 1069,1 and affirms Godfrey did not visit Italy until
1072. (Both Fiorentini and Dal Pozzo were ignorant of
the fact of Matilda's journey to Lorraine.) Against this
we have the statement of a modern historical writer,
Villemain, who says that Godfrey returned to Lorraine
from Italy after his father's death, and was then absent
from Italy for some years.2 Certainly it would seem
curious that, since Godfrey the elder had established
himself in Tuscany for nearly twenty years, his son should
only visit that country after his death.
When and where the marriage occurred may remain
contested points, but all historians agree that it was far
from being a happy union. Except for the gift of courage
they both possessed, there could have been little in
common between these two. As they differed physically,
Matilda strong, straight, and beautiful, Godfrey short,
deformed, and hideous, so their tastes differed. Matilda
was too entirely devoted to the affairs of the Church to
be able to give to her husband more than a very partial
consideration, and if it were only reasons of state that
urged her to this step, she must soon have repented of it.
With her step-father she always appears to have had great
sympathy — perhaps at first she hoped for the same with his
son ! Yet Godfrey the Hunchback, in spite of his physical
drawbacks, had many attractive qualities — his valour, his
perspicacity and wisdom are spoken of with respect by
more than one historian. ' To our citizens ' (i.e. of Verdun)
' he was never an oppressor, but always a most kind and
bounteous ruler,' writes Laurence of Liege,3 and Mellini
calls him ' gentilissimo Donzello ' — a most gentle knight.4
1 Dal Pozzo, p. 247.
9 Villemain, however, quotes no authorities for this statement.
* Quoted from Dieckmann, p. 86. * Mellini, p. 32.

MATILDA AND GODFREY 113
The Italian historians have entirely ignored the fact
of Matilda's visits to Lorraine, and have implied that she
never left Italy. We do not know for certain whether
Matilda and Godfrey ever actually met again after 1072-
73, although letters must have been exchanged between
them. The Chronicle of St. Hubert tells us that Godfrey
wrote to his wife commanding her to return to him, but
she replied, telling him he ought to come to Italy in order
to restore to her keeping the ivory casket containing the
relics of some saints which had once belonged to Boniface,
her father, and which her step-father Godfrey had handed
over to the Abbot Dietrich as earnest of his bequest, as
we have already seen. Godfrey eventually did comply
with his wife's request, and came down to Italy bearing
the ivory casket, which he had wrested from the abbot by
violence, but Matilda does not seem to have been pleased
even at the restitution of her property, for in January
1073 we hear of him in Pisa together with Beatrice, where
they sat in judgment in a court of law ; 1 and as there is
no evidence to prove that Matilda was present, and as
there is a document extant which shows that on the 8th of
February she was at St. Frediano, Lucca, where she alone
is mentioned, it would seem as if she had avoided a
meeting with her husband. On the other hand, Dieck-
mann2 thinks that it is probable such a meeting had
already taken place at the end of 1072 in Lombardy,
possibly at Reggio, where Matilda and her mother made
a donation to the abbey of San Prospero, and it is sup
posed by some writers that Matilda and Godfrey were
present together at Gregory's consecration in Rome
(June 1073.)
In the meantime, in Germany the young King Henry
1 Overman, p. 127. 2 Dieckmann, p. 42.
H

114 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
was growing to manhood, dissolute and unrestrained,
unfortunately too readily influenced by evil companions.
Already in 1065 he had been declared of age, but he still
remained under the power of the princes, and intrigue
succeeded intrigue ; on the whole, however, Germany
remained on good terms with Rome, and cordial letters
passed from time to time between the Pope and the
various prelates in power in Germany, for the latter were
very anxious that, at no very distant date, their young
King should receive the imperial crown from the Pope.
In the year 1066, however, Henry's first serious quarrel
with his nobles took place. Before his father's death,
while yet an infant, he had been betrothed to Bertha,
daughter of one of the most powerful Burgundian nobles,
Otto of Savoy, Count of Turin, Maurienne, and Taran-
taise, and of Adelaide, daughter of Manfred of Susa,
' who had ruled over a territory which stretched from the
Alpine heights to the Dora Baltea and the Po.' J This
Adelaide had first married Herman of Suabia, a step
brother of Henry 111., who, besides Suabia, had the count-
ship of Turin. At her father's death in 1035, in default
of sons, Adelaide was declared his heiress. Upon the
death of her first husband (1038) she also undertook the
government of his estates, and her third husband,2 Otto,
dying while his son was still a minor, she had his lands
under her rule as well. Thus she held sway over an
enormous tract of territory on both sides of the Alps,
which she ruled with a very firm hand, and even when
her sons grew to manhood she appears still to have held
the reins of government. Henry in. doubtless thought
the marriage of his son with a daughter of this powerful
1 Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 189-190.
2 The second husband seems to have been insignificant.

MARRIAGE OF HENRY IV. 115
lady would be a great political advantage, and serve as a
counterbalance to the power wielded in Italy by Duke
Godfrey. Bertha was of gentle disposition, amiable and
beautiful, and although educated at the German court,
she was utterly untouched by the evil influences about
her, and was devoted to the King. To his affianced
bride Henry,1 however, evinced the greatest repugnance,
and was enraged when his nobles insisted that the
marriage should take place, for he fancied this was only
another way of curtailing his liberty, and that Bertha
was but a tool in their hands. The marriage was cele
brated in the summer of 1066, but Henry steadily refused
to live with his wife, and three years later he publicly
announced his intention of obtaining a divorce, having
first won over Siegfried, Bishop of Mainz, to promise to
support him in this attempt. The nobles, dismayed at
this announcement, begged that the matter might be
settled at a council, and meanwhile the Pope's opinion
was demanded. Alexander despatched Peter Damian
to attend the council as his representative, and the King
was much incensed at the emphatic refusal given to this
demand. Peter Damian did not spare the young monarch,
and further declared that if he persisted in repudiating
his wife, the Pope would deny him the crown of Empire,
and Siegfried was told that he would be deprived of his
bishopric and excommunicated, if he upheld the King
any further in his unworthy intentions.2 The King,
finding that he could hope for no support in his attempts
to rid himself of his wife, finally gave way and agreed
to meet the Queen and try to overcome his dislike. At
length her gentle ways were the means of changing his
feelings of aversion, and Bertha succeeded in winning his
1 Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 133. 2 Giesebrecht, vol. iii. pp. 149-150.

116 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
sincere affection ; in his days of bitterest trial it was to
his wife that he could always turn for comfort and help.
In spite of Peter Damian's wrathful words to Henry,
he seems to have been favourably impressed by the young
King ; on the other hand, he was disgusted with the
German court and its licentiousness. He found every
where throughout the kingdom that bishoprics and the
important Church offices were bought and sold, and the
clergy living in wedlock. Many of the great German
prelates were summoned to Rome and made to do penance
for their sins of simony ; some of them were afterwards
pardoned by the Pope and allowed to resume their
offices ; others, like Hanno, did penance by voluntarily
assuming a very humble mode of life in some
monastery. From the beginning Henry was prejudiced against the
great princes of his kingdom, and he never forgave
Bishop Hanno for his coup d'itat. He had been bred in
an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion towards the
more important of his vassal princes, and was inclined
to choose his friends amongst those who belonged
naturally to a lower rank. Upon these favourites he
would bestow some particular mark of distinction, or
offer them some high office of state. This again created
jealousy and endless petty strifes, for the nobles resented
the presence of these men of low birth, whom they
regarded as mere adventurers.
At first Henry does not seem to have adopted an atti
tude of hostility to Rome. As we have already seen, he
yielded to the Pope's authority regarding his wife, and
although he often received big sums of money in exchange
for the appointment to a bishopric and seized the Church's
lands, he had several times accepted an ecclesiastical

THE LENTEN SYNODS 117
candidate in place of his own, when he found decided
opposition to his wishes.1
In Rome, meantime, Alexander continued to wage
war against ecclesiastical abuses. The great synods
convened by the Pope almost every Easter became after
a while a recognised annual institution. From the year
1072 onwards they were held in Lent, and growing in
importance, were attended by great prelates and lowly
priests, by mighty princes and humble seigneurs, from
every quarter of Western Christendom. The delibera
tions of these councils embraced all questions of the day ;
results of their decisions were carried far and wide ; at
first engaged more closely upon purely ecclesiastical
questions, slowly and steadily the decrees of the synods
were brought to bear on matters temporal, and the politi
cal opinions emanating from Rome grew more and more
important in the minds of the men, who acknowledged
her right thus to deliver judgment. In an age when
learning and culture, such as we understand them, were in
abeyance, when all means of communication were un
certain and unreliable, when the witness of the eye and
the ear had more weight with the majority of people
than the written word, no surer method of conveying
news, of enforcing commands, of impressing upon men's
minds the grandeur and the majesty of the Roman Church,
could possibly have been devised.
During the last few years of Alexander's Pontificate
the position of the Papacy was wonderfully strengthened
by the far-reaching policy of Hildebrand. In Lombardy
in particular, the death of Cadalous, which occurred in
1072, put an end to the schism for the time being, while
1 See Giesebrecht on the subject of the Bishop of Constance and the abbey
of Bamberg.

118 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
the Patarines grew in power, especially in the cities of
Piacenza and Cremona. In the south of Italy, as we
have already seen, although the Normans were occasion
ally disposed to overstep the bounds of the alliance they
they had entered into with the Papacy, on the whole
they rendered the Church a signal service in wresting
the land from the Eastern Empire, and later in expelling
the infidels from the whole of Sicily. Outside of the
peninsula also the Church was assuming a more authorita
tive attitude. William the Norman went to the con
quest of England with a banner blessed by the Pope,
who favoured this undertaking, hoping thus to win over
the full allegiance of the island to the Papacy. In
France, in Spain, strong efforts were being made to enforce
the new reforms, to put down simony, and forbid the
marriage of the priests. In far-off Poland and in distant
Scandinavia, in Hungary and Bohemia, all over those
parts of the world which acknowledged the authority of
the Western Church, a new feeling of deference to her
decrees, of obedience to her commands, was slowly
evolving itself.
In Germany, side by side with those who most earnestly
desired reform in the Church, was a strong body of
prelates who, lax in discipline themselves, were most
averse to any change in the existing state of affairs,
and the decrees prohibiting clerical marriages were the
most unpopular of all. There were also many who from
political motives viewed the growing power of the Papacy
with a great mistrust, and these now counselled the King
to firmness in the matter of the archbishopric of Milan.
Bishop Wido had died in 1071, and Henry's nominee for
the vacant see, Godfrey, a Milanese sub-deacon, had
already been excommunicated by the Pope. For Wido

ACCESSION OF GREGORY VII. 119
had previously abdicated, and Godfrey had been put
forward uncanonically as his successor, and then had
received support from Germany. Wido, however, did
penance for having recommended Godfrey, and had
resumed his office, which he held till his death. It was
now intimated that if the King did not persist in up
holding Godfrey, German prestige in Lombardy would
be irrevocably lowered. Henry, already growing anxious
about his position with regard to the Papacy, and tena
cious of what he considered the royal prerogative,
determined upon decisive action. In 1073, at a synod
held at Novara, presided over by the royal envoy,
Rapoto of Cham, the Lombard bishops consecrated
Godfrey. This act of defiance could not be passed unnoticed by
Rome, and at the Lenten synod in that same year, five
of the King's intimate counsellors were pronounced
excommunicate. Henry, however, persisted in upholding
Godfrey's cause in Milan, and did not dismiss his evil
advisers. But only a few weeks after the termination
of the Lenten synod, Alexander passed away (21st April
1073), and it was with the master-mind, that had practi
cally directed the policy of the Church for a quarter of a
century, a still more powerful opponent, that Henry now
had to deal. For with one accord the Romans, nobles,
clergy, and people acclaimed Hildebrand as their sove
reign Pontiff. In the Lateran Church, at Alexander's
funeral, the populace, the laity, and the clergy pressed
round the archdeacon, crying, ' Hildebrand is Pope !
The blessed Peter has elected Hildebrand ! ' Cardinal
Hugues le Blanc, who had formerly been a zealous
partisan of Cadalous and was now devoted to Hildebrand
— though later he once more deserted him — made an

120 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
impassioned speech in his favour,1 and the people and the
clergy shouted, ' St. Peter has chosen Lord Gregory as
Pope ! ' Thus was Gregory elected by the people at
large, and the election confirmed by the choice of the
Roman cardinals, bishops, and clergy. Although the
question of Henry's conduct with regard to the investiture
at Milan was still unsettled, and relations with the im
perial court were not on a friendly footing, and although
Hildebrand had been mainly instrumental in bringing
about the increase in the power of the Papacy, no active
opposition seems to have been made to his appointment,
and at his consecration the presence of Gregory, Bishop
of Vercelli, the King's chancellor, seems to indicate a
tacit consent on the part of Henry to Hildebrand's
election. There is no positive proof, moreover,2 that
Henry's assent had been previously demanded by the
Pope-elect. The ceremony of consecration took place on the 30th of
June 1073. Beatrice is mentioned as being present, and
it is thought by some historians that Matilda and her
husband were there as well. Godfrey had written to
congratulate Gregory on his election to the Papacy, and
through Matilda's influence he had been made General of
the Church's forces. It was hoped in this way to secure
his entire allegiance to the Papacy, and it is possible,
therefore, that he journeyed with his wife to Rome in
order to be present at Gregory's consecration.
In letters to Hugo, abbot of Cluny, his old master and
lifelong friend, to the Duchess Beatrice and others,
Gregory speaks of his hesitancy in accepting the Pontifi
cate. Yet at the same time he must have felt within
himself that there was no other man who at this critical
1 See Bonitho, p. 656. 2 See Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 241 and note.

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GREGORY VII

GREGORY'S LETTER TO GODFREY 121
period could have so adequately filled that high office.
Whilst determined in every possible manner to carry on
the work of his predecessors, and assert the supremacy
of the Church, and its right to rule absolutely with
regard to its own government, unfettered by King or
Emperor, Gregory seems to have been moved by no
personal feeling of animosity towards Henry, in spite of
his past conduct. In fact, he seems anxious to con
ciliate the young King, to draw him into the right way
by gentle means, and he was evidently very desirous that
ecclesiastical difficulties should be settled in a peaceful
manner. He thus writes of him to the young Duke Godfrey, in
answer to the congratulatory letter already referred to : —
' Touching the King,' he says, ' learn all our thought,
and all our wish. Nobody, we believe, has more care
than ourselves for his glory, present and future, nor
desires it with more fervour. For it is our wish, at the
first favourable moment, to express to him by our legates,
the affection and the vigilance of a father on those sub
jects which seem to us to affect the prosperity of the
Church, and the honour of the throne. If he listens to
us, we will have the same joy of his salvation as of our
own ; and he can certainly only work out his salvation
by confiding himself to our counsels and in the way of
justice. But if (which we fervently hope will not be the
case) he returns us hate for our love, and if, not recog
nising the justice of God, he repays only with contempt
the great honour he has received, the sentence, " Cursed
be the man who keepeth back his sword from blood," will
not fall on us, thanks to God. For it is not permitted to
us to sacrifice the law of God to personal considerations,
and to quit the path of justice for human favours ; the

122 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Apostle says : " If I would please men, I should not be
the servant of God." ' x
And in a letter addressed somewhat later to Beatrice
and Matilda he says : 2 ' Our wish with regard to the King,
as you have already seen from our letters, is to send him
pious men, whose voice may lead him back to the love
of Holy Church, his mother, and who will serve to instruct
and to transform him, so that he may become worthy
to receive the Empire. But if, contrary to our wish, he
disdains to listen to us, we cannot, neither do we dare,
turn from the Roman Church, our mother, who has
nourished us, and has often raised up for herself other
children from the very blood of her sons. And it is
certainly a better way for us to resist Henry in defending
the truth for his own salvation, even to the pouring out
of our own blood, than, in order to please him, to consent
to iniquity and to fall with him into the abyss.'
And Gregory remained true to these sentiments in his
subsequent dealings with the Emperor.
Shortly after the ceremony of consecration in Rome,
Gregory made a tour in the south of Italy. Of late years
there had been a tendency on the part of the Papacy to
show some favour to the heads of the Longobard princi
palities not yet entirely overpowered by the Normans.
Now Gregory had entered into friendly relations with
Landulf of Beneventum and Gisulf of Salerno. This
aroused Robert Guiscard's suspicions, so that when
summoned by the Pope to come and do him homage at
Beneventum, he declined to enter the town, and invited
Gregory to meet him in his own camp. This the Pope
refused to do, and Guiscard then took his departure.
1 Reg., i. 9 (6th May 1073). See Don Tosti, pp. 133-134.
2 Reg.,\. n.

POPE GREGORY VII. AND THE NORMANS 123
Gregory, therefore, was all the more anxious to bind the
other princes to him. He made a treaty with Gisulf of
Salerno, and with Landulf of Beneventum, who had once
been driven from his duchy, then reinstated, then expelled
again, and was now restored more or less as a vassal of
the Holy See, while Richard of Capua also entered the
alliance. These princes pledged themselves to defend
the Pope and the Papal territory, and never to invest
any one with Church benefices without the Pope's
sanction. In addition to the ordinary oath of fealty
which Richard took, there was added a curious clause,
evidently on account of Gregory's anxiety to take every
precaution against Henry's tampering with the Papal
vassals : ' As to the King Henry,' said Richard, ' I will
swear fealty to him, according to the counsel I receive
from thee, or thy successors, and always excepting my
fealty to the Roman Church.'
Gregory, pursuing his idea of an amicable settlement
with regard to the much-vexed question of investitures,
and in the hopes that Henry might through persuasion
be induced to yield, was anxious to hold an important
council in Rome, where all ecclesiastical differences then
vexing the Church should be most fully discussed. With
a view to this he proceeded to summon various prelates
of the Church, amongst them Raynald of Como, the
Empress Agnes's spiritual adviser; the Empress herself,
Beatrice and Matilda, the Duke Rudolf of Suabia, Henry's
brother-in-law, and one of his most powerful vassals, and
many other princes.
At this time Henry's subjects in Saxony were giving
him so much trouble that for the moment he had little
leisure to assert himself about the right of investitures.
For years the Saxons had felt themselves ill used, and

124 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Henry had found them amongst the most rebellious of
all his people. They resented his setting over them his
Suabian favourites. The number of castles he had
built, ostensibly as fortresses against the incursions of
Danes, Wends, and Poles, was another cause of offence,
and it was only too true that the soldiers and their
commanders had treated the natives very cruelly and
exercised great tyranny over them, and in many respects
the King's conduct towards them had been harsh and
overbearing. The peasantry had been driven to a state
of fury at the wrongs they had suffered, the nobles wished
to reinstate their rightful Duke, Magnus, who was detained
a prisoner by Henry, and they were also indignant at
the King for keeping the duchy in his own hands. Some
of the other princes joined them, for to many the King
had given such offence, both by his attitude towards
them personally, and by his irregular life, that there was
some talk of deposing him. To these suggestions two
of his nobles in particular, Berthold of Carinthia and
Rudolf of Suabia, listened eagerly, though outwardly
they held with the King! Rudolf had married Queen
Bertha's sister, was a very ambitious man, and a pro
fessed partisan of Church reform. Perhaps he was not
without hopes that he might succeed his brother-in-law
and King. Henry, driven to desperation, had retired to
his castle of the Harzburg, which the Saxons at once
besieged. From there he had escaped to the monastery
of Hersfeld, and summoning a council, he threw himself
at the feet of his nobles, professed the greatest contrition
for his misdoings, and promised to amend his ways. It
was at this time that he addressed a letter to Gregory,
the tenor of which greatly pleased the Pope.
' Guilty and unhappy we are,' he says, ' partly through

MATILDA AND GODFREY 125
the errors of a misguided youth, partly by the liberty
given us through absolute power, partly through the
deceit of those whose advice we have too easily followed,
we have sinned before Heaven and before you, and we
are no longer worthy of the name of your son, for not only
have we invaded ecclesiastical territory, but we have
sometimes sold the very churches to unworthy men,
impregnated with the poison of simony.' 1
The Saxons meanwhile had been joined by the
Thuringians, and were rapidly demolishing the hated
fortresses of the King, so that Henry's crown really
seemed in danger.
. All this time Duke Godfrey and his wife had evidently
not arrived at any permanent understanding, though an
effort had been made to heal the breach between them.
If we can trust the story of the casket, Godfrey had come
to Italy in a conciliatory frame of mind ; Beatrice had
urged her daughter to try and reconcile herself with her
husband, and for the time Godfrey had, no doubt, seemed
willing to adopt Matilda's ecclesiastical views. The
Pope, as we have already seen, had written him a very
cordial letter, and a meeting must have taken place
between these two, possibly at the time of the consecra
tion ceremony. It seems likely that Godfrey then
promised that, if the need arose, he would at any time
return to Italy with sufficient troops to fight for the
Church, and he would lead the Papal forces to battle.
He also pledged himself to further a better understanding
with King Henry. In return for these services the Pope
had promised to reward the young Duke of Lorraine
with the lordship of Sardinia, once the Papacy's claims
1 Quoted by Don Tosti, pp. 140, 141, from Mansi's collection, vol. xx.
P- 35-

126 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
to that island were established. Thus did Gregory hope
to win over Matilda's husband to the Papal cause, and
thus did matters stand when Godfrey left Italy. He
had established a right to the joint government of his
wife's estates, as can be seen from many a document of
this period, but with regard to Matilda herself he had
gained very little, if anything, by his Italian journey.
Outwardly harmony reigned, and it would seem likely
that Beatrice and Matilda accompanied him almost to
the foot of the Alps, for we have evidence that early in
August they were in Verona (see Chap. vn. and Appen
dix), and there is a parchment 1 extant confirming
another donation of Matilda's (dated August 18, at
Marengo) in which she gives some lands to a convent in
Parma ' with the consent of Duke Godfrey, my husband.'
We believe that this is the only document of Matilda's
in which such a phrase occurs, and the mention of Godfrey
in this connection would almost seem to imply that the
husband and wife were then, or had recently been,
together. Embittered by his wife's refusal to return with him to
Lorraine, and believing that she had been instigated by
the Pope in this matter, Godfrey's interests in Italian
concerns rapidly diminished. If we can read between
the lines of the vague accounts that have been handed
down to us, we may surmise that the personal disagree
ments of this unhappy couple were greatly aggravated
by the political occurrences of the times, and it was not
Gregory's influence working upon Matilda that alone
caused their final separation, as the later German critics
would have us believe. We can gather from the Pope's
1 The original of this document is to be seen in the Public Library at
Parma, together with a later copy.

GREGORY'S REBUKE TO GODFREY 127
letters at this period that Matilda was in a miserable
frame of mind, that she wished to leave the world and
retire into a cloister, that her religious zeal caused her in
time to regard her marriage as a sin — probably on the
score of consanguinity, since she and Godfrey were
cousins within the prohibited degree — and that Gregory
was the confidant of her troubles. But beyond the fact
that he counselled her in her religious exercises, that he
restrained her fervour and did not approve of her desire
for the conventual life, it is difficult to speak with any
degree of certainty. Matilda may have been temporarily
encouraged by the Pope to maintain the separation
between her husband and herself, for Gregory felt very
keenly Godfrey's indifference to Papal interests, as is
evidenced by the sharp rebuke conveyed in the letter
dated April 7, 1074. The Pope tells Godfrey he has
fallen away like so many others and has not kept his
word ; his father before him promised much to the
Church and did but little. ' Where are the soldiers that
thou hast promised for the defence of Peter ? Since
thou hast not accomplished that which thou promisedst
to the blessed Peter, we who are his Vicar, although
unworthy, do not bind thee to any engagement except
to watch over thy soul, as becomes a Christian.' 1
It was not only against Norman encroachments
that the Pope had wished to direct the armed forces
promised by the young Duke of Lorraine. He had
hoped they would also take part in a great expedition
against the infidels, a project which he had very much
at heart — a foreshadowing, in fact, of a great crusade.
Of this we shall hear more later. Hence the keenness of
his disappointment at Godfrey's defection. But when
1 Reg . , vol. i. p. 72 (7th April 1074).

128 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
we consider the meagreness of the details that have
reached us, and that we have only the guarded expres
sions employed by Gregory in his letters with regard to
Matilda's difficulties to guide us in forming an opinion,
and ignorant as we are of the more intimate messages
conveyed verbally by a confidential messenger, to whom
allusions are made in some of the letters, we realise that
there is too little reliable information at hand to enable
any one to speak with certainty as to whether the great
Countess was unduly influenced by the Pope in her
attitude towards her husband, and we doubt if Gregory
had any definite plan of keeping Matilda and Godfrey
permanently apart — rather it would seem that political
events conspired with Matilda's inclinations towards this
end. Once north of the Alps Godfrey's energies were directed
to helping his liege lord of Germany in his Saxon troubles,
and when the Pope's appeal reached him, he found himself
unable to divide his forces, or to quit the campaign upon
which he had already embarked. It was doubtless a
difficult question to decide — or would have been to many
a warrior, but the fact that Godfrey did not hold a given
promise as a matter of any great seriousness is evinced
several times in his career.
At this point it may be well to speak of a curious
confusion with regard to Matilda that has arisen in the
minds of some historians.1 More than one of them has
declared that her second husband was Azzo d'Este, and
from him she obtained a divorce on the grounds of con
sanguinity, and they quote one of Gregory's letters in
which Matilda's name is mentioned in connection with
this divorce. Now Pope Gregory in 1074 wrote to
1 Mario Equicola, History of Mantua, p. 26 ; also Mellini, p. 48 et seq.

COUNCIL OF 1074 129
William, Bishop of Pavia, and Heribert, Bishop of Modena,
asking for particulars of this demand for a divorce on
the part of Matilda, and the reply was sent in 1075.
And in another letter Gregory, writing to Countess
Matilda and her mother, begs them to offer every security
to Azzo d'Este, who is to pass through their states on
his way to Rome to give reasons for his marriage. Had
he been married to Matilda of Tuscany, the Great Coun
tess, this would hardly have occurred. Moreover,
Godfrey ' il Gobbo ' was still alive in 1074, a fact which
these historians have overlooked.
Fiorentini x and Vedriani both tell us that there was
another Matilda who is sometimes called Countess,
sister of William, Bishop of Pavia, who married Azzo
d'Este, and it is this lady that Dal Pozzo and others
have confused with ' la gran donna d'ltalia,' partly
through carelessness, and partly perhaps through the
difficulty of ascertaining exact dates in those early times.
It was not until 1074 that Gregory was able to arrange
for that council upon which he had built so much, which
was to re-establish the Christian faith in all its liberty.
Rudolf of Suabia dared not come, political affairs detain
ing him in his own country, and all the Lombard prelates
and the dissenting bishops of Germany were conspicuous
by their absence. On the other hand, there was a great
assembly of Italian dignitaries, lay and sacerdotal, all
the lords of Italy were there, the Empress Agnes,
Beatrice, and Matilda.
When the Pope entered the council-chamber, he was
greeted with shouts on all sides, ' Long life to Pope
Gregory.' He who for twenty-five years had been the
real director of the Papacy, and was now its head, had
1 See also Muratori, Antichita Estensi, vol. i. pp. 22, 23.

130 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
lost nothing of his youthful ardour or vigour, and he
bore his sixty years lightly.
Every act of this council served but to carry on the
work he had begun. Many archbishops, bishops, and
priests were forthwith excommunicated, for acts of simony
or for living in the married state, for Gregory was deter
mined to put an end to these abuses at all costs. Robert
Guiscard was struck with anathema, together with all
his followers, for sacrilegiously invading the Papal
territories ; and Philip i. of France was threatened with
excommunication if he could not justify his conduct to
the Papal nuncio, and give satisfactory assurances that
he would amend his ways.
The council then proceeded to pronounce decrees against
all those in general who had purchased their offices, and
the laity were forbidden to receive their administrations,
or to hold any intercourse with him whatsoever.
But the most important decree of this synod directly
attacked the much- vexed question of investitures. For
it expressly declared that investiture by lay hands was
contrary to the canons of the Church, and would hence
forth be dealt with accordingly. It was agreed that the
Empress Agnes and Beatrice of Tuscany should accom
pany the Papal legates to Germany bearing Gregory's
decrees to the King, and that they should try and see
whether it were possible to arrive at an amicable settle
ment of the differences about investitures, for Gregory
was unyielding in this matter, and at the council clearly
manifested that spirit of determination which dominated
his life, that no human force should prevent him from
carrying out the reforms in the Church which he con
sidered absolutely essential to her well-being in the
present, and her continuity in the future.

THE ABBOT OF ST. HUBERT IN ITALY 131

CHAPTER X
The Abbot of St. Hubert determines to journey to Rome in company
with the Bishop of Metz, and lay his cause before the Pope —
They are entertained in Pisa by Beatrice and Matilda, and
Abbot Dietrich is given letters to the Pope — Gregory receives
him and sends him away with power to act against Duke
Godfrey — Godfrey attempts a reconciliation with Matilda — The
plot against the Pope's life in Santa Maria Maggiore is unsuc
cessful — Gregory is made prisoner, but is released on the
following day — Death of Godfrey in February 1076, and of
Beatrice in April 1076— Matilda has henceforth to standalone
— Henry iv. is reproved by the Pope for his evil conduct — Re
taliates by commanding the Pope to vacate the Chair of Peter,
and sends an envoy to Rome with an insolent letter to Gregory
— Gregory excommunicates him and many German bishops —
Effect of this on Henry's subjects, who declare he must have
the sentence of excommunication removed, or lose his kingdom.
The excommunicated bishops hasten across the Alps to ask for
absolution — Henry departs from Spires, halts at Besancon for
Christmas, and finally, with great difficulty, crosses the Alps in
the winter of 1076- 1077.
IN the spring of 1074 another incident occurred to
alienate Matilda and her husband still further —
an incident which shows us, too, how very widely
apart were their views, and how very little value Godfrey
attached to a given promise.
Godfrey had now entirely gone over to the imperial
party, and had taken part with Henry in the Saxon
campaign, as we have already seen. His quarrel with
the Abbot Dietrich over his father's bequest to the abbey
was still maintained, for upon his return the monks had

132 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
put in a claim for the lands and the treasure the elder
Godfrey had bequeathed to them, and the young duke,
whilst not denying the obligation, tried to reduce the
amount of it. He refused to endow the abbey with all
the promised territory, nor would he give the whole of
the treasure, and, as we know, he had wrested from the
abbot the ivory casket, which he had forthwith returned
to Matilda. The abbot had borne this treatment in
silence until he heard of Hildebrand's election to the
Papacy. Realising what a zealous advocate the Church
had acquired in the new Pope, he determined to go to
Rome and lay the whole case before him. He was
accompanied on his journey by the Bishop of Metz, and
passing through Tuscany, they halted at the ancient
town of Luna. Here a messenger from Beatrice met
them. She had heard what illustrious wayfarers were
on the road, and had sent, in her own name and in that
of her daughter, to beg them to come to Pisa and celebrate
the Easter festival at the court they were holding there.
The two travellers accepted this invitation with glad
ness, and knowing how much of the Pope's friendship
their prospective hostesses enjoyed, they hastened on to
Pisa, and were received with great favour at the palace.
The bishop was asked to celebrate high mass in the
chapel, but the good abbot, overcome with the magnifi
cence of the two princesses and the splendours of their
court, hid himself in the crowd with his chaplains, and
chanted the mass to himself in a whisper.
Matilda, however, recognised him amongst the crowd,
and beckoned to him to come and take the place reserved
for him in the choir.
When the service was concluded, Matilda sent for the
abbot and questioned him closely as to his mission to

THE ABBOT OF ST. HUBERT IN ROME 133
Rome and the subject of his complaint against Duke
Godfrey, her husband. She was much struck with the
moderation he displayed even in his accusations, and
advising him to lay the whole case before the Holy
Father, she gave him letters of recommendation from
herself, and exhorted him to lay them in the Pope's
hands. The abbot, much cheered by the kindness of
the Tuscan princess, continued his journey, and upon
arriving in Rome he handed in his letters. He was
received most graciously by the Pope, and his case was
listened to with every courtesy. Upon his departure
he was given a bull which placed under the safe keeping
of the Holy See all the goods, territories, and possessions
of the abbey of St. Hubert, present or to come, and all
the donations which had been, or were to be, made to
it ; and under pain of anathema any one who should
dare to appropriate them.
It is said that the good abbot, in a spirit of Christian
peace and charity, had begged to be relieved from the
obligation of claiming the legacy made by Duke Godfrey,
but the Pope would hear none of this, and he further
placed in the abbot's hands two briefs, one to the Bishop
of Cologne and the other to the Bishop of Liege, engaging
them to force Godfrey, either by the weight of their
counsel or by the terror of anathema, to fulfil the under
taking made by his father.
The prelates succeeded in carrying out the Pope's
injunctions, inasmuch as the lands were handed over to
the abbey ; the duke yielded with an evil grace, greatly
incensed doubtless, that Matilda should have taken the
part of the abbot against him in this difference.
Yet in the following year, when Henry, anxious to
come to some agreement with the Pope on ecclesiastical

134 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
matters, sent an embassy to the Tuscan court begging
his kinswomen to act as mediators, Godfrey took the
opportunity of employing one of the ambassadors to
plead his cause, and see if a reconciliation could not be
effected between himself and his wife. Henry, however,
did not manage to come to any agreement with Gregory,
and as Godfrey had now thrown in his lot entirely with
the King, Matilda and Beatrice hesitated to accept his
advances, or to be reconciled ; and at the end of the year
an incident occurred which must have widened still
further the breach between husband and wife. For a
terrible attempt was made on the Pope's life. The chief
actors in the plot were Cardinal Hugues le Blanc, Gregory's
erstwhile admirer, who had now joined the ranks of his
enemies, and Cencius, son of the Prefect of Rome, whose
name has already been mentioned in connection with
Cadalous. After the final discomfiture of the antipope,
Cencius had for a time conducted himself as a worthy
Roman citizen. Then he was discovered in an attempt
to rob the Church of some property, and was forced by
Gregory to restore his ill-gotten gains, and from that
moment he became an avowed disturber of the peace.
He built a tower close to the bridge over the Tiber leading
to St. Peter's, and here, with many a deed of violence,
he robbed the passers-by under pretence of levying toll.
This time his own father was the means of bringing him
to justice, and he was imprisoned and condemned to
death. Now it happened that when this occurred Matilda was
in Rome in order to attend the Lenten synod (February
1075), and she pleaded so effectually for Cencius's life
that, upon solemn promise of amendment, he was pardoned
by the Pope and set at liberty. Instead of gratitude for

PLOT TO ASSASSINATE GREGORY VII. 135
this act of mercy, Cencius evinced the greatest hatred
towards his benefactors and was secretly plotting to
secure the Pope's person.1 Cardinal Hugues was only
too willing to foster this animosity, and according to one
account it seems probable that the conspirators received
help and approval from the German court.
At length the moment was deemed ripe for action.
At midnight on Christmas Eve (1075) Gregory was
celebrating mass at Santa Maria Maggiore in the Chapel
of the Manger ; the huge basilica was practically deserted
and very few worshippers were present, for a terrible
storm was raging over the city. The most solemn part
of the service had just been completed, and the faithful
knelt in silent adoration. Suddenly their devotions were
interrupted by loud cries from without, and a body of
armed men rushed into the chapel. Bursting through
the chancel gates, they roughly seized hold of the Pope
and with the utmost violence dragged him down the steps
into the body of the church and out through the great
eastern door, where the rest of their accomplices awaited
them. Here he was bound, placed on a horse, and carried
off to a strong tower near the Pantheon, held at that
time by Cencius and his disaffected band.
Not a sound, not a cry escaped Gregory, though he
was severely wounded on the forehead and had been
dragged down the church by his hair. He bore all these
indignities with the greatest fortitude. When the news
was bruited abroad that the Holy Father had been seized
and roughly treated, and his life threatened, Rome rose
in a body. The tower was besieged by an angry multi
tude, battering-rams and instruments of war were
brought out, and they threatened that not one of its
1 Don Tosti, p. 164. See also Meyer von Knonau, vol. ii. p. 587.

136 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
inmates should be spared unless the Pope were at once
set at liberty. Cencius had been awaiting an opportunity
to send Gregory bound and a prisoner to Germany.
Now that the tide had turned against him, he was in
abject terror. As a preliminary measure of safety, he
threw himself at the Pope's feet, and expressing the ut
most sorrow for what he had done, besought his pardon.
This Gregory granted him, on condition that, as penance,
he should depart at once on a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land. Gregory was then allowed to go free, and was
received by the people with the greatest joy. Hardly
was he released, than he insisted on returning to Santa
Maria Maggiore to finish the interrupted mass, and there
after blessing the people, he retired to the Lateran. This
incident, coupled with the story of his undaunted courage
in the face of his enemies, endeared him still more
to his own followers, and brought over many waverers
to his side. Cencius had fled the city with his wife and
family, and taking up his abode in a small fortified town
in the Campagna, he was able to harry the Church's
lands with impunity. He opened up negotiations with
Guibert of Ravenna and Cardinal Hugues, and was
regarded by them as a staunch ally. The renegade
cardinal repaired to Ravenna to confer with Guibert, and
then hastened over the Alps to take counsel with all the
disaffected clergy in Germany. He reached Worms in
time to play an important role at that memorable
assembly (January 24, 1076).
The news of the attempt on the Pope's life gradually
spread outside Rome, and doubtless, when it reached the
ears of the Tuscan princesses, they were filled with horror.
It may be that this news brought Matilda to a decision.
She had been hesitating for some time whether to accede

DEATH OF BEATRICE OF TUSCANY 137
to Godfrey's request and again enter into some sort of
relation with her absent husband, and now to realise
that Godfrey should be capable of siding with those who
countenanced so infamous a deed, may have given the
finishing touch to her resolution, and from that time
forth no word was interchanged between the unhappy
husband and wife. Godfrey never returned to Italy
after 1074, and in February 1076 he was foully murdered
at Antwerp. He remained unreconciled with Matilda to
the last, and after his one unsuccessful effort to bring
about an understanding, no further communication
appears to have taken place between them. We wonder
if Matilda repented of her decision when the news of her
husband's death reached her ? At all events her heart
was softened after his death, and so much of compassion
she felt for him that she begged Gregory to pray for
the peace of his soul.
On the 18th of April of this same year, 1076, Beatrice,
whose health had long been failing, passed out of this life,
at Pisa, the city she loved so well. Her death was a source
of bitter grief to Matilda, and a great loss to Italy.
Beatrice, a most devout woman, although devoted to
Holy Church and to the land of her adoption, never
forgot her kinsfolk beyond the Alps. Her relationship
with Henry made it only natural that she should act as
mediator between the Emperor and the Pope, and she
was always more than willing to undertake this thankless
task, and did her utmost to soften and move Henry to a
better way of living.1 Her efforts to bring about a better
understanding between the Pope and King are thus
described by Domnizo : — ' The King lived on the other
side of the mountains, the Pope abode in Rome ; a legate
1 See Muratori, Annali, vol. vi. p. 210.

138 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
with swiftness transmitted all news to both of them, and
between them stood as mediator the renowned mother
of Matilda, who, desirous of seeing a bloodless peace re
established in all the kingdom, solicited the King to agree
with the pious Pontiff, and supplicated the Pope to love
the King ' (lib. i. cap. xix.). The long journey Beatrice
had taken in 1074 into Germany was certainly a proof
of her desire for peace. Henry was not insensible to her
goodness, and always wrote of her with great affection.
It may be that with her dying breath she commended
this task of mediation to Matilda ; at the same time,
without doubt, she admonished her daughter to continue
in her devotion to the Roman See, and in all things and
all ways to serve the Holy Father. And so she passed
away, full of a great charity to all mankind, beloved of
high and low. Her remains rested for a while within the
Cathedral of Pisa, then were removed outside the great
facade, and finally were deposited in that beautiful
sarcophagus, carved ages ago for some pagan hero with
the story of Hippolytus and Phaedra. As we read her
epitaph, chosen probably by herself, we seem to catch a
glimpse of the simplicity of a truly great spirit :
' Quamuis peccatrix sum Domna vocata Beatrix,
In tumulo missa iaceo quae Comitissa.'
(' Although a sinner, I was called Lady Beatrice, I, a Countess,
now lie in this tomb.')
From henceforth Matilda stood alone in the world ;
no human bonds or earthly affections prevented her from
giving her whole life undivided and unstintingly to the
Church. Her position at this time must have been
unique in the history of Italy, unique in the history of
the world. A woman, still comparatively young, in the
zenith of her beauty and power, under tutelage to no

TOMB OF BEATRICE AT PISA

MATILDA'S POSITION 139
male relation, absolutely free, in fact, in a manner un
precedented in her epoch, with unbounded riches, un
numbered vassals at her command, and nearly the half
of Italy under her sway. On the one hand, she had
received the training of a warrior ; on the other, there had
been the strict discipline imposed on her by the Church.
Somewhat obscured by the history of later times, more
positive to us since there are more ample details to hand
concerning them, blurred by the mists of ages past since
her days, the radiant figure of Matilda shone forth
refulgent in the centuries that immediately followed her
own. Painter and poet depicted her. Dante has given
her to us as a beautiful young girl beside the waters of
Lethe — she might also have been represented side by
side with the warrior saints of Paradise. Cimabue, it is
said, painted her as a warrior maiden, leading a horse
with one hand, and holding a pomegranate in the other,
symbolic alike of her prowess and her purity.
Various princes sought her hand in marriage when the
period of her mourning was at an end. Robert, eldest
son of William the Conqueror, is mentioned later amongst
her suitors,1 and the Emperor of Constantinople, ' who
sent her rare gifts of robes and precious jewels.'2 But
to none of these would she listen. To the Church and to
the Church alone she dedicated her life, until the time
came when a later Pope urged upon her a marriage
of policy, of which we shall speak hereafter.
Very soon after the death of her mother, Matilda was
called upon to forget her own personal sorrow in the
greater troubles which menaced Italy. The previous
winter Henry had succeeded in mastering the Saxons,
1 Muratori, Annali, vol. vi. under year 1088, also Antichita Estensi, vol. i.
p. 16. a Luchino, p. 5.

140 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
and encouraged by his victories, he felt more at hberty
to defy the Pope. In direct contradiction to the sub
mission indicated in his letters, he had persisted in retain
ing his evil counsellors, and without consulting Gregory
he had appointed two of his favourites to the vacant
sees of Milan, Fermo and Spoleto respectively. Gregory,
tired of the King's disloyalty to his word, had despatched
nuncios to the court bearing with them a grave letter
of admonition, dated 8th December 1075, and a still
severer message : ' Unless before the next Lenten synod
the King dismissed his evil companions and amended his
conduct, he would be cut off from all communion with
the Church.' This message aroused still further the
spirit of defiance in Henry, for after treating the Pope's
legates to great indignities, he summoned a council at
Worms on Septuagesima Sunday, January 24, 1076, to
depose the Pope. At this council, Hugues le Blanc,
Gregory's former friend and supporter, now, through his
defalcations, an unfrocked priest and ex-cardinal, actually
accused Gregory of licentiousness, simony, and necro
mancy.1 Although it was easily seen that these accusa
tions were prompted by malice and a desire for revenge,
they were eagerly seized upon by Henry as a justification
for his actions against the Pope. Most of the German
prelates agreed to Gregory's deposition, and a document
was drawn up which all signed, renouncing their oath of
obedience to him, and swearing no more to call him
sovereign Pontiff. To this there was added a letter, in
Henry's name, couched in most insulting terms. It was
agreed to lay the decisions of this council before an
Italian assembly of bishops in Lombardy and then
forward them to Rome, and afterwards a new Pope was
1 Villemain, vol. ii. p. 44 ; Milman, book vn. chap. ii.

HENRY'S LETTER TO GREGORY 141
to be chosen by the King. Henry then wrote another
insolent letter of a more private nature to the Pope, and
despatched a missive to the Roman people.
The Lombard prelates, the disaffected bishops of
Ravenna and Ancona, two of Henry's greatest supporters,
were advised of these proceedings. Overjoyed at the
prospect of humiliating Gregory, they rapidly spread
the news through the northern towns, and from Piacenza,
where Henry's envoys had attended the Lombard synod
and had caused to be confirmed the decision of the
Council of Worms, Roland, a cleric of Parma, was
despatched to Rome to bear these insolent letters to
Gregory. Travelling hastily day and night, he reached
Rome in time for a Lateran council Gregory had con
vened on February 21st, Abruptly entering the assembly,
he thus addressed the Pope : ' My master and all the
Italian bishops, together with those on the other side of
the Alps, command you at once to vacate that seat
which you cannot hold without their sanction.' Then
turning to the clergy, he said : ' Brothers, the King calls
you to his presence for the approaching feast of Pentecost,
when he will give you a new Pope in place of this voracious
wolf.' At these audacious words there was a burst of
fury from the assembly ; it seemed to them blasphemy
that a low cleric should dare to thus address Christ's
Vicar. Many swords were drawn, and a rush was made
at Roland, who narrowly escaped being run through.
Gregory, however, insisted he should be spared, and with
great calmness and dignity dismissed the assembly for
that day. On the following morning Gregory read aloud
to the council the letter that Henry had sent, addressed
to ' Hildebrand, false monk and priest,' a letter unworthy
of a king, full of false accusations of simony, magic,

142 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
ferocity, tyranny, and so forth, coupled with the out
rageous command to vacate the Chair of St. Peter which
he had usurped.1 ' With one voice the bishops cried that
Henry should be cut off from the body of Christ as an
unclean member, a worker of scandal amongst the
faithful.' After a short imposing silence Gregory lifted
up his eyes to heaven and prayed, calling the saints to
witness that he had not usurped the governorship of the
Church, nor had he looked upon his elevation to the Holy
See as a conquest, but as a sacred duty. Then solemnly
and slowly he pronounced the sentence of excommunica
tion on Henry, relieving all Christians of their oath of
fealty to him, and forbidding any to obey him as king.
Further, Gregory anathematised all of the bishops,
German and Lombard, who had taken part in the Council
of Worms, and suspended them from all episcopal
functions. To those who had subscribed to the heresies
under constraint, or who were willing to repent and
recant, he offered absolution under certain conditions.
They should be pardoned if they came in person to
demand it, or if they sent satisfactory envoys before the
feast of St. Peter. Otherwise there remained no hope for
them. A great many historians think that both Beatrice
and Matilda were present at this most memorable council.
Gregory thereupon addressed a letter to the German
princes explaining the reason that had caused him to
take this severe step against their King. North of the
Alps the effect of the excommunication sentence made
itself felt at once. To the disaffected amongst Henry's
subjects it gave encouragement to fresh rebellion, and
1 This letter is to be found in the Codex Udalricii|47, January 24, 1076
(Monumenta Bambergensia, Jaffe, vol. v.). The concluding words are as
follows : — ' Ego Heinricus Dei gratia rex cum omnibus episcopis nostris tib
dicimus Descende, descende per secula dampnande.'

