Donizo (also Domnizo, Donizone) of Canossa, was an Italian monk and author in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. His work is an important source on Matilda of Tuscany and her dynasty, and also on Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy more generally.
Donizo was born c.1071/2, perhaps at Canossa or at Parma. He became a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Sant’Apollonio of Canossa c.1086/7. By 1136 he was abbot of the monastery.
He composed several works in Latin, including the Enarratio Genesis, a fragmentary commentary on the Book of Genesis, of which 378 leonine verses remain.
His most famous work is the Vita Mathildis (Life of Matilda), written in leonine hexameters. The Life is divided into two books, the first of which entitled, De Principibus Canusinis (‘'On the princes of Canossa’'), concentrates on the ancestors of Matilda of Tuscany, and their possession of the castle of Canossa; the second book focuses on Matilda herself. The Vita Mathildis was written between 1111 and 1115. It was completed shortly after Matilda died in July 1115 and was thus hastily re-dedicated to Empress Matilda.
There are many later medieval epitomes (or versions) of Donizo's Life of Matilda. [1]
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.
Thorgaut or Turgot was Archdeacon and Prior of Durham, and Bishop of Saint Andrews.
Welf II, or Welfhard, called Welf the Fat (pinguis), was Duke of Bavaria from 1101 until his death. In the Welf genealogy, he is counted as Welf V.
Anselm of Lucca, born Anselm of Baggio, was a medieval bishop of Lucca in Italy and a prominent figure in the Investiture Controversy amid the fighting in central Italy between Matilda, countess of Tuscany, and Emperor Henry IV. His uncle Anselm preceded him as bishop of Lucca before being elected to the papacy as Pope Alexander II and so he is sometimes distinguished as Anselm the Younger or Anselm II.
Eupraxia Vsevolodovna of Kiev was a Holy Roman Empress consort. She was the daughter of Vsevolod I, Grand Prince of Kiev, and his wife Anna Polovetskaya, daughter of a Cuman khan. She married Henry IV of Germany in 1089 and took the name Adelaide.
Beatrice of Bar was the marchioness of Tuscany by marriage to Boniface III of Tuscany, and Regent of Tuscany from 1052 until her death, during the minority of and in co-regency with, her daughter Matilda. She was the daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine, count of Bar, and Matilda of Swabia. She was married first to Boniface III of Tuscany and later to Godfrey of Lotharingia.
Hugh, called the Great, was the Margrave of Tuscany from 969 until his death in 1001, and the Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Camerino from 989 to 996. He was known for his restoration of the state apparatus in Tuscany after decades of neglect from various Margraves, whose main interests lay elsewhere. Hugh was also noted for his support of the new Ottonian dynasty, and has been praised for his justice by the contemporary theologian Peter Damian in his De principis officio. Hugh's rule has also been remembered for its close cooperation with the Papal States in the resolution of territorial disputes and his generosity in gifting marchesal (public) lands for the foundation of monasteries of the Catholic Church.
Michèle Kahn Spike is an American lawyer, historian, and lecturer. She graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1976 and became a member of the Bar of the State of New York in 1977, concentrating in international corporate law. From the late 1980s until 2011, she lived in Florence, Italy together with her husband, art historian John Spike. Since fall 2012 she has been teaching at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary, and she was appointed as Visiting Professor of the Practice of Law in 2017.
Canossa is a comune and castle town in the Province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is where Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV did penance in 1077 and stood three days bare-headed in the snow to reverse his excommunication by Pope Gregory VII. The Walk to Canossa is sometimes used as a symbol of the changing relationship between the medieval Church and State.
Adelaide of Turin was the countess of part of the March of Ivrea and the marchioness of Turin in Northwestern Italy from 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduinici. She is sometimes compared to her second cousin and close contemporary, Matilda of Tuscany.
The House of Canossa was an Italian noble family from Lucca holding the castle of Canossa, from the early tenth to the early twelfth century.
The March of Tuscany was a march of the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages. Located in northwestern central Italy, it bordered the Papal States to the south, the Ligurian Sea to the west and Lombardy to the north. It comprised a collection of counties, largely in the valley of the Arno River, originally centered on Lucca.
Richelida or Richilda was a member of the dynasty known to historians as the Giselbertiners. Her second husband was Boniface III of Tuscany.
The Castle of Canossa is a castle in Canossa, province of Reggio Emilia, northern Italy.
Bernardo degli Uberti was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who was a professed member and served as an abbot of the Vallumbrosan Order. Uberti served as the Bishop of Parma from 1106 until his death and was appointed as a cardinal. He came from the noble Uberti house from Florence. Uberti served as a papal legate for successive popes in several Italian regions in their disputes with secular rulers and was a close confidant and advisor to the Countess Matilda. He is often considered the third founding father for the order alongside Benedict of Nursia and Giovanni Gualberto.
Tedald, also known as Theodald, Theodaldus, Tedaldus, Tedaldo, Teodaldus, Teodaltus, or Teodaldo, was the forty-third Bishop of Arezzo from 1023 until his death.
The Abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone is a large complex of Benedictine order monastic buildings, including a church and cloisters, located in the town of San Benedetto Po, Province of Mantua, Region of Lombardy, Italy. The complex, now belonging to the city, houses offices, a museum, and is open to visitors.
The Bevilacqua dynasty governed parts of Northern Italy between the 10th and 12th centuries. Their rise to prominence began in 962 when Otto I the Great, the first Holy Roman Emperor, appointed Antonio Bevilacqua as Governor of Lazise. The family remained loyal to the Emperors until they later allied themselves with Matilda of Tuscany; they were granted a Principality at Bevilacqua in 1059, and acquired other territories in the areas of Verona and Ferrara. During the 12th-century conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Bevilacqua led the victorious Ghibellines of Verona. They later supported the Canossa family of the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa, and in recognition received the church of San Salvaro in Verona.
Sigifred of Lucca was a Lombard nobleman and the progenitor of the House of Canossa.
Roland of Parma was an Italian cleric during the Investiture Controversy. He took the side of the Holy Roman Empire and served as the bishop of Treviso from 1073/1078 until 1089/1096.
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