Editing Matilda of Tuscany (section)

=== Court culture and rulership ===
[[File:Anselm übergibt Mathilde sein Werk.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Matilda receiving a manuscript from scholar [[Anselm of Canterbury]]. [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|Miniature]] in a manuscript by Anselm's ''Orationes'' (Diocese of Salzburg, around 1160). Admont, Abbey Library, Ms. 289, fol. 1v]]
The [[Royal court|court]] had developed since the twelfth century to a central institution of royal and princely power. The most important tasks were the visualization of the rule through festivals, art, and literature. The term "court" can be understood as "presence with the ruler".<ref>Gert Melville, "Um Welfen und Höfe. Streiflichter am Schluß einer Tagung". (in German) In: Bernd Schneidmüller (ed.): ''Die Welfen und ihr Braunschweiger Hof im hohen Mittelalter''. Wiesbaden 1995, p. 546.</ref> In contrast to the Brunswick court of the Guelphs, Matilda's court offices cannot be verified.{{sfn|Goez|2007|p=183}} Scholars such as [[Anselm of Lucca]], Heribert of Reggio, and Johannes of Mantua were around the Margravine. Matilda encouraged some of them to write their works:<ref>Eugenio Riversi, ''La memoria di Canossa. Saggi di contestualizzazione della Vita Mathildis di Donizone''. (in Italian). Pisa 2013, pp. 469–499.</ref> for example, Bishop Anselm of Lucca wrote a [[psalter]] at her request and Johannes of Mantua a commentary on the [[Song of Songs]] and a reflection on the life of [[Virgin Mary]]. Works were dedicated or presented to Matilda, such as the ''Liber de anulo et baculo'' of Rangerius of Lucca, the ''Orationes sive meditationes'' of [[Anselm of Canterbury]], the ''Vita Mathildis'' of [[Donizo]], the miracle reports of Ubald of Mantua and the ''Liber ad amicum'' of [[Bonizo of Sutri]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nash|first=Penelope|title=The Spirituality of Countess Matilda of Tuscany|publisher=Patron|year=2021|isbn=9788855535298|location=Bologna|pages=43–50|language=English}}</ref> Matilda contributed to the distribution of the books intended for her by making copies. More works were dedicated only to Henry IV among their direct contemporaries.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=130}}{{sfn|Goez|2015|p=326}} As a result, the Margravine court temporarily became the most important non-royal spiritual center of the Salian period. It also served as a contact point for displaced Gregorians in the church political disputes. Historian Paolo Golinelli interpreted the repeated admission of high-ranking refugees and their care as an act of [[Charity (virtue)|charity]].{{sfn|Golinelli|2015a|pp=70–73}} As the last political expellee, she granted asylum for a long time to Archbishop [[Conrad I of Salzburg]], the pioneer of the canon reform. This brought her into close contact with this reform movement.<ref>Elke Goez "Matilde di Canossa e i suoi ospiti", p. 331 in [[#g1994|Golinelli 1994]]</ref>

Matilda regularly sought the advice of learned lawyers when making court decisions. A large number of legal advisors are named in their documents. There are 42 ''causidici'', 29 ''iudices sacri palatii'', 44 ''iudices'', 8 ''legis doctore''s, and 42 ''advocati''.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=91}} According to historian Elke Goez, Matilda's court can be described as "a focal point for the use of learned jurists in the case law by lay princes".{{sfn|Goez|2006b|pp=327–328}} Matilda encouraged these scholars and drew them to her court. According to Goez, the administration of justice was not a scholarly end in itself, but served to increase the efficiency of rulership.{{sfn|Goez|2006a|p=126}} Goez sees a legitimation deficit as the most important trigger for the Margravine's intensive administration of justice, since Matilda was never formally invested by the king. In Tuscany in particular, an intensive administration of justice can be documented with almost 30 ''[[placitum]]''.{{sfn|Goez|2006b|pp=327–328}}{{sfn|Goez|2006b|p=324}} Matilda's involvement in the founding of the Bolognese School of Law, which has been suspected again and again, is viewed by Elke Goez as unlikely.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=91}} According to chronicler [[Burchard of Ursperg]], the alleged founder of this school, [[Irnerius]], produced an authentic text of the Roman legal sources on behalf of Margravine Matilda.<ref>Burchard of Ursperg, ''Chronicon'', edited by Oswald Holder-Egger, Bernhard von Simson, Hanover/Leipzig 1916, p. 15.</ref> According to historian [[Johannes Fried]], this can at best affect the referring to the Vulgate version of the [[Digest (Roman law)|''Digest'']], and even that is considered unlikely.{{sfn|Fried|2001|p=200}} The role of this scholar in Matilda's environment is controversial.<ref>Andrea Padovani, "Matilde e Irnerio. Note su un dibattito attuale". (in Italian) In: ''Matilde di Canossa e il suo tempo. Atti del XXI Congresso internazionale di studio sull'alto medioevo in occasione del IX centenario della morte (1115–2015), San Benedetto Po, Revere, Mantova, Quattro Castella, 20–24 ottobre 2015''. Spoleto 2016. pp. 199–242.</ref> According to historian Wulf Eckart Voss, Irnerius had been a legal advisor since 1100.<ref>Wulf Eckart Voß "Irnerius, Rechtsberater der Mathilde. Seine Rolle und seine Bedeutung im Investiturstreit", pp. 73–88 in [[#g1994|Golinelli 1994]]</ref> In an analysis of the documentary mentions, however, Gundula Grebner came to the conclusion that this scholar should not be classified in the circle of Matilda, but in that of Henry V.{{sfn|Fried|2001|p=206}}