DIET OF TRIBUR 143
the most timid of those who were still faithful to him
fell away, for fear the Pope's curse should overtake them
likewise. The tide had turned, and on all sides Henry
was made to feel the bitterness of desertion and defiance.
Rudolf of Suabia set a bad example in this respect by
freeing the Saxon chiefs made prisoners in the war, whom
Henry had committed to his charge. Forthwith in
Saxony, Bavaria, and Suabia an orderly campaign was
organised. Seeing the general anarchy, many bishops
and chiefs sent deputies to Rome begging the Pope to
come to Germany and appoint a new ruler over them,
since on all sides disorder and disobedience prevailed.
After a long conference held in October at Tribur on the
Rhine,1 the German lords made known to Henry that
they had asked the Pope to celebrate the approaching
Feast of the Purification at Augsburg, there to hear
their accusations, to absolve or to condemn him. They
declared that unless Henry caused the sentence of
excommunication to be raised, before the anniversary
of the day upon which it had been pronounced, he must
fall for ever from his kingdom.2 On the other hand, if he
1 There is a possibility that, during the summer of 1076, Matilda paid
a visit to Lorraine in order to put in a claim for some of her dead husband's
lands. It is known that she wished to bestow the fiefs of Verdun, Stenay
and Mosay upon his cousin Albert of Namur, and begged Bishop Dietrich of
Verdun to act on her behalf in this matter, but whether this was done
personally or by letter has not been proved. (The legend of Matilda's ring is
referable to this period. See Appendix A.)
The probability of this northern journey of Matilda's would fall in well
with the theory advanced of late years, that she attended the diet of Tribur,
and acted in conjunction with the Empress Agnes and Hugo, abbot of Cluny,
as mediator between the princes and their disgraced sovereign, and that
mainly owing to their joint representations the proposed Council of Augs
burg was insisted upon. A passage in a contemporary writer, Arnulf of
Milan, alluding to a great conference such as the one held at Tribur, is
quoted in corroboration of this theory.
2 There was naturally no precedent forjudging an excommunicated king,

144 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
obtained this grace, and showed sincere repentance and
amendment, they would return to their allegiance, pro
vided always the Pope approved of this measure. They
would also undertake to render the King all assistance
in his journey to Rome for the imperial coronation, and
they would help him to drive the Normans out of Italy ;
but in the meantime he was to remain at Spires, more or
less as a prisoner of state, with only a small band of
retainers, especially chosen by the princes. They de
manded further that he should at once send a letter of
contrition and submission to the Pope, and also beg him
to come to Augsburg. Henry yielded in an abject
manner. He acknowledged the Pope's right to ex
communicate him, and his own guilt in daring to assume
that he had the right to depose the Pope. He further
confessed that he had assumed a false position with regard
to the nobles, for he had no royal rights independent of
those they granted him, and he promised that if he suc
ceeded in obtaining absolution and recovering his king
dom, and that if subsequently the crown of Empire were
bestowed upon him, he would remember both as King
and Emperor that these rights were his only by the grace
of God, and the favour of the Pope and the princes of
the realm.
As regards the letter to the Pope, Henry contrived to
alter its substance, and implored Gregory to grant him
an interview in Rome. Gregory refused this interview,
but consented to the Augsburg conference as suggested
but the princes had based their decision upon the accepted civil laws, which
declared that if a man should remain under the ban of the empire for longer
than one year, he would forfeit the rights over his estates. See Giesebrecht,
vol. iii. p. 390 and notes, p. 1146, where it is explained that these were pro
bably the leges palatina referred to by Lambert, not necessarily laws reduced
to a written code.

HENRY'S JOURNEY TO ITALY 145
by the German princes. Henry, driven desperate by
this refusal, dreading the extreme humiliation of appear
ing as a guilty man and a penitent before all his German
vassals, in deadly fear of losing both Empire and Kingdom,
resolved to undertake the perilous journey into Italy
and to implore in person to be released from the ban of
excommunication. He communicated with Matilda and
Hugo, abbot of Cluny, his godfather, urging both of them
to intercede for him with the Pope. He did not tell
Matilda that he contemplated an immediate journey,
but he begged the friendly abbot to go himself and
plead for him.
At this time many bishops and temporal lords were
hastening over the Alps to rid themselves of the burden
of anathema. Henry may have been moved by their
example, but the difficulties in his way were even greater
than theirs. To such a state of penury was he reduced
that he had actually to beg for the necessary means for
making the journey from some of his subjects, and they,
touched by their King's wretchedness, provided him with
money. A few days before Christmas, therefore, Henry
left Spires, accompanied by a few faithful followers, his
wife and infant son. Bertha, whom the King had tried
to repudiate in the days of his prosperity, never left his
side now that evil times had befallen him, and on her he
leant for comfort and for aid.
The little band journeyed to Upper Burgundy and
celebrated Christmas at Besancon with Count William,
a nephew of the King's mother. It had been agreed
before they started that they should try and reach Italy
by one of the more eastern passes, since all the nearer
and less difficult ones were held by Henry's rebellious
vassals. Shortly after the Christmas festival they crossed

146 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
the Rhone near Geneva, and entering the territory of
Adelaide of Susa, Bertha's mother, they effected a meet
ing with her at some small place, possibly Chenes.1
Allusion has already been made to the great lady of
Turin in a previous chapter. She was a most devoted
admirer of Gregory, and a friend of Matilda. Her other
daughter was married to Rudolf of Suabia, Henry's
rival, therefore she was not disposed, for the time being,
to look with particular favour upon Bertha's husband.
The fugitive King was eager to ensure a safe passage
across the mountains for himself and for his companions,
and it would appear that Adelaide deemed the moment
opportune to beg for the rights over certain bishoprics
which she had long coveted. Henry is said to have
compromised by offering her a tract of land contiguous
to her own estates, providing, of course, that he succeeded
in regaining his kingly rights to dispose of territory in
this manner, The bargain, whatever its nature, having
been concluded, Adelaide seems to have been willing to
help in every possible way. Perhaps the promised
addition to her possessions held some very special value
in her eyes, or it may be that she was really touched by
the tears and sufferings of her daughter, for eventually
she accompanied these unfortunate travellers on their
perilous journey, and undertook later to plead for
Henry with the Pope. Doubtless her presence facilitated
1 ' In locum qui Civis (or Ciuis) dicitur,' writes Lambert of Hersfeld.
The name has been variously interpreted as Vevay, Civasco, Chivasso, or
even Mt. Cenis. But it would seem as if a place or town were specially
indicated, and since we know where it was that Henry crossed the Rhone,
and it is most probable that he traversed the Alps by way of the Mt. Cenis,
we are inclined to think that Giesebrecht's surmise is correct, and that
Chenes, a village not very far from Geneva, is intended here (Giesebrecht,
vol. ii. p. 1147); Lambert, an. 1076, p. 219 (Chron. rer. Germ.).

PASSAGE ACROSS THE ALPS 147
their journey, for none of her vassals could well refuse
the King all possible help when their liege lady was in his
company. In the times with which we are now dealing, the
passage over the Alps was a very different matter to what
it is nowadays. The old Roman roads had disappeared
across many of the passes, but in some cases a track was
kept open for pilgrims, who, journeying mostly on foot,
would choose one of the easiest ways ; in winter, however,
the best of these were mostly impracticable. In this
winter certainly, none but a king, outcast and wretched,
deserted by all save a faithful few, and a most tender
wife, none but a man in mortal fear lest worse ills should
befall him, would have dreamed of attempting such a
feat. For the winter of 1076-77 is noted by all the
chroniclers as one of the severest on record. The Rhine
and the Po were frozen over from November to April,
and most of the vines were killed. In the Alps the
severity of the storms and the quantity of snow and ice
were extreme. Nothing, however, could deter Henry
from the journey once undertaken, since only a few weeks
remained to the fatal term ; — unless absolved before its
expiration, the sentence of excommunication would be
rendered final. So the little band started from the
village where they had tarried with Adelaide to make
arrangements, and rode to the foot of the mountains,
and up the all but unrecognisable track as far as was
feasible. They reached the summit tediously, the horses
crawling, feeling their way in the teeth of the storm, and
there they halted for the night, starting forth the next
morning to encounter worse perils. For descent in that
slippery region seemed well-nigh impossible with safety.
The guides tried to lower the horses over some of the

148 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
steep slopes, but many of them became unmanageable
and perished. Bertha, Adelaide, and the few women
they had with them were covered over with bullocks'
hides (sewn into them, some say), then placed on
sledges hastily constructed of rough logs, and partly
dragged, partly lowered over the worst places in the
descent. After indescribable dangers, numerous falls,
and narrow escapes, thanks to the courage and intre
pidity of Adelaide's guides, they safely reached the
foot of the mountains and arrived thus in Piedmont.

GREGORY'S JOURNEY 149

CHAPTER XI
Gregory leaves Rome and is escorted by Matilda and her troops
through Lombardy — On hearing Henry is in Italy he turns
aside to Canossa — Arrival of excommunicated bishops and
laymen — They receive pardon- — Gregory at Canossa — Henry's
arrival — Penitence and reconciliation with the Pope — Henry's
plot to entrap Gregory frustrated by Matilda's man-at-arms —
Gregory remains in Matilda's strongholds throughout the
summer.
THE weight of years and his great activity were
beginning to tell on Gregory, and a severe
illness some months previously had weakened
his iron frame. Yet in spite of these considerations, and
in spite of the bitter wintry weather, he determined to
fulfil his promise to the German princes, and to start
upon the long and arduous journey to Augsburg. As
he was making preparations, word was brought him that
Matilda would meet him half-way and give him escort
through the disaffected parts of Lombardy. A romantic
writer x tells us that as far south as Viterbo ' a large
detachment of her Tuscan cavalry, commanded by the
barons of Spoleto, Amelia, Perugia, and Camerino, rode
forth and formed themselves into a strong bodyguard
for the Pope,' whilst Matilda left her mountain fastnesses
with her special band of armed warriors, and met the
whole company at Lucca. However this may be, we
know that the Pope was in Lucca sometime at the
1 Padre Bresciani in Matilda di Canossa e Iolanda di Gronigen.

ISO MATILDA OF TUSCANY
end of 1076, or beginning of 1077,1 but it would seem
almost more probable that Matilda met the Pope in
Florence, for we hear of him there on December 28th.2
After this the accounts of his itinerary are conflicting —
some writers say that he went as far north as Vercelli,3
others that he actually reached Mantua. This last
hypothesis seems the most likely, as he himself says that
he was waiting the arrival of the escort promised by the
German princes which was to guard him from Mantua
over the mountains to Augsburg. While he halted there,
tidings reached him that Henry had arrived in Italy,
and this news was far from reassuring. Lombardy and
Piedmont were in a state of ferment, and already the
discontented bishops were assembling troops to sup
port Henry, never doubting that he had come for
purposes of war. Matilda, thoroughly distrustful of
Henry, in spite of the protestations he had made so
recently, urged the Pope to return with her to Canossa,
where she would defend him if need arose, and where
they would be entirely surrounded by her own people.
Hugo, abbot of Cluny, who was returning from Rome,
where he had been to receive absolution from the Pope
on account of his intercourse with the excommunicated
King, being anxious to keep his promise to Henry,
willingly agreed to accompany Gregory. With an
immense retinue, Matilda and her many guests left
Lombardy behind them and reached Canossa in safety.
They had not long been installed within the precincts
of the castle, when, as forerunners of Henry, the German

1 See Vita Anselm?', Mon. Germ. Hist., vol. xii.
2 Reg. Pont. Rom., ed. JafK, vol. ii. p. 620.
3 Bonitho (p. 672) tells us that Gregory of Vercelli informed the Pope that
Henry had arrived in secret in Vercelli.

CANOSSA IS i
prelates and laymen whom Gregory had excommunicated
began to arrive. Across the snowy Lombard plains, and
up again into the mountainous region beyond Parma
and Reggio, they followed on Gregory's tracks, until at
Canossa's gates they stood awaiting the pontifical
absolution.1 In receiving them, Gregory said ' he would
in no ways deny pardon to the really penitent, but they
must wash themselves free from their sin with penance
and tribulation.'
He ordered that the bishops should be put into separate
cells, should have no communication with any one, and
should only have a small supply of bread and water at
nightfall. To the others, penances were ordered accord
ing to their age and strength. After several days they
were sent forth with the apostolic pardon, forbidden,
however, to hold any communication with the King.
Canossa, Matilda's greatest stronghold, beloved and
fortified by her forefathers for so many generations, must
have presented a remarkable appearance in those days.
Its natural advantages in times of war were very great,
standing as it did on a spur of the Apennines some fifteen
hundred feet high, and dominating the outmost edge of
the great Lombard plain. From its towers the view
extended immeasurably. On a fine day no less than
seven cities were visible,2 and so well were the approaches
to it contrived, that no great armed force could draw near
without being instantly perceived.
In Matilda's days, when Canossa was at the height of
its glorious epoch, it must have resembled a strongly
1 We are told that Lieman, Archbishop of Bremen, the bishops of Naum-
burg, Osnabriick, Strassburg, Lausanne, and Bale were at Canossa on January
28th. It is possible, therefore, that these may have preceded Henry in
receiving absolution.
2 Modena, Reggio, Parma, Guastalla, Carpi, Correggio, Mantua.

152 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
fortified little town rather than a castle so called. Upon
its only accessible side the citadel was protected by three
walls,1 and at various points within these walls were
the dwelling-places of the monks, immense accommoda
tion for men-at-arms and all the instruments of war,
stores, supplies, armouries innumerable, then the living
part of the castle which Princes and Popes had inhabited,
and towering above all the citadel itself, with the church
dedicated to St. Apollonio close at hand. Matilda's own
apartments and those appropriated to her guests must
have been of very great extent. At this time, for instance,
Canossa was able to entertain the Pope and his suite,
Adelaide of Susa and her ladies, Amadeus, Adelaide's
son, and the Marquis Azzo Adalberto of Este, with their
respective followers, and ' many other princes of Italy,'
as all the accounts say, who doubtless brought bodies
of retainers with them. Then there were all Matilda's
own people, and below in the monastery the monks and
their prisoners the Germans, ecclesiastics and laymen.
No wonder simple Domnizo the monk sings half boast
fully of Canossa's glory, saying she had become a ' new
Rome.' Henry's arrival in Italy had been hailed with joy by all
the schismatics, and they hastened to collect forces with
which to uphold his cause. They were much disgusted
1 The first wall protected a more or less level tableland at the base of the
rock, and it was here, doubtless, that Henry and his suite were lodged on the
nights of 25th, 26th, and 27th January 1077, for this space was occupied by the
dwelling-places of serfs, husbandmen, artisans, and soldiers, and resolved
itself into a miniature town. At any rate, so late as the year 1449, it was
known as 'i borghi di Canossa' (see Campanini, p. 62) and was entered by
one or two gates. The second wall appears to have started quite close to
the base, and ascending gradually to the summit, defended an unprotected
part which might otherwise have been scaled by besiegers. The third
appears to have encircled the summit, protecting the citadel, the church, and
Matilda's apartments.

CANOSSA 153
when they discovered that his defiance of Gregory's
anathema had broken down before the fear of losing his
German kingdom. Guibert of Ravenna even ventured
on remonstrances and taunts, but the King was not to
be turned aside from his purpose. He had left Germany
with the fixed determination of obtaining pardon from
the Pope, and fear for once made him stand firm.
Hearing that Gregory was at Canossa, he resolved to
journey there without delay. First, however, he deemed
it wise to ascertain whether the Pope were likely to
receive him ; as a preliminary measure, therefore, he
sent messengers ahead to Matilda, begging her to grant
him an interview. Matilda acceded with alacrity to
Henry's proposals, and a meeting-place was agreed upon.
Henry, leaving his wife and child behind, and accompanied
by his mother-in-law Adelaide, her son Amadeus, and
the Marquis Azzo of Este, rode forth from Reggio, while
Matilda and the abbot of Cluny descended from Canossa
to the rendezvous. It seems probable that this intimate
conference of Henry's friends was held at Bianello,
Matilda's sentinel fortress, which, together with three
other castles, mounts guard over the most direct approach
to Canossa ; possibly the great hall, where traces of a
fresco-portrait of Matilda yet remain, was the actual
scene of the debate. Here Henry represented his case
to these friends, and implored them to tell the Pope
that he came as a humble penitent ; all he begged for
the moment was to be absolved from the anathema. It
was agreed that Matilda should return to Canossa, taking
with her the King's relations, together with Hugo and
Azzo of Este, in order that they too should use their
influence and induce the supreme head of the Church
to receive the penitent King. Gregory, however, was not

154 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
inclined to leniency, and after listening to what they
had to say, he replied that it was an unheard-of thing
to discuss a case without the presence of both accusers
and accused, and he would wait till the council of Augs
burg before making his decision ; there Henry could
plead his innocence in the presence of the princes, his
accusers, and there justice should be rendered. In
answer to the Pope's objections, the mediators urged
that the King was only praying to be absolved from
excommunication, that he would reply later to his
accusers, and defer to the Pope's judgment entirely as
to whether he should keep his kingdom or not.1 Many
messages were carried to and fro between Bianello and
Canossa, many conferences were held during these
anxious days. Matilda and the others pleaded that
Henry should be received, not in his kingly character,
but only as a sinful man, and represented strongly the
danger he incurred of losing his kingdom for ever, if the
appointed day passed and the ban were not raised. For
a long while the Pope refused to yield in any way, for
he doubted Henry's sincerity. At last he said, as if to
test the King : ' If he is truly penitent, let him send me
his crown and insignia of royalty in token that he deems
himself unworthy to wear them.' For some reason these
conditions struck the mediators as too severe, and they
hesitated what to do. We are ignorant whether Matilda
returned to Henry and told him precisely what the Pope
had said, but in the meantime the King was anxiously
waiting to learn the result of all the negotiations, and as
already the third day had arrived, and no satisfactory
answer had been given to his prayers, he was preparing
to depart unabsolved. In a miserable frame of mind
1 Lambert of Hersfeld, Chron. rer. Germ., p. 220 a, b.

BIANELLO AND QUATTRO CASTELLA

fVex Ro <X\x ABBXTCm / (DaTI? il Dio^ScropIrcxrAri^

MATILDA, HENRY IV AND HUGO OF CLUNY
FROM .MS. OF DOMNIZO

HENRY'S INTERVIEW WITH MATILDA 155
he had retired to a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas,1 and
begged that Matilda and Hugo of Cluny would come and
confer with him. He then asked the abbot if it would
not be possible for the latter to act as his surety with
the Pope and swear that he would be true to his word.
Hugo explained that such a proceeding was forbidden
by his monastic vows. Matilda, however, added her
prayers to Henry's, but the abbot answered her : 'I
believe that you are the only one of us who can influence
the Pope.' Then falling on his knees before her, Henry
cried : ' Plead for me, cousin, plead for my forgiveness
with the Holy Father. If you do not help me now, at
once, I will never again break shield and buckler in battle,
since the Pope has condemned me thus. Go therefore
to him, oh ! most valiant cousin, and make him bless me
again. Go ! I beseech you.' 2
Matilda's heart was greatly touched by Henry's abject
misery. That the defiant, haughty monarch could be
brought so low, that nothing but the apostolic blessing
could ease his soul, seemed a sign of true repentance, an
earnest of real reform in the King's heart. Full of tender
pity and eagerness to help, Matilda therefore once again
retraced her footsteps and as swiftly as possible returned
to her mountain home, where she sought an audience
with the Pope. What arguments she used we do not
know ; there is some evidence 3 that Gregory was dis
pleased at the persistency of her appeal. At any rate
her mission was at length successful, and the following
morning word was brought to Henry that eventually
1 Recent Italian research, both topographical and historical, would seem
to indicate that this was a chapel of some note attached to the neighbouring
castle of Monterani, and often referred to in documents as Cappella Sancti
Nicholai de Canuxia or de Canossa in Castro Montis Zani (see Appendix C).
2 Dom., lib. 11. cap. i. s Lambert, p. 220 b.

156 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Gregory would see him, but he must be prepared for a
severe penance in order to expiate his sins. Accordingly
that very morning, Henry, attended by a very small
retinue, mounted his horse and rode up to Canossa.
Arrived at the outer gate, he bade farewell to his com
panions and was admitted within the second enclosure,
up the winding pathway which led to the gate of the
citadel itself. Here, divested of his royal robes and
kingly ornaments, clad only in a woollen shirt, and with
bare feet, he knocked, and humbly craved admittance.
No answer was given to this appeal, and throughout that
dreary winter's day the King stood and knocked in vain.
The gates remained fast closed ; the Pope was not dis
posed to mildness now. The outcast ruler of unnumbered
vassal-princes, the unworthy son of a mighty emperor,
was indeed to drink the cup of humiliation to its very
dregs. The cold was extreme, the snow lay deep on all
sides, yet for three long days the penance lasted — on
each successive day the scene repeated itself. From
morn till eve the King fasted, and clad only in his peniten
tial garb, knocked at the gates at intervals, begging to
be admitted to the Pope's presence, always with the same
result. Within Matilda's citadel we can imagine what
horror and consternation prevailed, how long and ear
nestly the King's most valiant cousin pleaded for him, how
his kinsfolk added their entreaties to hers, how Hugo and
the various prelates ventured upon expostulations, how
the horror of each hour that the King remained without
dragged itself on through the length of those three
dreadful days — from the tardy dawn of the wintry
morn's uprising till the merciful dusk of evening closed
in upon the mountains and shrouded Canossa in gloom,
a gloom which meant some hours' respite to the wretched,

CANOSSA 157
shivering penitent outside. The horror of it must cer
tainly have been uppermost. To the men of the Middle
Ages, a King was second only to the Pope himself.
Whatever his crimes might be, there still remained the
underlying conviction that a King was a divinely ap
pointed ruler even as the Pope — a lesser light, it is true,
burning dim at times, but still a light. Was the Pope
not exceeding his authority in thus abasing the Lord's
anointed ? Was he not rather breaking the bruised reed,
and quenching the smoking flax ? Was a King to be
treated with even more rigour than ordinary mortals,
to be laid lower than they, in the process of purifying
himself ? Some such thoughts as these must have passed
through the minds alike of mediators, onlookers, and
those so lately absolved themselves, until at length the
sentiment was voiced by one amongst them bolder than
the rest, and Gregory himself was struck with what was
said : ' This was not apostolic severity, but rather the
cruelty of a tyrant ! '
On the fourth day, therefore, the Pope relented, and
the penance was brought to an end. It was made known
to the King that Gregory would see him ; the gates were
thrown open and he was bidden to enter. Barefoot,
almost naked, and half frozen with the cold, he was
brought before the Pope, and throwing himself on the
ground with his arms stretched out in the form of a
cross, cried again and again : ' Pardon ! Holy Father,
pardon ! Only deign to pardon me ! I ask it from the
depths of my heart.' And the Pope, moved at length
by the sight of his sufferings, spoke to him commisera-
tingly and told him that the penance was at an end.1
Gregory appeared satisfied that the King was sincere
1 Dom., lib. n. cap. i.

158 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
in his expressions of contrition, solemnly removed the
ban of excommunication, absolved the King, and received
him again into the Church of the faithful, taking care,
however, that sureties for his future good conduct should
swear on their honour that the King would henceforth
walk in the right way, and keep all the promises that he
was then making. Hugo of Cluny, he who had baptized
the King, forbidden by his monastic vows to swear as a
layman, gave his word as a guarantee ; and Azzo
•Adalberto, Matilda's kinsman and faithful friend, Liemar
of Bremen, Gregory, Bishop of Vercelli, Benno of
Osnabriick, Matilda and Adelaide, ' together with other
German and Italian princes,' 1 undertook to act as Henry's
sponsors. 'They swore on the relics of the saints that
the Prince would accomplish what he had promised, and
that no event, no necessity would make him change his
resolution.' 2 The King was made to understand, how
ever, that it was as a man, not as a king he was pardoned
now. Gregory referred the matter of his quarrel with his
subjects to a later tribunal, since he could not settle
that matter without first hearing his accusers. All those
present were greatly impressed with the apparent sin
cerity of the King's repentance.
One contemporary chronicler of these events tells of
a further ordeal imposed upon the King.3 This, how
ever, it is said, he could not face. At a solemn mass cele
brated immediately after in the church, when Henry was
allowed to communicate, Gregory, after the consecration
of the Host, raised it in his hands, and solemnly repeating
all the sins that had been laid to his, the Pope's, charge,
1 Reg., iv. 12 a. 2 Villemain, vol. ii. p. 127.
3 Lambert of Hersfeld, pp. 220-221. This incident, however, has been
much questioned by later writers.

CANOSSA 159
said : ' Behold the Body of the Lord, which I to-day take
in proof of my innocence, so that to-day the omnipotent
God in His justice may absolve me from the suspicion
of the crimes imputed to me if I am innocent, or may
cause me to die suddenly if I am guilty.' And Lambert
says further : ' Having pronounced these and other
terrible words, with which he invoked God as the most
just judge of his cause and asserter of his innocence,
he took a part of the Body of the Lord and consumed it.'
Turning to Henry, he said : ' My son, do thou as I have
done. If God avouch thy innocence, thou wilt stop for
ever the mouths of thy accusers.' Henry hesitated —
stammered out that he must consult his friends ; as
this was a private ceremony, he would reserve the ordeal
for a more public occasion, for his enemies would not
accept such a method of justifying himself, and so forth.
Was he in his heart already regretting the step he had
taken, and was his penitence even now insincere ? It is
difficult to gauge the exact measure of his iniquities, and
whether or not his sorrow and his desire for pardon were
genuine for the moment, or whether he was deliberately
acting a part ; but whichever way we look upon this
picture, with regard to previous or subsequent events,
if we look back upon what had happened before Canossa
— Henry's repeated promises of amendment to Gregory,
his promise to his subjects, his failure to keep them, his
reiterated defiance of Gregory's ecclesiastical authority ;
if we look forward to what happened afterwards, and see
how little this solemn act of contrition influenced the
King, how lightly he broke his word — on whichever side
we look we cannot find that Gregory was over-severe, we
can only feel that he had every right to make the most
of the King's submission and cause the penance to be

160 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
a rigorous one — both as a punishment and as a warning.
These were days when object-lessons were the most
effective, when men paid more heed to absolute might
than theoretic right. It was not Gregory who had been
defied, it was the Church of God and, through the Church,
the Almighty Himself. Through the power that the
Almighty had placed in his hands, Henry had violated
His laws, instead of upholding them. The King had
failed in his obligations as a king and as a man ; there
fore his kingship must be taken from him for a time,
and his manhood must do penance to the utmost, since
his sins had been more than those of an ordinary man.
How little the warning served, how very superficial was
Henry's repentance and sorrow, is shown by his subse
quent conduct. Gregory's own account of the Canossa
incident is interesting in the extreme. He addressed a
letter to the bishops and princes of Germany thus : — 1
' Gregory, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to
all the Archbishops, Dukes, Counts, and rulers in the
Teutonic Kingdom who defend the Christian faith,
salutation and apostolic benediction !
' As in this struggle of the Church militant you have
made common cause with us and shared our perils, we
take pains with sincere charity to make known to your
affection in what manner the King, having humbled him
self by penitence, has obtained the grace of absolution,
and how the whole affair has been conducted since his
entrance into Italy up to now.
' According to that which had been agreed upon with
your envoys, we arrived in Lombardy about twenty
days before the day fixed in which certain chiefs were
to conduct us over the passes, awaiting their arrival.
1 Appendix D.

GREGORY'S LETTER TO GERMAN PRINCES 161
But the date passed, and it was told us, that owing
to many difficulties, it had been impossible for them to
come and meet us, which we readily believed ; and as
we had not with us the means to reach you, we remained
in doubt as to what course we should take. In the mean
time we learnt for certain that the King had arrived in
Italy, and he, before entering the kingdom, had sent
ambassadors to us, supplicating us, and promising us
that he would give satisfaction in all things to God, to
St. Peter, and to ourselves, and that he would entirely
obey us in amending his ways, provided only he could
obtain from us the grace of absolution, and the apostolic
benediction. And whilst we deferred answering him,
and were deliberating maturely, we did not cease to
reprove him for his excesses by means of his ambassadors.
Finally he laid aside all appearance of hostility and of
anger, and came with a small suite to Canossa, where we
were abiding. There for three days, before the gates,
having put off every royal ornament, and with a de
meanour that called forth pity, since he was barefoot,
and clothed only in a woollen shirt, he did not cease to
implore with many tears the apostolic clemency, so that
all those who were present, moved to compassion by so
sad a spectacle, began with prayers and with tears
to intercede for him, marvelling at our unusual hardness
of heart, and a few saying amongst themselves that this
was not the sternness of apostolic severity, but rather the
cruelty of a ferocious tyrant. At last, moved to pity
by his compunction and by the warm prayers of those
around us, we absolved him from the ban of excommunica
tion, and received from him the promises which you will
see below, the which were further confirmed by the
abbot of Cluny, by our beloved daughters Matilda

162 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
and the Countess Adelaide, and by the princes, bishops
and laymen, who seemed to us becoming in this
respect.' Gregory continues by saying that in a short time he
will come to Germany in order to consult with them in a
better manner on all things appertaining to the Church,
and to decide with them if Henry is to be replaced on
the throne. With this letter he sends the formula that
Henry's friends had sworn to and signed, in which the
King promises to submit himself hereafter to the judg
ment of the Pope as regards his kingdom, and to aid the
Pope in every way in his journey to the meeting of the
princes at Augsburg, or wherever else shall be deter
mined. This document is dated 28th of January at
Canossa.1 But to return to Henry. When the ceremony in the
church was concluded, a banquet was prepared, and the
Pope, the King, princes and bishops then present at
Canossa, partook of Matilda's hospitality. After this
Gregory gave the King a few parting words of advice,
especially warning him against intercourse with certain
of his former evil counsellors. The King promised
obedience, and was forthwith bidden to depart in peace.
No news of what was taking place at Canossa seems to
have reached Reggio, where a number of the King's
adherents, many of the excommunicated bishops of
Lombardy among them, had gathered to await his return.
They imagined the King was conferring with the Pope,
and had not realised the intensity of his penitence.
Before Henry had left Canossa, Gregory had despatched
Ebbo of Naumburg to tell them of the King's re-
admission into the Church and to bid them come to the
1 Appendix E.

HENRY'S COUNTER-PLOT 163
Pope likewise and receive absolution, since through
holding intercourse with an outlawed man, they too had
come under the ban of excommunication. They replied
with the greatest indignation. Submit to a Pope who
had already been declared excommunicate himself !
Never ! If what the bishop told them was true, then the
King must have taken leave of his senses ! He was
staining his name and honour, and lowering the glory of
the Empire, by prostrating himself before such a priest !
So great was the fury this news excited, that when Henry
arrived at Reggio he found its gates closed against him,
and on all sides he was constrained to hear inimical cries
and threats. He found it difficult even to obtain pro
visions, and was obliged to encamp outside the city. As
far as Italy was concerned, it was evident that his visit
to Canossa had not served to increase his popularity.
So high did the wave of feeling rise against him that there
was some talk of electing his infant son in his place, and
at once setting up Guibert of Ravenna as antipope.
It was only by a counter-plot that Henry managed to
turn the tide. A few days later he sent to ask the Pope
to accord him another interview. Gregory agreed to
this, and accordingly at Bianello the meeting took place.
In reality Henry was planning the Pope's ruin, though
outwardly all submission. He listened with deference
to the Pope's warnings and admonitions, and finally
invited Gregory to confer with him shortly afterwards
on the other side of the Po, that they might discuss more
fully all the important matters on hand, and when many
German princes would be present. Gregory and Matilda,
entirely unsuspecting, started to this rendezvous, accom
panied by a powerful escort.1 Midway however, one of
1 Dom., lib. 11. cap. i.

164 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Matilda's men-at-arms, who had been despatched ahead,
came riding back post-haste, and implored them to
proceed no further. He had somehow managed to over
hear that an ambush was being prepared for them, and
Henry intended to seize Gregory and to carry him off,
or else to kill him outright. At once the whole party
wheeled round and returned safely to Canossa. Matilda,
fearing further treachery on Henry's part, and knowing
in what a rebellious condition many of the towns were,
thanks to Guibert of Ravenna's machinations, persuaded
Gregory to pass the spring and part of the summer in
her domains. So from one strong castle to another
among the Reggian hills Gregory went, loyally upheld
and protected by Matilda's warriors and vassals. From
letters of his still extant we know that he was at Bianello,
Carpi,1 and Carpineta ; that he celebrated Easter at Non-
antula ; that on the 12th of May he had ventured as
far as Figarolo in the Ferrarese, then back to Carpineta.
Finally in August he descended from the mountains into
Florence,2 and on September 1st he was in Siena.
Matilda was forced to leave the Pope from time to
time on matters connected with the government of her
states. She was in Florence in June of this year and
1 This castle of Carpi, round which there gathered a small town, was
situated some fifteen miles north of Modena. Matilda defended it against
the Imperialists in 1083, and entertained Pope Pasqual there in 1106, possibly
on his way to the Council of Guastalla. She made liberal concessions to the
inhabitants of the town. The several franchises they obtained from her may
be considered as forming the elements of the municipal laws of those people,
reduced later to a formal code.
(This note was compiled from the registers kept by the ' Commissione
Municipale di Storia e Belle Arti' at Carpi.)
2 Tiraboschi, p. 122; Overman, pp. 141-142. The Pope's itinerary can
he traced with more or less exactitude from the Registrum (see Jaffe). There
is mention made of a letter to ' William, King of the English,' dated March
21st, from Bibianello.

GREGORY'S RETURN TO ROME 165
also in the neighbourhood of Pisa. Domnizo tells us
that she accompanied the Pope for many months, and
we may conclude that she joined him wherever possible,
and escorted him to Florence later.
All idea of Gregory's visit to Germany had finally to
be abandoned, since Henry would not, and Rudolf of
Suabia could not, provide him with a safe-conduct ; in
the middle of September, therefore, the Pope returned
to Rome. Here Domnizo has lost sight of the seasons,
perhaps with a view to express himself poetically, for he
says : ' And when the may was flowering in the fields,
the Pope returned to Rome, and the people hearing from
him what great things Matilda had done, cried out,
" May she live for ever ! " ' 1
1 Lib. II. cap. i.

166 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER XII
Civil war in Germany and the campaign against Rudolf of Suabia —
Gregory still hesitates to excommunicate Henry again— Re
bellion of the Lucchese against Matilda — Gregory pronounces
anathema on Henry once more and sends Rudolf the imperial
crown ; Henry has Guibert elected Pope at Brixen — Rout of
Matilda's troops at Volta and death of Rudolf — Henry and
Guibert encamp on the meadows of Nero outside Rome, and
for three years Rome is invested during the winter — Anselm's
letter to Guibert in defence of Matilda — Matilda forced to send
Canossa's treasure to the help of Rome — Triumph of the schis
matics — Henry's coronation in Rome — The Normans in Rome
— Flight of Henry — Sack of the city.
CONFUSION now reigned in the land, and civil
war raged in Henry's own dominions. The
King seems to have been possessed by a cruel,
relentless spirit, without mercy, without justice, without
faith ; for it was not only to the Pope that he failed to
keep his word ; again and again he broke it to his own
subjects, and to those on whom he had made war. In the
campaign undertaken against Rudolf of Suabia, he
shamefully set at naught a truce agreed upon by both
the contending parties, carrying war, fire, and sword into
Rudolf's own dominions. The miserable peasants fled
to the churches for shelter, but these were ruthlessly
fired by Henry's troops. Upon one such occasion over
a hundred people were burnt ahve. The King made no
effort to stay these wanton deeds of cruelty. 1
1 Villemain, vol. ii. p. 193 ; Giesebrecht, vol. iii. p. 448.

REBELLION OF THE LUCCHESE 167
In spite, however, of the fact that the majority of the
German princes had elected Rudolf king, in spite of
Henry's repeated treacheries, Gregory remained neutral
for some considerable time — whether from motives of
policy or clemency it is difficult to judge. Continual
envoys were sent to Rome by the rival monarchs, and
council after council was held, at which many excom
munications were pronounced.
Matilda seems to have been anxious that Henry
should once more be given a favourable hearing, judging
from a letter Gregory addressed to her early in 1079.
She appears to have suggested that her cousin Theo-
doric, Duke of Upper Lorraine, would act as mediator
between Henry and the Pope, if Gregory would interest
himself in the matter of the duke's marriage with the
widow of the Marquis Petronio. Gregory, however, re
fused to have anything to do with Theodoric, since
he had been excommunicated more than once by the
Bishop of Metz.1
During this time Matilda was obliged to pay repeated
visits to Lucca and to try with Anselm's help to quell in
cipient rebellions amongst the citizens, who were aided and
abetted by the canons. Of all her cities Lucca appears
to have given her the most trouble. The clergy were
particularly licentious, and longed to be free of Gregory's
stern rule ; they were continually urging the citizens to
revolt and to throw in their lot with Henry, and they even
plotted to assassinate Anselm. The irregular lives of these
ecclesiastics became such a scandal that Gregory decided
they should be deprived of their ecclesiastical benefices,
and that they should be judged by a court of laymen.2
1 Fiorentini, lib. II. pp. 109-110; Villemain, vol. ii. p. 224. See Greg
ory's letter, Reg., vi. 22 (3rd March 1079). s Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 195.

168 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Subsequently he wrote to say they were to be expelled
from the province of Lucca. To Matilda the plot against
Anselm was so horrible, that she wished to have the
conspirators punished with extreme rigour, degraded to
the rank of serfs at her court. This they never forgave
her, and henceforth lost no opportunity of welcoming
Henry to their city ; for many years after, Lucca was to
Matilda a veritable thorn in the flesh.
In the year 1080 Rudolf was able to report a series of
victories gained by his troops. News came to Rome
about the same time how shamefully Henry had treated
the Papal legates, and how in every way he continued
to defy ecclesiastical authority. Gregory hesitated no
longer. Anathema was once more pronounced on Henry,
and to Rudolf the Pope sent an imperial crown bearing
the inscription, ' Petra dedit Petro, Petrus diadema
Rudolpho.' Henry retaliated by holding a council of
his adherents at Brixen, at which thirty Italian bishops
were present, and there Guibert of Ravenna was declared
Pope. Guibert, Archbishop of Ravenna, a native of Parma,
a great friend of Cadalous, was a very different type of
man from his predecessor, the former antipope. Of good
birth, distinguished bearing, and blameless life, his talents
and education certainly fitted him to occupy an exalted
position in the Church. Had the See of Peter not been
already in the possession of one worthier than he, it is
possible that Guibert would have made a distinguished
successor to the apostle. As it was, his career was a
singularly blemished one, owing mainly to the ambition
which obsessed him, to the extinction of all better qualities.
As a young ecclesiastic, Guibert had ingratiated himself
with the rulers of the German court, and during the regency

GREGORY VII. AND GUIBERT 169
of the Empress Agnes he was made imperial chancellor
in Italy. When Hanno came into power he was removed
from this post, but later he was raised to the Archbishopric
of Ravenna through the influence of the Empress, and
came to Rome for his consecration a few weeks before the
death of Pope Alexander. For some time Guibert re
mained on good terms with Hildebrand, but a disagree
ment about the lordship of Imola, to which he had ad
vanced claims, was the primary cause of an estrangement
between the new Pope and the ambitious archbishop,
that led at length to open enmity on Guibert's part. If
not actually implicated in the conspiracy of Cencius,
Guibert showed the latter every favour after the failure
of his attempt upon the Pope, and from that time onward
Ravenna became the headquarters of the schismatics,
and its archbishop their acknowledged leader. Since he
could hope for no preferment from Gregory, he was at
pains to keep on good terms with Henry, possibly as a
means of compassing the downfall of his hated rival.
And now it would seem as if he had attained the object
of his ambition. ' Yet,' as the historian Giesebrecht
remarks so truly, ' Hildebrand in his abasement was
greater than his adversary in prosperity, for the former
was dominated by an ideal which gave weight to all his
actions, while Guibert in his empty honours was, and
remained always, the tool of others.'
When the decision of the Brixen Council became known,
the disaffected parts of Lombardy, and such towns else
where whose clergy refused to conform to the canons of
the Church, at once rose in arms. Troublous times
followed, most distressful both to Matilda and Gregory.
In the south of Italy, Robert Guiscard, having been suc
cessfully treated with by the Pope, threw in his lot with

170 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
the Papal power, but his help was extremely unreliable,
since at that time he was engaged in warring against the
Greeks. With this exception, there was no great lord
upon whom Gregory could count. Lombardy was for
long the centre of the conflict — and for a while the
schismatics triumphed. On the 15th of October, at
Volta, in the Mantuan territory, Matilda's troops met
Henry's, and after some severe fighting the Countess's
army was routed. The same day in Germany, on the
banks of the Elster, Rudolf of Suabia received bis death-
wound on another battlefield by the hand of Godfrey of
Bouillon, Matilda's nephew, and expired a few days
later. These two occurrences helped to swell the ranks
of Henry's adherents.
For Matilda the years that followed must have been the
bitterest, the most troublous of her long, strenuous life.
Town after town fell away from her, vassal after vassal
deserted her, the schismatic bishops grew in number,1
and the antipope waxed ever stronger. She retired into
her Lombard fastnesses, well aware that now the defensive
part was the wisest. In her last extremity there would
always be her beloved Canossa, in which she could defy
her enemies successfully — for Canossa had never yet
yielded to the foe — and amongst the mountains there
still remained many a castle fortress, whose lords were
true to her, and willing to fight for her to their very last
breath. Gregory, however, was alive to the fact that
Matilda's resources were being sorely strained. We
have on record a letter of his of this period, written
1 It must always be borne in mind that the bishops of this period were
practically great feudal lords, so that it was not only their ghostly moral
influence that counted in any battle or campaign, it was the solid considera
tion of their presence on a battlefield with a corresponding number of
retainers to fight for the party they favoured.

HENRY'S MARCH TO ROME 171
possibly in 1081, and addressed to the Bishop of Passau —
his vicar in Germany — and the abbot of Hirsau, begging
them most urgently to let ' our daughter Matilda know
if she can depend upon them for sending her sufficient
help in the way of men-at-arms to maintain her difficult
position ; otherwise she will be forced to make peace
with Henry, or lose all her possessions.' x The help was
never sent, however, and still Matilda managed to hold
on without yielding. Curiously enough, when Henry
entered Italy in 1081 and marched through Tuscany to
Vallombrosa and on to Ravenna, he does not appear to
have molested her territories to any great extent.2 He
was probably in haste to reach Guibert and confer with
him on the projected campaign against Rome. Henry
had been plotting to draw away Robert Guiscard's
allegiance from the Pope, and in May of this same year
Matilda sent to let Gregory know that a match was being
projected between Conrad, Henry's son, and Robert
Guiscard's daughter. This was evidently only a report
brought to Matilda by some messenger from Henry's
court, for we hear no more of the match afterwards.
Henry and Guibert agreed to march upon Rome
immediately, and they reached the customary camping-
ground for invading armies, the meadows of Nero, some
time in the month of May 1081.
1 See Overman, p. 148 ; Reg., viii. 26.
2 It was in this year, however, that he besieged Florence without succeed
ing in reducing the city. The Florentines had fortified themselves against
the Emperor by building a new wall around the city, and Henry abandoned
the siege after a few months. Muratori says (Annali, vol. vi. p. 269) : ' If
the Florentine historians are to be believed, Henry besieged Florence
ineffectually from April until the 21st of July. Villani writes, however, that
the siege terminated on the 12th of April. However this may be, it is
certain that, about the feast of Pentecost, King Henry appeared before Rome
with an army and with the antipope Guibert.'

172 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Some fighting took place, but nothing of any note
was effected, and the hot weather soon began to tell upon
Henry's troops, and made a movement to the north
desirable. So the Emperor returned into Tuscany, and
marching to Lucca, was received with open arms by its
citizens. He granted them privileges, and relieved them
from some burdensome taxations as awards for their
welcome. And it must have been at this time in Lucca
that a solemn court of law was held in Henry's presence,
and Matilda pronounced guilty of high treason. She
was placed under the ban of the Empire, and her goods
and her lands declared confiscate. It is manifest that
Henry was never in a position to enforce the decisions
of this court as far as Italy was concerned, but several
documents testify that he freely made donations of her
property in Lorraine to others of his subjects.1
A creature of Henry's was now appointed Bishop of
Lucca, and Anselm was forced to flee. He took refuge
with Matilda, and never again returned to Lucca. Shortly
afterwards he was appointed the Pope's vicar in Lom
bardy, and bishop of those cities whose erstwhile bishops
had gone over to the enemy. Gregory, in token of his
esteem, sent him his pontifical mitre. Anselm's office
was no sinecure, for many cities were very indisposed
to receive him in his official capacity. His counsels to
Matilda, both spiritual and practical, were invaluable.
So important was his position considered as Matilda's
adviser, that Guibert did his best to entice him away from
her side. Anselm replied by a spirited letter upholding
his own party and Matilda in particular : 2 ' As for the
prayer you make me,' he says, ' no longer to prevaricate
or deceive a very noble lady, I call God to witness, that
1 See here Overman, pp. 149, 232 et seq. 2 Tosti, lib. IV. p. 256.

