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Matilda was a second cousin of Henry IV through their respective grandmothers, sisters Matilda of Swabia and Empress Gisela. Because of her family ties to the Salian dynasty, she was suitable for a mediator role between the Emperor and the Holy See.
- Early Life
- Papal Alliance & The Investiture Controversy
- The Walk to Canossa
- Civil War
- Campaign Against Henry IV
- The First Crusade & Later Years
- Conclusion
Matilda was a descendent of the House of Canossa, a noble family established by her great-grandfather Atto Adalbert of Lucca (d. 988), a 10th-century Lombard military leader from Lucca and vassal to the German kings of Italy. Adalbert and his son Boniface expanded their domain and by 1027, the Canossa family's influence encompassed the counties of ...
Matilda returned to Italy without Godfrey and governed alongside her mother from their court at Mantua and presided over the land despite Godfrey’s inheritance of the domain. Matilda maneuvered over the following years to establish her influence in Italy with aid from her close ally, Hildebrand of Sovana (c. 1015-1085). Matilda had a strong persona...
In early January 1077 CE, Henry IV crossed the Alps into Lombardy with an army escorting him. Matilda and Gregory VII, upon news of his approach, rerouted to Matilda’s castle at Canossa. After arriving shortly before Henry IV, Matilda and Gregory VII watched the penitent Henry arrive at the Canossa’s walls seeking papal absolution. The events that ...
Later in 1077, Matilda relocated to Rome along the Tiber. As civil war engulfed the empire, she and Gregory VII aligned themselves with Rudolf’s rebellious faction of nobles. The pope issued a second excommunication to Henry IV in 1080, to which the German king again denounced the pope citing, among other things, his alleged adulterous transgressio...
Emperor Henry IV returned to Italy in 1090 to silence Pope Urban II and his openly-rebellious vassals, including the insurgent Matilda. Henry’s imperial army marched south, capturing much of Matilda’s Po Valley holdings. Though peace was offered to Matilda by Henry IV, entailing her submission to his authority and to Clement III, she rejected it ou...
In November 1095, at the behest of the Byzantines, Pope Urban II decreed the launch of the First Crusade (1095-1102) to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem from Muslim control. Years earlier, Matilda supported Pope Gregory VII’s advocacy for Christian intervention in the eastern Mediterraneanagainst Muslim influence. The devout Matilda of Canossa ...
Matilda of Canossa died on 24 July 1115. After her death, Henry V claimed her northern Italian possessions, while the Church claimed the Duchy of Tuscany. Some local leaders in her lands, citing Matilda’s release of towns from their feudal obligations, used the vacuum of power to establish a variety of city-states free of both imperial and church c...
- Michael Griffith
According to 16th-century standards, Matilda had a clear right to the English throne, and academics therefore struggled to explain why Matilda had acquiesced to her son Henry's kingship at the end of the war, rather than ruling directly herself.
Jul 19, 2017 · When Henry died in 1135, Maud was in Normandy. Her cousin Stephen of Blois had himself crowned in Westminster Abbey before a very pregnant Maud could hurry across the Channel and claim her throne, plunging England into nineteen years of civil war, known as the Anarchy.
May 29, 2018 · At the same time, Matilda's familial and feudal relationship to Henry IV brought her into close association with the German imperial cause. After her mother's death in 1076, Matilda became a leading figure in the heated controversy between Church and state.
Matilda’s aged father died December 1, 1135. Matilda made no immediate move to secure the throne of England. But her cousin, Stephen of Blois did. Stephen was the nephew of Henry I by his sister Adela. He was Henry’s favorite nephew and he had endowed him with riches and lands. Stephen felt he had a good claim.
People also ask
Why was Matilda a second cousin of Henry IV?
Why did Matilda acquiesce to Henry's kingship?
Did Henry V have a relationship with Matilda?
Who was Queen Matilda?
When Henry I died suddenly in 1135, Matilda and Geoffrey moved at once to secure their possessions in Normandy. Meanwhile, Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois, the son of Henry's sister, Adela, dashed at once to England, where he had himself crowned king on Dec. 22, 1135.