Until well into the fourteenth century, medieval rule was exercised through [[itinerant court]] practice.<ref>Rudolf Schieffer, "Von Ort zu Ort. Aufgaben und Ergebnisse der Erforschung ambulanter Herrschaftspraxis". (in German) In: Caspar Ehlers (ed.): ''Orte der Herrschaft. Mittelalterliche Königspfalzen''. Göttingen 2002, pp. 11–23.</ref> There was neither a capital nor did the rulers of the House of Canossa have a preferred place of residence.{{sfn|Goez|1995|pp=66–71}} Rule in the High Middle Ages was based on presence.<ref>Ferdinand Opll, "Herrschaft durch Präsenz. Gedanken und Bemerkungen zur Itinerarforschung". (in German) In: ''Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung 117'', 2009, pp. 12–22.</ref> Matilda's domains comprised most of what is now the dual region of [[Emilia-Romagna]] and part of [[Tuscany]]. She traveled in her domains in all seasons, and was never alone in this. There were always a number of advisors, clergy, and armed men in their vicinity that could not be precisely estimated.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=149}} She maintained a special relationship of trust with Bishop Anselm of Lucca, who was her closest advisor until his death in May 1086. In the later years of her life, cardinal legates often stayed in her vicinity. They arranged for communication with the pope. The Margravine had a close relationship with the cardinal legates Bernard degli Uberti and Bonsignore of Reggio.{{sfn|Goez|2012|pp=159–169}} In view of the rigors of travel domination, according to Elke Goez's judgment, she must have been athletic, persistent, and capable.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=217}} The distant possessions brought a considerable administrative burden and were often threatened with takeover by rivals. Therefore, Matilda had to count on local confidants, in whose recruitment she was supported by Pope Gregory VII.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=110}}

In a rulership without a permanent residence, the visualization of rulership and the representation of rank were of great importance. From Matilda's reign there are 139 documents (74 of which are original), four letters, and 115 lost documents (''Deperdita''). The largest proportion of the number of documents are donations to ecclesiastical recipients (45) and court documents (35). In terms of the spatial distribution of the documentary tradition, Northern Italy predominates (82). Tuscany and the neighboring regions (49) are less affected, while Lorraine has only five documents.{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 1}} There is thus a unique tradition for a princess of the High Middle Ages; a comparable number of documents only come back for the time being [[Henry the Lion]] five decades later.{{Clarify|reason=Incomprehensible sentence|date=July 2024}}{{sfn|Goez|2007|p=162}} At least 18 of Matilda's documents were sealed. At the time, this was unusual for lay princes in imperial Italy.{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 13}} There were very few women who had their own seal: {{sfn|Goez|2012|p=151}} the Margravine had two seals of different pictorial types —one shows a female bust with loose, falling hair, while the second seal from the year 1100 is an antique gem and not a portrait of Matilda and Godfrey the Hunchback or Welf V.{{sfn|Goez|2006b|p=334}} Matilda's chancellery for issuing the diplomas on their own can be excluded with high probability.{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 9}}<ref>Roberto Ferrara "Gli anni di Matilde (1072–1115). Osservatione sulla ″cancellaria″ Canossiana", pp. 89–98 in [[#g1994|Golinelli 1994]]</ref> To consolidate her rule and as an expression of the understanding of rule, Matilda referred in her title to her powerful father; it was called ''filia quondam magni Bonifatii ducis''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jörg Rogge|title=Mächtige Frauen? Königinnen und Fürstinnen im europäischen Mittelalter (11.–14. Jahrhundert) – Zusammenfassung|journal=Vorträge und Forschungen| year=1978|volume=81|editor=Claudia Zey|location=Ostfildern|doi=10.11588/vuf.2015.0.46259|page=447|language=de}}</ref>