HENRY ATTACKS MATILDA'S VASSALS 173
I have, in remaining with her, no thought of any temporal
or terrestrial advancement. I ask God to remove me
from this perverse country, where I tremble in remaining
so long in servitude, occupied day and night in keeping
this lady close to God and the Holy Church, whose orders
confided her to me, and I hope by this means to prepare
for myself a worthy reward before God for having pre
served her thus, she who does not dissipate her riches,
but has amassed eternal treasure in heaven, being ready
not only to give all her worldly goods for the defence of
justice, but fight with her blood for your confusion and
the glory of the Church, until God delivers over his
enemy into the hands of a woman.'
All the summer Henry was occupied in harassing
Matilda, driving her faithful vassals from their castles,
laying waste her lands, and gaining more ascendency
over her towns. The heaviest, bitterest time of all must
have been the spring of 1082, when so beset was she by
her enemies, that she could spare no vassals to fight for
the Pope, and was forced to draw on the so-called ' treas
ure ' of Canossa, to send at least, in the shape of gold and
silver, some help to poor, beleaguered Rome. For during
all these troubled years no one ever appealed in vain
to this gracious lady. It was not only the poor of Italy
she succoured, but foreign bishops, priests, and monks —
all were sure of a welcome at Canossa, sure of practical
and ready help. ' To the charity of giving she added
such courtesy, in deed and word, that the benefited went
away consoled and strengthened, and more able to endure
their terrible persecutions.' An ideal Chatelaine was
Matilda, therefore, in the midst of wars and all the
strenuousness of this long drawn-out campaign.
Now, however, with resources so severely taxed, she

174 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
had to borrow from the Church. By Anselm's advice
an order was given to the Abbot Gerard of Canossa to
have the greater part of the treasury melted down.
Domnizo tells us exactly what the treasury contained.1
We can hardly imagine the extent of the sacrifice to
Matilda. To draw on the Church's treasures to help the
Holy See in its direst need she deemed only right and
fitting ; but to make away with all the beautiful works
of art collected by her ancestors for so many generations
must have caused her many a heartache. Nonantula's
monastery 2 was also called upon to yield its treasures,
but their worth was restored in 1103.
For the time being, Tuscany was almost entirely lost
to Matilda. Her lords were in Henry's army fighting
against the Pope at Rome. Yet not once did her brave
spirit falter, not once did she think of making terms
with the enemy. ' God, who reserved this most intrepid
woman for the purpose of confounding Henry,' says
Vedriani,3 ' gave her such a generous and lofty mind that
she was dismayed at no danger or difficulty.' The diffi
culties, however, of this period are glossed over by this
very partial historian, for he says further : ' Aided by
the strength of her many impregnable fastnesses and by
the invincible love of her people, she lost none of these
battles, and she weakened Henry's power and that of
the antipope.'
At Rome the schismatics did not make much headway.
In time they gained the Leonine city and forced Gregory
to retire to the castle of St. Angelo, but within Rome
proper he had many steadfast adherents who carried on
1 See Chapter I.
2 Nonantula is situated some miles to the north-east of Modena.
3 Vol. ii. pp. 49-5°-

CORONATION OF HENRY IV. 175
a stubborn resistance. So the campaign dragged on.
Each summer the intense heat drove the Germans from
the region of Rome once more northwards into Lombardy
to attack Matilda. At last, in 1084, Henry won over the
greater part of the city and was able to take up his
residence in the Lateran palace. In St. Angelo, in
the meanwhile, Gregory was stoutly defended. Many
Roman nobles had joined him, and continued to fight
for his cause, and several strong towers and fortified
places on the Tiber itself refused to yield to the Imperial
ists. Rusticus, a nephew of Gregory, held the Celian
and Palatine Hills for him,1 while the Pierleoni occupied
the island of the Tiber. Skirmishes and assaults con
tinued, and Rome had not therefore entirely yielded,
although day by day the Papal party lost ground.
On Easter Day the antipope Guibert crowned Henry
and Bertha, his wife, in St. Peter's. From the tower of
St. Angelo Gregory may have watched the imperial
procession cross the bridge and wind along the banks
towards St. Peter's, and may have felt for a time that
evil was certainly triumphing. Yet no thought of
yielding to the oppressor crossed his mind, even later,
when a letter was brought him from his friend Desiderius,
abbot of Monte Cassino, telling how Henry threatened
to despoil the abbey, unless the abbot consented to receive
the investiture of it from him, and obey whatever orders
the Emperor should choose to give him.
The Pope's situation grew more and more desperate.
He had sent many a messenger to Robert Guiscard
begging him to come to the help of Rome as he had
promised. At length Guiscard obeyed the summons,
and marching from Salerno with a large force, he com-
1 Gregorovius, vol. iv. p. 239.

176 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
pelled the imperial party to raise the siege, liberated
Gregory, and installed him in the Lateran palace. Henry,
on hearing the news of Guiscard's approach, had at once
abandoned Rome, together with his antipope, declaring
to the Romans that urgent matters of state called him
back to Germany. Unfortunately the Romans rallied
and determined on their own account to make a stand
against Guiscard. The Normans had in their army
detachments of Saracenic mercenaries, and these spared
neither woman nor child ; the most terrible outrages were
committed, many ancient monuments perished, and the
greater part of the city was soon in flames. Robert would
not or could not curb his soldiery, and never had Rome
sustained such misery, even at the hands of Totila or Attila.
At length some influential Romans, with ropes round
their necks and naked swords in their hands, rushed into
Guiscard's presence and implored him to put an end to
the sack. He, moved by pity, yielded to their entreaties
and succeeded in restoring order ; thus the sack and
pillage of Rome were brought to an end.
Although there are various traditions that it was
Gregory who threw himself at the feet of the Norman
duke, imploring him to have mercy on Rome, and saying,
' I came to build, not to destroy,' Gregorovius says that
there is not one single contemporary historian who
mentions the fact, or who speaks of any effort on
Gregory's part to spare Rome. Was it because that
proud spirit was at last beginning to break, and he felt
it useless to remonstrate, or was he willing, as Gregorovius
hints,1 to acquiesce in the destruction of Rome for the
sake of his ideals, ' even as he had sacrificed the peace
of the world to them ' ?
1 Gregorovius, vol. iv. p. 248.

GREGORY'S LAST LATERAN COUNCIL 177

CHAPTER XIII
Gregory's last Lateran Council — Matilda's letter to the faithful in
Germany — Gregory's retreat to Salerno — Extract from his letter
to the faithful abroad — Matilda's victory at Sorbara — Death of
Gregory, 25th May 1085, at Salerno.

A

MOMENT of peace now reigned over the city,
and Gregory profited by this to call together
a council at the Lateran, where he once more
excommunicated the antipope and Henry, and all those
who had given them allegiance — ' the last act of courage
and of vigour of his Pontificate.' 1 But there still re
mained a great number of Guibert's adherents, and
Gregory's position was by no means assured, and al
though Henry had retired northwards for the time being,
it was quite probable he would return ere long. More
over, Robert Guiscard was anxious to leave the neigh
bourhood of Rome and embark upon a new campaign
in the East. It hardly seemed safe for the Pope to
remain undefended in Rome, and he resolved to accom
pany Guiscard as far as Salerno, with a very small
retinue of his own. Many of the cardinals had gone
over to the enemy, and the ' seal of the Fisherman ' had
fallen into Henry's hands. Very confused rumours spread
over Italy as to Gregory's fate, some asserting that he
was detained as a prisoner by Guiscard. To contradict
these rumours and to stimulate the Papal party to fresh
1 Vitelleschi, p. 353,
M

178 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
resistance was now Matilda's care. So soon as she could,
she sent her envoys into Germany with the following
letter, in the hope of dispelling the fears that the news of
the Pope's retirement from Rome might cause : — 1
' Matilda such as she is by the grace of God, if she is
anything, to all the faithful in the kingdom of the
Teutons greeting ! We inform you that Henry the false
king has obtained by theft the seal of our lord Pope
Gregory. Therefore if anything is announced to you
which is contrary to the words of our envoys, deem it
false, and do not believe Henry's lies. Moreover, he has
taken with him the Bishop of Porto, because that man
was formerly of the household of our lord the Pope. If
therefore by his aid he undertakes any enterprise either
for or against you, do not hesitate to regard this bishop
as a false witness : and place no faith in any who dare
tell you otherwise than we have done. Know that the
lord Pope has already reconquered Sutri and Nepi.
Barrabas the robber, that is to say, Henry's Pope, has
taken flight also. Farewell, and beware of Henry's
ambuscades ! '
1 From Villemain, vol. II. lib. ix. p. 357.
We give here the text of the letter from the Chronicon Hugonis Abbatis
Flaviacensis (ed. Migne).
' Mathildis Dei gratia si quid est, omnibus in Theuthonicorum regno
commorantibus salutem.
' Notum vobis facimus, quod Henricus falsus rex furto subripuit sygillum
domni papae Gregorii. Unde si quid audieritis quod discordet a nostra
legatione falsum arbitramini neque mendaciis ejus adquiescatis. Preterea
episcopum Portuensem secum ducit ; quoniam olim fuit familiaris domni
papae. Si igitur aliquid vobiscum vel contra vos per eum vult operari, eum
falsum testem nolite dubitare. Nulli unquam credatis, qui aliter quam nos
dicere audebit. Sciatis domnum papam jam recuperasse Sutrium atque
Nepe. Barrabas latro, id est Heinrici papa, ipse quoque aufugit. Valete
et de insidiis Heinricis cauti estote.'

GREGORY AT SALERNO 179
Gregory had left Rome a week after its fearful sack
had come to an end. The months of imprisonment in
St. Angelo had greatly sapped his physical strength,
and the apparent hopelessness of the struggle was begin
ning to tell on that once proud spirit. Robert appears
to have treated him with all reverence and consideration,
but not even this fact, together with the tender devotion
of his own particular little band of faithful bishops and
priests, could soften the hardness of his fate. Rome
was his no longer, and even Guiscard's arms and Guis
card's prowess were not equal to the task of reinstating
him firmly and permanently. That Matilda in far-off
Lombardy could not come to his aid, as she had done so
many times before, that his cardinals had deserted him,
or were themselves prisoners, combined to render the
situation hopeless. Yet, once fairly established in
Salerno, some of his old vigour reasserted itself in the
tone of the letters he addressed to the faithful abroad.
For he makes no mention of the downfall of Rome and
his own enforced retreat to Salerno, and the note of
dominant sadness in these letters is rather the sadness
that the Church should be brought so low. While his
own misfortunes counted for little or nothing, he felt the
weight of the triumph of the ungodly.
' The princes of the nations,' he says,1 ' and the chief
amongst the priests are united together at the head of a
great multitude, against Christ the Son of God, and
against his apostle St. Peter, in order to extinguish the
Christian religion and propagate heresy. But, by the
grace of God, they have not been able, by any promises
of worldly glory, to win over to their impiety those who
trust in the Lord. They have had, in fact, only one
1 Villemain, vol. n. lib. x. p. 373 ; Ep. Collect., 46, p. 572 et seq.

180 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
motive in conspiring against us, and that is, that we would
not be silent over the peril of Holy Church, nor yield
to those who do not blush to place her in bondage 
What numberless ills have had their origin from this,
perils of all sorts, and unheard-of crimes of a cruel war,
you can learn clearly from our legates ; and if you are
really afflicted by the ruin and upheaval of the Christian
faith, and if, touched by real sorrow, you can lend to
Holy Church a helping hand, you can learn the means to
do so from their mouth ; for they are most faithful to the
blessed Peter, and are accounted, each one according to
their rank amongst the familiars of his household. No
fear, no temporal promises could detach them from the
faith, or separate them from the bosom of Holy Church.
For the rest, as your fraternity knows what was said on
the mountains to an unworthy servant, and these words
of the prophet, " Shout aloud and tire not," I, by will or
by force, leaving behind me all shame, all affection, all
fear, I preach the Gospel, I cry again, I cry without
ceasing, and I announce to you that the Christian religion,
the true faith that was taught to our fathers by the Son
of God descending from heaven, to day transformed into
a secular practice, is almost reduced to nothing, and has
become the derision not only of the devil, but of the Jews,
Saracens, and heathen.' He continues, that since the
time of the great Constantine the devil has never had
such power against the Church, and that they are not to
be astonished, as the ' Day of Antichrist was approaching.'
Matilda, meanwhile, was grimly defending her Lombard
strongholds, and in a few months' time the news of her
victory over the King's forces, in July 1084, at Sorbara,
came to the Pope. A detachment of cavalry and infantry
under the command of a certain Marquis Oberto, together

SORBARA 181
with the schismatic bishops of Reggio and Parma, had
halted before this Modenese castle and proceeded to
assault it fiercely. Word was brought to Matilda, how
ever, that the besieging force was growing careless, and
little vigilance was displayed by their sentries. Forth
with valiant Bishop Anselm counselled her to take
immediate action, and Matilda, only too willing to follow
his advice, at once prepared for an attack. Taking
advantage of a very dark night, she, with a small com
pany of her bravest men, stole close upon the assaulters
and silently surrounded them. It was understood that
a loud shout of St. Peter's name should be the signal for
the onslaught. ' The soldiers of the enemy were buried
in sleep, when suddenly they were struck in the ears by
the formidable sound of the name of the Apostolic Vicar
of Christ, and at the same moment in the vitals by the
sword, and thus they passed from the lethargy of sleep
to the velocity of death.'1 The surprise, the shouts,
the darkness all combined to bewilder the besiegers, and
although their commander attempted to rally his men and
make some sort of a stand, the confusion was too great,
and he was killed on the spot. The Bishop of Parma,
six noble captains, and a hundred knights were taken
prisoners. Gandolf, Bishop of Reggio, fled naked, and
remained hidden in the bushes for some days, when he
was also captured. Five hundred horses, quantities of
armour and baggage, fell into Matilda's hands. What
rejoicings there must have been at Canossa when she
returned there in triumph, with prisoners and spoils of
war !
The story of Sorbara must have been the last good
news that was brought to Gregory in his exile. His
1 Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 219.

182 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
health was failing more and more. Robert Guiscard
had departed on his expedition to the East, and little
remained to cheer the aged Pope. He died in the spring
of the following year,1 uttering with his last breath those
memorable words, which in their haunting sadness, in
the intensity • of their feeling, seem an epitome of all
bitterness, of all the unrighted wrong that man has ever
suffered : ' I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity ;
therefore I die in exile.' How many exiled outcast spirits
have echoed these words in the ages that have passed
since the dying Pontiff breathed forth the only lament
that the world ever heard from his lips ! Yet Gregory's
work was so great, so lasting, could he but have known it ;
had the seer's vision been vouchsafed to him, the sorrow
of death might have been softened. To the fierce
mediaeval world he had given a new ideal. He changed
the attitude towards the Church, and raised her from
degradation to a height she had never known before.
And if, outwardly, he died unsuccessful in that which he
had undertaken, at least he had made the Church a great
power, a power to be reckoned with in Christendom, and
those principles for which he had lived and fought and
died, grew all important to her through the life he had
lived, and the light he had kindled. Looking back on the
turmoil of his long strenuous life, he summed it up in the
words of the Psalmist of old : ' I have loved righteousness
and hated iniquity.' In the fife upon which he entered
then, perhaps the end of David's verse became the truth,
and the bitterness of Gregory's version passed away with
all things mortal. 1 25th May 1085.

PESTILENCE AND FAMINE 183

CHAPTER XIV
Pestilence and famine visit Italy in 1085 — Death of Anselm of Lucca
— Desiderius of Cassino elected Pope — Refuses the Papacy at
first — At length gives his consent and is installed in Rome as
Pope, 1087 — Matilda entertains Robert of Normandy, but rejects
his suit — Matilda learns bad news from Rome and hastens to
take the field once more — Arrives in Rome and confers with
Pope 'Victor, June 1087 — They agree to attack the schismatics,
but are discomfitted — Death of Pope Victor, Sept. 1087.
IMMEDIATELY after Gregory's death nearly all
Matilda's historians turn aside from personal
matters to relate the terrible calamities that befell
the land. — ' The scourge of God to punish the schismatics,'
they say, and as if to verify this statement, they proved
that Lombardy was the most heavily visited of all Italian
provinces. First came a terrible famine — so terrible that
the unhappy peasants in their misery were driven to feed
upon ' every kind of filth.' 1 After the years of warfare
that Italy had suffered, was it any wonder that there
was scarcity of provisions ? Then followed the pesti
lence which decimated the population, and afterwards the
autumn rains swelled the rivers to such an extent that
miles and miles of sullen water flooded the land, whole
districts were devastated, and the few remaining culti
vated spots were ruined for the time being. Death
visited heavily the greatest in the land. Tedaldo, the
schismatic Bishop of Milan, the two ex-Bishops of Reggio
1 See Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 222, and others.

1 84 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
and Parma (who had been taken prisoners at Sorbara),
and several of Matilda's great rebel vassals, ' went
miserably out of this life.' x These men, great by reason
of their birth and position, had not only passed over to
the enemy, but had not scrupled to sully Matilda's fair
name with evil stories, so say the chroniclers,2 and they
tell us only those parts of Italy were spared that had
remained faithful to Matilda ! So struck were the towns
by this exhibition of divine vengeance, that many
of them returned to their rightful allegiance, Lucca,
Modena, Reggio, and Pistoia again accepting Matilda's
rule. For the moment Lombardy was delivered from
strife, and during this lull Matilda set to work very
earnestly to restore law and order. Through Anselm's
care and counsel, fresh bishops were appointed to the
whilom rebel cities, and they were freed from certain
kinds of taxes, which, owing to all the miseries of war,
pestilence, and famine, they found particularly burden
some. Early in the year 1086 a great sorrow befell Matilda,
for her saintly counsellor was taken from her. Hearing
Anselm was ill, she hurried to Mantua, and was able to
comfort his last hours by her presence. He died on the
18th of March, and was buried in the cathedral with
great pomp. For years he had been one of the Church's
stoutest defenders, and had never spared himself in
labouring for her. All over Lombardy he travelled
backwards and forwards, writing, admonishing, preach
ing. Many of his writings are still extant; — vigorous
letters addressed to Guibert and Henry, and two whole
1 Adalbert e Reginhero, Marchesi, il Conte Bossone ed altri innumerdbili,
Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 223, who quotes here also Berthold of Constance
(anno 1085). 2 Tosti, lib. IV. p. 267.

ANSELM OF LUCCA 185
volumes against Guibert's schism.1 He also wrote an
expository treatise on the Lamentations of Jeremiah,
and at the time of his death was engaged upon a com
mentary on the Psalms for Matilda. He was considered
most learned in holy writ, and well versed in the works
of the fathers of the Church. His death was a cause of
great lament to all who knew him, and from far and wide
came cardinals, bishops, and soldiers to attend his
funeral ; in fact, the whole of Italy mourned him, and
even his enemies could not forbear to praise him.2
Fiorentini says of him : ' He fought together with
Matilda, unwearied amongst hardships, immutable in
danger, respected by the soldiers, and religious in the
midst of arms. He was often with her in the tribunals,
and known as independent in his opinions, disinterested
in his judgments, and inflexible in his justice.' 3
If Gregory the Seventh had not been the great man
he was, posterity might have heard more of Anselm,
whose fame has been overshadowed by his wonderful
contemporary. Yet it is possible that Anselm in
Gregory's position would not have carried the reform
of the Church so far. Anselm, of noble birth, had per
haps more traditionary hesitations than Gregory, but
he was a very typical example of that wonderful product
of the Middle Ages, a man who combined the best quali
ties of ecclesiastic and soldier, capable of fighting both
ghostly and material battles, and conquering in either.
In Rome at this time matters were still in a very
unsettled condition. A short while before his death
Gregory had been asked by the cardinals and bishops
for advice in the choice of a successor. He had suggested
1 These are published in the Biblioth. Patrum, torn, xviii. (see Don Tosti).
2 Tosti, lib. IV. p. 272. 8 Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 227.

186 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
first and foremost Desiderius, abbot of Monte Cassino ;
if he would not accept such a heavy responsibility, they
were to choose Otto, Bishop of Ostia, Hugo, Archbishop
of Lyons, or Anselm of Lucca. Therefore a short while
after Gregory had breathed his last, the cardinals went to
Desiderius, and told him how by common consent he
had been chosen to fill the Holy See, since he was deemed
by all the most worthy of such high office. Desiderius,
however, shrank from accepting the honour conferred
upon him, and he seems in no ways to have fulfilled
Gregory's expectations, for he felt himself unequal to
the task of setting Rome in order, and withstanding the
antipope. The more the cardinals tried to persuade him,
the more reluctant he grew. He had letters sent to
Matilda begging for her opinion on the subject, but the
only reply elicited from her was that she fully approved
of his election.
At length, after a year's interregnum, during which
time Guibert reigned undisturbed in Rome, Desiderius
yielded to the supplications of the faithful, and consented
to enter the city as Pope. Robert Guiscard had perished
in his Eastern campaign, but his son Roger, who remained
faithful to the Papal party, together with the princes of
Capua and Salerno, firmly upheld his cause. By their
aid, Desiderius was installed in Rome in the spring of
1087, and after driving out Guibert from St. Peter's, it
became possible for the pontifical coronation to take
place within its walls in the usual manner. Desiderius
was therefore consecrated Pope as Victor 111. in the
month of May of that same year.
Matilda had been so occupied with the care of Lombardy
that it was impossible for her to take any active part in
the enthronement of the new Pope. In the spring, when

ROBERT OF NORMANDY 187
she was holding her court in Lucca, there came to visit
her an important guest, bringing a suite of foreign lords
with him. This was none other than Robert of Nor
mandy, son of William the Conqueror. He had rebelled
against his father and had been driven out of Normandy,
and was now engaged in visiting different courts of
Europe,1 in the hopes of gaining help wherewith to
reinstate himself in his duchy. He had doubtless heard
much of Matilda during his visits ; he determined there
fore to come and see her, and judge for himself if the tales
of her wealth, courage, and ability were true. Then there
came an idea that if he could persuade this powerful
princess to become his wife, his own position would be
at once reassured, and his Norman duchy restored to
him. Perhaps even the story was told him of how
successful another adventurous duke had been in wooing
her mother for the second time, and gave him good augury
for his own suit.
All accounts agree that Robert of Normandy was
handsome, gallant, and brave, and in little Lucca he,
with the Norman barons in his train, must have made a
goodly show. No doubt there was much excitement at
their arrival, at the festivals held in their honour, and
many surmises as to whether ' la nostra Contessa ' would
in reality take this Norman prince as a second husband.
But although Matilda received him courteously, and
entertained him regally, she would not listen favourably
to his suit. He was evidently unable to make sufficient
impression on her heart for the match to have been
one of personal inclination, and from a political point of
view there was nothing to be gained by it. This little
link with our own history is interesting to English people,
1 ' Lorraine, Flanders, and Germany,' says Don Tosti, lib. V. p. 279.

188 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
as it is also interesting to think that, had the marriage
taken place, our history might have been written differ
ently. William the Conqueror might have softened
towards his eldest son, and owing to his brilliant marriage,
perhaps have left England to him and his heirs, and these
islands might have suffered a second and yet harder
foreign yoke after the Conqueror's days were done.
Robert and Matilda evidently parted good friends, in
spite of his unsuccessful suit, for he visited her again
in Lucca some years later, on the occasion of his departure
for the first Crusade.
Bad news from Rome now reached Matilda. The
schismatics had gained ground once more, and the greater
part of the city was in their possession. Pope Victor,
too disheartened in spirit and too weak in health to make
much of a stand, had retired to Monte Cassino, and left
Guibert within the city entrenched in the Pantheon,
one church after another being used by the rival Popes
as fortresses. As soon as she could collect a sufficient
force, Matilda decided to move on Rome, and make a
great effort to drive out the antipope once for all. At
the head of a splendid army, full of hopes that at last the
dearest wish of all the faithful was about to be realised,
she arrived at the city gates. At a crucial moment such
as this, bitterly she must have sorrowed over Gregory's
loss, for there was no one left in Rome to take the lead
and help her now, with force of arms and weight of
word. Her soldiers succeeded in dispersing Guibert's
followers for a while, and she herself took up her abode
on the little island of the Tiber, after despatching mes*
sengers to the Pope, imploring him to return to Rome
to confer with her. Pope Victor, realising how important
it might be for the weal of Christendom to see this

POPE VICTOR III. AND MATILDA 189
' faithful daughter of St. Peter,' managed to make the
journey to Rome by sea and abode at the Vatican, often
passing over to the island of St. Bartholomew to visit
Matilda. The islet of the Tiber, given over in Pagan
times to the worship of iEsculapius, had always been
regarded as a refuge for the sick and suffering. In the
year 1000 the Emperor Otto had built upon the ruins of
the temple of Aesculapius a basilica dedicated to St.
Bartholomew, and close by, some years later, the Pierleoni
raised their fortress tower. It was here that Matilda
stayed, protected no doubt by the Pierleoni. Whether
the island still retained its reputation as a sanctuary
we do not know, but it gave refuge later to Pope Urban 11.
in his days of poverty and distress.
Many must have been the discussions between Victor
and Matilda over the affairs of the Church, and ' by their
joint presence they greatly harassed the factionists of
the antipope,' says Vedriani. A terrific attack was
organised in June ' against these factionists,'1 but it
was not successful. None of the historians tell us how
Matilda left Rome, or with what remnant of an army
she reached her own territories. The Pope expired in
the September of that year (1087), regretful to the last
that he had ever been persuaded to leave his monastery.
Perhaps the best summing up of his character is that of
Gregorovius : ' The Abbot Desiderius was a great man
and one of imperishable renown ; Pope Victor in., an
inglorious and shadowy figure.' 2
1 Vedriani, vol. ii. p. 58. 2 Greg. , Part I. vol. iv. p. 267.

igo MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER XV
Election of Urban II. — Arranges for Matilda's second marriage —
Matilda persuaded to consent to it for political reasons — Henry,
furious at the marriage, besieges Mantua, which capitulates —
Domnizo's lament over Mantua.
IT was some time before the cardinals could come
to any agreement as to who should now occupy
the Holy See, but Otto of Ostia was at length
elected at a council assembled at Terracina, and on the
12th of March 1088 was consecrated as Urban n.
It will be remembered that Gregory, when dying, had
suggested the Bishop of Ostia as a suitable candidate
for the Papacy, and now that Victor in. was dead, no
better man could be chosen, either from a religious or
from a worldly point of view. Otto was a Frenchman by
birth, and at one time had been prior of Cluny. He
was well trained in diplomacy, and a man of the world
as well as an ardent ecclesiastic, and devoted as he had
been to Gregory, there was no doubt that he would do his
utmost to continue the work of reform in the Church.
His position at first was a precarious one, and for some
time he was obliged to remain in the south of Italy under
the protection of the Normans, since Guibert and his
following were still all too strong in Rome ; the latter,
it is said, had obtained help from Odo, Bishop of Bayeux,
half-brother of William the Conqueror. In the autumn,
however, by the aid of his Norman allies,1 the Pope was
1 Dom., lib. 11. cap. iii. See also Don Davoli's notes, pp. 367-68.

MATILDA'S SECOND MARRIAGE 191
able to enter Rome and gain some sort of a foothold.
Gregorovius tells us that he was forced at first to remain
on the island of the Tiber, and so poor that he received
alms from the matrons of Rome ! x
Little by little the situation improved, and the Pope
was able at length to make some stand as supreme head
of the Church, though the schismatics still held the
greater part of the city, and in Tuscany Matilda began
to have trouble again. Lucca rose up in rebellion, and
the Lucchese burnt a neighbouring castle out of revenge
for what they considered the oppression of the nobles,
and rumours were afloat that Henry meditated another
descent into Lombardy, and naturally enough from
thence upon Rome. Urban realised that there were
troubles ahead for Italy and for Matilda. How could the
situation be improved ?
' To the daughter of Peter, and faithful handmaid of
Christ, he directed his holy epistles,' says Domnizo,2
' reminding her above all things of the rule given her by
Gregory, and admonishing her to observe it, and never
to depart from it, and by this she would receive remission
of her sins. Therefore, if the messengers of Gregory
went often to Matilda, those of Urban ran ever more
often to the same.' No doubt Urban exhorted Matilda
to continue in the right way, but we cannot help feeling
that there was yet another reason for the many letters
that passed between them at this time, and that the
negotiations for Matilda's second marriage with Guelf
of Bavaria kept the messengers busy indeed ! We can
but wonder how the idea first arose. Possibly the
story of Robert of Normandy's unsuccessful wooing
reached the Pope's ears, and it may have occurred
1 Greg., vol. iv. pt. I. p. 27. 2 Lib. 11. cap. iii.

192 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
to him then that if a more fitting suitor were to
present himself, Matilda might be persuaded to accept
him.f Urban was astute enough to realise that if the Church
were to make any stand politically against the coming
danger, and if she were ever to gain the supremacy at
which she was aiming, it would be of the greatest value
to strengthen Matilda's position, and how better could
this be accomplished than by an alliance with her kinsman
of Bavaria, grandson of that Marquis Azzo Adalbert of
Este, who had always been a warm supporter of the
Church's cause, and who had taken an active part in the
memorable incident of Canossa ?
Azzo Adalberto d'Este, a descendant of Siegfried of
Lucca (of whom mention has been made in the opening
chapters as being the progenitor of the house of Canossa),
was growing very old, in fact he had already entered
his hundredth year, but his mental vigour was quite
out of keeping with his age, and he lost no opportunity
of adding to the number of his possessions and the
greatness of his house. Some think that it was he him
self who suggested the marriage in question. Azzo's
own wife had been Cunigonde, princess of Bavaria, who
brought her husband many lands and great riches. Their
son, called Guelf iv. of Bavaria, succeeded to his maternal
grandfather's principality, the male line of that house
becoming extinct at his death. He, Guelf, had been
formerly a staunch ally of Henry iv., and had materially
assisted him in his Saxon campaigns ; but when Henry
finally broke with the Pope, Guelf, together with the
other princes of Saxony and Suabia, declared against
him. He had remained true to the Papal party, and had
supported it most generously. In fact, it was entirely

MATILDA'S SECOND MARRIAGE 193
owing to his efforts that Gregory's adherents in Germany
had been able to hold together. Urban 11., as his two
predecessors had done, reposed the greatest confidence
in this Bavarian duke. Guelf also owned considerable
territories in Italy. He was Duke of Carinthia and
Marquis of the Marches of Verona, and many of his
estates bordered on those of his father.
It will easily be understood that this Italian-German
house, by entering into a matrimonial alliance with
Matilda, would gain further power in the south, and to
the Papacy would be secured a sort of confederation
of alhes possessing in common such enormous tracts of
territories that they equalled many a kingdom in extent.
A kingdom stretching from the northern confines of
Bavaria to the centre of Italy was not to be despised,
and it would be a great thing to be able to count all its
rulers, with their vassals, as allies.
Azzo Adalbert was very anxious that this marriage
should take place, thinking, no doubt, that at Matilda's
death her vast possessions would then come over to his
branch of the family, either ignoring, or really ignorant
of, Matilda's donation to the Papacy. He was, no doubt,
very devoted to his grandson, who had been almost
entirely brought up at his court. It is very difficult to
imagine what arguments Pope Urban could have used to
bring Matilda to consent to the marriage, beyond the
most weighty argument of all — that of obedience to the
Church's head. All the historians agree in saying that this
was her sole reason for yielding. We can so well under
stand that except for political reasons the alliance must
have been utterly distasteful to her. Up to this moment
she had evinced a dislike to the idea of a second husband,
and had refused the hand of many a princely aspirant.

194 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
She was a woman too strong in herself, differing too
much in her upbringing from the women of her age, to
accept the common idea of the absolute need of a pro
tector ; and since the termination of Godfrey il Gobbo's
most unhappy relations with herself, she had stood alone,
and been content so to stand. She had had no one in
all these years to share her arduous tasks of governing
and of fighting, and she had grown to depend upon
herself alone.
We seem able to read between the lines of the very
meagre accounts that have come down to us of this
marriage, and to realise what a sacrifice Matilda was called
upon to make. The historians of her own day emphasise
the fact that she married Guelf ' out of obedience to the
Roman Pontiff ' ; she has been called a fanatic, or held
up to ridicule for so doing by later writers. Yet there
could be no reason for her acquiescence in Urban's
wishes but the pressing need of her country, and the
desire to surrender her own will and inclination in
obedience to the Holy Father. That she, with her ideals,
with her strength of character, loved and reverenced by
her people, the friend of so many great men who ex
pressed the highest admiration for her, could have had
any other motive for uniting her life with that of a
youth of eighteen, is on the face of it ridiculous. Reluc
tantly Matilda gave her consent, and the marriage took
place in 1089. At first the great disparities between this
ill-assorted couple were not very evident. They had
been united together with the idea of facing a common
foe, and every opportunity of so doing was speedily
afforded them.
Henry, furious at the news, set to work to despoil
Matilda of the lands north of the Alps that she had

SIEGE OF MANTUA 195
inherited from her mother, and he succeeded, according
to Domnizo, in capturing all her strong places there,
except a castle called ' Brigerino.' x Then he collected
a large army, and in the spring of 1090 he marched down
into Italy and straight on to Mantua, which he assailed
vigorously.2 If we could transport ourselves back to the Mantua
of those days, the first thing that would strike us, viewing
the city from the outside, would be its singular lack of
defence, for no walls surrounded it, only wooden pali
sades ! Yet the great stretches of water on all sides
protected the city, since it was only at certain points
that it could be approached by any large force, and those
approaches were overlooked and guarded by the high
towers which the men of the Middle Ages loved to erect
in their towns and at their gates. In the old towns of
Italy we can still see the remains of these towers, lowered
mostly now to the level of the surrounding roofs. In
Florence, Siena, and in Rome they are to be met with ;
at Lucca, Bologna, and at little San Gimignano on the
hill, many of them stand at their full height even to the
present day. Mantua possessed such towers besides its
wooden palisades, and was not so easy to capture as
would at first appear. It must also be remembered that
Henry had no artillery with which to bombard it, and
battering-rams, at such a distance across the water, were
useless. For some considerable time, almost a year, Mantua did
resist. Matilda and Guelf hovered about the beleaguered
1 Dom. , lib. 11. cap. iv. It seems impossible to ascertain the whereabouts
of this castle.
1 ' Having been ten years out of Italy, he once more armed men and horses,
and swore to remain seven years in Matilda's lands without giving a thought
of peace.' — Dom., lib. u. cap. iv. ¦>

196 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
city, and were able now and then to throw in reinforce
ments and provisions. Henry grew impatient and
abandoned straightforward tactics. He tried to bribe
the citizens, and, to their shame be it said, he succeeded.
In 1091, to the horror and dismay of their liege lady
and of the Catholic party at large, Mantua threw open
her gates to the Emperor.
Domnizo's lament over this act of treachery is very
fine ; it is perhaps the most poetical part of the whole
poem. ' O Mantua ! ' he says,1 ' who knows what glory
thou wouldst have gained, if thou hadst kept thy gates
closed to the King ? Thy name would have spread over
all the world, and all would have proclaimed thee strong
and valiant as a second Troy, in sustaining so long a
siege ! and all Italian cities would have proclaimed thy
sons the descendants of strong men. As the Trojans
sowed death amongst the Greek phalanxes, even so used
thy citizens to sow death amongst the German soldiery.
' Troy herself, hemmed in by besiegers, would never
have opened her gates to the Argives, if at night-time
she had not been betrayed, and given over to flames. . . .
' If thou, O Mantua, hadst kept faith with the Countess,
with the help that she sent thee, thou couldst have lasted
not only ten, but twenty years, without fear of the enemy.
If thou hadst persevered, great peace would have come
to thee ; the King would soon have departed from thee,
and so thou wouldst have remained dear to the Countess,
by whom thou wouldst have been enriched and admirably
fortified ; and then thou wouldst have been the flower
of her cities. . . . Would to God that thou hadst never
sullied thy name thus, so miserable and disconsolate
does it now appear to me !
1 Domnizo, lib. 11. cap. iv.

DOMNIZO'S LAMENT 197
' There was a time when, full of good Catholics, thou
used to celebrate the Easter festival of the God-Man
with the most noble Matilda, whose court abounded with
provisions and with donations, and yielded in courtesy
to no court of the King, and now thou wilt celebrate
Easter with fraudulent Germans, ardent followers of
Bacchus, and lovers of all luxury ! . . .
' But the King's friendship for thee will not last ; he
will keep none of the promises he has made ; he will
certainly deceive thee, and will depart from thee. Beware,
therefore, of being at peace with him ; it will bring thee
much harm. Here is good counsel for thee ; bewail
this thy crime. However much thou mayest have
broken ancient compacts and new laws, lament this with
all thy heart, and may thy people lament it with thee !
Try by the common consent of thy people to regain thy
place in the heart of thy lady Matilda, that worshipper
of Christ. Thus wilt thou renew thy privileges, thus
wilt thou once more become resplendent with honour,
and wilt regain thy rightful place, which otherwise will
be lost to thee for ever.'

198 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER XVI
Henry assaults Ferrara, which opens its gates at once to him —
Matilda's troops betrayed by Ugo di Manso and defeated at
Tre Contadi — Henry besieges Montebello, which holds out for a
considerable time— Makes overtures of peace — Matilda consents
to consider them — Calls a council of war — Carpineta — Speeches
of the Bishop of Reggio and the abbot of Canossa.
AFTER the fall of Mantua, Henry assailed
Ferrara, which made no show of resistance,
but capitulated at once. Then the King
proceeded to ravage Matilda's lands in deadly earnest,
the small towns and fortified places falling into his hands
one after the other. Two alone defied him successfully,
Platena and Nogara.1 He abandoned these, therefore,
and made for Minervia,2 which, in spite of a brave defence,
was starved out, to the great grief of Matilda, who lost
there her cousin Frederick, Count of Moncons, son of
Ludovico of Moncons and Sophia, her maternal aunt.
According to Fiorentini, he has been quaintly called ' a
most strenuous soldier of Christ.' 3
All the Catholics were very much depressed by this
sad news, and the fall of Minervia weighed upon their
spirits. During the whole summer Matilda remained in
1 Platina, which is now called Piadena, is in the Cremonese country,
midway between Cremona and Mantua ; Nogara, to the north-east of Mantua,
but in the Veronese country, had a strongly fortified castle in those days, and
was also the burial-place of Boniface's first wife, Richilda.
2 Minervia, now known as Manerbia, near Brescia.
3 See Fiorentini, lib. n. p. 246.

UGO DEL MANSO 199
the Modenese and Reggian districts, strengthening her
faithful castles and spying on Henry's movements. At
the beginning of the winter, Henry, after establishing the
bulk of his army in suitable quarters, crossed the Adige
with a small company to lay waste the lands of the
Marquis Azzo. Matilda, becoming aware of this, saw a
great opportunity. Despatching at once with the utmost
celerity a strong body of picked men under the command
of a certain Marquis Ugo del Manso, she bade him cut
off Henry before he had any chance of returning to his
encampment, and if possible take him prisoner. If
this attempt had succeeded, the Pope, Matilda, and Italy
might have been freed from Henry once and for all ; they
could have made their own terms with Guibert, and
with one stroke have gained the longed-for peace !
Unfortunately it was not to be, for Ugo proved the
blackest of traitors. Not only did he send messengers
ahead to warn Henry, but he dallied on the way, so that
when he and his men reached the King, the rest of the
imperial army had had time to move up. Matilda's
brave little force was cut in pieces, very few being taken
prisoners. This unfortunate engagement took place at
Tre Contadi — now called Tricontai — a village in the
Paduan district.
Ugo del Manso, mentioned here, was a younger son of the
old Marquis Azzo of Este, therefore uncle to Guelf, Matilda's
husband. Domnizo, possibly out of regard to Matilda's
relationship with him, omits these details, describing
him as ' a man of noble Hneage who acted thus, contrary
to the customs of his compeers. Because,' he goes on
to say, ' true nobility never commits villainous crimes.' x
His after career proved so unworthy of his birth and
1 Dom., lib. 11. cap. vi.

200 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
upbringing (' for he inherited neither the valour nor the
virtues of the Estes,' writes Don Davoli),1 that his own
family finally drove him out of Italy, and he passed over
into Burgundy, where we hear of him no more.
Encouraged by the Contade incident, Henry abandoned
the open country and made for the higher Modenese
district. The castles of Monte Morello (now called Monte
Sant Antonio) and Monte Alfredo (Monte San Gemignano
of to-day) fell into his hands. Then he directed his
attention to Montebello (or Monteveglio),2 the strongest
and most ancient of all Matilda's fortresses in this region.
So early as the year 728 it is known to have sustained a
siege. It was now fully prepared to withstand Henry,
and offered such brave resistance that he had to encamp
about it for many months. The besieged showed the
greatest courage ; they made frequent sorties in con
junction with Matilda's attacks on the rear of the enemy,
and their liege lady was able from time to time to intro
duce fresh soldiery and supplies into the stronghold, and
so keep up their spirits.
The whole summer passed, and Henry still remained
outside the walls. But the hearts of those within must
have sunk when they heard that Guibert the antipope,
with reinforcements from Rome, was on his way to join
Henry's forces. Upon Guibert's arrival, possibly by his
advice, Henry tried to negotiate with Matilda. The
elder Guelf had come from Bavaria during the previous
year to see if an adjustment between the combatants
could not be arranged, but Henry's terms were found
impossible, and so Guelf returned to his own dominions.
Now it was Henry who tried to bring about a peace. He
1 See notes on Domnizo (Don Davoli, p. 375).
2 To the north-east of Bologna.

CARPINETA 201
had some idea that after all the Bavarian princes might
prove too strong for him in Germany, and that could he
bring Matilda and Guelf to consent to an amicable settle
ment, his difficulties with his German subjects would be
considerably lessened. He was in great hopes, too, that
the distresses of her people and the representations of
her vassals might move Matilda's heart to peace. He
sent, therefore, an embassy to Matilda, saying that if
she consented to acknowledge Guibert, he would at once
raise the siege of Montebello, restore to her all her lands,
and receive her into his favour with all love and affection.
The King contrived that his overtures should become
publicly known ; and at once all the barons and nobles
implored Matilda to consider the question of coming to
terms with the enemy, since they felt themselves unable
to sustain much longer the terrors and hardships of the
war. Matilda finally consented to deliberate upon the
subject, and at Carpineta called a council of war.
The castle of Carpineta, in the heart of the Reggian
Apennines, built by Matilda, and one of her favourite
abiding-places, was well chosen for the rendezvous.
The way to reach it was rough, tortuous, and long, and
all her vassals felt they would be safe here from any
sudden attack. So thither from the towns in the plains
those who were still faithful made their way, Matilda
from the neighbourhood of Montebello, with all her
vassals and retainers. Many may have taken the
opportunity of visiting their homes in passing, and
reassuring anxious relatives as to their safety. For this
region of the Apennines is studded to this day with the
remains of fortified places, built originally against the
invasion of the Huns, and then restored later to resist
the Germans. On the long, winding road to Carpineta

202 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
one passes summit after summit crowned with these ruins,
and the names of their lords are to be met with again
and again in the documents of Matilda's days — the names
of the Baise family we see most often — Alberto, Gerardo,
and Raimondo. It will be remembered that Carpineta
was one of the places where Gregory stayed as Matilda's
guest, in the summer of 1077.
There were now assembled at Carpineta Matilda, her
nobles and vassals, many bishops, and those whom
Domnizo calls ' hermits,' x but who were probably monks.
Guelf we presume was also present, though he is not
mentioned by name.
Heribert, the Bishop of Reggio, a wise and able man,
was inclined to take a very gloomy view of affairs, and
urged upon Matilda most emphatically the wisdom of
treating with Henry. He spoke at length to the council
somewhat after this manner : — 2
' I do not know, oh ! most serene Lady, whether you
have convened this assembly in order that we should
lament together over the woes of the Catholic Church,
or whether we should consider, unitedly, your interests
and our own. You decided at the beginning to become
the defender of the Church, and against a most powerful
King you declared yourself the protector of the pontifical
majesty. Your piety, no less than your admirable
intrepidity in coming to such an important decision,
was a matter of praise to all of us. In the first wars you
fought successfully against the King, and the much under
rated greatness of three Pontiffs has been upheld by you
with incredible valour.
1 See Don Tosti, lib. v. p. 299; Dom., lib. 11. cap. vii.
2 These speeches are taken from Fiorentini's account of the proceedings,
but he quotes no authority for them (lib. II. p. 251 et seq.).

