Matilda of Tuscany, also referred to as la Gran Contessa, was a member of the House of Canossa in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was one of the most important governing figures of the Italian Middle Ages. She reigned in a period of constant battles, political intrigues and Roman Catholic excommunications, and was able to demonstrate an innate and skilled strategic leadership capacity in both military and diplomatic matters.
Adalbert-Atto of Canossa and his wife Hildegard surrounded by arches, and their sons Rudolph, Geoffrey (Gotofred) and Tedald at their feet. Donizo's Vita Mathildis (Vatican Library, Codex Vat. Lat. 4922, fol. 20v)
The states of the Apennine Peninsula in the second half of the 11th century.
Miniature of Matilda from the frontispiece of Donizo's Vita Mathildis (Vatican Library, Codex Vat. Lat. 4922, fol. 7v.). Matilda is depicted seated. On her right, Donizo is presenting her with a copy of the Vita Mathildis, on her left is a man with a sword (possibly her man-at-arms). The script underneath reads: Mathildis lucens, precor hoc cape cara volumen (Resplendent Matilda, please accept this book, oh you dear one.)
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monasteries and the pope himself. A series of popes in the 11th and 12th centuries undercut the power of the Holy Roman Emperor and other European monarchies, and the controversy led to nearly 50 years of conflict.
Henry IV begging forgiveness of Pope Gregory VII at Canossa, the castle of the Countess Matilda, 1077
Contemporary illustration of Henry IV (left) and Anti-pope Clement III (centre)
Henry IV requests mediation from Matilda of Tuscany and abbot Hugh of Cluny.