The castles in their domain and high church festivals also served to visualize the rule. Matilda celebrated Easter as the most important act of power representation in Pisa in 1074.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=151}} Matilda's pictorial representations also belong in this context, some of which are controversial, however. The statue of the so-called Bonissima on the Palazzo Comunale, the cathedral square of [[Modena]], was probably made in the 1130s at the earliest. The Margravine's mosaic in the church of Polirone was also made after her death.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=129, 151}} Matilda had her ancestors put in splendid coffins. However, she didn't succeed in bringing together all the remains of her ancestors to create a central point of reference for rule and memory: her grandfather remained buried in [[Brescello]], while the remains of her father were kept in [[Mantua]] and those of her mother in [[Pisa]]. Their withdrawal would have meant a political retreat and the loss of Pisa and Mantua.{{sfn|Goez|2015|p=331}}
[[Image:Matilde di Canossa - signature.jpg|left|thumb|350px|Matilda's signature ("Matilda, Dei gratia si quid est"), quite tremulous due to her old age. ''Notitia Confirmationis (Prato, June 1107), Archivio Storico Diocesano of Lucca, Diplomatico Arcivescovile, perg. ++ I29'']]
By using the written form, Matilda supplemented the presence of the immediate presence of power in all parts of her sphere of influence. In her great courts she used the script to increase the income from her lands. Scripture-based administration was still a very unusual means of realizing rule for lay princes in the eleventh century.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=99, 154}}

In the years from 1081 to 1098, however, the rule of the House of Canossa was in a crisis. The documentary and letter transmission is largely suspended for this period. A total of only 17 pieces have survived, not a single document from eight years. After this finding Matilda wasn't in Tuscany for almost twenty years.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=147}} However, from autumn 1098 she was able to regain a large part of her lost territories. This increased interest in receiving certificates from her. Ninety-four documents have survived from the last 20 years. Matilda tried to consolidate her rule with the increased use of writing.{{sfn|Goez|2006b|p=338}} After the death of her mother (18 April 1076), she often provided her documents with the phrase "''Matilda Dei gratia si quid est''" ("Matilda, by God's grace, if she is something").<ref name="Goez3">{{cite journal|author=Werner Goez|title="Matilda Dei gratia si quid est". Die Urkunden-Unterfertigung der Burgherrin von Canossa|language= German|journal=Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters |volume=47|year=1991|pages=379–394|url=http://www.digizeitschriften.de/main/dms/img/?PPN=PPN345858735_0047&DMDID=dmdlog29 }}</ref> The personal combination of symbol (cross) and text was unique in the personal execution of the certificates.{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 15}} By referring to the immediacy of God, she wanted to legitimize her contestable position.{{sfn|Goez|2006a|p=126}} There is no consensus in research about the meaning of the qualifying suffix "''si quid est''".<ref name="Goez3"/> This formulation, which can be found in 38 original and 31 copiously handed down texts by the Margravine, ultimately remains as puzzling as it is singular in terms of tradition.{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 12, 15, 20}} One possible explanation for their use is that Matilda was never formally invested with the Margraviate of Tuscany by the king.{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 20}} Like her mother, Matilda carried out all kinds of legal transactions without mentioning her husbands and thus with full independence. Both princesses took over the official titles of their husbands, but refrained from masculinizing their titles.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Claudia Zey|title=Mächtige Frauen? Königinnen und Fürstinnen im europäischen Mittelalter (11.–14. Jahrhundert) – Zusammenfassung|journal=Vorträge und Forschungen| year=1978|volume=81|location=Ostfildern|doi=10.11588/vuf.2015.0.46246|page=22|language=de}}</ref>{{sfn|Goez|2007|p=176}}