RUINS OF CARPINETA

CARPINETA 203
' But upon Henry's return into Italy, your riches were
dissipated and your armies destroyed, so that to-day we
are in the greatest tribulation. Mantua is lost, together
with so many other important places ; Liguria is in open
rebellion, Tuscany in a tumult, and into the very vitals
of this part of Lombardy, which remains faithful to you,
has entered the army of the King. In spite of this, the
King offers you such advantageous terms, that he might
be the vanquished party. Clearly he would not make
such an offer did he not feel himself in the wrong. But
still the war continues, most unhappily, and all ideas of
peace are referred to with repugnance.
' Allow me, O Lady ! to speak with all frankness.
That Montebello sustains this siege is rather a sign of
the extraordinary pertinacity of your subjects, than
owing to the strength of its defences, or the quality
of its garrison. That you should persist in opposing
yourself to Henry is rather to be recognised as a token
of your unbroken constancy to the Church, than to be
considered as a mark of your following the well-ordered
rules of pohtical government. You have piously poured
out untold riches for the maintenance of the persecuted
Pontiffs. The churches by their goodwill have been
despoiled, and sacred treasures spent to assist them.
The armies of your states are exhausted by the frequency
and length of these campaigns.
' The help we were led to expect from Germany, where,
alas ! the King is so superior to the Papal party in
numbers, is as feeble as it is tardy. How much better
would it be, therefore, in deciding upon a capitulation
at once honourable to yourself and advantageous to the
cause of religion, if you induce Henry by gentle means
to a more upright frame of mind ! And with all the

204 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
greater advantage, then, would the reconciliation of the
King and the Church take place, if he had near him some
good Catholics, instead of always being urged by
schismatics, who are moved only by self-interest. More
over, I believe that the mildness of exhortation would
prove more profitable with him than the harshness of
censure. Zeal for religion is truly a holy thing, but when
it is well regulated, it bears the more fruit.
' We are proving at the present moment how dangerous
it is to violate the laws of conscience, and the past
Pontiffs are aware that instead of gaining by these
means the obedience of the people, they lose rather the
goodwill of their subjects. God is, without doubt, a
friend of peace when it is not contrary to the dictates of
conscience, and now it cannot be repugnant to you.
Necessity constrains it. We have already seen provinces
become deserts, cities desolate, commerce destroyed,
and with these all traffic, all wealth. Every day in your
states one hears of rebellion. God has shown by means
of earthquakes, pestilences, and floods that these excesses
displease Him. So many famous Catholics have perished,
and our adversary is more ahve than ever, has more
followers than ever, and grows more and more victorious.
' Enough of the sacking of Italy by foreigners ! Too
much innocent blood has been shed. Peace is desired
by all your people. The necessity of the times not only
counsels it, but forces us to see that this continual
bearing of arms has diminished religion amongst the
Catholics, and has rendered the heretics more resolute
in the fury of their pertinacity.
' You have struggled long enough, oh ! most valiant
Lady, you and your serene consort, to uphold the dignity
of the Pontificate. You have done not only your duty,

CARPINETA 205
but the impossible. Now inevitable necessity permits
that we should treat with the excommunicated and
heretics, however contumacious and lax they may be.
It becomes ecclesiastical authority and your piety that,
once and for all, a term should be put to incendiaries,
profanities and rapine, and other military outrages, which
have drawn upon us all the anger of God. In short, it
seems to me that you and all of us have satisfied to the
full, by our sufferings, every point of conscience.'
Thus spoke Heribert, and many others followed of a
like mind, skilfully evading the main issue, however.
It will be seen that no mention is made here of deposing
Urban the rightful Pope, and yet that was what Henry
required of them first, and above all things.
Suddenly there rose up the Hermit John, whom many
suppose to be the abbot of Canossa. Moved with wrath
at these insidious counsels, he burst forth with a passion
of words : —
' And what fears, oh ! magnanimous Lady, have come to
perturb the intrepidity of your spirit ? What interests
of earthly principalities can compare with the unutter
able bliss of Paradise ? And what are they proposing ?
Are you not that Matilda who glory in the title of daughter
of Peter ? are you not the same who promised to that
Holy Pontiff, Gregory vn., that no created force should
ever separate you from obedience to Holy Church ? And
now what specious reasonings are blinding your vision ?
What sort of peace can be made with the impious ?
Can you treat with Henry without taking part with
Guibert's idolatries ? Is the cause of God to be rendered
unjust because of the prosperity of the profane ? as if
the reward of the faithful should be annihilated by the
greatness of earthly happiness.

206 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
' Great Lady, do not deceive yourself. It would be
better to lose your kingdoms utterly than to possess
them with heresy ! What have the people done in the
past, once infected with this poison of false dogmas ?
I will not give you here a catalogue of the outrages of the
Arians and the Iconoclasts, since we have here under
our very eyes the profanities of Henry's partisans. A
Catholic cannot remain together with a heretic, and if
the people are divided in their faith and in their feelings,
it is impossible for them not to fall into the sin of sedition.
You have proved that even a few Guibertines amongst
your subjects have caused tumults, and with the tumults
rebellion. Now, consider what will happen to the
remainder infected by this union, if a public school were
opened to Heresy ? You would quickly see how from
such a poisonous plant there would grow the fruits of
revolution and ruin.
' Lady, there is no middle course possible. Either
all your subjects must remain Catholics to increase the
strength of your states, or you, with all of them, must
become schismatic to destroy them. May God deliver
my tongue from uttering such abominable conceits —
even more your mind from receiving them !
' You will always be Catholic. God cannot but repay
your religious constancy with his most efficacious pro
tection. A most portentous victory will not fail to be
granted to your faith as its inevitable consequence.
From Him I announce to you, oh ! great Lady — however
little you hope in the help of your subjects, however
scattered may be the treasures of your exchequers, all
the nearer and greater will be the prodigies of Divine
assistance. You will reach a happy old age. All your
rebels will return to their allegiance. You will live to

CARPINETA 207
see the tranquillity of the Church restored. You will
end your days in peace. I read clearly the writing of
these victories traced in Divine characters. Arm your
self with faith. Fight with confidence. You will
conquer — you will conquer ! '
As we read the impassioned speech of the fiery monk
who, raising his arms on high, delivered these last pro
phetic words, the whole scene rises before our eyes.
Carpineta's vast hall filled with that listening throng,
the various prelates, monks, and priests, the warrior
vassals of Matilda, worn by the long struggle, and their
men-at-arms, all alike fired anew with desire for battle —
they who had been more than half convinced by Bishop
Heribert's courtly speech that peace was the only thing
to be sought — the light on Hermit John's face reflected
on those of his own particular following, and gradually
diffusing over all. — In the centre of the hall, on a raised
dais, Matilda, who had doubtless listened sorrowfully
to all that Heribert and the others had said, until the
abbot of Canossa began to speak. Now she was to give
the decree; was it to be war or peace ? But John's words
turned the scale. There was not one man who remained
unmoved, not one dissentient voice. ' Death, rather than
a peace so ignominious ! ' was the cry of all. And
Matilda, moved, even as her vassals were, broke off all
negotiations with Henry, and returned with fresh vigour
to the defence of Montebello.
Great stress has been laid, and rightly laid, on the
Canossa incident by all historians ; too little we feel on
what occurred at Carpineta. For here surely was a
great crisis, the turning-point, as it were, of the whole
campaign — a campaign which had such far-reaching
issues, that it is only with difficulty we can gauge them

208 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
at all. Had Matilda been entirely overborne by her
bishops and vassals, had Guibert's faction won the day,
the Church would have grown more and more licentious,
more given over to the vices that so many Popes had
been striving to cast out from her midst, and the progress
of civilisation in Italy might have been retarded for
centuries. A great principle was at stake. Its upholders
were well-nigh weighed down by the darkness of despair
borne upon them by the failure of that long drawn-out
contest. And at the crucial moment, when they were
almost giving way, a strong voice arose and told them
that nothing could ever compensate for yielding to wrong.
And so clearly did the voice appeal to their consciences
that henceforth there was no hesitation amongst them.
One and all felt that the fight was still worth while;
and so back to the struggle they went.

HENRY'S MARCH ON CANOSSA 209

CHAPTER XVII
Henry raises the siege of Montebello and marches upon Canossa—
His discomfiture and flight — His standard captured and brought
to Canossa, where it is placed in the Church of St. Apollonio —
Flight of Adelaide, Henry's wife — Takes refuge with Matilda —
Rebellion of Conrad, who is offered the crown of Italy — He
accepts — Journey of Pope Urban to Lombardy — Welcomed by
Matilda — Council of Piacenza— Separation of Guelf and Matilda
in 1095 — Reasons for the separation not absolutely known,
though there are many plausible ones to be found — Henry's
last hostility against Matilda at Nogara unsuccessful.

A

FTER the Carpineta conference Matilda and
her faithful followers seem to have been
imbued with fresh courage, upheld by a strong,
indomitable will, for Henry now redoubled his efforts
to capture Montebello. He had a huge engine of war
constructed, which was to have been placed close to the
walls, thus enabling his soldiers to scale them. Before
this plan could be carried into effect Matilda's men had
seized and burnt the monster. Then Henry made a
feint of retiring with part of his army to Parma, but
marching across the plains he turned off suddenly to the
left, intending to surprise Canossa, and thus wipe out
the humiliation he had undergone twelve years before.
' Remembering the ills he had suffered there, when he
stood barefoot in the snow and cold, he deemed that an
opportune moment had arrived to avenge his wrongs.' 1
1 Dom., lib. 11. cap. vii.

210 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
He arrived at Caviliano, now called S. Polo d'Enza, a
little village near the Enza River, and decided to march
from there straight upon Canossa. Matilda had heard
that he was at Cavihano, and at once descended with half
her forces to Bianello, which stands together with three
other castles crowning the summits of hills at the moun
tain entrance to one of the roads to Canossa. Bianello
lies somewhat north-east of Cavihano, but the two roads
from these places to Canossa converge at the foot of
Monte Giumigna on the south side, and Don Davoli in
his notes on Domnizo presumes that the little hill to the
north of this, almost joined to it, was the Monte Lint-
regnano mentioned by Domnizo,1 who says that Matilda
had already arrived at Monte Giumigna while the enemy
was advancing upon Monte Lintregnano, so that for some
time they were pursuing parallel roads divided only by
these two ' mountains ' !
We can but conjecture that Matilda's object in moving
down herself to Bianello with half her troops was to
collect reinforcements, and possibly also with a view to
attacking Henry in the rear.
In the meantime at Canossa, great excitement pre
vailed when news was brought that Henry with his army
was so near at hand. The men-at-arms hurriedly rushed
to their places, waiting the word of command, and a
body of men was made ready for a sortie. In the Church
of S. Apollonio, and we may gather later, on the battle
ments, the abbot John and his monks intoned psalms,2
' praying to all the saints to defend the place from the
enemy. . . . The abbot prayed and the aforementioned
people fought.' 3 For the sortie had taken place, and
1 Dom., lib. n. cap. vii. 2 Tosti, lib. v. p. 303.
3 Dom., lib, II. cap, vii.

THE ENGAGEMENT NEAR CANOSSA 211
Henry's army was met with a violent onslaught before
it even got in sight of Canossa. To aid the defenders,
and as if in answer to the abbot's prayers, a thick
autumnal fog hid the surrounding summits, and slowly
enveloped all within its folds, greatly to the discomfiture
of Henry and his troops. They were soon routed and
forced to fly, and those of Matilda's people who came up
from Bianello attacked them in the rear. The standard-
bearer, son of that Marquis Oberto who was killed at
Sorbara, was overwhelmed, Henry's standard captured
from him, and subsequently borne in triumph to Canossa,
where with other trophies of war it was dedicated by
Matilda to S. Apollonio, and hung in the church.
Perched upon the ridge of a hill midway between
Bianello and Canossa, and plainly visible from the
former, is a small oratory dedicated to the ' Madonna
della Battaglia.' Tradition has it that Matilda built
this on the exact spot where the engagement took place.
But Professor Ferretti points out that this small chapel
is situated some two miles from Canossa 1 ; it may be
conjectured, therefore, that the force from Bianello met
the rearguard of Henry's army here, and fought with
them, and that there were two separate engagements on
that day ; one quite close to Canossa, almost under its
walls ; the other at some distance, at the spot where the
oratory now stands. Domnizo says further that after
his discomfiture Henry spent the night at Baiano (a small
village called to day Bibbiano, lying some four miles north
of Quattro Castella), and that after that one night he
fled hastily across the Po, and ' from henceforth year by
year he saw his power diminish.' 2
After this fruitless attempt to storm Canossa, Henry's
1 Canossa, Studie e Ricerche, p. 110-112. 2 Dom., lib. 11. cap. vii.

212 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
power in Italy never again reasserted itself, and now
troubles of another nature — retribution surely for private
misdoings — overtook him. In 1088 his first wife, the
gentle Bertha, had died, and in the following year he
married Adelaide, or Praxed,1 as she is sometimes called,
widow of Marquis Henry of the Northmark, and the
daughter of a Russian duke. He soon tired of her and
began to treat her shamefully, and finally imprisoned
her in a dungeon at Verona.
Serious quarrels ensued with his sons, and towards
Conrad, the elder one — him who, as a baby, had made
that terrible journey across the mountains in his mother's
arms — Henry seemed to evince a particular hatred.
Conrad differed from his father in every respect ; high-
principled, gentle, brave and courteous, he could not
countenance Henry's evil ways. A great part of his
boyhood had been spent in Italy, and early in 1092 he
had been sent to Piedmont as vicar imperial, to put
forward the claims of the imperial house to the estates
of Savoy, Adelaide of Susa, their ruler, having died a
short while previously, December 1091.2 In Italy
Conrad had won much love and admiration. It is not
known exactly what had occurred between father and
son, but it is said that Conrad had been in communication
both with the Pope and Matilda, and perhaps driven to
desperation by his father's unnatural conduct, he had
signified his intention of joining the Catholic party.
1 Her name was Eupraxis or Praxed, and was changed in Saxony to
Adelaide. 2 Adelaide's sons had died before her, and there were two principal
claimants to her estates. Conrad himself, through his mother Beatrice,
Adelaide's daughter, and a very young son of Matilda's cousin Frederick
(see page 221), and of a granddaughter of Adelaide. See Giesebrecht,
vol. iii. p. 648 et seq.

FLIGHT OF QUEEN ADELAIDE 213
Henry, on his return to Germany, hearing of his son's
defection, confined him in prison, whence, however, he
managed to escape to Italy. By the consent of the Pope,
Conrad was offered the crown of Italy, both Matilda and
her husband Guelf being privy to these negotiations.
In the year 1093, therefore, Conrad was crowned King
of Italy, first at Monza and then at Sant' Ambroglio at
Milan. Urban the diplomatist may have thought that
Italy would greatly benefit by this policy of securing for
its king the son of an outlawed emperor. A certain
number of Lombards wished for a king who should be of
royal blood, and others would flock to his court who were
jealous of the power of the Tuscan house, and it certainly
placed Henry in a very bad light that his own son should
accept such an honour from the Pope — the Pope that he
himself had repudiated. Henry's cause was further
weakened by the flight of his wife Adelaide, who with
the help of Matilda and her husband escaped from her
prison at Verona, and journeyed hurriedly southwards to
Canossa, where Matilda received and entertained her as
a most honoured guest. Nearly a hundred and fifty
years previously another Queen Adelaide had taken
refuge from her oppressors within those very walls. She,
too, had been generously welcomed and protected. And
so Matilda maintained the traditions of her house, and
this poor Adelaide could feel she was as safe and sheltered
as her predecessor had been.
Italy was now making a decided effort to gain its
freedom from the yoke of foreign rule, and we have at
this time the record of the first of those famous ' Lombard
Leagues,' of which we hear so much at a later date.1 We
are told that Guelf and Matilda entered into a twenty
1 Don Tosti, lib. v. p. 309.

214 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
years' league against Henry with the cities of Milan,
Cremona, Lodi, and Piacenza. This shows very plainly
how the towns, were growing in power, gradually casting
off the vestiges of their feudal allegiance, and beginning
to regard themselves as separate entities.1 At the same
time that this compact was agreed upon, Matilda and
her husband were given the guardianship of the Alpine
passes to prevent any incursions on the part of
Henry. Further south Henry's partisans were diminishing in
number, and in Rome itself Guibert was gradually
becoming aware that his cause was hopeless, for now the
only place of any importance within the city that he
retained was the castle of St. Angelo ; all the other
strong places had opened their gates to Urban, and the
Pope was able once more to inhabit the Lateran palace,
and to celebrate Christmas as Pope indeed. Shortly
afterwards he undertook to pay a visit to France, and
Matilda was very anxious that he should stay some time
in Lombardy on his way. It was thought a fitting time
for him to visit the north of Italy, and to encourage by
his presence those cities whose inhabitants were now
anxious to acknowledge him as Pope in place of Guibert.
Early in 1095, therefore, he left Rome and was welcomed
by Matilda ' as if he had been St. Peter,' says Domnizo.
It must have been a joy to her to feel she could once
more receive the Holy Father, and together they could
discuss the affairs of a peaceful instead of a warring
Church. On the other hand, there were matters to be
discussed which more directly concerned Matilda, and
1 About this time a further sign appeared of the increasing liberties of the
citizens, for in the year 1095 many cities began to elect their own magistrates
without the sanction of bishop or count. These magistrates were called
Consuls (see Abbate, p, 176).

COUNCIL OF PIACENZA 215
which were of a disturbing nature to her own peace, as
will presently be seen.
In the meantime a council was arranged to take
place at Piacenza, and such vast multitudes thronged to
it that no building could contain them, and they had
to meet in the open fields outside the city. It must
have been a proud moment for Urban when he came
forward to address that vast concourse, and a glad
moment for Matilda to know that her fidelity to the
cause of the Church had met with its reward. Here were
present two hundred bishops from Italy, Burgundy,
France and Bavaria, four thousand clerics, and thirty
thousand laymen, Matilda and Guelf her husband, and
the Empress Adelaide. Canons for the estabUshing of
Church discipline were reinforced, the affairs of Christen
dom and the great burning question of a holy war against
the infidels were discussed (of the latter we shall speak
more anon).
The injured Empress then made known her wrongs,
and proclaimed aloud in open council the misdoings of
her husband with no reticence whatever. By many she
was blamed for this lack of reserve, while others saw in
it a motive — to move the hearts of the people to yet
greater indignation against Henry, and thus to gain
more adherents for Conrad, her stepson, who had always
treated her with the greatest chivalry and respect, and
for whom she cherished a very true affection.
Pope Urban journeyed slowly through Lombardy, and
was everywhere well received. At Cremona, Conrad
came forth to meet him and pay him all honour, and then
and there tendered his oath of allegiance to the Church.
It was arranged by the Pope that a marriage should
take place between the young King and a daughter of

216 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Roger, the conqueror of Sicily, brother of Robert
Guiscard. Before Pope Urban left Italy he was able
to attend and bless the nuptials at Pisa, where the
ceremony took place with great pomp and magnificence.
Yet while the negotiations for this marriage were pro
ceeding — possibly at the very time that it took place —
the untying of that other marriage Pope Urban had
brought about, the question of Matilda's divorce, in fact,
must have been very fully discussed. No historian tells
us what opinion Urban expressed, what advice he gave.
Only the fact is mentioned that Matilda and Guelf
separated some time after the Council of Piacenza in
1095. There had been differences and dissensions
between them already, and feeling that matters might
come to an unpleasant crisis, early in that same year the
elder Guelf, Matilda's father-in-law, had come down into
Italy and endeavoured to smooth away the differences,
dreading the effects of an open breach. But his diplo
matic efforts were of no avail, and the separation took
place. The reasons given are many ; perhaps none of
them contain the whole truth. The one historian who
might have told us something with certainty of the
matter is Domnizo, but he is silent on the subject of both
Matilda's marriages — out of consideration to her feelings
with regard to these painful incidents of her life, or
because he felt that his heroine does not appear in a very
favourable light.1 Some writers declare that both
marriages were so in name only, and that Guelf soon
tired of occupying a secondary position beside a woman
twice his age, who would not consent to give him an
equal share in administering the affairs of her states.
Others say that Matilda, accustomed for years to com-
1 See Don Davoli's notes on Domnizo, p. 353.

MATILDA'S QUARREL WITH ESTE FAMILY 217
mand alone, could ill brook a consort who desired not
only an equal right to rule, but who wished to take the
leading part. There is a document extant granting some
privileges to the people of Mantua which goes to prove
that Guelf arrogated to himself the supreme place in the
government, for it begins thus : ' Welfo Dei gratia Dux
et Marchio, et Mathilda Dei gratia si quid est.' x
It is easily understood that the natural consequences
of such an ill-assorted union would be eventual separa
tion, that dissensions and quarrels would emphasise
themselves the more, as time went on, and the pressing
need that had brought these two together ceased to
exist. Guelf was so much younger than his wife, and
evidently not a strong character, tactless, hasty, and
eager to assume a prominent part in the government and
administration of Matilda's states. This she resented,
and he wounded her pride and reserve, till at last her
proud spirit could bear the strain no longer,2 and an
entire severance of this unnatural bond seemed to her the
only possible course. To any one who has studied
Matilda's character as closely as is possible from the
meagre details that have come down to our own days,
the divorce from Guelf seems to reveal a consistent trait
of character. She had too much -virility to tolerate a
weak man who possessed no strength of purpose. She
had been accustomed all her life to act decisively, and so
she acted now. Let those who would blame her remem
ber that it was only natural and human that she should
have ' les deiauts de ses qualites.'
Yet, on the other hand, it is to be admitted that her
father-in-law had some show of reason on his side when
1 Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 244, who quotes from Mario Equicola, and probably
referred to in Overman, p. 156. 2 See Tosti, lib. v. cap. v.

218 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
he expressed indignation at her conduct, and felt himself
both injured and mortified. So long as he and his son
had been necessary to Matilda, he said, she had kept her
own counsel, and had accepted all they had to offer in
the way of devotion to the Papal cause, and troops
wherewith to meet the Emperor. Once Henry and his
party were entirely weakened, and the Bavarian alliance
was no longer of great importance, Matilda took the
first opportunity of ridding herself of an uncongenial
husband, remembering nothing they had done in her
defence, disregarding the marriage contract, allowing of
no compromise, and thereby casting a slur on him and
on his family. He, the old Guelf, was so embittered
against Matilda, that he certainly must have thought her
more to blame than his son. Muratori is of opinion that
it was expressly promised to him in the marriage contract,1
and with the assent of the Holy See, that his son should
inherit Matilda's possessions, and faihng direct heirs, the
Este family after him, and this in spite of Matilda's
having made a secret donation of her lands to the Church.
The whole question is somewhat obscure and very
difficult to follow. It is certain, however, that after
Matilda's death the Este family laid claim to her lands.
Muratori also says that the descendants of Guelf iv.
(Matilda's father-in-law) succeeded in time in obtaining
some of her possessions, and one would imagine, there
fore, that there must have been some justice in their
claim. In the meantime, the old Duke Guelf, finding that a
reconciliation was impossible, retired into Germany.
Having entirely abandoned the Catholic party, he ap
pealed to Henry to help him against Matilda. Henry
1 Delle Antichita Estensi ed Italiane, vol. i. p. 20.

HENRY'S ATTACK ON NOGARA 219
was at Verona at this time with a miserable following of
men, but upon hearing of the quarrel between Matilda
and the family of Este, he thought this would be a fitting
opportunity to strike one last blow at his old enemy.
Gathering together what forces he could, he marched
against Matilda's castle of Nogara, and proceeded to
besiege it. Matilda, hearing of this attempt, despatched
a strong body of Modenese to fight the King. Henry's
spirit must have greatly changed, for, upon the approach
of Matilda's men, he offered no show of resistance, but
fled incontinently, abandoning all his baggage and
belongings, which fell into the hands of his adversaries.
This was the last show of fight ever made by Henry in
Italy. Since his reconciliation with the Guelfs the
Alpine passes were once more free, and he was able to
cross the mountains unmolested. In the year 1097,
therefore, he left Italy never to return again. He met
with little or no opposition as he re-entered his German
dominions, and gradually the situation improved. He
became reconciled with some of his old enemies, and his
friends began to rally round him.
All Henry's paternal affection, alienated as it was
from his elder son, now seems to have been lavished on
the younger, Henry. At a council assembled at Mainz
(May 1098), the latter was proclaimed heir to the king
dom, and Conrad deprived of the rights of succession.
A few months later (January 1099), at Aachen, Henry
caused this boy of sixteen to be crowned King, and the
nobles swore fealty to him, although he was made to take
a solemn oath never to interfere in the government or
usurp the rights of the kingdom so long as his father
lived. This oath he swore upon the crucifix and the
holy lance, at his coronation.

220 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER XVIII
The beginnings of the Crusades — Aspirations of Gregory vn. — His
letters to Henry in 1074 — Forced to abandon the idea — De
velopment under Pope Urban 11. at Councils of Piacenza and
Claremont — Urban appeals to all true warriors to fight for the
Holy Sepulchre — Departure from Lucca of the Crusaders in
1095 — Halt in Rome and disillusionment of many who turn
back — Capture of Jerusalem — Death of Urban, 1099.
THE one great subject which was filling men's
minds towards the end of the eleventh century,
the idea of a campaign against the infidels
who infested Palestine and oppressed the Christians of
the East, has so absorbed the attention of Matilda's
biographers at this period, that they neglect Matilda
herself, to tell us of the beginning of the Crusades. And
yet we cannot wonder at this, since, indirectly as well as
directly, the great Tuscan princess helped to foster and
carry on the development of this idea. More than twenty
years previously Gregory had made known to his intimate
friends the cherished wish of his heart to free the land
of the Holy Sepulchre from the dominion of the un
believer, and we do not doubt that in his long intercourse
with Matilda he frequently discussed the question with
her, and expressed his desire to embark on an expedition
against the infidel possessors of Palestine.
This wish was formulated in an open letter to Henry,
written December 1074 — just after Beatrice had returned
from her mission of peace to Germany, and when Henry

THE FIRST CRUSADE 221
showed himself in a very submissive mood : ' The
Christians from overseas, of whom the greater number
are massacred daily, like helpless flocks of sheep, have
humbly sent to ask me to succour them, our brothers,
so that the Christian faith of to-day may not be entirely
annihilated (which God forbid). And I, moved with so
great sorrow that I desire death — for I would rather give
my life than abandon them — . . . have tried to excite
and animate all Christians to defend the law of Christ,
to sacrifice their lives for their brother, and to cause to
shine forth the nobility of the children of God. The
Italians and those beyond the mountains have, by the
inspiration of God, accepted my counsels most willingly.
Already fifty thousand men are prepared (if they can
have me as chief and as pontiff in this expedition) to
rise in arms against the enemies of God, and to reach the
sepulchre of the Lord under my guidance.' 1 Then with
a touch of great confidence in the young King's sincerity
and wish to amend his ways, Gregory goes on to say that
if God permits him to undertake this enterprise, he
would leave the care of the Church to Henry. We know
how much this confidence was misplaced. The fifty
thousand men that Gregory had assembled under Gisulf
of Salerno in the woods of the Ciminian hill above Viterbo
had to be disbanded and sent to their homes. The
affairs of the Church in Europe were in too troublous
a condition to admit of Gregory's leaving Italy, and he
had with great regret to abandon all hopes of leading a
Crusade to the East. ,
We have little doubt that his hopes, his regrets, his
ideas were kept in memory by Matilda, and that she
1 Reg., vol. ii. p. 31 (7th Dec. 1074). See also Villemain, vol. i.
pp. 446"447 ¦

222 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
managed to stimulate his successor to take some active
steps in promoting a holy war. Moved by Pope Victor's
words, and perhaps not wholly with disinterested motives,
the Genoese and Pisans led a crusade against the Saracens
of Africa ; but the war ended in nothing, and the Holy
Land itself was no nearer freedom.
Yet for all those twenty years the seed had been
germinating, and under Pope Urban was to grow and
bring forth a mighty harvest, both of good and evil
fruit. Now that the peace of Italy was restored, the
schism in the Church all but dead, and the dreaded
enemy's power lessened, the Pope could devote himself
entirely to the development of his great predecessor's idea.
For Urban's preaching came exactly at the right moment,
and the minds of men were ready to listen to his exhorta
tions and to act on them. As the war in Italy had
ceased, there were great numbers of warriors idle for the
moment, a great surplus of energy all over Europe. The
feudal system, which rendered the carrying of arms an
obligation on men of noble birth, had gradually evolved
the institution of knighthood, with its chivalrous code,
bringing help and succour to the injured and oppressed.
This Crusade offered an unbounded scope for the great
army of the knights of Christendom to wield their arms
in the noblest of all causes. Moreover, it appealed to
every one, each in his different way, and fired the imagina
tion of all. It offered an ideal campaign for the good
and noble, a wide field of enterprise to the ambitious,
and remission of sins to the ungodly. When, therefore,
Pope Urban addressed the vast multitude at Piacenza,
demanding their aid for the Holy War, when he spoke
later with such eloquence at Claremont, his words fell
on ears eager and willing to receive them, and he appealed

CLAREMONT 223
to the people exactly in the right way; the great
inducement he held out was that by fighting thus against
the infidel, they could make atonement for their sins.
At the Council of Piacenza there were present the
envoys of Alexius Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor,
who were able to excite further indignation against the
infidels by the accounts they gave, of brutal massacres
of Christians and pilgrims.
At Claremont, where another great council was held,
the whole mass of people were moved by one impulse,
and the shout of ' God wills it ! ' ' God wills it ! ' con
tinually interrupted the Pope. Men poured forth their
riches, and brought their vassals to fight as well, and
bound red crosses on their arms, swearing never to return
to their native land until the pagans had been driven
from Jerusalem. Urban had struck the right chord.
The Pope's appeal to the wicked is specially striking : 1
' Rise, turn your weapons, dripping with the blood of
your brothers, against the enemy of the Christian faith.
You oppressors of orphans and widows, you murderers,
you violators of churches, you robbers of the property
of others, you who accept money to shed the blood of
Christians, you who, like vultures, are drawn by the
scent of the battlefield, hasten, as you love your souls,
and your Captain Christ, to the rescue of Jerusalem. All
you who are guilty of such sins as exclude you from the
kingdom of God, ransom yourselves at this price, for
such is the will of God.'
The enthusiasm excited by Urban's preaching was
unbounded, and forthwith vast armies prepared them
selves to start in the following spring. We are sure that
Matilda stimulated her vassals to take part in this holy
1 Gregorovius, vol. iv. p. 332 (Italian ed.).

224 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
warfare, and we know that by her leave and sanction
great numbers of the citizens of both Genoa and Pisa
made themselves ready.1 Vedriani tells us that she
raised seven thousand men from her cities of Parma,
Cremona, Modena, Reggio, and others, and gave their
leadership to Palamede Beccaria, while the captains of
the Modenese soldiery were Fabrio and Riniero Rangone
and Filippo Boschetti, ' warriors of great renown.' 2
In returning from France in November of 1096, Urban
was met by Matilda at Cremona, and together they pro
ceeded to Lucca, where the whole of the magnificent army
of French, Norman, and English Crusaders had arrived
to receive the blessing of the Pope before journeying
southwards to Bari, where they were to set sail. These
forces were commanded by Hugues de Vermandois,
brother of the King of France, Stephen of Blois, Robert
of Flanders, the two brothers Godfrey and Eustace of
Bouillon, and Robert of Normandy, Matilda's whilom
suitor. We can picture this gallant army of warriors
encamped outside the walls of Lucca, with the white
banners emblazoned with the red cross flying gaily from
the tents, while within the city, the princes and their
knights were entertained by Matilda. And the memory
of the impressive ceremony of the blessing of the
Crusaders' arms by the Pope, and the presentation of the
banner of St. Peter to Prince Hugh, must have remained
for long in the minds of the Lucchese, as one of the
brightest and most beautiful pageants they had ever
witnessed !
Yet of this gallant army how few were destined to see
Jerusalem ! Six hundred thousand men in all, we are
told, departed on this first Crusade, and only forty
1 See Fiorentini, lib. H. p. 268. 2 Ved., vol. ii. p. 64.

PORTRAIT OF MATILDA
FROM THE FRESCO ABOVE HER TOMB AT S. BENEDETTO POLIRONE

DEATH OF POPE URBAN II. 225
thousand reached the Holy City. Many fought and
perished on the way, and some turned back, disillusioned
and horror-struck, before quitting Italy. For Pope Urban
begged the departing princes to tarry awhile in Rome
on their way to Bari, and strike a blow in his own cause.
They were going to help the Holy City ; would they not
first succour the city which had become the Mother of
Holy Church, and drive out its schismatic oppressors ?
The leaders consented, and upon reaching Rome they
managed to expel the Guibertines from St. Peter's and
wrest from them many of their strongholds, at the same
time forcing Guibert himself to leave Rome.
The warriors from France and Italy, filled with holy
zeal, and reverencing the Church and the Pope, must
have been struck with horror and amazement at the
anarchy and disorder prevailing in Rome, and many
turned back in consequence. An eye-witness (Fulcher
Carnotensis J) tells us how Guibert's followers robbed the
votive offerings from off the altars in St. Peter's, and
climbed up on the beams of the church to throw down
stones on the worshippers, and were quite prepared to
murder any of Urban's adherents.
It was not till after two years more had passed, two
years of excessive hardships and fighting, that the
Crusaders' goal was reached, and the crown of their am
bition realised, for on the 15th of July 1099 Jerusalem fell
into their hands and the Holy Sepulchre was theirs. The
Pope, smitten with a fatal illness, passed away on the
twenty-ninth day of the same month, and although the
news could not actually have reached him, he must have
realised that victory was near, and have breathed a sigh
of relief that his life had not been lived in vain, that he
1 See Gregorovius, vol. iv. p. 337-38 (Italian ed.).

226 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
had, to the best of his ability, executed a great idea
handed on to him by the loyalty and devotion of the
' faithful daughter of St. Peter,' as transmitted to her
by Gregory.
If we look back to Carpineta, that supreme crisis in
the struggle between the Pope and Emperor, and if we
think what Rome and Italy might have become had
Matilda and her vassals yielded to Henry — Italy an
appanage of the German royal house, Rome subservient
to its head, the whole power of the Papacy, and all it
stood for in those days, weakened perhaps for centuries,
we can realise that, but for Matilda's grand and persistent
courage in upholding the Papacy at such a time, the
Crusades would never have taken place, the whole
subsequent development of chivalry, the commercial
activity of Europe, its learning and its enlightenment,
would have been retarded for many centuries.

ACCESSION OF POPE PASCHAL II. 227

CHAPTER XIX
Election of Paschal 11. — Death of Antipope Guibert in I ioo — Matilda
promotes the founding of the School of Jurisprudence at Bologna,
and appoints Irnerius to codify the Laws of Justinian — Restores
and beautifies S. Apollonio at Canossa — The story of the spurs
— Cardinal Bernard is made her director and vicar of the Pope in
Lombardy — Matilda renews her donation to the Roman Church
in 1 102 — Visit of Anselm of Canterbury to Matilda's court —
Revolt of Ferrara and Parma — The translation of the body of
San Geminiano in Modena — Two miniature portraits of Matilda
in the MS. which gives an account of this ceremony.
IMMEDIATELY after Urban's death, Rainerius,
cardinal of San Clemente, was elected Pope under
the name of Paschal 11. He had been raised to
the dignity of cardinal by Gregory vn., had shown himself
a most zealous disciple of the great Pope, and was looked
upon as a leader in Church reform. Great things were
hoped of him, but subsequent events proved that these
expectations would never be realised. Rainerius had
shown himself capable, energetic, and resolute as cardinal
— as Pope the weaknesses of his character became mani
fest, and the world was soon to see how little he was
fitted to meet the difficulties and responsibilities that the
highest office in the Church bore in its train. He made
a brave start, however. Vedriani 1 tells us that ' cordial
letters were interchanged between the new Pope and
Matilda,' and ' he did not delay a moment in sending
her the apostolic benediction,' and that he also wrote
1 Ved., vol. ii. p. 64.

228 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
to tell her that he had determined once and for all to
put an end to Guibert's schism, and called for help from
her. A goodly army was collected together, with
Matilda's aid and that of Roger of Sicily, for the latter
had sent the Pope substantial help in the shape of a large
sum of money. With this, troops could be raised, and
forthwith a plan of campaign was organised.
For some years Guibert's bands of followers had been
dwindling ; even in Ravenna his power was on the wane.
Men were growing weary of the strife between Pope and
antipope, occupied as they were now with the all-engross
ing subject of the Crusade. At the election of Rainerius,
however, the schismatics rallied round Guibert. He
made an effort to reassert himself, coming down from
the north to Albano, where he hoped to offer stout
resistance to the Papal forces. But Albano was captured ;
Guibert fled to Sutri, from thence to Civita Castellana,
where he died (September noo). He had known how
to make a resolute stand in favour of a doomed cause,
and his courageous efforts seemed worthy of a better
aim. After a while miracles were reported to be wrought
at his grave, and so much did these rumours excite Pope
Paschal's alarm lest the schism should be renewed, that
he commanded that the bones of the former antipope
should be thrown into the Tiber.1
With Guibert's death the party of the schismatics
were left without a capable head, and although two anti-
popes were speedily elected, one after the other, to fill
his place, they were as speedily disposed of by Pope
Paschal — condemned to relinquish their barren honours
and end their days in monasteries in the south of Italy,
and it was not long before Paschal was universally
1 Gregorovius, vol. iv. p. 318. See also Ved., vol. ii. p. 64 et seq.

BOLOGNA SCHOOL OF JURISPRUDENCE 229
acknowledged as supreme head of the Church and lawful
successor to St. Peter.
The next few years passed peacefully enough for
Matilda, and she occupied them in visiting the different
cities of her states, redressing grievances, making dona
tions to various churches and abbeys which had suffered
during the times of war, and generally conferring benefits
on her people.
Here we may notice a very important work of Matilda's,
probably undertaken about this time, namely, the found
ing and fostering of the great school of jurisprudence at
Bologna, which for many centuries gave great renown
to that famous university. Hitherto there had been much
confusion in Italy regarding the practice of the law, since
the various barbarian conquerors had brought with them
their -own laws, and in many parts of the country the old
Roman code was well-nigh forgotten. At the beginning of
the eleventh century, however, there existed at Ravenna
a flourishing school of law which had been grafted on to
the root of the old Roman law, and which was modified
somewhat by the necessities of the feudal system. The
lawyers of Ravenna were to be met with everywhere, and
had attained great notability. But since Ravenna was
a very hotbed of heresy and had been the headquarters
of the great antipope Guibert, it was most important
that there should be another school of law to prepare
advocates for Matilda's domains in particular. She
employed a certain scholar, Irnerius (Guarniero or
Werner,1 as he is severally called), to collect and re
arrange the well-nigh forgotten code of Justinian,2 and
1 Muratori, Dissert, sulle antichita italiane, xliv.
2 ' Dominus Irnerius at the request of the Countess Matilda renewed the
books of the Laws which had been long neglected, and in accordance with
the manner in which they had been compiled by the Emperor Justinian

230 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
did all in her power to promote and encourage the revival
of the study of the Roman law. It must not be forgotten
that to a great feudal ruler like Matilda some knowledge
of law and its workings would be very essential. She
had teachers, and prompters, and helpers, no doubt,
but one of her functions as ruler was to preside at the
courts of law and pronounce judgment. In the early
days Matilda would always be present to pass sentence
when any important case was being tried, but as time
went on, the judges were given more power. Matilda
could not preside at every court of justice throughout
her dominions. Her wars and urgent political affairs
often demanded her presence elsewhere, so gradually it
was arranged that the proceedings should be terminated
by the judges alone — and even when in later days she
presided in person, it was only to give her assent to the
verdict they had already formulated. It will be seen,
therefore, that even in the matter of the administration
of the law, the towns gradually acquired the power of
acting for themselves.
It was probably about this time that Matilda did so
much to enlarge Canossa and to beautify the church, of
which Domnizo writes with such pride. He tells us in
his dedicatory letter, how Matilda caused rich and
precious marbles to be brought to Canossa wherewith to
embellish the tombs of her ancestors. Then in the poem
he calls down blessings from above on Matilda. ' Oh !
Thou who numberest the stars ! ' he writes (as if Canossa
spoke), ' grant a long life to the sublime Matilda ! and
when she is taken from this world, grant that her body
of divine memory, arranged them in divisions, adding perchance between
the lines a few words here and there.' — Richard Uspergensis, quoted by
Rashdall, vol. i. chap. ii. p. 116.

MATILDA'S DONATIONS TO PISA 231
may be buried here ! One mausoleum only holds the
remains of her great ancestors and their wives, but I
love her even more than her ancestors, because she has
exalted me, and manifested great affection towards me ;
in Rome, thanks to her, my name has sounded gloriously,
and by continually raising new towers, she renders me
more strong and beautiful ! '
It is interesting to note at this time how much the
desire for beauty was growing, and how the cities of
northern Italy manifested this desire by raising magnifi
cent stately cathedrals, and how eagerly the citizens
concurred in this work.1 Perhaps the wish here expressed
and developed was yet another mark of their increasing
individuality and independence; in any case, all these
great buildings received most substantial help from
Matilda. In January of the year noo she was in the
neighbourhood of Pisa,2 where she took special care to
legislate for the chapter-house, confirming it in the
possession of its lands, and taking care to free the people
inhabiting these lands from various grievous taxes.
Another special work of her bounty was the donation of
a large piece of ground adjacent to her palace at Pisa,
to help towards the building of the cathedral, with the
understanding that the rent obtained from it should be
employed in completing the cathedral, and afterwards
should be used for its maintenance. With the same
object, in 1105 she made further donations of the ' court
and castle ' of Papiano, the ' court and castle ' of Livorno,
and a piece of ground outside the walls of Pisa.3 In the
registers all over her dominions there still exist the
records of monasteries — in Florence, Guastalla, Carpineta,
1 Dom., lib. II., Introduction. 2 Overman, p. 167.
3 Overman, pp. 171-172.

232 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
and elsewhere — which she took under her protection, and
upon which she bestowed most generous gifts.
One little anecdote, illustrating her impulsive gener
osity, has been handed down to us. One day she was
with a hunting-party in the neighbourhood of Ferrara,
and in the eagerness of the chase she became separated
from her attendants, and found herself towards the
middle of the day quite close to the abbey of S. Bartolo-
meo. Dismounting from her horse, she knocked at the
gate and asked permission to rest awhile. The monks,
highly honoured by the presence of so great a lady,
begged her to share with them the midday meal, which
was then being prepared. While she was conversing
with the abbot, the monastery bell began to ring as a
summons to table, and struck with the particularly harsh
note of the bell, which was cracked, she asked the abbot
why he did not replace it with a more musical one.
' Alas ! ' said the abbot, ' the brethren and I are poor in
this world's goods ; we have no money for a new bell.'
Matilda stooped down, and removing from her boots her
golden begemmed spurs, presented them to the abbot.
' Father, accept these,' she said. ' They will purchase
you another bell.' The monks named the beautiful new
bell which was cast and placed in the monastery tower,
' the Spurs,' and on it there was moulded a tiny pair of
spurs and an inscription recording Matilda's generous gift.1
Pope Paschal, remembering possibly that since An
selm's death, Matilda had been without any ghostly
counsellor of note, sent Bernard, the cardinal-abbot of
VaJlombrosa, into Lombardy as his vicar-general, with
special instructions to confer with and advise Matilda.
1 This story from Ughelli, Italia Sacra, torn. ii. col. 561. See also
Ferretti, pp. 138-139.

ADOPTION OF GUIDO GUERRA 233
A great and true affection developed between these two.
Cardinal Bernard, a man of saintly life and character,
was in all respects worthy to become Matilda's director.
His name is often associated with Matilda's in her deeds
of donation, either as a witness or to sanction them, and
the great Countess and her counsellor must have travelled
about incessantly in Lombardy attending to ecclesiastical
and pohtical affairs. For instance, we hear of them
together at Mantua, when by Bernard's advice the care
of the poor at the hospital of S. Andrea was taken from
the monks of that abbey, since they had used the revenues
of the hospital for worldly purposes, and was confided
to the monastery of S. Benedetto Polirone, which had
maintained the very best of reputations throughout all
the troublous times of the schism.
In the year 1102, while Bernard was visiting Matilda
at Canossa, the latter renewed the donation of her lands
to Holy Church, which, according to Domnizo, she had
originally made in 1077 when Gregory was with her at
Canossa. A copy of this document still exists in the
Vatican, in which it is stated that the original parchment
was lost.1
And here in passing we may note the fact that some
where before, or in, the year 1099, Matilda had adopted
Guido Guerra, a son of Count Guido Guerra, a Tuscan
noble of some note.2 Guido the father had earned the
sobriquet of ' Guerra,' probably from his warlike char
acter, and henceforth Guerra became an integral part of
the family name. He was evidently an intimate friend
of Matilda, and was associated with her, not only in
many deeds of charity, but also as judge at some of her
courts of law. In 1072, for instance, he assisted her in
1 See Appendix G. 2 See Overman, p. 165.

234 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Florence in pronouncing judgment in favour of the nuns
of Santa Felicita.
He was overlord of Pistoja, and must have owned vast
lands in Tuscany, for in 1081 he bestowed the celebrated
pine forest on the abbey of Vallombrosa, and in 1090
an immense chestnut wood, on the same brotherhood.
His son seems to have inherited both his father's
generosity and valour. He took part in the war against
the infidels (at what date is not known), as is evidenced
by a document of noo. He shared in many of the
charities of the great Countess, but little is known as to
the manner of this adoption. In a document of 1099 he
describes himself thus : ' I, Guido, Count, called Guerra,
son of Count Guido, adopted son of the Lady, Countess
Matilda.' Repetti surmises that she, Matilda, may have
acted as his sponsor, and ' held him in baptism at the
sacred font.' 1 Litta tells us that he was known as
' the Marquis,' on account of this adoption, and says
further : ' He was destined to be her heir, but other
motives induced the Countess to bequeath her estates
to the Papacy.' 2 After 1106 his name disappears from
the documents, either as witness to or joint-donor
in her charities. He died in 1124, a few years after
Matilda herself. There is no evidence that he benefited
in any way by the adoption. His descendants were
known as the ' Guidi di Romagna.'
In March 1103 we hear of Cardinal Bernard and
Matilda at Panciano, near Nonantula,3 and there Matilda
made splendid restitution to the abbey of Nonantula
for the treasure it had given to the Holy See, when
Gregory vn. and she herself were so sore beset that their
1 Repetti, vol. vi. Appendice, pp. 41, 42, 2 Litta, vol. ii. tavola 2.
8 See Tiraboschi, Sloria di San Silvestro di Nonantula.

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY 235
own resources were at an end. Much land, several
churches and castles in the Ferrarese district, with all
their incoming revenues, were now bestowed upon the
faithful abbey.
In the autumn of this same year there came to Matilda's
court a visitor from far-off England — none other than
Anselm, the famous Archbishop of Canterbury, on his
way back from Rome, where he had been to lay his case
before the Pope. That he was received with the great
est courtesy and given a safe-conduct through Matilda's
territories is evident from the letter he addressed to her
after his return to France in November 1103, accompanied
by a copy of his Meditations. In the letter he thanks
her for the motherly care and friendliness she manifested
towards him.1 Matilda was evidently much struck with
Anselm's ability, and his personality must have made
a great impression on her, since later, in 1104-5,2 she
wrote most warmly in his cause to Pope Paschal, de
claring it a shame that so worthy a member of the Roman
Church should be set on one side by that Church, and
bidding Pope Paschal remember Anselm's loyal services,
urgently begging him to take up the matter without loss
of time, and set it right. Even before this, some years
previously, when Anselm had first arrived in Rome,
Matilda had evinced her belief in the justice of his cause
by sending Rainerius, Bishop of Lucca, to the special
council convened by Pope Urban 11. in Rome to inquire
into the question of Anselm's differences with William
Rufus. Rainerius warmly upheld the exiled archbishop,
and spoke at great length in his favour, though nothing
1 Overman, p. 172.
2 Overman, p. 174, but he is not correct in saying that the text of this
letter is to be found in Gerberon's collection of Anselm's Works ; only the
two first lines are there. See Appendix F.

236 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
definite came of it. Although Anselm was an Italian by
birth, his name is so intimately associated with our own
land, and our own city of Canterbury, that we cannot but
feel a very special interest in this little incident in Matilda's
life, and a glow of gratitude for her warm defence of an
injured man, who had so few to plead for him, and who,
in England, had made himself one with the cause for
which Gregory fought so long — the questions of simony
and investitures.
Two minor rebellions occurred in Matilda's country
during these years — at Ferrara and at Parma. Ferrara
saw occasion to revolt just after the death of Conrad, the
young King of Italy, which took place in Florence in
the year 1102. A malignant report was spread abroad
that Matilda's physician had poisoned him, owing to a
recent quarrel between the King and the great Countess !
Most historians tell us of the quarrel, but they also
mention that a reconciliation took place early in 1102,
and the report was only circulated by Matilda's enemies,
since whatever may have been the differences between
them (and their origin is not known), Matilda and Conrad
had again been on the most friendly terms, as is evidenced
by his leaving Lombardy and visiting Matilda in Florence,
where the fatal fever attacked him. He was buried
in the old cathedral with great pomp and every honour.
Immediately afterwards the news was brought to
Matilda that Ferrara was in a state of rebellion, and so,
collecting an army, she at once journeyed across the
Apeninnes, and arrived in time to join forces with
her allies the Venetians, and the people of Ravenna,
who, hearing of the trouble in Ferrara, came in all haste
to her assistance, and the outbreak was speedily quelled.1
1 Dom., lib. II. cap. ix.

REBELLION AT PARMA 237
The affair at Parma was of a more serious nature,
insomuch as acts of rebellion and sacrilege were com-
mittedby the infuriated people, and they had little or
no excuse for the violence of their deeds. Parma had
been a seat of heresy since the days of Cadalous the great
antipope. The inhabitants were not yet freed from the
taint of the schism, and did not love their liege lady ;
indeed they do not like to think even to this day that
they were ever Matilda's subjects.1
In the year 1104 Parma was still only half-hearted
in its devotion to the rightful Pope, and had secret
leanings towards imperial rule. However, in spite of
these tendencies, a number of the leading citizens sent a
deputation to Bernard, the Pope's vicar-general, inviting
him to come and celebrate the Feast of the Assumption
within the city. In the hopes of stimulating the people's
faith, and full of zeal towards the Pope and the Church,
Bernard repaired to Parma. Unfortunately, in his sermon
on the great feast day, he made some allusions to Henry
and Guibert the antipope.- These were extremely dis
pleasing to the people, arid angry mutterings began to
be heard. At the conclusion of the homily, before the
mass was completed, the mutterings changed to furious
cries. ' Death to the false prophet ! ' ' Death to the
traitor ! Down with the King's enemies ! ' And
women's voices, mingling in the tumult, cried out : ' If
we let him escape alive, we shall lose the friendship of the
King. Death to him rather than this should happen ! ' —
in a moment swords were drawn, pikes were brandished,
and a wild rush was made towards the altar.
The assistant priests fled in terror, and Bernard alone
1 See A6E6, vol. ii. pp. 40-43, 55 et seq., where he denies that Boniface
ever had rule over the city, and 124 et seq., with reference to Matilda.

238 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
with the abbot Tedaldo1 remained to face the angry
crowd. As they rushed at the high altar, Tedaldo stepped
impulsively in front of the cardinal, to shield him from a
blow aimed at his neck by one of the foremost in the
mob, and received it in his stead, paying no attention
to the blood which began to flow, and calmly keeping his
place. Then Bernard with a smile on his face took a
step forward. The quiet demeanour of these two heroic
men incited the people to still greater fury, and pointing
to the cardinal they shrieked out : ' He has a smile of
the devil who possesses him ! Let us seize and drag
him forth ! ' And this they did forthwith, showering
blows and curses upon his head, and thrusting him into
a dungeon. The scene within the church was of the
wildest confusion ; the sacred vessels were overturned,
broken, and carried off, the rich gifts and vestments
presented by Matilda and the cardinal were made away
with, and the church itself reduced to a ruin.
Matilda was staying in the Modenese country when
news of this outbreak reached her. She was moved to
tears at the thought of Bernard's sufferings and the
sacrilege committed, but was greatly incensed at the
conduct of the Parmesans. In three days she collected a
force and marched to Parma, prepared to punish its citizens
with the utmost rigour. For she, who was so merciful to
the injured, and generous to the needy, was yet a severe
judge when it came to dealing with rebellion and outrage.
But the attitude of the Parmesans suffered a sudden
change ; whether the ill-feeling they had exhibited was
only like the outburst of a child whose fury was soon
spent, or whether they were cowed at the prospect of
meeting Matilda's wrath, we do not know. Certain it is
that on her approach they despatched an embassy to
1 Abbot of Brescello according to Aff6, vol. ii. p. 128.

MATILDA AT PARMA AND MODENA 239
meet her at the gates, expressing sorrow and contrition
for what had happened. Upon Bernard's liberation, he
too pleaded for his persecutors with such fervour that
Matilda's wrath was assuaged, and she granted a full
pardon to the offenders, only stipulating that the wrecked
church should be thoroughly restored and put in order,
and all the sacred vessels returned.
Bernard's calm demeanour at the time of the tumult
in the church, the heroism he displayed in prison, together
with this act of intercession for his enemies, so won their
hearts that an entire revulsion of feeling ensued in his
favour. So completely had the temper of the people
changed, that when in 1106 it was arranged that the Pope
should visit the city to dedicate the new cathedral, then
in process of construction, they begged that Cardinal
Bernard might be ordained their bishop, which was done,
amidst general rejoicings. Great festivities took place,
at which both Bernard and Matilda were welcomed with
effusion by the erstwhile schismatics, and we hear of no
further rebellions.
Two interesting ceremonies honoured by Matilda's
presence took place in that same year of 1106 — those
connected with the translation of the body of San
Gemignano, the patron saint of Modena. The month of
April was first fixed by the bishop and the canons of
Modena, for the transfer of the saint's remains from their
primitive resting-place in the ancient church, to a beauti
ful new sarcophagus designed by the architect of the
cathedral, Lanfranc Romengardi. This was to be de
posited in the crypt beneath the altar dedicated to the
saint, in the place where it now stands. Immense crowds
flocked to Modena to be present at the festival, and the
city was unable to give hospitality to all. Multitudes
camped outside the walls, and preachers were sent to

240 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
them, exhorting them to confess their sins and repent,
in honour of San Gemignano.
When on the actual day for the translation of the
saint's body, the crowd pressed closely on all sides to view
the procession and the consecration of the new altar, a
dispute arose between the citizens and the assembled
bishops. The clergy wished to have the old coffin
opened so that the saint's body might be exposed to view
and the faithful might venerate it. The Modenese citizens
objected, out of superstitious dread that the remains
might be violated by too zealous worshippers who wished
for relics. So strong was the feeling against interfering
with the saint's remains, that the bishop decided to take
counsel with Matilda. She, with great perspicacity,
advised them to wait until the autumn, when Pope
Paschal would be in Modena for the dedication of the
new cathedral. It would be better to wait, she said,
for his decision, and every one would be quite content
to abide by his judgment in the matter.
So the tumult was quieted, and upon the arrival of
the Pope at the beginning of October, after a council
had been called to deliberate upon the question, it was
agreed that six nobles and twelve of the citizens should
take an oath as sureties for the rest of the people, that
when exposed to view, the holy relics of the saint should
remain inviolate. Then in solemn procession, cardinals,
bishops, priests, and clergy proceeded to the tomb, and
Bono, Bishop of Reggio, assisted by Lanfranc, uncovered
the wooden coffin, and the body of the saint was found
fair and intact as on the day of death. From it there
emanated a sweet perfume,1 says the tradition, as is
1 ' O quanta exultatio, quantusque suavitatis odor !
Quanta fragrantia inde emanavit.'
See Translatio Corporis S. Geminiani; Muratori, Rer. It. Script., vol. vi.

MATILDA AT MODKXA
l-HO.M A MS. IN THIl CH. ITER AliCHH'1'.S

SAN GEMIGNANO OF MODENA 241
often the case after the spirit of a saint has left its
mortal husk, from which has arisen the saying of the
' odour of sanctity.'
Cries of joy and gratitude rent the air when the news
spread beyond the narrow limits of the immediate
spectators. Owing to the thousands of people who
wished to visit the remains and venerate the saint, it
was found impossible to complete the consecration of the
altar on that same day, and the ceremony had to be post
poned until the following morning. Watch was kept
at the tomb, prayers were chanted the whole night
through, and gifts were poured forth by the pilgrims.
Rich and poor brought what they could. Dodo the
bishop presented a chalice and patten of silver, richly
wrought, and amongst other oblations Matilda brought
with her a magnificent pall or mantle of cloth of gold,
to enshroud the saint's body before it was once more
hidden from view. The translation of the body of San
Gemignano is the subject of a very interesting MS.
written to commemorate the event, and still preserved
in the chapter archives at Modena. Amongst several
miniatures illustrating the ceremony there are two in
which Matilda appears : one where the bishop and his
clergy are welcoming her arrival in Modena ; and the
other where she is seen holding the pall, and at the
same time Lanfranc the architect, and his assistants, are
in the act of closing the sarcophagus, in which the body
of the saint is visible, already wrapped in his mantle of
cloth of gold ! These, like the miniatures of the Vatican
codex of Domnizo, can in nowise be regarded as portraits,
since the rude art of that day could not reach so far ;
but they are interesting insomuch as they are the work
of Matilda's own time — painted while she was yet alive.
Q

242 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER XX
Henry's last years, and the conspiracies of his son against his
sovereignty — His piteous letter to the King of France — His
death in 1106 at Liege — Council of Guastalla — Pope Paschal's
reception in France of the envoys of Henry v., and his message
to the young King — Matilda's last visit to Rome — Her reception
of the petition of the inhabitants of Massa Finalese — Struggles
between the cities and the growth of their power — Matilda's
attitude of neutrality in 11 10, when Henry v. visits Italy —
Henry's arrival in Rome and abduction of the Pope — He frees
Matilda's two vassal bishops on the arrival of her envoy, Arduino
della Palude — Matilda receives Henry v. at Bianello and
entertains him for three days.
THE last few years of Henry iv.'s life were miser
able in the extreme. It would seem as if some
of the maledictions called down on him by
Gregory vn. had taken effect, as if even in this world he
had reaped the due reward for his deeds.
No personal love or esteem towards their sovereign
had ever prevented the German princes from changing
parties in their own interests ; on the contrary, they
repaid the King in the measure he had meted out to
them, for they realised how he had used them for his own
ends, admitting them to his favour when he needed their
support, and casting them off and betraying them when
his position was reassured. The best amongst his sub
jects were suspicious of him, and, moreover, would not
tender him undivided allegiance, since he had remained
unreconciled with the Pope, and conspiracy succeeded

LETTER OF HENRY IV. TO PHILIP 243
conspiracy. The Emperor was growing old, prematurely
old, his alertness and vigour were deserting him, and now
to this unworthy ruler came the bitterest blow that any
man can receive ; he, the betrayer, was betrayed by his
own flesh and blood. The son upon whom he had lavished
all his affection joined the ranks of his enemies, and com
passed his downfall. The discontented princes aided
and abetted him, working on an over-ambitious nature,
so that this unprincipled son never rested until he had
driven his father forth, a broken-hearted old man, to die
in misery alone.
Whatever his faults may have been, his end is worthy
of pity, and no one can read unmoved this aged Emperor's
appeal to Philip of France, in which he sets forth the
indignities and wrongs he has suffered at the hands of
his dearly-loved son : — x
' Most illustrious prince,' he writes, ' and most faithful
amongst those in whom (after God) we hope, I have chosen
you as the first before whom I think it necessary to deplore
my misfortunes, and before whom I should approach on
my knees, if in so doing I can still safeguard the majesty
of empire ; above all, because we find it odious and
intolerable, not only for you but for all Christian men,
that the Apostolic See, from whence came up, till our days,
only the salutary fruits of consolation and sweetness,
and the salvation of souls, should now hurl forth all
manner of vengeance, anathema, and perdition. . . .
' That which I can hardly say without great affliction
of heart and many tears, and which I shudder to hear
said, is that my son, my dear Absalom, they have armed
against me, and have inspired with such fury, that in
defiance of the faith, and the oath he swore to me as a
1 From Villemain, vol. ii. p. 390 et seq.

244 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
vassal to his lord, he has invaded my kingdom, deposed
my bishops and clergy, upheld my enemies and perse
cutors, and at length, of the which I would be silent if I
could, which I would not have any one believe, spurning
all natural affection, he conspired against my life and my
soul, and had no scruples in employing force and deceit
to gain his ends, increasing thereby his peril and his
shame. ' In the midst of these criminal machinations,- as I was
peacefully abiding in some sort of security, towards the
season of the holy Advent of our Lord, he invited me to a
conference at the place called Coblentz, where I remained
quietly enough ; he invited me as a son might, who
wishes to take counsel with his father upon a matter of
their common honour and safety. When I saw him,
suddenly touched by paternal affection, by the most
extreme sorrow, I fell at his feet, imploring him for his
soul's salvation not to stain his honour by such conduct
towards me, however much I deserved to suffer for my
sins, because there is no divine law that commands a son
to punish the faults of a father. But he, too well, or
rather too miserably, instructed in the art of deceiving,
began to decry so abominable a crime, and falling himself
at my feet, he asked my pardon for the past ; he promised
that in future he would obey me in all things with fidelity
and truth, as a loyal vassal his liege lord, as a son his
father, if only I would reconcile myself with the Holy
Apostolic See. And as I eagerly consented, only saying
that I would submit the matter to a diet of the princes,
and adding that he had only to conduct me to Mainz
during the present feast of Christmas and conclude there
the compact of my reconciliation in the most loyal and
honourable manner that he could, and then to take me

LETTER OF HENRY IV. TO PHILIP 245
from there in peace and security. This he promised in
the name of that truth by which God has commanded
that a son shall honour his father, a father love his son.
' Upon this agreement, which even a heathen would
have respected, I departed tranquilly, my son having
preceded me a short while before. Now, however, there
came into my presence several of my faithful followers
to announce all too truly that I had been betrayed and
deceived by false guarantees of peace and affection.
' My son, recalled by me, renewed his oath with fervour,
and swore a second time that he would pledge his life
for mine. As I had then arrived at the place called
Bingen the Friday before Christmas, the number of men-
at-arms began to increase, and the plot began to reveal
itself before my eyes. My son came to me and said :
" Father, we must retire to a neighbouring castle, because
the Bishop of Mainz will not receive us in the town so
long as you remain under the ban of the Holy See, and so
long as you are not admitted to the peace of the Church,
and are unreconciled, I dare not cast you into the midst
of your enemies. Pass the festival of Christmas here
in honour and in peace, keep with you whomsoever it may
please you. In the meantime I will work for both of us
as hard and faithfully as I can, for I believe your cause
to be mine also." " And I, my son," I replied. " May
God to-day be witness and judge between us ! He knows
how I made a man of you and my heir ; at the price of
what tribulation I have laboured to serve you ; what
enmity I have caused and suffered in consequence, you
alone know." But nevertheless, in face of this appeal
to his faith and his oaths, for the third time he promised
me that, should any sudden peril arise, he would offer his
life for mine.

246 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
' After he had imprisoned me in this castle, events
showed in what spirit and with what kind of heart he
had spoken. I was shut up there with three of my
followers, and no one else was admitted. My most
implacable enemies were given me as keepers. May
God be blessed in all things, the one Almighty King to
exalt and abase whom He will !
' Whilst on the most holy day of Christmas, the Holy
of Holies, the Divine Child was born for the redemption
of every soul, for me alone He was not born. For, not
to speak of the injuries, the menaces, the affronts, the
sword levied at my head, and the hunger and thirst I
suffered at the hands of men, whom it was an injury for
me to see and to hear, to say nothing of other things still
more cruel, seeing that I had once enjoyed some measure
of happiness, this is a thing I can never forget, this is a
complaint that I shall never cease to make to every
Christian soul — during those most holy days, there in
my prison, I was deprived of all Christian communion.
' During this time of penance and tribulation there
came to me from my son a prince called Wibert, to tell
me there would be no guarantee for my life, if I did not
at once, and without resistance, give up the insignia of
royalty, according to the resolution and order of the
princes. And I who, even if the whole earth should
become my kingdom, would not sacrifice my life for it,
understanding that whether I would or no, I must do
what was demanded, sent to Mainz the crown, the sceptre,
the sword, and the lance.
' Then my son, having concerted with my enemies,
came from Mainz, where he had left my friends, as if he
were going to conduct me there, but having had me
brought under a strong bodyguard to the place called

LETTER OF HENRY IV. TO PHILIP 247
Ingelheim, he ordered me into his presence. There I
found assembled a great number of my enemies, and my
son was no better to me than they. And as if they
thought they would make it more secure and lasting if
they forced me to despoil myself of the kingdom and the
appurtenances thereof with my own hands, they outraged
me with threats, saying that if I did not do as was required
of me, my life would not be safe. " Then," I said, " if
it concerns my life, the thing which is most precious to
me, since I need it to repent before God, I will do what
ever you wish." And when I asked if then at least I
should be assured of my life, the legate of the Apostolic
See who was present (I do not say he had heard all) said
that I could in no ways save myself from death, if I did
not confess in public that I had unjustly persecuted
Hildebrand, and had unjustly substituted Guibert for
him, and that up till this very hour I had maintained an
unjust persecution against the Apostolic See, and against
the Church.
' Then quite overcome, with great contrition of heart,
I began to entreat, in the name of God and of conscience,
that a day and a place might be granted me to justify
myself in the presence of all the princes, and if they found
me guilty in any way, to seek, according to the advice of
the wisest, a way of penitence and satisfaction as they
should command, and to give whatever number of
hostages the princes should require from amongst our
vassals. But the same legate refused me day and place,
saying that the matter must be settled then and there,
or no means for escape would be given me.
' In this tribulation, having asked if, in case I confessed
all they commanded, I should obtain by my confession
indulgence and absolution, the legate declared he had

248 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
not the power to absolve me, and added that if I wished
to be absolved, I must go to Rome and give satisfaction
to the Holy See.
' Thus isolated and bereft (for with the same violence
and the same artifices they had despoiled me of my
fortresses, my patrimonial domains, and all that I had
acquired in the kingdom), they left me in that house.
Having remained there some time, and my son having
sent to tell me with the same spirit of perfidy that I might
expect him, there came a deputation of my faithful
followers to warn me that if I remained there according
to my son's injunctions, I should either be thrown into
a dungeon for the rest of my life, or else be decapitated
on the spot.
' At this news, in fear of my life, I took flight immedi
ately and came to Cologne, thence after a few days I
travelled to Liege. In both these places I have always
found faithful men, unswerving in their loyalty to the
kingdom. According to their advice and that of my
other vassals, I thought it safer and more honourable to
address myself to you to deplore my misfortunes ; safer
on account of the natural advantage of relationship and
ancient friendship ; more honourable because of the
glorious name of so great a kingdom.
' I beg you, therefore, in the name of faith and friend
ship, to succour in my tribulation and injuries a neigh
bour and a friend. Even if these bonds of faith and
friendship did not exist between us, it would behove you
and all kings of the earth to avenge our injuries and our
abasement, and to extirpate from the face of the earth
as an example such criminal and outrageous tyranny.'
Although even after these pitiable humiliations and

DEATH OF HENRY IV. 249
insults the Emperor made an effort to reassert himself,
and collected an army of his faithful adherents and their
vassals, it was of little avail. He was exhausted with
grief and indignation at his son's conduct, and after a
few days' illness expired at Liege (August 6, 1106), still
under the ban of the Church, it is true, but reconciled
in his heart with God and man. He had expressed the
deepest contrition for his sins, and had received the
sacrament. He sent messages of peace to the Pope and
to his son. In Liege and in Cologne he was sincerely
mourned by the populace, and although his friends
prevailed upon the Bishop of Liege to grant him burial,
so great was the fear of excommunication that his
remains were exhumed and placed in an unconsecrated
chapel outside the town. Five years later his ungrateful
son had at least the grace, when making terms with
the Pope, to insist that his father should be given
Christian burial, and eventually the remains of Henry iv.
rested in the cathedral at Spires, according to his
dying wish.
The man who had occupied so prominent a place in
the history of Europe for half a century had played in
many respects a most unworthy role. He had stooped
to base means to gain his ends, he had chosen ignoble
friends, and again and again had proved himself a traitor
to his word. He had no great plans of empire, or any
high ideals. Unendowed with foresight, he yet possessed
a certain gift of intuition, which enabled him for the
moment to use the right man in the right place, and to
extricate himself, after well-nigh entire defeat, from
situations that many cleverer and wiser men would
have deemed hopeless. His one simple plan was to
weaken his adversaries by fostering divisions amongst

250 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
them, to set prince against prince, burghers against
princes, laity against clergy, schismatics against Pope;
his only steady purpose was the maintenance of what
he considered his rights as sovereign ruler. He was
popular with the townsfolk and lower orders, for he
conceded many privileges to the towns, which tended
to promote their freedom and development.
The Empire had suffered during his long minority,
and he strove in vain to recover the position held by
his father ; but he was not the man his father had been,
and times were changed. Be it always remembered
that his quarrel with Rome was a political rather than
a religious one ; he had no wish to remain outside the
pale of the Church — at the last he was most eager to be
reconciled with her, and he had never been the enemy
of rehgion as he understood it. But he was neither
strong enough nor astute enough to grasp the sig
nificance of the spiritual forces at work, the forces
which dominated the men of his day. He fought only
for what he believed would otherwise have vanished —
the supreme power of the Empire, and his own right to
uphold it. His faults were many ; yet his upbringing
makes them comprehensible, and in a measure, the
persecutions and miseries of his last years atoned
for them.
In Italy itself all writers emphasise the feeling of
relief manifested at the news of Henry's death, and
perhaps in their zeal for the Papal cause they overstate
the circumstances. We are told, for instance, that
Matilda heard with sorrow that her cousin had died
impenitent and without ghostly consolation, but she
could not refrain from ' giving thanks to God who had
at last given peace to the Church ' ; and many others

PASCHAL II.'S VISIT TO NORTH OF ITALY 251
mention Matilda's sorrow and relief of mind.1 Some
indeed point out, quoting from the Uspergense Chronicle,
that there remained not one soul on earth to mourn the
dead Emperor, and that on the contrary the news of his
death was received with shouts of joy, ' as of an un
expected victory.'
Paschal, as we have already seen, had determined to
leave Rome and visit the north of Italy, and he decided
it would be well to hold a council in the north, to inquire
into civil and ecclesiastical matters, and to enforce the
observance of many canonical laws. It was then agreed
that the council should assemble at Matilda's castle of
Guastalla in October, and that the Pope should there
receive the envoys of the new King, and possibly visit
Germany later. This council took place immediately
after the consecration of the altar of San Gemignano
at Modena, and Henry's ambassadors assured the Pope
of their master's wish to submit himself in all things to
the Church, and begged that His Holiness would con
firm his election to the German throne. Paschal sent the
envoys back with cordial assurances of his willingness, and
felt hopeful that the young King would fulfil his promises.
When, however, after visiting Parma and consecrating
Bernard as its bishop, he arrived in Verona on his way
to Germany, he found that matters were by no means
so reassuring as he had hoped ; that Henry, feeling more
secure in his own position among his subjects, was not
so likely to yield to the Pope's wishes ; and that the ques-
1 Fiorentini, lib. n. p. 295 ; Ved., vol. ii.
Muratori writes : ' He ended his days on the 7th of August 1106 to appear
before the tribunal of God and render account of all his vices, of the con
tinuous vexations he had given the Church, of so much Christian blood shed
by his caprices, and of his obstinate support of the schism.'— Annali, vol. vi.,
sub anno.

252 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
tion of investitures might still prove a stumbling-block
in the path of perfect accord between Pope and Emperor.
He turned aside, therefore, and made his way to France,
to call upon King Philip for help. There he received
another embassy from the German court, at whose head,
curiously enough, was Matilda's erstwhile husband,
Guelf of Bavaria. The German envoys gave the Pope
to understand in very clear terms that their King had no
longer the intention of yielding to His Holiness with
regard to the investitures. The Pope sent them back
with the following message : ' The Church which had
been redeemed and freed from slavery by the blood of
Christ could not again become a slave : and it would be
a return to slavery if she could not elect her bishops
without the help and counsel of others, and if these
bishops had to place their hands, consecrated by the body
and blood of the Lord, in those of the laity, stained with
blood, and receive from them the symbol of their dignity.' 1
Fearing that after hearing this plain statement of the
case Henry would suddenly descend into Italy, Paschal
hastened back. He was met in Tuscany by Matilda,
and accompanied by her to Rome. This was the last
visit Matilda ever paid to the great city for which she
had done so much. The rest of her years were spent
in her own dominions, working unceasingly for the good
of her subjects, considering always how she, their mistress,
could best serve them.
Tiraboschi, in his history of the abbey of Nonantula,2
gives us an anecdote of these times. He says that in
the year 1107 certain men of Massa Finalese, a small
town to the north of Modena, supported by the Bishop
1 Tosti, lib. vi. p. 338.
2 Sloria dell augusta Badia di S. Silvestro di Nonantula, vol. i. p. 107.

QUARRELS OF PISA AND LUCCA 253
of Modena, Dodo, came to Matilda to plead that they
might be relieved from the burden of ' albergaria,' that is
to say, of having the Countess's servants and men-at-
arms quartered upon them. They also said that they
were prepared to swear upon the bones of the saints
that neither in the time of the great Boniface, nor in the
days of the Countess Beatrice had they been made to
suffer this grievance. Tiraboschi goes on to tell us that
Matilda was then staying at her favourite abbey of
S. Benedetto Polirone, when the deputation came to see
her, but as it was then the season of Lent it was impossible
for her to receive their oath ! After Easter, however, she
gave them a most gracious hearing, and ' to the honour
of God and San Gemignano ' dispensed them from taking
the oath, and granted to Massa the freedom it desired.
Mention is frequently made at this time of the ' wars '
between Pisa and Lucca, and the disagreements which
often led to blows between the inhabitants of Prato
and Florence — a further evidence of the growth of
individuality amongst the cities, and the keen rivalry
and jealousy they evinced towards each other, since in
the old days of feudal dominion no town would have
dared to fight against its neighbour, unless called upon to
do so by its liege lord. Matilda seems to have taken
some measures to put down these petty quarrels,1 but
her arm was evidently not so mighty as of yore, nor
was her power so far-reaching. The cities were out
growing their infancy and becoming too strong for her ;
the very charters and concessions she had granted them
became, as it were, weapons against herself, and she
was no longer able to levy armies from their midst as
in earlier days. This and her failing health are the only
1 Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 29.

254 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
reasons we can assign for her strangely neutral attitude
in mo, when once more Italy was threatened with a
German invasion, and once more a German king appeared
at the head of his army upon the road to Rome.
Some months previously Henry had sent his ambassa
dors to the Pope to ask for the imperial crown, and
Paschal had no choice but to say that he would receive
him, and consecrate him as Emperor, always supposing
the question of the investitures was conceded to the
Church. To Paschal's propositions the Emperor-elect
apparently agreed, and at any rate he made up his mind
that he should be crowned and consecrated Emperor in
Rome, as so many of his forefathers had been. Fiorentini 1
tells us that Matilda, when the news of Henry's approach
ing descent into Italy reached her, proceeded to furnish
all her strong places with men and provisions, and to
hold them in readiness for defence. But as far as the
towns were concerned it is evident, as we have said, that
her power was not what it once had been.
The Emperor-elect arrived in Italy in the autumn
with a splendid army of thirty thousand men, gathered
from every province of his kingdom, commanded by
princes, dukes, and bishops. He also bore in his train
a company of men of law, and numerous writers, the
former to assert his rights by means of their learning,
and the latter to glorify his deeds with their pen ! It
was evident, in spite of his protestations to the Pope,
that he came in no pacific spirit, for those towns which
would not yield him tribute, or do him homage, paid
heavily for their temerity. Nogara was reduced to ashes
for daring to resist him, and many castles and fortresses
on his route met with the same fate. Milan alone refused
1 Lib. n. p. 303.

HENRY V. IN ROME 255
to open her gates and remained unharmed — perhaps the
German king was in too great a hurry to reach Rome to
waste time in subduing her by the force of a long drawn-
out siege. At any rate he passed on his way, and en
camped for some time at Roncaglia, in the neighbour
hood of Piacenza. From thence he sent his envoys to
Matilda to try and discover her attitude. Matilda,
however, remained warily inert, and maintained a posi
tion of neutrality. ' She took the oath of vassalage as
far as it concerned the enemies of the Empire, with the
exception of the Pope,' says Gregorovius,1 while Italian
historians tell us that she entered into a treaty with
Henry, and they exchanged messages of concord and of
peace. Not only the King's envoys, but numbers of
Henry's barons visited this great lady at her fortress
castle of Bianello, where she was then abiding. They
came full of curiosity to see the woman who was reckoned
' the marvel of her age,' and went away greatly impressed
with her majesty, her learning and culture.
Henry pursued his way to Rome, leaving behind him
desolate cities and smoking embers, to bear witness to the
ferocity he had displayed in subduing them. When he
finally reached Rome, and the ceremony of the coronation
was to take place, his attitude towards the Pope displayed
a like hostility. Very confused and conflicting accounts
as to what actually occurred have reached us. It would
seem that Paschal in a pacific spirit had compromised by
offering to give over to the Emperor much of the tem
poral power hitherto owned by the Church. To this the car
dinals and bishops demurred ; the Emperor grew furious,
and refused to yield in the matter of the investitures, and
a tumult ensued within St. Peter's itself. Henry, who
1 Gregorovius, vol. iv. pt. il. p. 330.

256 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
had previously ordered the church to be surrounded by
his men, carried off Paschal prisoner, together with many
cardinals and bishops, and retired into the Sabine country,
leaving Rome in a state of anarchy, for the Romans rose
and slew every Teuton upon whom they could lay hands.
Amongst the prisoners Henry had made were Bernard,
Bishop of Parma, and Bonsignore of Reggio, both of
them Matilda's vassals. Directly the news reached her
of what had occurred, she despatched her faithful general,
Arduino della Palude, to bid the Emperor remember
his pact with her and set her subjects free. Arduino
della Palude fulfilled his mistress's commands to such
good purpose that the two bishops were immediately
liberated. It would certainly seem, therefore, that
Matilda must have entered into some sort of an alliance
with the German king rather as an equal than as a vassal,
as Gregorovius implies. The Pope himself and six of the
cardinals were still held in durance at the castle of
Tribuccio, and the other cardinals and bishops were
imprisoned in another castle for nearly two months.1
It was only under compulsion, and in order to save Rome
from being put to the sword, and all its ecclesiastical
dignitaries from further outrage,2 that Paschal yielded
thus far in the much-vexed question — that the Emperor
was to invest the bishops and abbots with ring and staff,
provided always they were fitting men, and had been
elected fairly, without simoniacal influence. Upon the
strength of this compact Pope and Emperor returned to
Rome, and Henry was crowned at St. Peter's, but with
less ceremonial than was customary — in fact, the gates
of Rome were closed for fear of disturbances, since the
1 See notes to Domnizo by Don Davoli, who here quotes Pandolf Pisano
as his authority, p. 400. 2 See Don Tosti, lib. VI. p. 552.

HENRY V. VISITS MATILDA 257
Romans were still indignant with both sides for the
part they had played — the Emperor for employing force
of arms to gain his point, and the Pope for yielding.
On the way back to Germany, in passing through
Matilda's territories, the Emperor sent ambassadors
ahead to find out whether she would receive him.
Domnizo says his curiosity was very great, and that he
could not leave Italy without seeing with his own eyes
the famous Countess, for so many years the most deter
mined adversary of his house. And Matilda consented
to entertain the son of her old enemy.1
No stronger evidence is wanting to show how changed
were the times. Matilda, advanced in years, worn with her
long hfe of activity, must have lost at the same time much
of her mental vigour as well as her former warlike spirit, to
be willing to receive the Emperor who had humiliated the
Pope, and forced him to yield over that very matter which
had set the whole of Italy at variance for many generations.
Perhaps for the time being the young Emperor was able
to agree with his aged kinswoman to waive political
considerations, and to remember only their kinship.
Domnizo 2 tells us how Henry abode with Matilda at
Bianello for three days, and paid all honour and reverence
to that wonderful woman, calling her his mother, and
nominating her his Vice Regina in Liguria, ' swearing
that in the whole earth there could not be found a
Princess her equal.' 3 Many historians hint, however,
that Henry's visit was not due to disinterested curiosity,
but was undertaken in order to remind Matilda of the
bond of relationship between them, with a view to
inheriting some of her lands.
1 Dom., lib. 11. cap. xviii. 2 Ibid.
3 Ibid. See also Fiorentini, lib. II. p. 311.

258 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

CHAPTER XXI
Matilda at the baths of Pisa in 1112 — Her failing health and much
suffering — She still insists on keeping all the fasts and vigils of
the Church — Her frequent visits to San Benedetto Polirone —
Alarming illness at Monte Baranzone in 11 14 — Revolt of
Mantua — Matilda recovers and resolves to punish Mantua-
Raises troops and descends to Bondeno, where a rendezvous is
given — Council of the citizens of Mantua — Resolve to throw
themselves upon Matilda's mercy — She refuses at first to pardon
them — But yields finally at the instance of the Bishop and other
members of the court.
THE few remaining years of Matilda's hfe were
passed in Tuscany and Lombardy, and occu
pied still in thinking of her people, and
making provision for their welfare. In 1112 she visited
the celebrated baths near Pisa, Acqua, where, as Fioren
tini, Erra, and Mellini tell us, an inscription was inserted
in a wall near the baths commemorating the fact that she
had restored them : —
MATHELDIS
Comitissa insignis
Ob Humanam Valetudinem
Instaurandam, Praeservandamque
Amena Haec ab Aquis salubria
Balnea
In omnigentium Hominum Vsum
Omni cum ornatu cultuque
Dicavit A
A.D. MCXII. K. Maias.

MATILDA AT S. BENEDETTO POLIRONE 259
MATILDA
The famous Countess
Dedicated these baths
(pleasant and healing in their waters)
To the use of all races of men
with all their adornments and appliances
For the preservation and
restoration of human health.
Perhaps she had proved these healing waters herself, and
for the time her sufferings had been relieved. For she
suffered greatly during these last years. The long active
life she had led, full of hardships for a woman, and the
religious fasts which she rigorously observed, had sapped
her strength, and she was now reduced to a wreck of her
former self. Even now, however, weak as she was, she
kept all the fasts and vigils that the Church enjoins, and
would rise at night with the monks to attend the services
in the chapel of whatever monastery she might be visiting.
The greater part of each year was now spent at S.
Benedetto, the great Benedictine monastery some fifteen
miles from Mantua, founded by her grandfather Tedaldo,
enriched and enlarged by her father, ofttimes visited by
her in her childish days ; dear to her, therefore, in the
past, and doubly dear now, for the peace which brooded
over it, undisturbed by memories of war and strife such
as Canossa had witnessed. Many are the privileges she
granted to S. Benedetto, and many a fertile court or
territory was bestowed by her on the monks. Finally,-
she decided to bequeath her vast collection of manuscripts
to this favoured abbey. We can picture her on the
days when she was feeling fairly weU, seated in the shady
cloister of San Simeone,1 turning over the leaves of some
1 At San Benedetto there are three cloisters; that dedicated to San Simeone
(a hermit from Armenia who first erected a small oratory there at the end of the
tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century) is said to be the most ancient.

260 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
precious parchment, watching the skilful monks at their
work of copying and iUuminating manuscripts; and
then receiving visits from her faithful captains and re
tainers, who would bring reports from the surrounding
country. Every now and then there would be long talks
with Abbot Alberico himself — about the books or about
the latest news from Cluny, the mother abbey.
When the heat of summer was at its greatest, and the
air of the plains grew so oppressive that it seemed to sap
the little strength that was left to her, the doctors advised
a move to Monte Baranzone, far to the south-east of
Canossa, in the Modenese mountains above Sassuolo.1
Very slowly, we may be sure, the journey was made, and
a long rest at Canossa was necessary before the ruder
journey up into the mountains could be undertaken.
In the summer of 1114, while at Monte Baranzone, she
grew so alarmingly ill that her life was despaired of, and
the news spread fast that she had indeed passed away.
This report gained such credence in Mantua that the
citizens saw fit to rise in rebellion against the governor
placed there by Matilda, and they then assaulted her
castle of Ripalta, a short distance from the city itself.
Manfred, Bishop of Mantua, a devoted friend of Matilda,
was visiting her at the time of this outbreak, and it is
very probable that it was he who received the first news
of what was occurring there.
All Matilda's faithful court, thinking such news could
only distress their dear mistress and aggravate her malady,
agreed to keep it a secret, and forbade any one to speak
1 Even during these last years, however, there are evidences of her
attendances at the courts of law. Savioli (vol. i. p. 151) quotes one in 1113
at Baviana in the Ferrarese country, and there is a document dated 1114 at
Carpineta, where, in presence of Countess Matilda, judgment is pronounced
on two contending parties. Ant. It., vol. ii. p. 975.

u nJttji

.V- '•' -

CLOISTER OF S. SIMEON AT S. BENEDETTO POLIRONE

REVOLT OF THE MANTUANS 261
of it to her. But it was thought well that the bishop
should return at once to his diocese and see if he could
not reduce the Mantuans to a sense of the impropriety
of their conduct, and assure them at the same time that
their liege lady still hved, and that they were incurring
great danger by their rebellious acts. Fortunately, for
the moment Matilda's strength seemed to rally, and the
bishop, making the excuse that his presence was now
necessary within his diocese, hastened back to Mantua.
But by this time the Mantuans had roused themselves
to such a pitch of excitement that they refused to believe
the bishop, who narrowly escaped being torn in pieces
by an infuriated mob. The tumult grew ever more
violent, and at length the most belligerent rushed out of
the city and on to Ripalta, which they destroyed with
fire and sword, bombarding the walls and battering down
the towers, bearing back to Mantua huge fragments of
the masonry as trophies.
For nearly a month this news was kept from Matilda,
but early in August she was so much better that her
attendants deemed it wise to tell her what was happening
in Mantua. Then it seemed as if the old war spirit had
returned to that worn-out, exhausted body, and the news
of the affront to her authority served as a stimulus to
rouse her to fresh deeds of valour, as in the far-off days
of her youth. Matilda had dearly loved Mantua for all
the family associations it held, and in the past she had
more than once treated its citizens with clemency.
This outbreak, however, was one more violent than
the rest, and her anger was greatly kindled. The Mantuans
had treated her with little respect for a long time past.
They had overrun her territories, and prevented the
peasants from cultivating her lands in the neighbourhood

262 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
of the river Mincio. They had wantonly fired the crops,
and deprived the poor people of the fruits of their labours,
and to such a state of terror were the peasants reduced,
that they preferred to leave the land unfilled, rather
than run the risk of fleeing again and again before the
dreaded Mantuans. Even the navigation of the Po was
rendered impracticable by those lawless people, for they
descended to that river in armed boats by way of the
Mincio and committed acts of shameless piracy. They
cruelly fell upon the Countess's subjects whenever and
wherever they met them, the roads were rendered as
unsafe as the river, and the whole country-side terrorised
to such an extent that, in passing through the district
at this time, one would have imagined a German king
had visited it with sword and desolation.
Therefore, as we have said, Matilda roused herself with
almost her old energy. ' The time has come at length
when Mantua must perish,' she exclaimed. ' This iniqui
tous city shall pay the price of the cruel affronts it has
offered me.' 1 She commanded that a levy of soldiers
should be made all over her dominions, and that the
vessels lying at anchor on the Po should arm themselves
at once. She sent envoys to the republic of Venice and
other allies asking them for help, and made every prepara
tion for the speedy annihilation of Mantua. Descending
herself to Bondeno, she expressed a determination to
command her troops in person, although her warrior
knights and captains remonstrated with her as much
as they dared, fearing that her strength would not
be equal to the feat, in spite of this wonderful
resurrection. In the meantime Mantua had heard what was tran-
1 Dom., lib. II. cap. xix.

MATILDA AND THE MANTUANS 263
spiring at Bondeno and along the waters of the Po, and
dissensions arose amongst the inhabitants. The most
truculent were for holding out and fighting the Countess,
the most timid wished to flee from the city at once. A
third party, composed of the older and more sober-
minded citizens, were for yielding. At a council called
together hastily, while the matter was being fully dis
cussed, the last-named division strongly advanced its
views, in opposition to the wishes of hot-headed
youth. ' It may seem good to you, O young men ! ' began their
spokesman, ' to five on robberies and plunder, but for
ourselves, we should feel ashamed to suffer such a siege !
The foreign soldiers will lop our vines and destroy
their crops, therefore, O valiant youths ! let us abandon
strife ! Let a party of us go and demand pardon of our
hege lady, since it behoves us to show ourselves absolutely
faithful to Matilda.'
The thought of losing the entire fruit of the vintage
appears to have carried great weight with the younger
members of this council, and they agreed therefore to
send a deputation to Matilda. Their sovereign lady did
not willingly consent to see them, and when they were
finally admitted into her presence at the castle of
Bondeno, she received them standing and turned away
her head from them, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground,
not deigning to give them one glance, whilst they pleaded
for pardon. In spite of this freezing reception, the
principal envoy spoke long in favour of his fellow-citizens.
He besought the Countess to pardon them, urging in
their defence that it was no hatred of her that had
moved them to rebellion — on the contrary they had always
loved her ; but it was love of liberty — a love which is only

264 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
inspired in noble and generous hearts. She must know
well that hitherto they had never given any signs of with
drawing themselves from their allegiance to her, and
that the defunct Emperor had in consequence burdened
them with a siege of many months, and that they had
valorously resisted him to the last miserable extremity.
Freed once from his yoke, they confessed that they had
wished to guard the liberty they had tasted, but they had
not wished to pass beyond the limits of what had been
granted them, until the news reached them of her sup
posed death. They acknowledged that they had been
guilty of too easy credulity in this matter, and they had
unworthily exalted the idea of liberty — however beautiful
and desirable it might be — above the allegiance they
owed to the great Countess. Also, against their fidelity,
they had sacked and destroyed Ripalta, and in short they
had in many ways most justly incurred her indignation.
Nevertheless they implored her pardon — :the pardon of
her who had rendered herself immortal, not only by her
feats of arms, but by reason of her piety — pardon for
that people who might be said to have been the most
favoured by the continual presence of Boniface and
Beatrice, her father and mother. They humbly asked
her therefore to spare them all the miseries and horrors
of war.1
The speaker's zeal seems to have outrun his love of
truth when he stated that the Mantuans had always
loved their liege lady, and his pleadings apparently had
no effect on Matilda, for she let the embassy depart
without giving any signs that she would relent. The
Mantuan envoys, however, did not yet despair of the
ultimate success of their mission, and when dismissed
1 Bacchini, p. 220.

MATILDA PARDONS THE MANTUANS 265
from her presence they sought audiences with the chief
among her captains and the various ecclesiastics then
at Bondeno, imploring their intercession. Without
doubt Manfred was amongst the number, and pleaded
for his unhappy city. Little by little Matilda's heart
was softened, and she consented at length to give the
ambassadors another hearing. Then she made her terms.
First reproving them for their ignoble conduct, she
desired that the city should forthwith open its gates to
her, that the citizens should renew their oath of fidelity,
and that they should pay her the customary tribute
money. To all of this the embassy agreed, and then
Matilda entered Mantua and granted a general pardon.
This event took place at the end of October 1114.
Not one historian has commented on the fact that
Matilda should have remained inert and apathetic while
Henry was surrounding Rome with his myrmidons,
forcing the Pope to do his will and insulting and outraging
the supreme head of the Church, while on the other
hand the news of Mantua's revolt should at once have
aroused her to action. The key to this problem is not
yet found ; we can only wonder whether Paschal's con
duct in sacrificing much of the Church's power to the
Emperor's tyranny caused a feeling of revulsion in the
Church's aged protectress, so that she made no attempt
to succour the Pope, but only insisted on the liberation
of her vassal bishops. Or did Rome and Pope and
Emperor seem too far off to be much heeded now that
she was old and ill and weak ; while Mantua's uprising
awoke at once every early association, carrying her back
in spirit to the days when the towns and their inhabitants
were absolutely at the disposal of their lords to sack
or to exalt as it pleased them ? Did the last sparks

266 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
from the dying embers of an almost extinct system
flame up anew, and the feudal spirit rouse itself for
one supreme effort in the dying daughter of one of its
greatest potentates, and, for the time being, all that
she had inherited from her mighty father, dominate her
as in the vigorous days of her youth ?

LAST DONATION TO S. BENEDETTO 267

CHAPTER XXII
Matilda's last donation to San Benedetto, and the grand ceremonial
at the abbey — Returns to Bondeno in December, but visits
S. Benedetto again at the feast of the Epiphany — Is carried
back to Bondeno in great suffering — Visit of the abbot of Cluny
— Matilda's last Lent — Her final donations to Canossa's church
— She has a chapel built near the rooms where she lies and
dedicates it to St. James — Her last words and death — Domnizo's
lament — No account given us of her funeral by the ancient
writers — Burial at San Benedetto — Changes in the position of
the sarcophagus — Finally in 1630 the remains are transferred
to Rome.
VERY soon after the capitulation of Mantua,
Matilda paid a visit of some days to San
Benedetto — ' to return thanks to God for
this bloodless victory,' x and also to visit Abbot Alberico
who was alarmingly ill. Such great sympathy did she
manifest towards this infirm abbot that she ministered
to him with her own hands. And now, with that curious
foreboding which comes to those who are shortly to
depart from this hfe, she spoke of her approaching end
to all, and especially to her friends of the abbey, and
expressed a very strong desire to show in some special
manner the love and reverence she felt for these good
Benedictines. ' For,' says, Bacchini, ' she saw how all
their actions breathed forth sanctity, and in considering
the austerity and the mortification of their life, their
simplicity, purity and innocence, she seemed to find herself
1 Bacchini, lib. II. p. 223.

268 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
in a company of angels. She had an incredible com
punction of heart in leaving them, and wished to bequeath
to them an everlasting memorial of the great affection
she bore this holy place.'
Therefore she intimated to the monks that on the 8th
of November she wished arrangements to be made for a
grand ceremonial. Her. soldiers were quartered in the
village of San Benedetto and in the neighbouring places,
and on the great day itself the army was drawn up outside
the church, and vast crowds surrounded it from near and
far. As many as possible entered the sacred building
where the monks were assembled for the customary
service. There, too, were all Matilda's most illustrious
vassals and soldiers and her whole court in gala array.
Matilda, in her princely robes of state, was seated
on a throne, especially prepared for her, to the right,
before the high altar. In the highest place of honour
came that valiant general who had been her life
long friend and companion, Arduino della Palude, and
then Conte Alberto, another of her generals. Afterwards
there followed in due order her illustrious barons and
knights, and the list of these has come down to us as their
places were assigned to them : ' Ugone and Alberto, the
sons of Manfred, Alard of Malegnano, Gherardo, son of
Bosone, Ugo of Baese, Sasso da Bibianello, Rolando
Massario, Opizone, Rainerio, Alberto da Gonzaga, Ugo
and Lodovico da Governolo, Maragnolo and Pietro di
Opizone da Burbasio, and Giovanni da Fudea.' 1
Standing in front of the altar on the opposite side,
were Ubaldo a judge, and Odealdo a man of law. The
mass was first celebrated with every solemnity by the
priest who held the highest office next in order to the
1 Bacchini, p. 223.

LAST DONATION TO S. BENEDETTO 269
abbot, for Alberico was still too suffering to officiate in
person. The monks chanted the usual psalms, while
without, there resounded continually the trumpets and
drums of the soldiers. Then the great Countess rose to
her feet while Odealdo in a clear ringing voice read aloud
the last solemn act of donation of Matilda to the abbey.1
' In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in
the year of the incarnation of Our Lord eleven hundred
and fourteen. Matilda, if by the Grace of God she is
anything. To those venerable places in which those
who have rendered themselves poor for love of Christ
minister the Divine Mysteries, we ought with right to
offer consolation, and by reason of piety to help them
in their need. Therefore, we, Matilda, daughter of the
defunct Marquis Boniface, having come to San Benedetto
with some of our faithful, and having visited the lord
Abbot Alberico in his infirmity, we saw this holy congrega
tion of monks ; and in considering their mortifications
by compunction of piety and love of holy charity, we
would wish to make them a donation for their sustenance.'
The diploma then goes on to say how the Countess re
nounced for ever all rights which yet remained to her,
in whatever part of the benefices or lands given, or to be
given to the monastery, and then specified them. She
gave to the monks the rights of pasturage for their flocks
in her own possessions, and freed the vassals of San
Benedetto from the obligation of helping hunt down the
wild beasts in her forests, and this she did, ' pro mercede
et remedio animse nostras et parentum nostrorum.'
When Odoaldo had finished reading this document,
he handed it to the Judge Ubaldo, who bowing reverently
before Matilda's throne gave it to Conte Alberto, and he
1 See Bacchini, lib. II. p. 224 et seq. Also Tosti, lib. vi. p. 359 et seq.

270 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
placed it in his mistress's hands. Matilda, with tears of
devotion in her eyes, descended from her throne, and
advancing towards the high altar, committed the precious
parchment into the hands of the priest who was waiting
to receive it. Within the church there arose shouts of
jubilation, and without, at the completion of this solemn
act, there rang out once more the sound of trumpets
and drums.
The whole congregation of the monks of San Benedetto,
and all their humble dependents from the neighbouring
country, rejoiced together over Matilda's munificence.
Then, after a final visit to the infirm abbot, comforting
him by her presence, Matilda returned to Mantua with
all her court.
In December she made her way to Bondeno, and
hearing that directly after Christmas the Abbot Pontius
of Cluny was coming to visit San Benedetto, she returned
there once more, and insisted on rising in the night
to be present in the church while the monks recited
Matins. The bitter cold, and the fatigue, reduced her strength
and brought on acute attacks of pain, and it was with
great difficulty that she was conveyed back to Bondeno.
Hearing, however, that at the feast of the Epiphany
the abbot of Cluny would celebrate the mass, she insisted
on being carried back to San Benedetto, and in the arms
of her waiting-maids, attended by all her faithful court,
she listened to her last service in that great church. Then,
still enduring much suffering, she returned to Bondeno,
and was never again able to rise from her couch.
Abbot Pontius of Cluny, upon leaving San Benedetto,
went over to Bondeno before starting for Burgundy,
to bid a last farewell to the Countess. She was

MATILDA'S LAST DAYS 271
obliged to receive the prelate by her bedside, and
expressed much sorrow that she could not rise and do
him the usual reverence ! After a long talk on spiritual
matters, she recommended herself to his prayers, and
bestowed on him many gifts, amongst others, some very
beautiful silver vessels for his church, and as a small
personal token, she gave him with her own hands a
precious cross richly encrusted with gems.
The abbot offered her all the spiritual consolation that
was in his power, and stayed with her until the end of
January. Then he departed homewards, greatly sorrow
ing that he should never more behold this gracious lady.
In the year 1115 Lent did not begin until the 3rd of
March, and the faithful attendants watching round
Matilda's bed were rendered very anxious by her express
determination to observe rigorously this season of fasting.
Finding that the doctor's admonitions were of no avail,
her spiritual advisers were appealed to, and they at
length persuaded her to desist from fasting, for she grew
ever weaker. There were with her at this time the
three dear friends who watched over her dying hours to
the last — Abbot Alberico, who had recovered from his
illness, Manfred, Bishop of Mantua, and Bonsignore,
Bishop of Reggio. Owing therefore to their remon
strances, Matilda decided, instead of fasting, that she
would feed every day a certain number of poor people,
and she started her Lenten exercises with such devotion,
with such heart-whole confession and bitter tears of
contrition — ' that she might well serve as an example to
all her court as to how to prepare for death.' x When
Lent was over she grew steadily worse, and the doctors
thought the end could not be far off. She herself was
1 Bacchini.

272 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
well aware of her condition, and bethought her of further
deeds of kindness which it was still in her power to per
form. She gave instructions that after her death all her
serfs should be liberated, and she made two more dona
tions to the churches she loved so well, for she amplified
her gifts to San Benedetto, and on Canossa and the church
of San Cesareo attached to it she bestowed the rich
' court ' of Felina. These two documents were drawn
up in the room where she lay dying, and at the foot of
the parchment relating to her gift to San Cesareo are
these words : —
' Quam Cartam quia Domina Comitissa a propriae manus sub-
scriptione firmare non potuit sigilli sui impressione in signum
praecipimus.' ' As the Lady Countess is not able to sign this Charter with her
own hand, we place upon it the impression of her seal.'
But again after this there was a rallying of her strength ;
it would seem as if her spirit were loth to depart. ' Then,'
says Bacchini, ' she took for her protector in those last
days, and for the terrible passage across the river, the
Apostle St. James, whose feast occurs on the 15th of July.'
She had a premonition that that day would be her last
on earth, and she commanded that a chapel should be
built close to the room where she lay, and constructed
in such a manner that from her bed she might see the
high altar, and listen to the sacrifice of the mass. This
was done with great haste, and she forthwith endowed
the chapel with a sufficient sum for its maintenance and
for the vestments of the priests. From her bed she was
able to assist at the dedication function, which was per
formed by the three prelates already mentioned.
As the feast of St. James approached, she grew rapidly
worse, but she lingered on for some days, and so, sur-

MATILDA'S LAST WORDS 273
rounded by her faithful court and her beloved friends,
she prepared for the supreme agony. The Viaticum
was administered to her by Bonsignore ; as she received
the Sacrament she prayed : ' My God, Thou knowest
how in all the days of my life, I have reposed perfect
confidence in Thee, and now that I have reached the end,
I pray Thee to save me and receive me into Thy Kingdom.'1
As the watchers stood round her bed, the Modenese
bishop, seeing her sufferings, held to her lips a crucifix.
Kissing this repeatedly, the dying woman exclaimed :
' O Lord Christ ! Because I have always loved Thee, I
pray Thee now forgive me my sins ! ' 2 And almost directly
afterwards she breathed her last.
So there passed from this life one of the greatest and
noblest spirits the world has ever known. Well may
Domnizo's lament have resounded throughout the length
and breadth of Italy — have echoed the feelings of those
' who loved righteousness and hated iniquity.'
' Now that thou art dead, oh great Matilda, the honour and dignity
of Italy will decline ! ' . . .
' How many cruel tyrants who simulated justice because of thee —
knowing thou wert just — will now be unrestrained ; will break the
treaties of peace : will despoil the churches which will no longer
have thee as their defender.'
' By thy death, oh Matilda ! all gentle ways will diminish.
For the vassal will try to rise above his lord,
The cleric will depart from the right path,
The rich will devour the money destined to alleviate the suffer
ings of the poor,
In all the different parts of the world, various sects will arise,
Such as you with your great might forbade, oh Matilda !'3

1 Dom., De Insigni Obitu Mathildis, 11. 109, no:
' Semper dum vixi, Deus hoc scis, spem tibi fixi ;
Nunc in fine meo salvans suscipe quaeso.'
2 Ibid., 1. 107 : ' Te colui semper, mea nunc rogo crimina terge.'
3 Ibid., 11. 24-41.
S

274 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
She had held the reins of government for so long, and
all knew that her rule was a just one. Amidst all the
strife and dissension that raged through the land during
the greater part of her life, she never forgot to think
what would be best for her subjects.
During her life, as we have seen, she gave much of
her wealth to various abbeys, but only because she
deemed that it would be wisely administered, that the
cause of the poor would be upheld against the rich, that
the hungry would be fed and the naked clothed.
To the Benedictine monasteries she had been especially
liberal, since she knew that by their means, art and
learning would be preserved. However much the country
might be torn in pieces by wars, the monasteries were
nearly always respected, and books and treasures there
fore, were safe in their keeping. For these things she
had cared, and she made provision for them ; just as
in her lifetime she had never failed to help the oppressed
and the needy, she desired after her death to do the same.
Looking down the ages since her days, across the mists
which surround them, to the clearer light of our own
times, may we not say of her as our own poet said of
another great and good ruler — a woman also : ' She
wrought her people lasting good ' ?
No account has been handed down to us by the ancient
writers, of the funeral ceremonies that took place during
those last days of July 1115. In a measure we may
picture them for ourselves. How the sad news spread
fast throughout her dominions that the great Countess
had indeed passed away. How the lords and vassals
from all the cities, and from the castles scattered every
where throughout her states assembled, and how the

TOMB OF MATILDA AT S. BENEDETTO POLIRONE

THE MONUMENT AT S. BENEDETTO 275
abbots and monks from many an abbey would follow
them, and amongst these last would doubtless be Domnizo,
full of sorrow that the remains of his beloved mistress
were not to find a resting-place at Canossa — the sorrow
that he expresses so eloquently in his poem ! Then the
humbler portion of her subjects from the neighbouring
town of Mantua and the outlying plains, and the serfs she
had freed, all these may have formed part of that vast
procession that would follow the long road from Bondeno
to San Benedetto which the Countess had chosen for her
burial-place. A beautiful simple ark of alabaster upheld by eight
slender columns was erected in San Benedetto, and in
this the coffin was enclosed, with the following three
inscriptions written above the tomb : —
I
Quae meruit clara Mathildis nomina, vide :
Pro qua Pontifici reddita Roma fuit
Et tunc disposuit turmas invicta Virago,
Qualis Amazonides Pentisilea solet.
Qua nunquam saevi per tot discrimina belli
Mars potuit veri vincere iura Dei.
Haec igitur tanto belli defuncta labore
Hoc niveo tandem marmore clausa iacet.
' See what the renowned name of Matilda deserved, through whom
Rome was given back to the Pope. And then this warrior-woman
disposed her troops as the Amazonian Penthesilea is accustomed to
do. Thanks to her — through so many contests of horrid war — man
was never able to conquer the rights of God. She therefore, having
performed the labours of so much war, now rests enclosed in this
marble.' II
Ut genere, ut forma, ac Regno praediuite, sic et
Virtutem meritis, Pietatisque inclyta laude.

276 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Hoc Sua, dum vitae immortalis restituantur,
Ossa adservari voluit Mathilda Sepulcro.
' Matilda — famous for her race, beauty, and powerful Kingdom as
for the merits of virtue, and fame of her piety, wishes that her bones
should be preserved here, until they are restored to the life immortal.
Ill
Stirpe, opibus, forma, gestis, et nomine quondam
Inclyta Mathildis, hie iacet. Astra tenens.
' Matilda, once illustrious by her birth, riches, beauty, deeds, and
name, lies here, but lives in heaven.'
Never perhaps have the wishes of the great dead been
so little heeded, never have mortal remains been so often
disturbed. Professor Bellodi in his interesting monograph on the
Abbey of San Benedetto tells of an old Latin MS.1 which
gives a minute account of the changes in the position of
the sarcophagus. It originally stood between the first
and second columns on the left, as one enters the church.
Then it was moved to the chapel of S. Simeon, and later,
when the marble columns threatened to give way, and
they were replaced by four lions sculptured in red
marble, which now support the sarcophagus, the whole
monument was removed to the oratory of the Blessed
Virgin, which formed part of the ancient church founded
by Tedaldo, Matilda's grandfather. This chapel was
always regarded with special veneration, and the good
monks, remembering how their great benefactress had
loved all beautiful things, sought to embellish it, and
employed various artists of note to visit San Benedetto
to that end. The walls were adorned with frescoes, and
in the pavement round the sarcophagus there was inserted
a series of mosaics in which were depicted many symbolic
1 This may be the MS. published in Muratori's Rer. It. Script., vol. v.
See next page.

THE OPENING OF MATILDA'S TOMB 277
figures — symbolical of Matilda and her rare qualities.
There they remain until this day — four large female
figures, illustrating the Cardinal Virtues which Matilda
possessed in so remarkable a degree : Prudence, Justice,
Fortitude and Temperance. At the sides are two
emblematic figures whose meaning is not so clear to us :
on the right a man with a spear in his hand which he
aims at a dragon ; on the other side a unicorn and a
large bird, with webbed feet and almost a dragon's head.
These mosaics are worked in red, white, and black stones,
and this inscription is still visible : —
ANO— DNI— MILL— C— LI—
IN Dicto XIII L PATTA I CONCUR—
VI—
The monks further commemorated her beneficence by
making a general almsgiving in her honour on the first
Monday of every month, and after divine service they
distributed bread to about four thousand poor persons.
Three times was her tomb opened, and her very remains
disturbed. In the year 1445,1 in the presence of Guido
Gonzaga, the reigning Duke of Mantua, who had restored
and embellished San Benedetto, of Eusebius the abbot, and
the whole congregation of monks, this was done. Again
in 1613, when some Pisan and Lucchese soldiers, quartered
at the abbey, declared that Matilda did not rest there, but
at Pisa beside her mother,2 and the dispute waxed so
1 See 'Vita Mathildis ab auctore anonymo,' Muratori, Rer. It. Script.,
vol. v. p. 397.
2 Mellini (p. 26) says that in his days (about 1600), there was an inscrip
tion on the monument to Beatrice in Pisa to this effect : ' In the year 11 16
on the 24th of July died the Lady Countess Matilda of happy memory, who,
for the repose of the soul of her mother the venerable Lady Countess Beatrice
lying here within this tomb, richly endowed this church in many ways.
May their souls rest in peace ! ' and many thought that this implied that
Matilda's remains, as well as her mother's, reposed within the sarcophagus.

278 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
hot, and the Mantuans together with the monks of S.
Benedetto grew so indignant, that Cardinal Gonzago
despatched the Bishop of Casale with power to open the
tomb, and prove to the unbelievers that Matilda had in
very deed been buried there. This was done, and on
both these occasions the spectators testified that the
body was there, intact, fair and beautiful.
For the last time, in the year 1630, these poor remains
were disturbed in the most violent manner of all. Pope
Urban vin., who had vast ideas as to the embellishment
of St. Peter's, and the glorification of some of Italy's
noblest dead, determined in his heart that Matilda's
body should be conveyed to St. Peter's, and over it
there should be reared a superb monument worthy
of her name, entirely disregarding the fact that the
great Countess had expressed a desire to rest in San
Benedetto. Moreover, the Pope's wish was somewhat
difficult to realise, since the Mantuans venerated the
dead Matilda more than they had respected the living
woman. But chance favoured the Pope, for in the year
1630 famine and pestilence visited Mantua, and subse
quently the city was sacked by the troops of the Emperor
Ferdinand, the whole district overrun by foreign soldiery,
and Duke Charles, the reigning lord of Mantua, had to
flee to Milara in the Ferrarese country. San Benedetto,
reputed the richest abbey in the whole Mantuan country,
suffered most from this invasion. Rapacious Austrians,
who paid no respect to the abbot and his monks, were
quartered there, and demanded not only rations but
absurd subsidies. The abbey's resources were taxed to
the utmost, and the abbot had to dispose of the church's
treasures. In despair he appealed to the Pope, and not
in vain. Help and more — preferment — was promised

MONUMENT ERECTED IN S. PETER'S 279
him, if he would only comply with the Pope's wishes.
The abbot was sorely tempted — and yielded.
All arrangements were secretly made, and at dead of
night, when they would be absolutely undisturbed, the
Abbot Ippolito, his brother Ludovico Andreasi, and an
accomplice, Bonifazio Struggio, entered the church,
opened the alabaster coffin, and took from it the body
of the great Countess. Maffei's account of the sacrilege
is piteous : —
' Ma perche in una cassa non molte grande, la quale havevano
fatto fare proportionata al viaggio di Roma per quella che si dice
volgarmente carrozza, non capiva il purissimo corpo di Matilda, che
fu di non mediocre statura, anzi grande, (cosa che nel dire muove le
lacrime) gli ruppero i nodi, e le congiunture delle ginocchia a segno
tale, che facilmente a dietro come d'un corpo estinto le piegarono, se
pure non furono tagliate come ha divolgata la fama.' 1
(' But because they had prepared only a small wooden coffin to
receive it, suitable to the size of the cart upon which it had to travel
to Rome, it would not hold that most beautiful body of Matilda, who
was of no mediocre stature, but very tall ; therefore (a thing which
moves us to tears in the telling of it) they broke the neck and the
knee-joints so that they could easily push it into the case as if it were
a corpse — if they did not even cut the joints, as the report has been
spread abroad.')
However, when some time later the abbot's brother was
closely interrogated on the matter, he indignantly refuted
this story, declaring that Matilda's body suffered no
violence whatever — that she had ' fair hair, and the body
was beautiful and still supple, as of one only a short time
dead, but the lifting it and removing it from its ancient
resting-place had injured it much.' (' Ma ch'il levarla di
quel loco antico, e l'aperatura del sepolcro assai gli
nocque.') The rough coffin was conveyed to Rome and
was placed temporarily in the castle of S. Angelo, until
1 A. Maffei, p. 500.

280 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
such time as the monument in St. Peter's should be ready
to receive it. In the meantime, at Mantua the theft
had been discovered, and a storm of fury arose amongst
the citizens. The Austrians had left, and the exiled
duke had returned to his own, but rebellion amongst
his loyal subjects was threatened, unless Matilda's body
was restored to San Benedetto. The duke managed
eventually to prove his innocence, and took every means
in his power to have the body brought back to Mantua,
sending endless letters and messengers to the Vatican
imploring the Pope to relinquish his plans. But Urban
was inflexible, and the Mantuans had to bow themselves
to the supreme will of the head of the Church. The
Abbot Ippolito and his brother were forced to flee from
S. Benedetto, for fear of the fury of the populace, and the
resentment of the duke. They took refuge in Ferrara,
and the abbot was shortly afterwards made Bishop of
Terni. The marble sarcophagus was ready and placed in posi
tion in the year 1635, but it was not until 1644 that the
statue at the head of the monument was completed ; and
then, on the night of the 10th March, with great secrecy
and haste, Matilda's body was transferred from St.
Angelo along the Pope's private passage to St. Peter's,
the Cardinals Barberini, Giorio, Poli, and Contelori being
present at the translation, and at the placing of the body
in a metal casket, which was then deposited within the
marble sarcophagus. Thus did Pope Urban gain his
ends, and raise Matilda's monument in Rome.
We think that in this record of Matilda, Bernini has
given us of his very best. In that calm, majestic figure,
with the radiant, uplifted face, something of the grandeur,
nobility, and strength that were Matilda's, is manifest.

MONUMENT TO MATILDA IN S. PETER'S

VALEDICTION 281
There she stands, close to the tomb of the Apostle whose
daughter she loved to call herself, and there we may leave
her resting in peace at last, not, however, without many
thoughts of reverence and admiration for a life most
nobly lived amidst tribulations and tumults such as we
of the modern world can but dimly apprehend.
Farewell, therefore, faithful daughter of Peter !
You upheld in the world a very noble ideal, and your
life was not lived in vain. Many generations have passed
you by unheeding, but the future will not be so forgetful.
The memory of you will reawaken, and strike a chord of
gratitude in the hearts of the people of Italy ; and the
stranger from afar will listen to its echo, and will look
with fresh love and reverence upon the semblance of the
woman, who was once ' the wonder of Italy.'

282 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

APPENDIX A
Note to p. 143.
In Calmet's Memoires pour servir a thistoire de Lorraine there
is told the following legend of the great Countess : —
' Some Benedictine monks from Calabria had arrived in the
valley of Orval, and had established themselves there with the
permission of Count Arnold about the year 1000. Some few
years later (sic) the Countess Matilda, widow of Godfrey the
Hunchback, having come from Italy to see Count Arnold, her
relation, the latter begged her one day to pay a visit to his monks,
who had only settled a short while before in his lands. Matilda
went with the Count, visited their abode, and conversed with
them on pious subjects. Being seated on the edge of their
fountain, which is very beautiful, she dipped her hands several
times into the water. Her ring fell off her finger, and disappeared
beneath the water, and, in spite of most diligent searchings, it
was not to be found. Then she made a solemn vow to God that
if He would give her back her ring, she would undertake to have
this place consecrated for ever to His service by a number of
monks, whom she herself would endow. At that moment her
ring reappeared on the water, and so she hastened to fulfil her
vow. It was through the liberality of the Duchess Matilda and
Count Arnold, that the monks were enabled to erect their church
and monastery.'

APPENDIX B
Beatrix Comitissa Ducissa Tusciae, cum filia sua Mathilde,
refutationem quarumdam terrarum facit Monasterio Veronensi
Sancti Zenonis, Anno 1073.1
In nomine Sanctae et individuae Trinitatis. Ego Beatrix
1 Muratori, Ant. II. Med. ALv., vol. i. p. 591.

APPENDIX B 283
Comitissa, & gloriosa filia mea Mathildis, omnibus fidelibus
Christi notum esse volumus, quod ego Beatrix Comitissa cum
preclara filia mea Mathilde, amore Dei, & sanctissimi Confessoris
Christi Zenonis instinctae, per lignum, quod in nostris tenebamus
manibus, in presentia Fratrum Monasterii, ipsius Sancti Zenonis,
& aliorum bonorum hominum, quorum nomina subtus leguntur,
refutavimus in manu Domini Werinheri Abbatis illas res ipsius
Monasterii, quas nos habere visae sumus, idest Vouferrario, &
Vouipigozzo, & Runco Cavelo, & Fatuledo, cum omni jure &
reditu & districtu, & porcis & multonibus ; & res illas Monasterii
in loco, qui dicitur Barche, sito in confinio Trebunciolo, & Runco
Hostilienses, cum omni jure & reditu pro remedio animae nostrae,
seu Gotefridi Ducis & Bonifacii Marchionis, vel ceterorum
parentum nostrorum; ea videlicet ratione, ut Monachi ibidem
Domino servientes ilia bona ad victum suum omni tempore
habeant pro sempiterna nostrarum animarum recordatione. Et
Abbas, qui modb est, vel sui successores, non habeant licentiam
alicui personae per Libellum, aut in Beneficium dare. Si autem
iste Abbas, vel aliquis suus successor ilia bona, quae supra legun
tur, per aliquod ingenium abstraxerit a. victu Fratrum, aut alicui
per Libellum, aut in Beneficium dederit, ad manus nostras, aut
nostrorum heredum reverti debeant ; insuper centum Libras
Denariorum Veronensium nobis debeat componere. Actum est
hoc in Monasterio Sancti Zenonis in Refectorio Fratrum, Anno
ab Incarnatione Domini MLXXIII. Indictione XI. in die Sab-
bati, quod est quarta Idus Augusti, in Festivitate Sancti Laurentii
Martyris Christi feliciter. Et ut hoc a nobis factum esse
credatur, Sigilli nostri impressione confirmatum manifestetur.
(Beatrice, Countess and Duchess of Tuscany, together with
her daughter Matilda, makes a donation of some lands to the
Veronese Monastery of San Zeno, in the year 1073.
In the name of the Holy and indivisible Trinity. I Beatrice
Countess, and my glorious daughter Matilda, wish to make known
to all the faithful in Christ, that I Beatrice, Countess, together
with my celebrated daughter Matilda, constrained by the love of
God, and of that most holy Confessor of Christ, Zeno, by the
wood that we hold in our hands, in the presence of the brothers
of the monastery of the aforementioned Zeno, and in the presence

284 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
of other good men whose names are to be read below, do put in
the hands of the Lord Irnerius, Abbot of the said Monastery, the
things which we have, that is to say Vouferrain and Voupigozzo,
and Ronco Cavelo and Fatuledo, with all rights over them, and
revenues from the same, together with those lands of the Monas
tery in the place which is called Barche, situated on the borders
of Trebunciolo and Ronco Hostiliensis with all rights over them
and rents from the same, for our own souls, for the souls of
Godfrey, Duke, and Boniface Marquis, and of all our relations,
under these conditions that the monks, serving the Lord, always
can have these lands for ever, for their sustenance, as an eternal
record of our souls.
And neither the Abbot nor his successors shall have any right
to lease them or give them in fief to any person whatsoever.
Therefore if the said Abbot or his successor should give the
aforementioned lands in rent or in fief to any person whomsoever,
or prevent them yielding their sustenance for the good of the
brethren for any reason whatsoever, the said lands are to revert
to us or to our heirs, and the Abbot or his successor will pay to
us a fine of 100 lbs. of Veronese money.
This Deed is drawn up in the Monastery of Saint Zeno, in the
refectory of the brethren in the year of the Incarnation 1073 XI.
Indiction, on Saturday that is the 10th of August on the feast of
Saint Laurence blessed martyr for Christ, and in order that it may
be credited that we have made this deed, we place upon it the
impression of our seal.)

APPENDIX C
The identification of the chapel of St. Nicholas,1 mentioned
by Domnizo, with the one at the castle of Montezane, would
1 The present writer is indebted to Professor Naborre Campanini's admir
able little book on Canossa for the arguments in favour of the Montezane
Chapel, and for the distinction between the three days of counsel and the
three days' penance. Professor Campanini has held the post of Royal
Inspector of National Monuments in the Reggian district, and has devoted
many years to the study of Canossa.

T

, 0

Sigillum cereum .

SEAL OF BEATRICE, AND CROSSES ON THE DOCUMENT QUOTED
ON P. 283

APPENDIX C 285
considerably lessen the difficulties which confront us, in piecing
together the Canossa narrative as set forth in Gregory's letter to
the German princes, and in Lambert of Hersfeld and Domnizo's
chronicles, these being the most important contemporary writers
who have given us an account of what occurred there. Many
who have asserted that those contradict each other seem moved
by a spirit of antagonism to criticise too severely the actual letter
of the text, without regard to the atmosphere of the times in
which it was written, or to the limited means of expression at
the command of the chronicler,1 and certainly many a critic has
written with little or no knowledge of the topography of Canossa.
To quote one small instance. Formerly Lambert of Hersfeld
was accused of having invented the triple circle of walls round
Canossa, because no other chronicler had mentioned them. The
excavations have proved that Lambert was quite correct. Many
Aemilian castles were similarly defended, and it did not strike an
Italian as anything worth recording, whereas it was unusual in
the eyes of the foreign visitors, from whose descriptions Lambert
doubtless chronicled the fact.
To return to the chapel of St. Nicholas : it is only in
Domnizo's account that it is mentioned, and although there are
quantities of documents extant concerning Canossa and its
church of St. Apollonio, there is no allusion anywhere to a
chapel dedicated to S. Nicholas, nor have the excavations at
Canossa revealed traces of such a chapel. It is true that this
cannot be accepted as absolute proof of the non-existence of
such a building, since so much of Canossa and its fabric has
completely disappeared. On the other hand, there is strong
evidence in favour of the Montezane Chapel. This was a
building of some note in the Middle Ages, and is often alluded
to in documents as ' Cappella Sancti Nicholai de Montezane,' or
' de Canuscia,' or as ' Ecclesia ruralis Sancti Nicholai de Canossa
in Castro Montis Zani,' attached therefore to the mother-church
at Canossa. Now Domnizo may have taken for granted that his
1 Domnizo, for instance, invokes both S. Peter and S. Paul to help him
with his verses, and we seem to hear his sigh of relief in the concluding
words of the poem :
'Thanks be to the Lord, O friends ! that we have finished this book.'

286 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
readers would know the situation of this chapel,1 for in writing of
the days after Matilda and her guests had arrived at Canossa,
and it had become a ' second Rome,' he goes on to say : ' These
Lords held councils of peace, and for three days remained dis
cussing it, but there was no peace, and the King therefore wished
to depart, but he himself went to the chapel of St. Nicholas,'
and then follows the description of an interview with Matilda and
Hugo of Cluny, and no reference to the locality of the chapel.
Most historians have assumed that it was within the walls of
Canossa because they have thought that Domnizo's three days
of counsel meant the three days of penance. So far as we
know, Stephens is the only historical writer who has separated
these three days, and has made it clear that the interview in
the chapel was prior to the penance.2 In the present account
it has been assumed that Henry was staying at Bianello
during the three days' negotiations, because when later, after
the penance at Canossa, he asked for another interview
with Gregory, and this was arranged to be held at Bianello,
Domnizo writes : ' And the sixth day the King returned to
Bianello.'3 Of late years there have been several attempts to belittle the
Canossa incident — -to deny in toto the fact of the three days'
penance. One German critic4 in particular has been at great
pains to prove that the whole story is a fabrication of Lambert's,
and that the King's penance consisted only in appearing before the
Pope in the woollen shirt, and with bare feet, not in waiting thus
attired for three days without the citadel. In support of this view,
he argues that Gregory's letter to the German princes has been
misinterpreted, and that in the sentence : ' Ibique per triduum
ante portam castri, deposito omni regio cultu, miserabiliter,
utpote discalciatus et laneis indutus, persistens,' etc., — the 'per-
sistens ' refers to ' ante portam castri ' alone, and not to the other
words immediately preceding it, that in fact the King waited
outside the gate of the castle for three days, and afterwards,
1 Dom., lib. II. cap. i. 2 Hildebrand and his Times.
5 Dom., lib. II. cap. i.
4 Professor Holder-Egger in the Neues Archiv fur altere deutsche Ge-
schichtskunde (vol. xix. 1894).

APPENDIX C 287
when the Pope said he would receive him, removed every royal
ornament and clothed himself in wool.
Two additional arguments adduced in this criticism on
Lambert against the usual version of three days in ice and snow,
are that Domnizo does not mention them, but writes only of
three days' counsel, and that in the picture illustrating Henry's
interview with Matilda and Hugo of Cluny, the King is repre
sented, not in penitential attire, but in kingly vestments, and
with a small crown on his head, and the writer concludes his
strictures on this part of Lambert's account by declaring em
phatically that ' the whole story of the three days' penance ought
to be erased from the history books.' We cannot agree with
this view, nor are these arguments convincing. It seems too
unlikely to be true that Gregory's letter should have been
misread and misinterpreted on such an all-important point, and
while it is a fact that Domnizo does not precisely state that the
King did three days' penance, there are so many things Domnizo
omits to say that in this case above any the argumentum ab
silentio is very inconclusive. For instance, he makes not the
slightest allusion to Beatrice's second husband, and if we had
only his chronicle as an authority, we should certainly conclude
she had not married again after Boniface's death. But in the
case of Canossa we think that the critic has overlooked a
subsequent allusion to Henry's visit there, which certainly seems
to imply the generally accepted story. In writing of the time
when Henry was meditating an attack on Canossa in 1092
Domnizo says : ' Remembering the evil things he had suffered at
Canossa, when he stood there with bare feet, benumbed by the
cold and the snow, he thought the hour had come for vengeance.'
This certainly seems to mean more than the cold he would
have suffered in appearing with bare feet before the Pope.
We cannot tell why Domnizo evades direct mention of the
three days' penance, but if these succeeded the three days'
negotiations at Bianello, as we believe, then what he says further
as to the date of the Pope's relenting may be accepted literally
as it stands. 'Seven days before January ended, the Pope
agreed that the King should appear before him ' 1 — not that he
1 Dom., lib. II. cap. i.

288 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
actually received the King seven days before January ended, but
that he yielded, as it were, to entreaties, and said that he would
see the King. Therefore, if on that 25 th day of January word
had been brought the King that eventually the Pope would
receive him, and if the penance were begun on the 25th and
lasted three days, and on the fourth day, as Lambert says, he
were introduced into the presence of the Pope, then the two
accounts of Domnizo and Lambert coincide in this respect,
inasmuch as the document of the King's promises to the Pope
signed at Canossa on the 28th of January is still preserved.
We are loth ourselves to take the picture as evidence one way
or another, for surely it is very generally admitted that these
early illustrations are only symbolic renderings of ideas, and
cannot be regarded as realistic representations of events — a king
had to wear a crown to show he was a king. (We wonder, by
the way, if the German critic supposes that Hugo brought his
abbatial staff to the conference, as depicted in this picture?)
But if this meeting of Henry, Matilda, and Hugo occurred the
day before the penance began, it would not have been necessary
to portray Henry in his penitential attire, even if an artist
could have been found willing to paint a monarch without a
crown. No one, of course, believes that Henry literally stood still
at the gates from morning till evening on those three bitter days,
as Lambert's critic seems to think has been credited, when he
says seriously: 'This would be contrary to all laws of nature.'
Surely it is less impossible to suppose that he stood and knocked
at the gates at intervals, moving up and down the steep path
from time to time, than that he and his 'numerous followers'
were only sheltered by tents during the wintry nights, which
supposition we are invited to accept. Even the hardy Aemilian
peasant of to-day would be appalled at such a prospect, inured
as he is to the rigorous winters of the Reggian Apennines.
It would be beyond the scope of the present work to enter
into all the strictures on Lambert of Hersfeld, but if we dis
entangle the three days' negotiations at Bianello from the three
days' penance at Canossa, and assume that the chapel at
Montezane was the place of the celebrated interview, as illus-

APPENDIX C 289
trated in Domnizo's manuscript, it will be found in these respects
Lambert's account does not essentially contradict those of other
contemporary authorities.
One further point of contention remains to be noticed as
regards Lambert's narrative. Of late years the story of the
occurrence in the church at Canossa, when Henry received
absolution, has been discredited by many historians.1 The
Italian writers of the period (Domnizo and Bonitho amongst
others) say that Henry did communicate, Bonitho adding that
the Pope solemnly warned the King that his fate would be even
as that of the traitor Judas if he partook unworthily.
On the other hand, the German chronicler, Berthold of
Constance, who died in 1088, and who is one of the earliest
writers on this period, corroborates in a measure Lambert's
account, inasmuch as he says that when the Pope offered the
sacrament to the King he refused it, professing himself unworthy
to receive it, and the Pope 'enlightened by the Holy Ghost'
regarded this as a sign of the insincerity of the King's repentance,
and was forthwith put on his guard.
So reliable and unbiassed an historian as Giesebrecht, while
acknowledging the difficulty of arriving at any accurate con
clusion in view of these conflicting testimonies, and while himself
inclined to reject Lambert's account, adds, however, that directly
after the Canossa incident many stories of the King's refusal of
the Host were circulated in Germany. Modern writers who
believe that Henry did communicate, declare that they do so on
the grounds that the acceptance of the Host by the penitent,
formed an integral part of the absolution ceremony, that it was
in fact necessary for the penitent to communicate in order once
more to be received into the body of the Church. From all the
accounts we have read, we think that this statement is open to
question ; both Berthold and Lambert speak of the Pope's pre
senting the Host to the King after absolution had been pro
nounced. Berthold says after the Pope had given ' the kiss of
peace' — as if these chroniclers took it for granted that the
acceptance of the Host on the King's part was optional,
1 See Giesebrecht, vol. iii., pp. 400 and 1038 ; Overman, p. 141.
T

290 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
and that their readers would understand this. We cannot feel
ourselves that the whole story is incredible. If we take into
consideration all the circumstances of the case and Henry's
treacherous character, it seems probable that Lambert was not
very wide of the mark in what he has written with regard to this
incident, and we have therefore followed his version in the text.

APPENDIX D
THE TEXT OF GREGORY'S LETTER TO THE GERMAN PRINCES
FROM CANOSSA
Gregorius 1 episcopus servus servorum Dei omnibus archie-
piscopis episcopis ducibus comitibus caeterisque principibus regni
Teutonicorum christianam fidem defendentibus salutem et
apostolicam benedictionem.
Quoniam pro amore iustitiae communem nobiscum in agone
christianae militiae causam et periculum suscepistis ; qualiter rex,
humiliatus ad poenitentiam absolutionis veniam impetraverit, et
quomodo tota causa post introitum eius in Italiam hue usque
deducta sit, vestrae dilectioni sincera caritate indicare curavimus.
Sicut constitutum fuit cum legatis, qui ad nos de vestris parti-
bus missi sunt, in Longobardiam venimus circiter viginti dies
ante terminum, in quo aliquis ducum ad clusas nobis occurrere
debuit ; expectantes adventum illorum, quatenus ad partes illas
transire possemus. Verum cum, iam decurso termino, hoc nobis
nunciaretur : his temporibus prae multis — quod et nos quidem
credimus — difficultatibus ducatum nobis obviam mitti non posse;
nee aliunde copiam ad vos transeundi haberemus; non parva
sollicitudine, quid potissimum nobis agendum foret, circumventi
sumus. Interim vero, regem adventare, certe cognovimus, Qui etiam,
priusquam intrasset Italiam, supplices ad nos legatos praemittens,
per omnia se satisfacturum Deo et sancto Petro ac nobis, obtulit;
et, ad emendationem vitae suae omnem se servaturum oboedien-
1 Reg., iv. 12, p 256 et seq.

APPENDIX D 291
tiam, repromisit ; dummodo apud nos absolutionis et apostolicae
benedictionis gratiam impetrare mereretur. Quod cum diu
multis consultationibus differentes, acriter eum de suis excessibus
per omnes qui intercurrebant nuncios redargueremus ; tandem
per semet ipsum, nichil hostile aut temerarium ostentans, ad
oppidum Canusii, in quo morati sumus, cum paucis advenit.
Ibique per triduum ante portam castri, deposito omne regio
cultu, miserabiliter, utpote discalciatus et laneis indutus, persis-
tens, non prius cum multo fletu apostolicae miserationis auxilium
et consolationem implorare destitit, quam omnes, qui ibi aderant
et ad quos rumor ille pervenit, ad tentam pietatem et compas-
sionis misericordiam movit : ut, pro eo multis precibus et la-
crimis intercedentes, omnes quidem insolitam nostrae mentis
duritiam mirarentur, nonnulli vero, in nobis non apostolicae
severitatis gravitatem sed quasi tyrannicae feritatis crudelitatem
esse clamarent.
Denique instantia compunctionis eius et tanta omnium qui ibi
aderant supplicatione devicti, tandem eum, relaxato anathematis
vinculo, in communionis gratiam et sinum sanctae matris ecclesiae
recepimus, acceptis ab eo securitatibus quae inferius scriptae
sunt. Quarum etiam confirmationem per manus abbatis Cluna-
ciensis et filiarum nostrum Mathildis et comitissae Adelaiae
et aliorum principum episcoporum et laicorum, qui nobis ad hoc
utiles visi sunt, recepimus. His itaque sic peractis, ut ad pacem
ecclesia et concordiam regni, sicut diu desideravimus, omnia
plenius Deo adiuvante cooptare possimus, ad partes vestras data
primum opportunitate transire cupimus. Hoc enim dilectionem
vestram indubitanter scire volumus, quoniam, sicut in descriptis
securitatibus cognoscere potestis, ita adhuc totius negocii causa
suspensa est, ut et adventus noster et consiliorum vestrorum
unanimitas permaxime necessaria esse videantur. Qua propter
in ea fide quam coeptis et amori iustitiae omnes permanere
studete ; scientes : nos non aliter regi obligatos, nisi quod puro
sermone — sicut michi mos est — in his eum de nobis sperare
dixerimus, in quibus eum ad salutem et honorem suum, aut cum
iustitia aut cum misericordia, sine nostrae et illius animae
periculo adiuvare possimus.

292 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
APPENDIX E
'THE OATH OF HENRY KING OF THE TEUTONS'
(Canossa, 28th January 1077).
Iusiurandum Henrici regis Teutonicorum.1
' Ego Henricus rex de murmuratione et dissensione, quam
nunc habent contra me archiepiscopi et episcopi, duces comites
ceterique principes regni Teutonicorum et alii qui eos in eadem
dissensionis causa sequuntur, infra terminum, quern dominus papa
Gregorius constituerit, aut iustitiam secundum iudicium eius aut
concordiam secundum consilium eius faciam ; nisi certum im-
pedimentum mihi vel sibi obstiterit ; quo transacto ad peragen-
dum idem paratus ero. Item, se idem domnus papa Gregorius
ultra montes seu ad alias partes terrarum ire voluerit, securus
erit ex mei parte et eorum quos constringere potero, ab omni
laesione vitae et membrorum eius seu captione — tam ipse
quamqui in eius conductu et comitatu fuerint seu qui ab illo
mittuntur vel ad eum de quibuscumque terrarum partibus
venerint — in eundo et ibi morando seu inde redeundo. Neque
aliud aliquod impedimentum habebit ex meo consensu, quod
contra honorem suum sit ; et si quis ei fecerit cum bona fide
secundum posse meum adjuvabo.'
Actum Canusiae 5 Kalendas Februarii indictione 15. anno
domini nostri Iesu Christi 1077, presentibus episcopis: Umberto
Praenestino Giraldo Ostiensi ; cardinalibus Romanis : Petro
tituli S. Chrisogoni et Conone tituli S. Anastasie ; Romanis dia-
conibus Gregorio et Bernardo ; subdiacono Umberto. Item ex
parte regis interfuerunt : Bremensis archiepiscopus, et episcopi
Vercellensis et Osnaburgensis et abbas Cluniacensis et multi
nobiles viri. 1 Reg,, iv. 12a.

APPENDIX F 293

APPENDIX F
THE TEXT OF MATILDA'S LETTER TO POPE PASCHAL (FROM
migne's ' patrologia,' vol. 163, col. 458)
Mathildis marcisae ad Paschalem papam
(Ante annum 1106).
Sanctismo et venerabili in Christo Patri ac domino Paschali,
primae sedis antistiti, Mathildis marcisae Dei gratia, si quid est,
tarn debitum quam fidele totius subjectionis obsequium.
Inter alia ex quibus paternitatem vestram rogare praesumimus,
de Patris ac domini nostri Anselmi Cantuariensis venerabilis
archiepiscopi expulsione clementiam vestram singulariter postu-
lamus, quatenus juxta debitum vestrae sedis judicium, tarn sancti
ac reverendi Patris tribulationes et miserias quas pro fide catholica
et sancta Romana ecclesia tolerat, tanquam pius Pater et dominus
fideliter attendatis ejusque lacrymabilem querimoniam condoleatis
atque Sanctis negotiis manum consilii et auxilii clementius porri-
gatis. Indecens enim est tarn praecipuum sanctae Ecclesiae
Romanae membrum tanto tempore exsulatum jacere inter alia
quasi putridum, et non agere sibi commissum incunctanter
officium. Dolemus igitur corpori Ecclesiae ex maxima parte
illius ministerium esse subtractum, cujus gubernaculum scimus
esse sibi per omnia et pro omnibus necessarium. Unde flexis
genibus de eo vestram clementiam postulamus, cujus singularem
post Dominum fiduciam vos esse procul dubio credimus,
quam nostris etiam meritis circa eum augeri non minimi
desideramus.

294 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

APPENDIX G
note on matilda's donation
Domnizo refers to Matilda's donation to the Roman Church
in 1077 as follows : — J
' Propria clavigero sua subdidit omnia Petro ;
Ianitor est coeli suus heres, ipsaque Petri. '
(' She placed all her goods under the care of Peter the keeper of the keys,
and thus he who opens the gates of heaven became her heir and she the
handmaiden of Peter.')
The only other mention of this donation in contemporary
history, Gregorovius 2 tells us, we find in a cursory paragraph in
Pietrus Diaconus,3 who says that in 1077 the Countess Matilda,
fearing the power of the Emperor, gave the provinces of Liguria
(as Lombardy was often called) and Tuscany, to Pope Gregory
and the Holy Roman Church.
The original document does not exist, but in the crypt of St.
Peter's there is the fragment of a large stone tablet on which the
words of the parchment of 1102 are supposed to have been
inscribed. This fragment has been restored — and it is believed
by many to have served as the original for all the manuscript
copies that are to be found.
Here is the substance of it : — 4
' In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity. In the
year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 1102 the 15th
day of the Kalends of December the Xth indiction. In the time
of the Lord Pope Gregory vn., in the Chapel of Santa Croce at
1 Dom. lib. 11. cap. i.
2 Greg., vol. iv. part 11. p. 361.
3 'Anno Dominicae Incarnationis millesimo septuagesimo septimo, Mathilda
Comitissa Liguriae et Tusciae iram Imperatoris Henrici sibi infesti metuens,
Liguriam et Tusciam Provincias Gregorio Papae et Sanctae Romanae
Ecclesiae devotissime obtulit.' — From Chron. S. Monasl. Casinensis. Leo
Ostensis, etc. Murat., Ant. It., vol iv. p. 464.
* This taken partly from the Biographical Dictionary of Larousse and
partly from Pannenborg, pp. 40, 41.

APPENDIX G 295
the Lateran Palace, in the presence of Cencius Frangipani,
Gratianus Cencius Franculini, and Alberico of Pierleone, and
Benincasa his brother, and Hubert of Tascia, and many others,
I Matilda, Countess by the grace of God, gave to the Church of
S. Peter, for the repose of my soul and that of my parents (the
Lord Pope Gregory accepting it) all my goods present and to
come, on this side and on that of the mountains, and I ordered a
Charter of this to be made. But as this Charter is not to be
found, fearing that my donation may be revoked as doubtful, I
renew it to-day in the hands of Bernard, cardinal legate, with the
customary ceremonies in such case, and I strip myself of all my
goods for the profit of the Pope and the Roman Church, without
myself or my heirs ever being able to contest this, under penalty
of 1000 lbs. of gold and 4000 lbs. of silver. . . .
Given at Canossa. . . .
From the time of Matilda's death onwards for many genera
tions there was no end to the disputes concerning the exact
meaning of this donation. Gregorovius calls it ' one of the most
fatal bequests known to history . . . the apple of discord of the
time, thrown by a woman between the Popes and Emperors.' Many
think that the words ' omnia bona mea ' (all my goods), as they
exist on the stone, could only refer to her personal wealth, and
those territories called allodial lands which she had inherited
directly from her father and mother, while those lands she held
as fiefs from the Empire returned to the Emperor at her death.
In 1 1 16 the Emperor came down to Italy and peacefully took
possession of Canossa, and Domnizo himself welcomes him in
a song as Canossa's lord ! Yet one would think that this would
certainly have been held as personal property.
Bacchini, in an unpublished MS. in the Gonzaga archives at
Mantua, describes the confusion and disorder which prevailed,
and says that many Italian lords invited the Emperor to come
down to Italy and settle the question, and says further that ' in
spite of the rightful claims of the Roman Church, the Emperor
seized several of Matilda's cities and gave parts of Tuscany and
Liguria as fiefs to various nobles.'
And in 11 16, when in Italy, the Emperor made a donation of

296 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
a large wood named Solamine ' to the monastery of Gonzaga,
together with other lands, and declared that he gave them for
' the peace of his own soul and for the soul of Countess Matilda,'
which seems to show he had inherited them from her.
The confusion was indeed very great, and the Roman Church
appeared to be too weak just then to support fully its claims,
while the family of Este, as Matilda's nearest relatives, put in a
claim for her property, so that the disorder increased. Many
of the towns grew in importance during this period, and took
the opportunity of freeing themselves from their allegiance to any
of the three claimants, thus instituting for themselves the
' communes ' which had already existed in reality, although not
in name, since, as we have seen in Matilda's lifetime, many of
them obtained from her a liberal form of government, and the
right to rule themselves, — a thing unparalleled in past history.
1 Bacchini.

APPENDIX H

297

APPENDIX H
Tree showing the connection of Matilda with her two husbands.

Otto the 1st.

Siegfried of Lucca.

Otto 11.
Matilda = Godfrey 11. of
I Lorraine.
Godfrey in.
(Matilda's step-father).

Godfrey iv.
(Matilda's first
husband).

I

Alda = Siegfried 11.
Hugo, Marquis of Este.
Azzo Adalberto.
Guelf iv., Duke of Bavaria.
1  1

Henry,
Duke of Bavaria
(ancestor of present
House of Brunswick
and Liineburg).

Guelf v.,
Matilda's
second husband.

Atto,
Count of Canossa.
Tedaldo.
Boniface. I
Matilda.

Tree showing Matilda's connection with the German Emperors,
and with Anselm of Canterbury.1
Conrad, the Pacific King of Transjuran=MatiIda, daughter of Louis d'Outremer,
Burgundy. j King of France.

Matilda = Baldwin Pandulf.
I of |
Flanders. Ermenburg = Gandulf.

Gerberga=Herman 11.,
Duke of
Suabia.

Baldwin v.
Matilda= William
the Con
queror.

Anselm of
Cauterbury.

Gisela=Conrad 11.,
I Emperor.
Henry in, ,
Emperor.

Henry iv.,
Emperor.

Gisela=Henry of
I Bavaria.
Henry 11.,
Emperor.

Matilda = Frederick, Duke
of Upper Lor
raine.
Beatrice = Boniface of
Tuscany.
Matilda.

2 See Life and Times of St. Anselm, Martin Rule.

298 MATILDA OF TUSCANY

LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED

Abbate, L Italia nel Medio Evo. Alba, 1892.
Aff6, Storia della citta di Parma Parma, 1792-95.
Arnulf of Milan, Historia Mediolanensis. (Muratori, Ital.
Script., vol. iv.)
Bacchini, DelF Istoria del Monastero di San Benedetto di Polirone.
Modena, 1696.
 Vol. vi. of the same. (An unpublished MS. in the Gonzaga
archives, Mantua.)
Bandi, Vicende delle propriety in Italia della caduta dell Imp.
roman. flno alio stabilmento deifeudi.
Baronius, Annates Ecclesiastici. Lucca, 1744.
Barry, W. F., The Papal Monarchy. (Story of Nations.) 1902.
BELLODI, 77 Monastero di San Benedetto in Polirone nella Storia e
nell' Arte. Mantua, 1905.
Berthold von Reichenau (translation in Geschichtschreiber der
deutschen Vorzeit). 1847.
Bonitho, Liber ad Amicum. (Ed. Jaffe.)
Bresciani, La Contessa Matilda di Canossa e Iolanda di Groninga.
Milano, 1872.
Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire. London, 1904.
Bury, J. B., A History of the later Roman Empire. London, 1889.
CALISSE, Storia dell Diritto Italiano, vol. 2 Diritto Publico
(Mannati Barbiera).
Calmet, Me'moires pour servir a. Phistoire de Lorraine. 1838.
Campanini, Canossa, Guida Storica. Reggio nell Emilia, 1894.
Cantu, Storia degli Italiani. Turin, 1875.
Chronicon Genuense. Rerum Ital. Script., vol. ix.
Chronicon Generate. Rer. Boicarum Script., vol. i.
Chronicon Hugonis Abbatis Flaviacensis. (Edition Migne, vol. 154.)
Paris, 1853.
Chronicon Sancti Huberti Andaginensis. (Edition Migne, vol. 154.)
Paris, 1853.
CONTELORIUS, Mathildis comitissae genealogia. Terni, 1657.
CORIO, Historia di Milano con le vite degli Imperatori.
Croniche della Cittd. di Pisa (Dottore Bernardo Marangone) Rerum
Ital. Script. Ex Florentiarum Codicibus, Florence, 1748.

LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 299
Daini, DelP Origine e Genealogia della Casa Gonzaga. (MS. in
the Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.)
Davies, William, The Pilgrimage of the Tiber.
Dieckmann, Gottfried III. der Bucklige. 1885.
Domnizo, Vita Mathildis celeberrimae principis Italiae. Presso
Muratori, Rerum Italic. Script., torn v.
 (Vatican MS.).
 edited and translated into Italian by Don Davoli. Turin,
1884.
Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis. 1884.
 Histoire des Rapes, etc. 1653.
DUPREEL, Godefroid le Barbu. Bruxelles, 1904.
EQUICOLA Mario, Dell Istoria di Mantova. Mantua, 1 610.
Erra, Memorie storico-critiche della gran Contessa Matilda. Roma,
1768.
Ferretti, Angelo, Canossa. Studi e ricerche. Torino, 1884.
FlCKER, Julius, Forschungen zur Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte
Italiens. Innsbruck, 1868-74.
Fiorentini, Memorie della gran contessa Matilda. Lucca, 1756.
Floto, Hartwig, Kaiser Heinrich der Vierte und sein Zeitalter.
1855-56.
Frizzi, Memoria per la Storia di Ferrara. 1847-50.
Gardner, Edmund G., The Story of Florence. (Mediaeval Towns
Series.) London : J. M. Dent, 1903.
Gastineau, Les Courtisanes de VEglise. 1870.
Gerberon, Gabriel, S. Anselmi opera omnia. Paris, 1853.
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Giesebrecht, W. v., Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit. Leipzig,
1885.
Glaber, Raoul, Les Cinq Livres de son Histoire. (Ed. Prou.)
Paris, 1886.
Goyau, G., A. Perate and P. Fabre, Le Vatican.
GREENWOOD, Empire and Papacy in the Middle Ages. 1 896.
Gregorovius, Storia della cilia di Roma nel medio evo. Trans
lated by L. Manzato. Venice, 1872-76.
 History of Rome in the Middle Ages. English edition. 1896.
Hallam, The Middle Ages. i860.
Hegel, Carl, Geschichte der Stddteverfassung von Italien. Leipzig,
1847.
Hermannus Contractus, Chronicon. Rerum Germ. Script, (torn.
i.), 1726.
HODGKIN, THOMAS, Italy and her Invaders. Oxford, 1892.
Holder -Egger, Lampert von Hersfeld in 'Neues Archiv fiir
deutsche Geschichte.' 1894.
Knonaw, Meyer von, Heinrich der Vierte. (Ed. Jahrbiicher des
deutschen Reichs.) Leipzig, 1894.

300 MATILDA OF TUSCANY
Lambertus Schafnaburgensis, Chronographi rerum Germani-
carum. 1 566.
Lampertus Hersfeldensis (ed. Holder-Egger), Scriptores
Rerum Germanicarm.
Lavisse ET Rambaud, Histoire Gdnerale.
Liebermann, Anselm von Canterbury und Hugo von Lyon.
Litta, Famiglie celebri d Italia. Milan, 1885.
LUCHINO, Cronaca della vera origine et altioni della illustrissima et
famosissima contessa Matilde. Mantua, 1592.
Maffei, Gli annali di Mantov a. Tortona, 1675.
Manente, Cipriano, da Orvieto, Cronaca, from 970 till 1400.
Martins, Die Besitzung des pdbstlichen Stuhls unter Heinrich IV.
und V. 1887.
MELLINI, DelP origime, fatti costumi e lodi di Matelda la gran
contessa d Italia. Florence, 1609.
Milman, Latin Christianity.
Montfaucon (Don Bernard), The Antiquities of Italy. 1725.
Monumenta Bambergensia. (Ed. Jaffe", 1869.)
Monumenta Germaniae Historica, vols. i. and iii. (for early docu
ments).
Mozzi DE' Capitani, Sulla Contessa Matilde, i suoi contemporanei
e le usanze nostre dallora. Venezia, 1845.
MURATORI, Delle antichitd estensi ed italiane. Modena, 1717.
 Dissertazioni sulle antichitd italiane. Milan, 1751, also 1836.
 Annali d Italia. Vol. vi. Milan, 1744.
 Monumenli di Storia Patria delle Provincie Modenesi (torn.
xv.). Modena, 1888.
 Antiquitates italicae medii aevi. Milan, 1738.
NOBlLI-VlTELLESCHl, Storia Civile e Politica del Papato. Rome,
1906.
Norwood, Rome. (Mediaeval Towns Series.) Dent : London.
OMAN, C W. C, The Dark Ages.
ORTI, Vita della Contessa Matilde di Canossa. Verona, 1834.
Overman, Grafln Mathilde von Tuscien. Ihre Besitzungen.
Geschichte Ihres Gutes, etc. Innsbruck, 1895.
PANCIROLI, Storia della cittd di Reggio. Reggio, 1846.
Pannenborg, Studien zur Geschichte der Herzogin Matilde von
Canossa. Gottingen, 1872.
Paulus Bernriedensis, De rebus gestis Gregorii septimi. Muratori,
Rerum It. Script, (torn iii.).
PlGNA, Historia dei Principi d'Este. 1570.
Pirio, Cronica delle cose d Italia, from 1080 till 1305. (Written in
the 13th and 14th centuries.)
Pozzo, Dal, Maraviglie heroiche del sesso donnesco memorabili nella
duchessa Matilda. Verona, 1678.
Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages.
Oxford, 1895.

LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 301
Razzi, La vita della Contessa Matilda. Florence, 1578.
Registrum Gregorii VII. (Ed. Jaffe-.) Berlin, 1864.
Rena, Serie degli antichi Duchi e Marchesi di Toscana. First part.
 Second part. Florence, 1789.
Renee, Amedee, La grande Italienne. Paris, 1859.
Repetti, Dizionario storico-geografico della Toscana. Florence,
1838.
Richter, Gustav, Annalen der deutschen Geschichte im Mittelalter.
Halle, 1873.
Rule, Martin, Life and Times of St. Anselm.
Sardi, Historie Ferraresi. Ferrara, 1646.
Savioli, L. V., Annali Bolognesi. 1784.
SlSMONDl, Republiques du moyen age. Paris, 1826.
Stephens, W. R. W., Hildebrand and his Times. London, 1888.
STUBBS, Germany in the Early Middle Ages. 1908.
TlRABOSCHl, Memorie storiche modenese. Modena, 1793.
 Dizionario topografico-storico degli Stati Estensi. Modena,
1824.
 Storia dell' Augusta Badia di S. Silvestro di Nonantula.
Modena, 1784
TOSTI, La contessa Matilde e i romani pontefici. Rome, 1886.
 Another edition. Florence, 1859.
 Storia della Badia di Monte Cassino. Naples, 1842.
UGHELLI, Italia Sacra. Roma, 1544-53.
Vedriani, Historia dell' antichissima cittd di Modona. Modena,
1666.
VlGANO, 77 Medio Evo dalle Carpinete. 1881.
Villani, Matteo, Cronica. Florence, 1844.
Villari, Pasquale, The Two First Centuries of Florentine History.
1905.
Villemain, Histoire de Grtgoire VII. Paris, 1874.
Vita Anselmi. Monumenta Germaniae historica, vol. xii. Berlin,
1879.
Vita comitissae Mathildis, oratione soluta ab auctore anonymo scripta
(Muratori, Rerum Italic. Script., torn. v.).
Vita! Romanorum Pontificum (Muratori, Rerum Italic. Script.,
torn. iii.).
Voigt, Johannes, Histoire de Gregoire VII. Paris, 1838.
Wattendorf, Stephan IX. Paderborn, 1883.

302

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

INDEX

Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), 219.
Abbate, Italian writer, ref. to, 214.
'Absolom,' Henry v., so called by
his father, 243.
Acqua, baths near Pisa, 258.
Adalbert of Bremen, Archbishop, 95,
97-
Adalbert, Marquis, 184.
Adelaide, wife of Lothair, afterwards
of Otto the Great, H-14, 39, 213.
Adelaide (Eupraxia,Praxed), daughter
of Duke Wsewolod of Russia,
second wife of Henry iv., 212 ;
imprisoned at Verona, 212; es
capes and flees to Canossa, where
she is welcomed by Matilda, 213 ;
attends the Council of Piacenza,
where she proclaims her wrongs,
215.
Adelaide of Susa, 87, 114, 145-148,
152. 153) 158, 161, 212, 291.
 her granddaughter, 212.
Adelaide, daughter of Adelaide of
Susa, wife of Rudolf of Suabia,
124.
Adige, 199.
Adrian 1., Pope, 38.
Adriatic, 68.
Aemilian castles, 285.
 peasant, 288.
 Way, 99.
Aesculapius, temple of, on the island
of the Tiber, 189.
Affb, historian of Parma, ref. to, 90,
237. 238.
Africa, 222.
Agapetus 11., Pope, 13.
Agnes of Poitiers, wife of Henry III.,
23, 52; becomes Empress-regent,
70, 71 ; character of, 70 ; receives
Hildebrand unwillingly, 73 ; pre
sent at Council of Bale, 89 ; plot

to deprive her of the regency, 92 j
successful, 93 ; travels to Rome,
and does penance for her part in
the schism, 94 ; attends the synod
in Rome of 1074, 129 ; mission to
Germany, 130; supposed presence
at diet of Tribur, 143.
Agnes of Poitiers, other allusions to,
87, 89, 90, 123, 169.
Alard (Adelardo), Bishop of Reggio,
11, 12.
Alard of Malegnano, vassal of Ma
tilda, 268.
Alba, town and bishopric, in Lom
bardy, 88.
Albano, 228.
'Albergaria,' Matilda's vassals re
lieved of this form of taxation, 253.
Alberico, Abbot of S. Benedetto
Polirone, 259, 260, 267, 269, 271.
Alberico Pierleone, 295.
Albert of Namur, Matilda's cousin,
143-
Alberto da Gonzaga, vassal of Ma
tilda, 268.
Alberto, son of Manfred, vassal of
Matilda, 268.
Alberto di Baise, vassal of Matilda,
202.
Alberto, Conte, vassal of Matilda,
268, 269.
Alexander II., Pope (Anselm of
Baggio), 4, 42, 54, 72, 87, 88;
elected Pope, 89; levies troops
and fights schismatics, 91, 92; is
installed provisionally in Rome,
95 ; attends Council of Mantua,
and justifies his election to the
Papacy, 96, 97 ; appeals to the
Tuscan princely house for help
against Cadalous, 99 ; receives
Matilda, 100 ; transacts business

INDEX

303

at Lateran Palace, 100; desires
that Matilda should take his
nephew Anselm as her spiritual
director, 101 ; takes the field with
Duke Godfrey and Matilda against
the Normans, and is successful in
the engagement at Aquino, 102 ;
journeys to South Italy, 103 ; con
tinues the work of reforming the
Church, 117; death, 119.
Alexander 11., Pope (Anselm of
Baggio), other allusions to, 94, 95,
98, 115, 169.
Alexius Comnenus, Byzantine em
peror, 223.
Alpine passes, 214, 219.
Alps, 6, 10, 34, 84, 94, 114, 128,
136. 137, 141. 142, 146, 147-
Amadeus, Count of Savoy, son of
Adelaide of Susa, 152, 153.
Amalfi, 57.
Amalricus Augerius, ref. to, 97.
Amatus, monk of Monte Cassino, and
historian, ref. to, 68.
Ambrose, St. , rule of, 87.
Amelia, 149.
Ancona, in.
 Bishop of, 141.
Angelo, St. (castle) of, Tomb of
Hadrian, 91, 95, 100, 174, 175,
179, 214, 279, 280.
L'Anonimo, fourteenth-century writer
on Dante, 1.
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury,
i 4 ; visits Matilda, 235 ; addresses
a ietter of thanks to her, and sends
her a copy of his Meditations, 235 ;
his cause is warmly espoused by
Matilda, 235, 236; her letter to
Pope Paschal concerning him,
293-
Anselm, Bishop of Lucca, 4 ; becomes
Matilda's confessor and adviser,
101 ; relations with Matilda, as
Bishop of Lucca, 102, 167, 168 ;
is forced to flee from Lucca, and
shortlyafterwardsis madethe Pope's
vicar in Lombardy, 172 ; his letter
to Guibert concerning Matilda,
172, 173 ; advises the melting down
of the Canossa 'treasure,' 174;
counsels the attack on Sorbara,
181 ; his advice as to the appoint
ment of fresh bishops, 184 ; death,

and summary of his character, 184,
185 ; his treatise on Lamentations
of Jeremiah, and commentary on
the Psalms, 185 ; is mourned by
the whole of Italy, 185.
Anselm, Bishop of Lucca, other
allusions, 186, 232.
Anselm of Baggio. See Alexander II.
Antwerp, 137.
Apennines, 91, 95, 151, 201, 235.
Apollonio, S., Church of, 15, 152,
210, 211, 285, 289.
Apulia, 41, 57, 85.
Aquino, 102, 103.
Arachne, 77, 79.
Aragon, Cardinal Nicholas of, his
torian, ref. to, 94, 102.
Ardennes, 105, 107.
Arduino della Palude, Matilda's
general, 4, 77, 256, 268.
Arezzo, 71.
' Argives,' allusion to, 196.
Ariald, Milanese deacon, 88.
Armenia, 259.
Arnold, cousin of Matilda, 282.
Arnulf, historian, ref. to, 35, 143.
Arpi, 39.
Asti, 87, 88.
Attila, 176.
Atto, or Azzo, great-grandfather of
Matilda, 10, n, 13-15.
Augsburg, 144, 162.
 Councils of, 94, 95, 143, 149,
150, 154.
Austrians, 278, 279.
Avellana, 50, 86.
Aventine, 50.
Aversa, countship of, 63.
Azzo Adalberto, Marquis of Este,
152, 153. 158, 192, 193. IQ9-
Azzo d'Este, son of the above,
wrongly supposed by some his
torians to have been Matilda's
second husband, 128, 129.
Bacchini, historian, ref.to, 264, 267-
269, 271, 272, 295, 296.
'Bacchus, followers of,' Germans so
called by Domnizo, 196.
Baiano (Bibbiano), 211.
Baise family, 202.
Baldwin of Flanders, 35, 36, 71.
Bale, Bishop of, 151.
— - Council, 89.

304

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

Bamberg, 40, 42, 61, 117.
 Church of S. Stephen at, 40.
Barata family, 10.
Barberini, Cardinal, 280.
Barche, 283, 284.
Bari, 224, 225.
Bartholomew, S., basilica of, on the
island of the Tiber, 189.
Bartolomeo, S., monastery near
Ferrara, 232.
Bavaria, 143, 192, 193, 215.
Baviana, 260.
Beatrice of Lorraine, wife of Boniface
of Tuscany, mother of Matilda, 6 ;
first marriage with Boniface, 29 ;
at his death marries Godfrey of
Lorraine, 32 ; incurs the anger of
Henry in., 33 ; pleads her cause,
34 ; is taken to Germany as
captive, 35, 76; liberated, and
returns to Italy, 35, 36, 37;
journeys to Rome, 75, 81 ; piety,
76 ; education of her daughter, 77 ;
description by Domnizo, 81 ; offers
her cities as refuges for the Patar
ines, 90 ; appears in Lombardy at
the head of her troops, with
Matilda, 90 ; gives battle to the
schismatics, 91 ; preparations for
reception of guests at Council of
Mantua, 96 ; quells a tumult, 97 ;
tries to entrap Cadalous, 99 ; is
present at Godfrey's death, 106 ;
returns to Italy without Matilda,
107 ; tries to effect a reconciliation
between Matilda and Godfrey, 125 ;
together with Matilda, accom
panies Godfrey, most probably to
the foot of the Alps, 126 ; attends
the synod in Rome of 1074, 129 ;
mission to Germany, 130, 137, 138,
220; .death at Pisa in 1076, 137;
character, 137, 138 ; burial-place
at Pisa, 138 ; epitaph, 138.
 other allusions to, 87, 95, 104,
105, 107, 108, 123, 132, 134, 142,
195. 2S3. 264, 277, 282, 283.
Beatrice, or Beatricio, son or daugh
ter of above, 31, 32.
Bebo of Bamberg, eleventh-century
writer, 40.
Bee, Norman abbey, 87.
Bellodi, R. , Italian writer, ref. to, 276.
Bellona, Matilda compared to, 104.

Benedetto (San), Polirone, 9, 16, 28,
233. 253, 259, 260, 267-270, 272,
275, 276, 277-279.
Benedict, St., 68.
Benedict, a converted Jew, friend of
Hildebrand, 53.
Benedict viii., Pope, 39.
Benedict IX., Pope, 48, 49, 50.
Benedict x., 74, 75, 82, 84.
Benedict's, St., at Capua, 85.
Benedictine monasteries, 274.
Benedictines, 267, 282.
Beneventum, 5, 58, 60, 61,62,63, 122.
Benincasa Pierleone, 295.
Benno, Bishop of Osnabriick, 151,
158, 292.
Benvenuto da Imola, 1.
Benzo, Bishop of Alba, 90.
Berengar, King of the Lombards, 1 1,
12, 14.
Bernard, Bishop of Parma, 4 ; as
cardinal-abbot of Vallombrosa is
appointed Matilda's spiritual di
rector, 232, 233 ; is sent to
Lombardy as the Pope's vicar-
general, 232 ; his friendship for
Matilda, and his valuable counsels,
233 ; his sermon in Parma un
favourably received by the citizens,
who attack him and carry him off
to prison, 237, 238 ; his calm
demeanour and his heroism in
prison cause a revulsion of feeling
in his favour, 239 ; the Parmesans
beg that he may be appointed their
bishop, 239 ; is consecrated bishop
by the Pope, 239, 251 ; is made
prisoner by Henry v. , and liberated
by Matilda's request, 256 ; receives
the document of Matilda's donation
to the Church, 233, 295.
Bernard, deacon of the Roman Church,
292.
Bernini, 280.
Bertha, daughter of Adelaide of Susa,
and wife of Henry iv., 42, 114;
education and character, 115; at
first is repulsed by Henry, but
succeeds eventually in winning his
affection, 115, 116; journeys to
Italy with him, 145-148, 153; is
crowned Empress in Rome (1084),
175; death (1088), 212.
 other allusions to, 212.

INDEX

305

Berthold, Duke of Carinthia,
124.
Berthold of Constance Chronicles,
ref. to, 184, 289.
Besangon, 145.
Bianello, or Bibianello, 8, 77, 80, 81,
IS3> 154. 163. 164, 210, 211, 255,
257, 286-288.
Bibliotheca Patrum, ref. to, 185.
Bologna, 195, 200, 229.
Bondeno, 262, 263, 265, 270, 275.
Boniface, Marquis of Tuscany, father
of Matilda, 3, 6; succeeds his
father, 16; his character, 16-20;
accession to the Marquisate of
Tuscany, 21 ; devotion to Em
perors, 21, 22; arouses the jealousy
of Henry III., 23-25; account of
his death, 26, 27 ; sepulchre at
Mantua, 27 ; his first wife, 28 ;
description of his second marriage,
29 ; facsimile of his signature, 19 ;
his titles, 27.
 other allusions to, 31, 32, 33,
76, 106, 107, 113, 253, 264, 266,
269, 283, 284, 287.
Bonifazio Struggio, 279.
Bonitho, eleventh-century writer, ref.
t0» 39. 75. I02, I03. I2°, 160,
239-
Bono, Bonsignore, Bishop of Reggio,
240, 256, 271, 273.
' Borgo,' a part of the city of Rome,
99, 100.
Bossone, Count, 185.
Bouillon, Castle of, 105, 106.
Bozzolo, prince of, 26.
Brescia, 26, 88.
Bresciani, Padre, ref. to, 149.
Brigerino, castle belonging to
Matilda mentioned by Domnizo,
195-
Brixen, Councils at, 168, 169.
Bruno of Toul. See Leo ix.
Bryce, James, author of Holy Roman
Empire, 42.
Burchard, Bishop of Halberstadt, 95.
Burgundian bishops, 54, 84.
Burgundy, 18, 145, 200, 215, 270.
Byzantine, 5.
Byzantium, 58, 60, 67.
Cadalous, Bishop of Parma, anti-
pope, 89, 90, 92, 94-97; his

plots against Pope Alexander, and
attempts to obtain possession of
Rome, 98-100; is defeated and
flees, 100, 101 ; death, 117.
Cadalous, other allusions to, 102, 108,
119, 134. 168, 237.
Calabria, 57, 58, 282.
Calmet's History of Lorraine, ref. to,
282.
Camerino, 27, 68, 73, 149.
Campagna, 102, 136.
Campanini, Italian writer, ref. to,
152, 284.
Canossa, 1, 2, 5, io, 11, 13-15, 20,
23,27, 28, 35, 77-81, 150-156, 160,
161-164, 170, 172, 181, 192, 205,
207, 209-211, 213, 230, 231, 233,
259, 260, 272, 275, 284-289, 291,
292, 295.
 called ' a new Rome ' by
Domnizo, 152, 286.
 family of Canossa at Verona, 21.
Canterbury, 236.
Cantu, Italian historian, 48.
Canute, King of Denmark and of
England, 45 ; his letter to the
English bishops, 45.
Capua, 5, 39, 58, 62, 85, 103.
 princes of, 186.
Cardinal virtues, symbolic represen
tations of, in chapel of San Simeon,
near Matilda's ancient resting-place,
San Benedetto, 276, 277.
Carinthia, 193.
Carpi, 151, 164.
Carpineta, 164, 201-208, 226, 231,
260.
Casale, Bishop of, 277.
Caviliano (S. Polo d'Enza), 210.
Celian hill, 175.
Cencius Frangipani, 294.
Cencius, son of the Prefect of Rome,
98, 101, 134-136, 169.
Cesareo, S., church of, 272.
Chalandon, historian, 62, 74, 75, 84,
85, 103.
Charlemagne, 38, 39, 42.
 Council of, 22.
Charles, Duke of Mantua, 278, 280.
Chenes, 145 ; different interpretations
of this, 145, 146.
Church, Roman, 5, 7, 28, 39, 40,
41, 43. 44, 45. 46, 49. 5'. 53-56,
58, 60, 66-69, 71, 72, 76, 79,

306

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

83-85, 90, 102, 103, 109, 116-122,
124, 125, 130, 134, 137-140, 153,
158, 160, 162, 169, 173, 174, 179,
180, 182, 190, 202-206, 208, 214,
215, 218, 221, 222, 225, 227, 233,
235. 237, 247, 249, 250-252, 254,
255. 258, 265, 280, 291, 293-296.
Ciano d'Enza, 2.
Cimabue, said to have painted
Matilda as a warrior maiden, 139.
Ciminian hill, 221.
Civita Castellana, 228.
Civitate, 62, 63.
Claremont, 222, 223.
Clement 11., Pope (Suidiger), Bishop
of Bamberg, 51, 52.
Clemente, San, Cardinal of. See
Paschal II.
Clorinda, Tasso's, 8.
Clouet, writer, ref. to, no.
Cluny, no.
Cluny, abbey of, 47, 48, 72, 190,
260.
Coblentz, 244.
Codex Udalrici, ref. to, 142.
Cologne, 36, 92, 93, 248, 249.
 Bishop of, 133.
Como, Bishop of, 123.
Cono, Cardinal, 292.
Conrad, brother of Boniface of
Tuscany, 16, 20, 21.
Conrad II., the Salic, 20, 22, 23, 45,
60.
Conrad, son of Henry iv., 145, 153,
163, 171 ; quarrels with his father,
212 ; is much beloved in Italy,
212; made King of Italy, 213;
crowned at Monza, then at Milan,
212 ; meets Pope Urban II. at
Cremona, 215 ; marriage at Pisa,
216 ; is deprived of the rights of
succession by his father at Mainz,
(1098), 219; quarrel with Matilda
and reconciliation, 236 ; death in
Florence, 236 ; a report is circu
lated by Matilda's enemies that her
physician poisoned him, 236.
 other allusions to, 215.
Constance, 54, 117.
Constantine the Great, 180.
Constantinople, 57, 63, 67, 73.
 Emperor of, Matilda's suitor,
139-
 Patriarch of, 67.

Corona, St., 15.
Correggio, town of, 151.
Corsica, 41.
Consuls, 214.
Contelori, Cardinal, 280.
Coviolo, 3, 16, 21.
Cremona, 27, 31, 198, 214, 215, 224.
Crusade, the idea of Gregory vn.
concerning, 127, 220, 221 ; dis
cussed at Council of Piacenza, 215 ;
idea cherished and fostered by
Matilda, 220-224, 226 ; preaching
of first Crusade, 222, 223 ; warriors
start, 224 ; meet at Lucca, where
they are blessed by the Pope,
224.
 ¦ other allusions to, 228.
Crusaders, 224.

Damasus ii., Pope, 52.
Danes, 124.
Dante, reference to Matilda in the
Purgatorio, I, 2, 4, 139 ; to the De
Monarchia, 40.
David's psalm, allusion to, 182.
Davoli, Don, translator of Domnizo's
chronicle, 13, 15, 18, 31, 190, 200,
210, 216, 256.
Desiderius, Abbot of Monte Casino.
See Victor in.
Dieckmann, German writer, ref. to,
105, 107, 109, no, 113.
Dietrich, Abbot of St. Hubert, 106,
107, I3I-I33-
 Bishop of Verdun, 143.
Dodo, Bishop of Modena, 241, 252,
253-
Domnizo, priest and chronicler of
Canossa, ref. to, 4, 5, 8, 10, II,
13. 14. IS. l6> 20, 26, 29, 30, 77,
78, 80, 81, 137, 138, 152, 157, 158,
163, 164, 165, 174, 191, 195-197.
199, 202, 210, 211, 214, 216, 230,
231. 237, 256, 257, 262, 273, 274,
275, 284-289, 294, 295.
Dora Baltea, river, 1 14.
Duke, Marquis, or Count, signi
fication of the title in eleventh
century, 22.

Earthly Paradise, 1, 2, 4.
East, Christians of the, 220, 221.

INDEX

307

Eastern Church, 63, 103.
 Empire, 57, 58, 118.
Ebbo of Naumburg, 151, 162.
Elster, 170.
Empire, 5, 7, 28, 34, 38, 41, 42, 69,
71, 88, 122, 123, 144, 163, 250.
England, 118, 188, 235, 236.
English bishops, 345.
Enza, river, 210.
Erra, biographer of Matilda, ref. to,
258.
Este family, 97, 200, 218, 219, 296.
Europe, 221, 222, 226, 249.
Eusebius, Abbot of S. Benedetto
Polirone, 277.
Eustace of Bouillon, 105, 224.

Fabrio Rangone, 224.
Fatuledo, 283, 284.
Felicita, Sta., in Florence, 234.
Felina, 272.
Fenonica, abbey of, 32.
Ferdinand, Emperor, 278.
Feimo, 140.
Ferrara, 16, 27, 198. 232, 280.
Ferretti, Italian writer, ref. to, 79,
80, 81, 211.
Fiesole, canonicate at, 21.
Figarolo, 164.
Filippo Boschetti, 224.
Fiorentini, biographer of Matilda,
ref. to, 18, 31, 35, 80, 92, 102,
109, no, 129, 167, 181, 183, 184,
185, 198, 202, 217, 224, 251, 253,
254. 257, 258.
Flaminian Way, 100.
Flanders, 187.
Florence, 3, 4, 27, 71, 74, 76, 81, 82,
86, 104, 150, 164, 165, 171, 195,
231, 234, 236, 253.
Florennes, 104.
Florentines, 3, 171.
Fortore, valley of the, 62.
Forzelli, 99.
France, 95, 214, 215, 224, 225, 235.
Francesco da Buti, I.
Frankfort, 42.
Frassinoro, 107.
Frederick, Duke of Upper Lorraine,
father of Beatrice of Tuscany, 29,
33.
Frederick, Count of Moncons,
Matilda's cousin, 198.

Frederick, of Lorraine. See Stephen
ix.
Frederick or Boniface, son of Boniface
of Tuscany, 31, 32, 34, 35.
Frediano, church of, at Lucca, 113.
French bishops, 84.
Frizzi, historian, 25.
Fulcher Carnotensis, 225.
Fulda, abbey of, 42, 61.
Gaeta, 57.
Galicia, Archbishop of, 55.
Garda, fortress of, 11.
Gargano, Monte, 45.
Gemignano, S., town, 195.
 patron saint of Modena, trans
lation of his remains from the old
to the new cathedral, and dedica
tion of his altar, 239-241, 251, 253.
'Geminiani, S., Translatio,' ref. to,
240, 241.
Geneva, 145.
Genoa, 224.
Genoese, 222.
Gerald of Ostia, 292.
Gerard of Burgundy. See Nicholas 1 1.
Gerardo di Baise, vassal of Matilda,
200.
Gerberon's collection of Anselm's
Works, ref. to, 235.
Gerbhard, Bishop of Eichstadt. See
Victor 11.
German bishops, 51, 54, 83, 87, 94,
115, 118, 129, 142, 151, 152, 290.
 princes, 20, 23, 115, 116, 143,
144, 150, 158, 160, 163, 166, 242.
Germans, 6, 20, 175, 196, 197, 201,
292.
Germany, 23, 32, 33, 35, 40, 42, 44,
52, 61, 67, 69, 72, 73, 74, 76, 84,
8S,87,94-97."3. IH, "8, 136,
138 143, 153, 162, 170, 171, 176,
178, 187, 193, 200, 201, 212, 220,
251, 257.
Gherardo, son of Bosone, vassal of
Matilda, 268.
Ghibelline, party of, 43.
Giesebrecht, German historian, ref.
to, 25, 29, 36, 42, 52, 54, 65-67,
69. 72, 74. 75. 84> 86, 89, 97, 114,
115, 117, 120, 143, 146, 166, 169,
212, 289.
Giorio, Cardinal, 280.
Giovanni da Fudea, 268.

308

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

Gisulf of Salerno, 25, 122, 123,221.
Godfrey, Bishop of Brescia, 15.
Godfrey the elder, Duke of Lorraine,
marriage with Beatrice of Tuscany,
32 ; sends messengers to Henry
III. to justify his action, 33; Henry
refuses to pardon him, 34, 67 ;
returns to Germany and stirs up
rebellion against the Emperor, 35 ;
becomes reconciled with the latter,
35, 36, 71 ; returns to Italy, 36, 37 ;
visited by Pope Victor 11., 71 ;
increase in his power and position,
72-74 ; rumour that he might have
been created King of Italy, 73, 74 ;
assists at the election of Nicholas
11., and journeys with him to Rome;
75, 81 ; retires from Rome, 85 ;
entertains Nicholas 11. in Florence,
86 ; levies troops to fight schis
matics, 91 ; appears before Rome
and separates contending factions,
90, 91; helps Alexander 11., 95;
escorts Pope to Mantua, 96 ;
opposes Normans, 99 ; his dis
affection, 101 ; meets Norman
forces andoffers them battle, 102; re
turns to Rome, 103 ; visits Lorraine,
105; account of his death, 105, 106;
character, 106, 107.
 other allusions to, 87, 95, 112,
"3. "5. I32, 133. 283, 284, 287.
Godfrey the Hunchback, son of the
above duke, and first husband of
Matilda, possibly affianced to
Matilda in 1053, 32 ; portrait
on a seal at Monte Cassino,
81 ; various accounts as to
date of his marriage, 104-112 ;
his presence in Italy in 1072, 73 ;
proved by various documents, 1 10 ;
causes ofdisagreementwithMatilda,
112, 113; his good qualities, 112;
probably attends Gregory's conse
cration at Rome, 113, 120 ; ad
dressed a congratulatory letter to
Gregory, 120, 121, 125 ; is made
General of the Church's forces,
121 ; and promises apparently to
return to Italy and fight for the
Church if the need arose, 125 ;
and in return Gregory would give
him lordship of Sardinia, when the
Papacy's claim to the island was

established, 125, 126: Godfrey
leaves Italy without arriving at any
permanent understanding with
Matilda, 125, 126 ; once out of Italy
the breach widens, 126-128 ; em
bittered by her refusal to accom
pany him, he fails in his promises
to the Pope, 126-128 ; assists
Henry in Saxony, 128 ; conclusion
of his quarrel with Abbot Dietrich,
I3I-I33 ! tries to effect a recon
ciliation with Matilda, 134; is
murdered at Antwerp, 1076, 137.
Godfrey the Hunchback, other allu
sions to, 105, 106, no, 112, 113,
129, 194, 282.
Godfrey of Bouillon, King of Jerusa
lem, son of Ida, sister of Godfrey
the hunchback, 105, no, 170,
224.
Godfrey, Milanese subdeacon, candi
date for the archbishopric of Milan,
118, 119.
Gonzaga, abbey of, 296.
 archives at Mantua, 295.
 Cardinal, 277.
Gozelo, Duke of Lower Lorraine, 33.
Gratian Cencius Franculini, 295.
' Greek phalanxes,' allusion to, 196.
Greeks, 59, 60, 61, 62, 170.
Gregorovius, German historian, ref.
to, 68, 175, 176, 189, 191, 223,
225, 228, 255, 256, 294, 296.
Gregory, deacon of the Roman
Church, 292.
Gregory vi. (John Gratian), 48; buys
the Papacy, 49 ; rules Rome well,
50 ; but is judged guilty of simony,
and abdicates, 50, 51 ; retires to
Germany, 52 ; death, 52.
Gregory, Bishop of Vercelli, 120,
150, 158, 292.
Gregory vn. (Hildebrand), 4,7, 15,
45 ; birth and education at Rome and
Cluny, 46, 47 ; is associated with
Gregory vi., 50; accompanies him
to Germany, 52 ; and at his death
returns to Cluny, 52 ; journeys to
Rome with Bruno of Toul, 53;
begins to help in the work of re
forming the Church, and makes
many friends in Rome, 53, 54, 55>
56, 86; friendship with Robert
Guiscard, 64, 65 ; admiration for

INDEX

309

Leo ix., 65, 66; embassy to Ger
man court, 66, 72, 73 ; work in
reforming the Church, 72, 83 ;
repudiates election of Benedict ix. ,
and assists in upholding Nicholas
II., 74, 75, 81 ; created Archdeacon
of the Roman Church, 75 ; possibly
journeyed to Sutri and Rome with
Tuscan princes, 82 ; his Jewish
friends assist the Church in her
economic difficulties, 54, 86 ; is
created Abbot of S. Paul's without
the walls, 86 ; by the help of his
Jewish friends is able to levy troops
for Alexander II., 91 ; appeals to
Godfrey for help against Normans,
102 ; by his policy strengthens the
position of the Papacy in many
countries, 118; is elected Pope,
1 19, 120 ; consecration ceremony,
113, 120; expresses his reluctance
to occupy the Holy See, 120 ; con
ciliatory attitude towards Henry,
121, 122 ; letters to Beatrice and
Matilda, 120, 122 ; tour in the
south of Italy, 122 ; allies himself
with the Longobardic princes and
arouses the suspicion of Robert
Guiscard, 122, 123 ; letter to the
young Duke Godfrey, 121, 122,
125; hopes to win over Godfrey to
Papal cause, 125, 126 ; his in
fluence over Matilda not en
tirely responsible for her rupture
with her husband, 126, 127 ; letter
of rebuke to Duke Godfrey, 127 ;
his project for an expedition against
the infidels, 127 ; letters to Matilda,
127, 128 ; to William of Pavia and
Heribert of Modena, 128, 129 ;
also -to Matilda and her mother,
begging for a safe conduct through
their territory for Azzo d'Este ;
holds an important synod in Rome,
1074, 129, 130; attempt on his
life, 134-136 ; pardons Cencius,
136; admonishes Henry iv. , and
threatens him with excommunica
tion, 140 ; false accusations made
against Gregory at the Worms
Council, 1076, 140; excommuni
cates Henry, 142; journeys through
Lombardy, 149, 150; but is obliged
to discontinue his journey to Augs

burg, and accepts Matilda's hospi
tality at Canossa, 150, 151-158;
receives Henry's friends, 154 ; con
sents at length to receive Henry,
but only after the King had done
penance, 155-157; receives him
again into the Church, 157. '5$;
imposes a further ordeal, 158, 159 >
letter, to German princes, 160-
162 ; admonishes Henry, 162 ;
meets him at Bianello, 163 ; is
saved from Henry's plot by Matilda,
163, 164; remains in Matilda's
territories all the summer, 164 ;
abandons the idea of visiting Ger
many and returns to Rome in the
autumn, 165 ; hesitates to excom
municate Henry once more, but
finally decides upon this step, and
sends Rudolf of Suabia an imperial
crown, 168 ; enters into an alliance
with Robert Guiscard, 169, 170;
writes to various ecclesiastics to
send help to Matilda, 170, 171 ;
sends Anselm of Lucca his ponti
fical mitre, 172; summons Guis
card to his help in Rome, 175 ; and
does not attempt to save the city
from sack and ruin, 176 ; Gregory's
last Lateran Council, at which
Henry is once more excommuni
cated, 177 ; leaves Romefor Salerno
under the escort of Robert Guis
card, 177, 179; his failing health
does not manifest itself in his
correspondence, 179; extract from
letter addressed to all the faithful,
179, 180; death (25th May 1085)
and summary of his career, 182 ;
his letter concerning the Crusade,
220, 221 ; text of his letter to the
German princes, 290, 291.
Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), other allu
sions to, 87, 96, 124, 132, 137,
138, 141, 145, 146, 149, 151, 166,
169, 174, 175. 178, 180, 181, 183,
185, 188, 190, 191, 193, 202, 205,
226, 227, 242, 247, 285-289, 294,
295-
Guaimar, Prince of Salerno, 62.
Guastalla, 151, 231.
 Councils of, 164, 251.
Gubbio, 50.
Guelf, party of, 43.

3io

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

Guelf iv. of Bavaria, son of Azzo
Adalberto of Este, 192, 200, 216-
218.
Guelf v. of Bavaria, second husband
of Matilda, 191- 193 ; marriage
with Matilda takes place (1089),
194 ; assists Matilda in reinforcing
Mantua, 195, 196 ; Henry negoti
ates for peace with Guelf and
Matilda, 201 ; Guelf probably pre
sent at the Council of Carpineta,
202 ; helps Adelaide to escape
from Verona, 213 ; together with
Matilda, enters into an alliance
with several Lombard towns, thus
forming the first ' Lombard League,'
213, 214 ; they are given the
guardianship of the Alpine passes,
214; attends the Council of Pia
cenza, 215 ; divorce, 216-218 ;
allusion to document signed by
him, 217 ; he and his family be
come reconciled with Henry IV.,
218-219; is leader of an embassy
to Pope Paschal in France sent by
Henry v., 252.
Guibert of Ravenna (Guibert Corre-
gese), 89, 90, 91, 96 ; is implicated
in the plots of Cadalous, 97-100;
flees from Rome, 100 ; receives
Hugues le Blanc at Ravenna, 136 ;
taunts Henry IV. on his want of
firmness, 153 ; it is proposed that
Guibert should be made Pope in
place of Gregory, 163 ; is declared
Pope at Council of Brixen, 1080,
168; his character, 168, 169;
marches to Rome with Henry,
171 ; crowns Henry and Bertha,
175; excommunicated by Gregory,
177 ; at Gregory's death remains
in undisputed possession of Rome
for a year, 186 ; but is driven out
of St. Peter's when Desiderius
becomes Pope, 186; entrenches
himself in the Pantheon, 188 ;
comes northwards to Montebello
to help Henry, 200 ; his cause in
Rome begins to grow hopeless,
214 ; is expelled from Rome by the
Crusaders, 225 ; Paschal II. deter
mines to put an end to his schism,
228; after making a stand at Albano,
Guibert flees to Sutri, and from

thence to Civita Castellana, where
he dies (noo), 228; miracles are
reported to be wrought at his grave,
and the Pope orders therefore that
his bones shall be thrown into the
Tiber, 228.
Guibert of Ravenna, other allusions
to, 140, 178, 184, 185, 201, 205,
208, 229, 237, 247.
Guiberti family, 10.
Guido of Arezzo, musician, 16.
Guido, Abbot of Pomposa, 20, 50.
Guido Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua,
277.
Guido Guerra the elder, a Tuscan
noble, and a friend of Matilda, 233,
234-
 Guerra the younger, adopted son
of Matilda,'; 233, 234 ; his descend
ants known as the Guidi di Rom-
agna, 234 ; allusion to document
signed by him, 234.
Guilberto, father of Richilda, wife of
Boniface, 28.
Guilla, wife of Tedaldo of Canossa,
3°-
Gunther of Bamberg, 93.

Hanno, Archbishop of Cologne, 92-
97, 116, 169.
Harzburg, castle of the, 124.
Henry II., Emperor, 20, 28, 39, 41,
44, 60.
Henry in., Emperor, 18; jealousy
and suspicions aroused against
Boniface of Tuscany, 23-25 ;
against Godfrey and Beatrice, 33,
67 ; refuses their conciliatory
messages, 34 ; imprisons Beatrice,
34 ; carries her off to Germany,
35 ; is reconciled to Godfrey and
frees Beatrice, 35 ; assists in the
work of reforming the Church, 45,
46, 50. Si. 54. 55. 56, 68, 69;
coronation at Rome, 52 ; expedi
tion to south of Italy, 60 ;
nominates Gerbhardt of Eich-
stadt to the Holy See, 66 ; his
confidence and trust in this Pope,
68, 69 ; his attitude towards this
Church is worthy of admiration,
69; death, 36, 69, 70, 71, 83,
87.

INDEX

3"

Henry in., other allusions to, 48,
73. 76, 87, 90, 114.
Henry iv., 36, 42, 44, 84, 94;
accession to the throne, 69, 70 ;
minority, 70-72 ; present at Council
of Bile, 89 ; is removed from his
mother's care by Hanno of Cologne,
93; his dissolute youth, 113, 114;
quarrels with his nobles about his
marriage, and tries to obtain a
divorce, 114, 115; yields to per
suasion and threats, decides to meet
the queen and try to overcome his
dislike to her, 115; she wins his
affection, 116; chooses low com
panions and bestows upon them
important offices of state, 116; at
first inclined to yield to authority
of Rome, 116, 117; but is advised
to resist and exercise the royal
prerogative as regards investitures,
118; insists therefore in appoint
ing his own nominee to arch
bishopric of Milan, 119; and retains
his evil advisers, who had been ex
communicated, 119; his tacit con
sent to Gregory's accession to the
Holy See, 120 ; his dealings with
his Saxon vassals, 123-125; appeals
to his nobles, and addresses a peni
tent letter to the Pope, 124 ; begs
Beatrice and Matilda to act as his
mediators with the Pope, 133, 134;
his affection for Beatrice, 138 ; after
mastering the Saxons he tries to
defy Gregory and sends him an
insolent letter, 139-142 ; is excom
municated, 142 ; is judged by the
princes at Tribur, 143, 144 ; writes
an abject letter to Pope Gregory,
144 ; entreats the Pope to see him
in Rome, and Matilda and Hugo
to plead for him, 144, 145 ; upon
the Pope's refusal, resolves to jour
ney to Rome, 14S; leaves Spires,
arrives at Besancon, and then visits
Adelaide of Susa, 145, 146 ; his
journey across the Alps, 146-148 ;
arrival in Italy and journey to
Canossa, 150, 153; halts at Bia
nello and holds there an intimate
council, 153 ; implores Matilda to
plead once more with the Pope for
him, 154; arrives at Canossa, and

does penance outside the Citadel
for three days, 1 56, 157; is then
received and pardoned by the Pope,
'57. XS8; refuses, however, to
receive the host, 158, 159; is ad
monished by Gregory, and then
departs from Canossa, 162 ; ill re
ceived in Reggio, 163; plots against
Gregory, 163, 164 ; Henry's cruelty
and treachery, 166, 167 ; is once
more excommunicated, 168; holds
a council at Brixen, where Guibert
is elected Pope, 168 ; Henry's ad
herents increase, 170 ; attempts to
draw away Guiscard from the Papal
party, 171 ; marches through Tus
cany and on to Rome, 171 ; returns
to Tuscany and marches to Lucca,
172 ; harries Matilda's lands, 173 ;
is crowned Emperor by Guibert,
1084, 175; upon hearing of Guis
card's march upon Rome, Henry
abandons the city, 176 ; is again
excommunicated, 177 ; at the news
of Matilda's second marriage he
despoils Matilda of her northern
possessions, and then besieges
Mantua, 194, 195 ; Mantua opens
its gates to him (1091), 196;
ravages Matilda's lands, 198 ;
crosses the Adige and lays waste
the territories of the Marquis Azzo,
199 ; destroys Matilda's small army
at the Contadi, 199, 200 ; besieges
Montebello, 200 ; after the arrival
of Guibert, attempts to negotiate
with Matilda, 200, 201 ; offers to
restore to her all her lands if she
will acknowledge Guibert as Pope,
and contrives that those overtures
shall be made public, 201 ; is
forced to abandon the siege of
Montebello, 209 ; marches upon
Canossa, 209-211; is routed and
forced to flee, 21 1 ; quarrels with
his second wife, 212 ; and with his
son Conrad, 212; is appealed to
by Duke Guelf the elder for help
against Matilda, 218; attacks
Nogara, but is defeated, and leaves
Italy, never to return, 219 ; his
affection for his younger son Henry,
219, 243; causes him to be crowned
and nominated his successor, 219 ;

312

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

last years of his life are wretched
owing to the treachery of his son
Henry and the intrigues of his
nobles, 242, 243 ; his letter to the
King of France, 243-248 ; makes
an effort to reassert his authority,
249; death at Liege (1106), 249;
summary of his character and of
his career, 249, 250 ; joy in Italy
at the news of his death, 250, 251 ;
it is long before his body is given
Christian burial, but at length it is
allowed by the Pope to be interred
at Spires, 249.
Henry iv., text of his oath at Can
ossa, 292.
 other allusions to, 92, 97, 120,
121, 123, 125, 130, 137, 143, 151,
154, 160-162, 178, 184, 191, 192,
202-207, 2I3. 214, 220, 221, 286-
289, 290, 291.
Henry v., 31, 44; is crowned at
Aachen and declared successor to
Henry iv., 219; swears that he
will not usurp the kingdom so long
as his father lives, 219 ; his treachery
and cruelty to his father, 243-249 ;
demands from the Pope that his
father shall be buried at Spires,
249 ; sends envoys to the Pope,
asking that his election to the
German throne should be con
firmed, 251 ; and with assurances
that he wishes to submit himself in
all things to the Church, 251 ;
some months later, however, he
shows that he will not be so com
plaisant, 251, 252 ; sends ambassa
dors to the Pope to ask for the
imperial crown, 254 ; arrives in
Italy and attacks several towns,
reducing some to ashes, 254 ; sends
envoys to Matilda, 255 ; arrives in
Rome, 255 ; disagrees with the
Pope over the question of the
investitures, and carries the Pope
and many cardinals away as pris
oners, 256 ; insists on the corona
tion, which takes place in S. Peter's,
but with little ceremonial, 256, 257;
visits Matilda at Bianello on his
way back, 257 ; nominates her his
Vice Regina in Liguria, and mar
vels greatly at her learning and

wisdom, 257 ; after Matilda's death
Henry v. comes down into Italy,
and peacefully takes possession of
Canossa and other territories be
longing to the great Countess, as
well as some of her cities, 295;
makes a donation of certain lands
to the monastery of Gonzaga for
the peace of her soul, 296.
Henry v., other allusions to, 265.
Henry of Augsburg, 92.
Heribert, Bishop of Modena, 129.
Heribert, Bishop of Reggio, 202-207.
Hermann of Suabia, 1 14.
Hermannus Contractus, 26.
Hersfeld, monastery of, 124.
Hildebrand. See Gregory vn.
Hildegarde, wife of Atto of Canossa,
29.
Hippolytus and Phaedra, their story
carved on the tomb of Beatrice,
138.
Hirsau, Abbot of, 171.
Holder-Egger, German writer, ref.
to, 286.
Honorius n. See Cadalous.
Hubert, St., abbey of, 132, 133.
 Chronicle of, ref. to, 105, 107,
"3-
Hubert of Tascia, 295.
Hugo of Flavigny, Chronicle of, ref.
to, 178.
Hugo, Archbishop of Lyons, 186.
Hugo, son of Robert of France, 20.
Hugo, Abbot of Cluny, 120, 143, 150,
153. IS5. 158, 161, 286-288, 291,
293-
Hugues le Blanc, Cardinal, 119, 134-
136, 140.
Hugues de Vermandois, brother of
King Philip of France, 224.
Humbert, Bishop of Praeneste, 292.
Humbert, Subdeacon of the Roman
Church, 292.
Humphrey, brother of Robert Guis
card, 63.
Hungary, 118.
Huns, 201.

Ida, daughter of Godfrey of Lorraine,
wife of Eustace of Boulogne, 105.
Imola, 169.
Inferno, 2.

INDEX

313

Ippolito, Abbot of S. Benedetto Poli
rone, 279, 280.
Irnerius (Werinherius), Abbot of S.
Zeno, Verona, 283, 284.
Irnerius (Guarnerius Werner), scholar,
employed by Matilda to collect and
rearrange the code of Justinian,
229, 230.
Italian, Italians, 221, 285.
Italian bishops, 74, 103, 168.
Italy, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 15, 17, 23, 28, 33,
36, 38, 43, 44, 49, 52, 56, 57, 59,
63, 65, 67, 68, 71, 72, 73, 74, 83,
84, 89, 94, 95, 97, 103, 105, 107,
no, in, 112, 113, 115, 118, 122,
125, 126, 129, 137, 138, 139, 144,
145, 150. 161, 163, 169, 171, 172,
173. 179. 183, 184, 190, 191, 193,
I95> !99. 202, 204, 208, 212, 213,
214, 215, 216, 219, 221, 222, 225,
226, 228, 229, 231, 250, 251, 252,
254, 257, 273, 281, 290.
Jacopo da Voragine, Chronicle,
ref. to, no.
Jacopo, Bishop of Fiesole, 21.
Jacopo della Lana, I.
James, S., Matilda builds a chapel
dedicated to, 272.
Jean Batiste, abbey of, at Florennes,
104.
Jerusalem, 223, 224, 225 ; conquest
by Crusaders (1099), 225.
Jews, 180.
John xn., Pope, 13, 15, 38, 39.
John xix., Pope, 21, 45.
John, Abbot of Canossa, 205-207,
210.
John Gratian. See Gregory vi.
John Gualberto, Abbot of VaJlom
brosa, 50, 74.
Justinian, 229 ; code of, 229, 230.
Kaiserswerth, 93.
Lambert of Hersfeld, German
chronicler, ref. to, 34, 143, 145,
146, 154, 155, 158, 285-290.
Land, Holy, 222.
Landulf, Prince of Beneventum, 61,
122, 123.
Landulf, a Milanese cleric, 88.
Lanfranc of Bee, 87.

Lanfranc Romengardi, architect of
Modena Cathedral, 239, 240, 241.
Lanziani, Italian historian, 48.
Larione, 16.
Larousse, biographical dictionary of,
ref. to, 294.
Lateran Councils, 45, 84, 141, 179.
 Church, 119.
 Palace, 100, 136, 175, 176, 214;
Chapel of Sta. Croce in, 294, 295.
Laurence of Liege, writer, ref. to,
112.
Laurence, S., 283, 284.
Lausanne, Bishop of, 151-
Lenten Synods, 117, 119, 130, 134,
140.
Leo Ostensis, monk of Monte Cas
sino, historian, ref. to, 68, 74, 294.
Leo in., Pope, 38, 42,
Leo iv., Pope, 99.
Leo, son of Benedict, a converted
Jew, 53, 91.
Leo ix., Pope (Bruno of Toul), 32,
33 ; Henry in. wishes him to be
come Pope, 52 ; his hesitation^ 52,
53 ; overcomes his scruples and is
elected by Romans, 53 ; is much
aided by Hildebrand, 53, 54 ; pro
ceeds with the work of Church
reform, 55, 56 ; expedition against
the Normans, 60-62 ; captivity at
Beneventum, 63 ; death, 65.
Leonine quarter of Rome, 95, 99, 174.
Lethe, I, 139.
Liege, 2, 248, 249.
— — Bishop of, 133, 249.
Liemar, Archbishop of Bremen, 151,
158, 292.
Liguria, 203, 257, 294, 295.
Litta, Italian writer, ref. to, 234.
Livorno, 231.
Lodi, 88, 214.
Lodovico da Governolo, vassal of
Matilda, 268.
Lombard bishops, 87, 88, 89, 119,
141, 142, 150, 162, 170.
Lombard League, first, 213, 214.
Lombard plains, 151.
Lombards, 213.
Lombardy, 14, 41, 87, 88, 89, 90,
91, 108, 117, 119, 140, 149, 150,
160, 169, 170, 172, 179, 183, 184,
186, 191, 203, 214, 233, 236, 258,
290, 294.

3H

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

Longobard, 5 ; principalities, 58,
59-
Longobards, 57, 59.
Lorenzo dei Monaci, chronicler, ref.
to, no.
Lorraine, 105, no, 112, 113, 126,
143. i7z, 187.
Lothaire, 11.
Lucca, 21, 31, 72, 80, 81, 87, 92, 96,
149, 167, 168, 172, 184, 187, 188,
191, 195, 224, 253.
Lucchese, 191, 224.
Lucchese soldiers, 277.
Luchino da Mantova, writer, 20, 32,
1 39-.
Ludovico of Moncons, husband of
Sophie of Lorraine, 198.
Ludovico Andreasi, 279, 280.
Luna, 132.
Luxembourg, 104.

' Madonna delle Battaglie, '211.
Maffei, Italian writer, ref. to, 279.
Magnus, Duke of Saxony, 124.
Mainz, 55, 244, 246.
 Bishop of, 245.
Manfred, Bishop of Mantua, 260,261,
265, 271.
Mantua, 17, 23, 26, 27, 29, 31, 33,
34, 81, 108, 150, 151, 184, 195-
197, 198, 203, 233, 259-265, 270,
275. 277, 278-280, 295.
 S. Andrea at, 233.
 Council at, 95-97.
 Cathedral at, 8, 25, 26, 32, 80,
96, 184.
Mantuan country, 262.
Mantuans, 260-265, 275, 278-280.
Maragnolo, vassal of Matilda, 268.
Marches of Lombardy, 10.
Marengo, 29, 126.
Maria, Sta. , sull' Aventino, 47.
Maria, Sta., Maggiore, 135, 136.
Mario Equicola, historian, ref. to, 32,
128, 217.
Martin, a priest, n, 12.
Martin, St. , Church of, at Lucca, 109.
Massa Finalese, 252, 253.
« Matilda,' 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
15, 29 ; birth of, probably in Lucca
or at Castle of Porcari, 31 ;
affianced to Godfrey, probably in
1053, 32 ; at the death of her

brother is left sole heiress to her
father's estates, 35 ; probably
spends the time of her mother's
captivity in Lucca and Canossa,
35; minority, 35, 36, 37; first
journey to Rome, probably 1059,
75 ; resume^ of her early years,
76 ; description of her character,
education, and accomplishments,
76-79; her appearance, and the por
traits of her still extant, 79-81 ;
her early journeys, 81, 82; accom
panies her mother at the head of
her troops, and gives battle to the
schismatics in Lombardy, 90, 91 ;
preparations for Council at Mantua,
96, 97 ; in Rome after the rout of
Cadalous, 100 ; accepts Anselm as
her spiritual director, according to
the Pope's desire, 101 ; takes the
field in company with her step
father against the Normans, 102;
returns to Rome in triumph, 103 ;
account of her first marriage with
Godfrey of Lorraine, and differ
ences of opinion concerning it, 104-
m; is present at her stepfather's
death, 106 ; legends about her
marriage, 108 ; possibility of a son
and legends about him, 109-ni;
causes of disagreement with God
frey, 112, 113 ; visits to Lorraine,
106, 108, 112, 113; when Godfrey
returns to Lorraine, she refuses to
leave Italy, but probably accom
panies him north of Verona, 126 ;
political circumstances and religious
differences may have caused this
rupture, 126, 127 ; not entirely
owing to Gregory's influence, 127 ;
meagreness of information to hand
concerning this period, 128 ; con
fusion between Matilda of Tuscany
and Matilda, sister of the Bishop of
Pavia, 128, 129 ; attends the synod
in Rome (1074), 129 ; a fresh cause
of disagreement between Matilda
and Godfrey, 131- 133 ; she hesitates
to accept his advances, 134 ; pleads
for the life of Cencius, 134 ; after
the plot of Cencius, she refuses to
have any further relations with
Godfrey, 137 ; but after his death
she asks Gregory to pray for the

INDEX

315

peace of his soul, 137; Matilda's
unique position, 138, 139; her
suitors, 139; supposed presence at
Council of Tribur, 143 ; escorts
Gregory through Lombardy, 149,
150; persuades him to return with
her to Canossa, upon discovering
that Henry is in Italy, 150; enter
tains the Pope and various princes,
151-158, 162 ; holds a council with
Henry and others at Bianello, 153 ;
intercedes with the Pope for him,
153-156 ; is the means of saving the
Pope from Henry's treacherous
plot, 163, 164 ; entertains him
throughout the summer at her
various strongholds, 164 ; probably
accompanies him to Florence, 165 ;
Domnizo's account of the Roman
people's enthusiasm for Matilda,
165 ; suggests her cousin Theodoric
as a mediator between the Pope
and Henry, 167 ; has troubles with
her vassals at Lucca, 167, 168 ; and
elsewhere, 169 ; defeat of her army
at Volta, 170 ; many of her vassals
revolt against her, but she manages
still to uphold the Papal cause,
170, 171 ; sends news to Gregory
of the proposed marriage of Guis
card's daughter and Henry's son,
171 ; is placed under the ban of the
empire and her lands confiscate,
172 ; is forced to melt down the
' treasure ' of Canossa to send help
to Gregory, 173 ; Tuscany almost
lost to her, yet she continues stead
fast, 174 ; endeavours to reassure
the Papal party in Germany, 178 ;
her letter to the faithful in Ger
many, 178 ; her victory at Sorbara,
180, 181 ; evil rumours concerning
her, 184 ; approves of Desiderius's
election to the Holy See, 186 ; is
sought in marriage by Robert of
Normandy, 187 ; refuses his suit,
187, 188; remains good friends
with him, however, 188; receives
bad news from Rome and hastens
thither, 188; confers with Pope
Victor and attempts to drive out
the schismatics, 188, 189 ; has
trouble again with the Lucchese,
191 ; negotiations for her marriage

with Guelf of Bavaria, 191-193 ;
political reasons and obedience to
the Roman Church force Matilda
to consent, 193, 194; marriage
takes place (1089), 194; Henry
despoils her of her lands north of
the Alps, 194 ; tries to render help
to the Mantuans during the siege of
their city, 195, 196 ; remains all the
summer in the Modenese and Reg
gian districts, 198, 199 ; attempts
to cut off Henry, who is warned in
time, however, and Matilda's force
is routed, 199 ; helps the besieged
at the Castle of Montebello, is ap
proached by Henry with a view to
a peaceful settlement of their dis
pute, summons a council of her
nobles which is held at Carpineta,
201-208 ; it is decided not to make
peace, 207, 208; and Matilda re
turns to the help of Carpineta, 209 ;
descends with half her forces from
Canossa to Bianello to collect
forces, and possibly to try and in
tercept Henry's march on Canossa,
210 ; her victory over Henry, 211 ;
partly through her instrumentality,
Conrad is proclaimed King of Italy,
213; receives Adelaide at Canossa,
213 ; together with Guelf, enters
into an alliance with several Lom
bard cities, 213, 214; they are
given the guardianship of the Al
pine passes, 214; welcomes Pope
Urban II. in Lombardy, 214 ; at
tends the Council of Piacenza, 215;
is divorced from Guelf, 216 ; pos
sible reasons for this step, 216-218 ;
her men defeat Henry at Nogara,
219; Matilda's part in promoting
the first Crusade, 220, 221, 223,
224, 226 ; Paschal 11. sends her
cordial letters, 227 ; she helps him
to put an end to Guibert's schism,
228 ; passes some peaceful years,
229 ; the founding of the school of
jurisprudence at Bologna, mainly
through her instrumentality, 229,
230; makes donations to various
abbeys and monasteries, 229 ; her
functions as feudal ruler, 230 ; en
larges and beautifies Canossa and
its church, 230, 231 ; gives sub-

3i6

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

stantial help towards the building
of many cathedrals, 231 ; bestows
lands on the See of Pisa, 231 ; and
on many monasteries and towns,
231, 232; the story of the spurs,
232 ; her friendship with Cardinal
Bernard, 233 ; together they visit
Panciano, and Matilda makes resti
tution to the abbey of Nonantula
for the treasury devoted to the
wars, 234, 235 ; receives Anselm
of Canterbury and warmly espouses
his cause, 235, 236 ; her letter to
Pope Paschal, 235, 293 ; her quarrel
with Conrad and its ending, 236 ;
quells the rebellions in Ferrara and
Parma, 236-239 ; her visit to
Modena, for the translation of the
remains of S. Gemignano, 239-241 ;
MS. at Modena containing a por
trait of her, 241 ; Matilda's gift in
honour of the occasion, 241 ; sor
rows yet rejoices at the news of
Henry's death, 250, 251 ; enter
tains Pope Paschal at Guastalla,
251 ; meets the Pope in Tuscany
on his return from France and
accompanies him to Rome, 252 ;
releases the men of Massa Finalese
from the burden of 'albergaria,'
253 ; tries to put a. stop to the
quarrels of the towns in Tuscany,
253 ; probable reasons for her not
supporting Pope Paschal against
Henry v., 253-254, 266; proceeds
to fortify her castles and towns
against Henry, but maintains a
neutral attitude, 254, 255 ; is visited
by Henry's envoys and many of his
nobles at Bianello, 255 ; requests
the liberation of two of her bishops
whom Henry had imprisoned, 256 ;
entertains Henry for three days at
Bianello, and is nominated his
Vice Regina in Liguria, 257 ; her
last years spent in Tuscany and
Lombardy, 258 ; visits the baths
of Pisa and restores them (1112),
258 ; pays many visits to S. Bene
detto Polirone, 259, 260 ; her fail
ing health, 259, 260 ; is taken
alarmingly ill (n 14), 260; rallies
and is told of Mantua's revolt, 261;
descends to Bondeno, and prepares

to assault Mantua, 262 ; Mantuans
relent and send a deputation to beg
for mercy, 263 ; Matilda at first
refuses to receive it, but eventually
listens to the leader's speech, and
is induced to pardon the Mantuans,
264, 265 ; reasons for Matilda's
energy and warlike vigour in spite
of her years and failing health, 265,
266 ; her last donation to S. Bene
detto, 267-270 ; last visit to the
abbey, 270 ; her final gifts to
various churches and abbeys, 271,
272 ; last days, 270-273 ; last words,
273 ; death, 273 ; Domnizo's
lament, 273 ; summary of her life
and deeds, 274 ; burial at S. Bene
detto, 274 ; description of burial-
place and the changes made there,
275-278 ; Pope Urban VIII. has
her body removed and conveyed to
St. Peter's, and erects a monu
ment to her memory, 278-280;
valediction, 281.
' Matilda,' other allusions to, 99, 106,
108, 113, 123, 125, 138, 142, 145,
146, 161, 175, 179, 183, 197, 282,
283, 286, 287, 288, 291 ; text of
her letter to Pope Paschal II., 293 ;
her donation to the Church, 193,
218, 233, 294-295.
Matilda, Empress, daughter of Theo
doric of Saxony, 31.
Matilda, mother of Beatrice of Tus
cany, 34.
Matilda, sister of William of Pavia,
129.
Maurienne, 114.
' Meadows of Nero,' outside Rome,
91, 99. I7I-
Medici, 17.
Melfi, 85.
Mellini, Italian biographer of
Matilda, ref. to, 28, 80, 108, 112,
128.
Metz, Bishop of, 132, 167.
Meyer von Knonau, German historian,
ref. to, 135.
Middle Ages, 7, 17, 109, 157, 185,
195-
Milan, 14, 87, 88, 118-120, 140, 213,
214, 254.
 Church of S. Ambrogio at, 213.
Milman, Dean, 31, 140.

INDEX

317

Mincio, river, 262.
Minervia, or Manerbia, 198.
Miroalto, Castle of (Morat), 18.
Modena, 14, 22, 26, 27, 31, 81, 151,
164, 184, 224, 239-241, 252.
Modenese, 219, 240.
 mountains, 260.
 soldiery, 224.
Mont Cenis, 146.
Monte Alfredo, or Monte San Gemi
gnano, 200.
Monte Baranzone, 260.
Montebello, also called Monteveglio,
in the Bolognese district, 200, 201,
203, 207, 209.
Monte Cassino, abbey of, 67, 68, 71,
72, 73, 81, 103, 188.
Monte Giumigna, 210.
Monte Lintregnano, 210.
Montelucio, 77.
Monte Morello, or Monte Sant' An
tonio, 200.
Monteveglio, 77.
Montezane, 77, 155, 284, 285, 288.
Monumenta Bambergensia, ref. to,
142.
Monza, 213.
Mosay, 143.
Muratori, Italian historian, ref. to,
8, 13, 17, 21, 22, 28, 35, 43, 44,
97, in, 129, 137, 139, 218, 229,
251, 276, 277, 282.
Mussulmans, 57.
Naples, 41, 57, 68.
Nepi, 178.
Nicholas 11., Pope (Gerard of Bur
gundy), 4, 75, 82, 83, 85, 86 ; im
portant decree at Lateran Council,
1059, 84 ; deals with Lombard
bishops and with archbishop of
Milan, 88 ; death, 89.
Nicholas, chapel of St., 155, 284-288.
Nogara, castle belonging to Matilda,
29. 198, 219, 254.
Nonantula, abbey of (San Silvestro),
28, 164, 174, 234, 235, 252.
Norman, 5.
Normandy, 187.
Normans fight for the Salernitans and
are rewarded, 58, 59 ; their rise to
power in Southern Italy, 59-65 ;
pilgrimages to Monte Cassino, 68 ;
they inspire great hatred in Italy,

60 ; especially in Frederick of Lor
raine, 61, 72, 73, 74; first alliance
with Papacy, 84, 85, 86, 90 ; pro
tect Alexander n. at his enthrone
ment, 89 ; their aggressions, 98 ;
are opposed near Rome by Duke
Godfrey, 99 ; overrun Campagna
and are defeated at Aquino, 102 ;
assemble at Monte Cassino with
their chiefs for consecration of the
new church, 103 ; their sack of
Rome, 176; they help to install
Pope Victor in. in Rome, 186, and
later give help to Urban II., 190.
Normans, other allusions to, 96, 99,
108, 118, 144.
Novara, 88, 119.
Nozzano, Castle of, 80.
Oberto, Marquis, 180; his son over
whelmed at Canossa, 211.
Odoaldo, a man of law, 268, 269.
Odo of Bayeux, 190.
Odo of Champagne, 18.
Oglio, river, 26.
Opizone, vassal of Matilda, 268.
Orbitello, 47.
Orval, 282.
 legend of, no, 282.
Osnabriick, Bishop of, 151, 158, 292.
Ostia, bishopric of, 86.
Ostrogoths, 100.
Ottali, Giacomo, writer, 17.
L'Ottimo, a writer on Dante, I.
Otto 1. the Great, 13, 14, 28, 38, 39,
41, 189.
Otto, Bishop of Ostia. See Urban 11.
Otto, Count of Savoy, father of Queen
Bertha, 114.
Overman, German writer, ref. to, 32,
103, 104, 107, 109, no, 113, 164,
171, 172, 217, 231, 233, 235, 289.
Palamede Beccaria, 224.
Palatine Hill, 175.
Palestine, 220.
Pallas Athene, 77, 79.
Panciano, near Nonantula, 234.
Pandolf Pisano, chronicler, ref. to,
256.
Pandulf of Beneventum, 61.
Pannenborg, German writer, ref. to,
107, 108, 294.

3i8

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

Pantheon in Rome, 135, 188.
Parma, 10, 22, 27, 92, 126, 141, 151,
209, 224, 236-239, 251.
 Bishop of, 181, 183.
Parmesans, 236-239.
Papacy, 7, 28, 37, 39, 45, 50, 56, 60,
68, 69, 71, 72, 76, 84, 90, 98, 103,
117-120, 122, 125, 129, 190, 193,
204, 234.
Papiano, 23 1.
Paradise, 205.
Paschal n., Rainerius, 164; elected
Pope, 227 ; character, 227 ; letters
to Matilda, 227 ; determines to put
an end to Guibert's schism, 228 ;
commands Guibert's bones shall be
thrown into the Tiber, 228 ; is uni
versally acknowledged as supreme
head of the Church, 229 ; is en
treated by Matilda to adjust Anselm
of Canterbury's quarrel with the
English king, 235 ; visits Parma to
dedicate the new cathedral and
appoints Cardinal Bernard to the
See of Parma, 239 ; visits Modena
also, to dedicate the cathedral there,
240, 251 ; receives the envoys of
Henry v. at Guastalla, and sends
them back to Germany with cordial
messagesto the young king,25l ;and
decides to visit Germany, 251 ; but
at Verona he hears news that makes
him turn aside into France, 251,
252 ; appeals for help to King
Philip, 252 ; his reply to King
Henry's envoys, 252 ; Henry de
mands the imperial crown, and
Paschal agrees to give it him pro
vided the question of the investi
tures is conceded to the Church,
254 ; upon the King's arrival
Paschal attempts a compromise,
since the King refuses to yield,
255 ; is carried away prisoner by
Henry and confined in the Castle of
Tribuccio, 256 ; yields at length to
some of the Emperor's demands
and consents to crown him, 256,
257 ; coronation causes much indig
nation amongst the Romans, 257.
 other allusions to, 251, 265.
Passau, Bishop of, 171.
Pataria, 88, 90.
Patarines, 88,90, 118.

Pavia, 13, 22, 54, 55, 87.
Perugia, 149.
Pepin, King of France, 38.
Peter, St., 42, 47, 85, 86, 97, 102,
119, 120, 127, 161, 179, 180, 181,
214, 229, 290, 294.
Peter, St., Banner of, 224.
Peter, St., Chair of (See of St. Peter),
142, 168.
Peter, St. , Church of, in the Ardennes,
106.
Peter's, St., in Rome, 99, 134, 175,
225, 255, 256, 278, 279, 280; crypt
of, 294.
Peter, daughter of, (Matilda), 191,
205, 226, 280.
Peter Damian, 4, 42, 50, 72, 86, 87,
88, 95, 96, 101, 115, 116.
Peter, Cardinal, 292.
Petronio, Marquis, 167.
Philip 1. of France, 130, 243 ; letter
from Henry iv. to Philip, 243-248,
252.
Piacenza, 23, 118, 141, 214, 255.
 Council of, 215, 216, 222, 223.
Piadena, or Platina, 198.
Piceno, 27.
Piedmont, 148, 150, 212.
Pierleone, 175, 189.
Pietra Bismantova, 2.
Pietro Alighieri, 1.
Pietro di Opizone da Burbasio, vassal
of Matilda, 268.
Pietrus Diaconus, ref. to, 294.
Pigna, historian, ref. to, 97.
Pisa, 27, 81, 107, in, 113, 132, 164,
216, 224, 253, 258, 277.
Pisan soldiery, 277,
Pisans, 222.
Pistoia, 27, 184, 234.
Platina, historian, ref. to, 92.
Po, 16, 114, 147, 163, 211, 262,
263.
Poland, 118.
Poles, 124.
Poli, Cardinal, 280.
Ponte Molle, 100, 101.
Pontius, Abbot of Cluny, 270, 271.
Porto, Bishop of, 178.
Pozzo, Dal, Italian biographer of
Matilda, ref. to, 3, 29, 30, 81, 91,
in, 112, 129.
Prato, 253.
Praxedis. See Adelaide.

INDEX

319

Prospero, San, church and abbey of,
at Reggio, 113.
' Pseudo Boccaccio,' a writer on
Dante, 1.
Ptolemy of Lucca, ref. to, 97.

Quattro Castelli— Quattro Cas-
tella, 77, 211.

Raimondo pi Baise, vassal of Ma
tilda, 202.
Rainerio, vassal of Matilda, 268.
Rainerius, Bishop of Lucca, 235,
236.
Rainerius of Tuscany, 21.
Rainerius, cardinal - priest of San
Clemente. See Paschal n.
Rapoto of Cham, royal envoy, Iig.
Rashdall, ref. to, 229, 230.
Ravenna, 39, 41, 136, 169, 171, 228,
229, 236.
Raynald, Bishop of Como, 123.
Regensburg, 71.
Reggian Apennines, 2, 164, 201,
288.
Reggio nell' Emilia, 3, 14, 22, 27, 77,
81, 113, 151, 162, 163, 184, 224.
 Bishop of, 181, 183.
Reginhero, Marquis, 184.
Registrum Gregorii vn., ref. to, 122,
127, 158, 164, 167, 171, 179, 221,
290, 292.
Registrum Pontificum Romanorum,
ref. to, 150.
Rena, historian, 21, 28, 32, 101.
Repetti, Italian writer, ref. to, 104,
234-
Rheims, 55.
Rhine, 143, 147.
Rhone, 145, 146.
Riccobaldo, Ferrarese, thirteenth-
century writer, 32, 108, no.
Richard of Aversa ( Richard of Capua) ,
63, 85, 91. 98, 100, 103, 123.
Richard Uspergensis, ref. to, 230.
Richer of Metz, no, in.
Richilda, first wife of Boniface of
Tuscany, 28, 198.
Richter, German writer, ref. to, 39.
Riniero Rangone, 224.
Ripalta, castle near Mantua, 260,
261, 264.

Robert Guiscard, son of Tancred de
Hauteville, arrival in Italy, 63, 64 ;
description of, 64 ; friendship with
Gregory vn., 64, 65 ; swears fealty
to the Papacy, 85, and is invested
with Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily,
85 ; is suspicious of Gregory's atti
tude towards the Longobardic
princes, and refuses therefore to
meet the Pope at Beneventum, 122 ;
excommunicated for invading the
Papal territories, 130 ; receives
absolution and allies himself again
with the Pope, 169 ; his help unre
liable, 170 ; a marriage is proposed
between Guiscard's daughter and
Conrad, Henry's son, but does not
take place, 17 1 ; Guiscard marches
to Rome, 175, 176; allows his
troops to sack the city, but is
eventually prevailed upon to re
strain them, 176 ; leaves Rome for
Salemo together with the Pope and
some cardinals, 177, 179; his con
siderate treatment of the Pope at
Salerno, 1 79 ; his death during his
Eastern campaign, 186.
 other allusions to, 216.
Robert of Flanders, 224.
Robert of France, 20.
Robert of Normandy, son of William
the Conqueror, 139, 187, 188, 191,
224.
Rodolf, son of Azzo of Canossa, 15.
Roger of Sicily, son of Robert Guis
card, 186, 216 ; his daughter
married to Conrad, son of Henry
iv., 215, 216; helps Paschal II. to
put an end to Guibert's schism,
228.
Roland, a cleric of Parma, 141.
Rolando Massario, vassal of Matilda,
268.
Roman law, 229, 230.
Romans, 38, 48, 51, 66, 72, 75, 85,
100, 119, 176, 257.
Rome, 4, 38, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 48,
49, 5°, Si, 52, S3. 54. 55.' 56, 62,
66, 68, 71, 72, 75, 76, 81, 82, 86,
87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99,
100, 102, 103, 114, 116, 117, 120,
122, 123, 133, 134, I3S, '36. 137.
140, 141, 143, 144. 152, 165, 168,
169, 171, 172, 174, I7S, 176, 177,

320

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

'79, 185, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191,
195, 214, 225, 226, 235, 248, 250,
251, 252, 254-256, 265, 279.
Romnald of Camaldoli, 50.
Roncaglia, 255.
Ronco Cavelo, 283, 284.
Ronco Hostiliensis, 283, 284.
Rossena, Castle of, 80.
Rovaco, 47.
Rudolf of Burgundy, 45.
Rudolf of Suabia, 123, 124, 129, 143,
146, 165, 166, 167, 168, 170.
Rudolf, son of Boniface of Tuscany,
mentioned by Riccobaldo, 32.
Rudolfus Glaber, monk and chron
icler, 54.
Rusticus, nephew of Gregory vn.,
175-

Sabine territory, 41.
Salerno, 5, 58, 60, 175, 179.
 princes of, 186.
Saracenic invasion of Italy, 58.
 mercenaries, 176.
Saracens, 59, 222.
Sardi, Italian historian, ref. to, 81.
Sardinia, island of, 125.
Sasso da Bibianello, vassal of Matilda,
268.
Sassuola, 260.
Savioli, historian, ref. to, 260.
Savoy, 114, 212.
Saxon chiefs, 143, 192.
Saxons, 123, 124, 125, 139.
Saxony, 123, 143, 192.
Scandinavia, 118.
'Seal of the Fisherman,' 177.
Semois, no.
Sepulchre, Holy, 220, 225.
Sicily, 41, 57, 59, 85, 86, 118, 216.
Siegfried, ancestor of Matilda, 10,
31, 192.
Siegfried, Archbishop of Mainz, 42,
93, US-
Siena, 164, 195.
Sigifredo. See Siegfried.
Sigonius, Italian historian, ref. to,
21, 28, 92.
Simeone, S., Armenian hermit, 259 ;
cloister dedicated to him at S.
Benedetto Polirone, 259 ; chapel
of, 276.
Sismondi, Italian historian, 48.

Soana, 39, 47.
Solamine, 296.
Sophie, sister of Beatrice of Tuscany,
29.
Sora, 39.
Sorbara, 180, 181, 184, 211.
Spineta, 26.
Spires, 144, 145, 249.
Spoleto, 27, 58, 68, 73, 140.
Stenay, 143.
Stephen II., Pope, 38.
Stephen IX. (Frederick of Lorraine), 54,
61, 63 ; embassy to Constantinople,
67 ; excites suspicions of Henry in.
and takes refuge under the habit of
a monk at Monte Cassino, 67, 68 ;
then at Tremiti, 68 ; is created
Cardinal by Victor 11., 71 ; elected
Pope, 72 ; prepares a campaign
against Normans, 73 ; journeys to
Tuscany, 74 ; death at Vallom-
brosa, 74.
 other allusions to, 76.
Stephen of Blois, 224.
Stephens, W. R. W, on Gregory
vn., ref. to, 48, 286.
Strassburg, Bishop of, 151.
Suabia, 114, 143, 192.
Suidiger, Bishop of Bamberg. See
Clement n.
Susa, 114.
Sutri, Councils at, 50, 75, 82.
 town of, 104, 228.
Sylvester in., Pope (John of Sabina),
48, 50.
Symmachus, Pope, 99.
Syria, 26.
Tancred, Sieur de Hadteville,
father of Robert Guiscard, 63.
Tarantaise, 114.
Tarento, Teano, 67, 73.
Tedaldo, Abbot of Brescello, 238.
Tedaldo, Bishop of Arezzo, 16.
Tedaldo, grandfather of Matilda, 15,
16, 20, 22, 28, 259, 276.
Tedaldo, schismatic Bishop of Milan,
182.
Terni, Bishop of, 280.
Terracina, 190.
Theodoric of Saxony, 31.
Theodoric, Duke of Upper Lorraine,
Matilda's cousin, 167.

INDEX

321

Thrasimund of Teano, 67, 73.
Thuringians, 125.
Tiber, 100, 134, 175, 228.
 island of the, 188, 189, 161.
Tiraboschi, historian, 164, 234, 252,
253-
Tosti, Don, Italian biographer of
Matilda, ref. to, 27, 35, 46, 81,
in, 122, 123, 125, 135, 172, 184,
185, 202, 210, 213, 217, 252, 256,
269.
Totila, 176.
Toul, Bishop of. See Leo IX.
Trasteverine quarter of Rome, 53,
86, 91.
Trebunciolo, 283, 284.
Tre Contadi, or Tricontai, 199, 200.
Tremiti, island monastery of, 68.
Trent, 34.
Treves, 36.
Tribuccio, Castle of, 256.
Tribur, 143.
 Council of, 143.
Troy and the Trojans, allusion to,
196.
Turin, 114.
Tuscans, I.
Tuscany, 10, 71, 74, 79, in, 112,
132, 171, 172, 174, 203, 234, 252,
258, 294, 295.
Tusculan barons, 25, 48.
Tusculum, 45.

Ubaldo, judge, 268, 269.
Ughelli, writer, no.
Ugo of Baese, vassal of Matilda, 268.
Ugo da Governolo, vassal of Matilda,
268.
Ugo del Manso, uncle of Guelf of
Bavaria, Matilda's husband, 199,
200.
Ugone, son of Manfred, vassal of
Matilda, 268.
Umbria, 27.
Urban n., Pope (Otto), 4, 186, 189;
elected Pope at Terracina (1088),
190; his qualifications, 190; ar
ranges Matilda's marriage with
Guelf of Bavaria, 191-194; with
his consent, Conrad, son of Henry
IV., is offered the crown of Italy,
213 ; his diplomacy in this respect,
213 ; gradual increase of his power

in Rome, 214; visits the cities of
Northern Italy on his way to
France, 214 ; his welcome by
Matilda, 214 ; Council of Piacenza,
215; meets Conrad at Cremona,
215 ; arranges Conrad's marriage
with the daughter of Roger of
Sicily, and performs the marriage
ceremony at Pisa, 216 ; is most
probably appealed to at this time
with regard to Matilda's divorce,
216; his efforts to promote a
Crusade, 222-226 ; meets Matilda
at Cremona, and is accompanied
by her to Lucca, where he blesses
the Crusaders, 224 ; begs them to
expel the schismatics from Rome,
on their way to Bari to embark for
the Holy Land, 225 ; illness and
death, 225, 226, 227.
Urban n., other allusions to, 205,
212, 235.
Urban viii., 278, 280.
Uspergense Chronicle, ref. to, 251.

Vallombrosa, 50, 74, 171, 234.
Vatican, 39, 99, 233, 280.
Vatican MS. of Domnizo's Chronicle,
ref. to, 80, 81, 241.
Vedriani, Modenese historian, ref. to,
26, 28, 31, 34, 35, 75, 77. 9i. 92,
94, 96, 97, 99. 100. i°4, 108, 129,
174, 189, 224, 227, 228, 251.
Venetians, 236.
Venice, 262.
Vercelli, 88, 150.
Verdun, 106, 112.
Verona, 13, 14, 22, 26, 27, 28, 31,
33, 80, 126, 193, 212, 213, 219.
 Church of Holy Trinity at, 80.
 Canossa Palace at, 8, 80.
Victor, St., 15.
Victor n., Pope (Gerbhard of Eich-
stadt), 54, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73.
Victor in., Pope (Desiderius), 68,
72, 85, 175 ; suggested by Gregory
vn. that he should be made Pope,
186 ; at first refuses, 186 ; asks
Matilda's opinion, 186; consecrated
Pope (1087), 186; retires to Monte
Cassino, but at Matilda's request
returns to Rome, 188; takes up
his abode at the Vatican and visits

322

MATILDA OF TUSCANY

Matilda at the island of S. Bartholo
mew, 189 ; they resolve to attack
the schismatics, but are unsuccess
ful in their efforts to drive them
out of Rome, 189; conferences of
Matilda and Pope Victor, 189 ; his
death and summary of his character,
189.
Victor in., other illusions to, 222.
 his Chronicle of Monte Cassino,
48.
Villani, chronicler, ref. to, 171.
Villemain, biographer of Gregory
vii., ref. to, 38, 39, 48, 52, 54, 63,
67, 101, 112, 140, 158, 166, 167,
178, 179, 221, 243.
' Vita Anselmi,' ref. to, 150.
' Vita Mathildis ' (anonymous), ref.
to, 276, 277.
Vitelleschi, ref. to, 177.
Viterbo, 27, 39, 149, 221.
Voigt, Johannes, German writer, ref.
to, 51. 54. 75-

Volta, 170.
Vouferrario, 283, 284.
Vouipigozzo, 283, 284.
Wattendorf, German writer, on
Stephen IX., ref. to, 74.
Wends, 124.
Wibert, a prince referred to by Henry
iv., 246.
Wido, Archbishop of Milan, 88, 118,
119.
William of Aquitaine, 20, 70.
William of Burgundy, cousin of Henry
iv., 145-
William the Conqueror, 118, 164,
187, 188, 191.
William Rufus, 235.
William, Bishop of Pavia, 129.
Worms, 52, 53.
 Councils of, 136, 140-142.
Zeno, San, at Verona, 80, 282, 283.

Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press

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