Editing Matilda of Tuscany (section)

=== Early modern times ===
In the fifteenth century, Matilda's marriage to Welf V disappeared from chronicles and narrative literature. Numerous families in Italy tried rather to claim Matilda as their ancestor and to derive their power from her. Giovanni Battista Panetti wanted to prove the Margravine's belonging to the [[House of Este]] in his ''Historia comitissae Mathildis''.<ref>Paolo Golinelli, ''Matilde di Canossa e le sante donne delle genealogie mitiche degli Estensi nella chiesa di Sant'Agostino''. (in Italian) In: Elena Corradini, Elio Garzillo, Graziella Polidori (ed.): ''La chiesa di Sant'Agostino a Modena Pantheon Atestinum''. Modena 2002, pp. 242–249.</ref> He claimed that Matilda was married to [[Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan|Albert Azzo II d'Este]], the grandfather of Welf V. In his epic ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'', poet [[Ludovico Ariosto]] also mentioned Matilda's alleged relationship with the House of Este; [[Giovanni Battista Giraldi]] also assumed a marriage between Matilda and Albert Azzo II and mentioned Ariosto as reference. Many more generations followed this tradition, and only the Este archivist [[Ludovico Antonio Muratori]] was the one able to dismiss the alleged relationship of Matilda and the House of Este in the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, he did not draw a more realistic picture of the Margravine; for him she was an [[Amazons|Amazon queen]].{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=200}} In Mantua, Matilda was also linked by marriage with the [[House of Gonzaga]]. Giulio Dal Pozzo underpinned the claims of the [[Malaspina family]] of descent from Matilda in his work ''Meraviglie Heroiche del Sesso Donnesco Memorabili nella Duchessa Matilda Marchesana Malaspina, Contessa di Canossa'', written in 1678.<ref>Odoardo Rombaldi "Giulio Dal Pozzo autore del volume Meraviglie Heroiche di Matilda la Gran Contessa d'Italia, Verona 1678", pp. 103–108 in [[#c1999|Capitani 1999]]</ref>

[[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' made a significant contribution to Matilda's myth: she has been posited by some critics as the origin of the mysterious "[[Matelda]]" who appears to Dante gathering flowers in the [[Purgatorio#The Earthly Paradise|earthly paradise]] in Dante's ''[[Purgatorio]]'';<ref>{{cite book |author =Lawrence Binyon|title=The portable Dante |year=1978 |publisher=Penguin |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=978-0140150322 |edition=Rev. |author-link=Laurence Binyon |article="Argument", Canto XXVIII |editor-first=Paolo |editor-last=Milano |url=https://archive.org/details/portabledante00dant}}</ref> whether Dante is referring to the Margravine, [[Mechthild of Magdeburg]] or [[Mechthild of Hackeborn]] is still a matter of dispute.<ref>Dante Bianchi, ''Matilde di Canossa e la Matelda dantesca''. (in Italian) In: ''Studi matildici. Atti e memorie del convegno di studi Matildici, Modena/Reggio Emilia, 19–21 ottobre 1963''. Modena 1964, pp. 156–169.</ref><ref>Fiorenzo Forti, ''Matelda''. (in Italian) In: ''Enciclopedia Dantesca 3'', Rome 1971, pp. 854–860.</ref>{{sfn|Capitani|1999|pp=19–28}} In the fifteenth century, Matilda was stylized by Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti and Jacopo Filippo Foresti as a warrior for God and the Church.

Matilda reached the climax of the positive assessment in the time of the [[Counter-Reformation]] and in the [[Baroque]]; she should serve as a symbol of the triumph of the church over all adversaries for everyone to see. In the dispute between Catholics and Protestants in the sixteenth century, two opposing judgments were received. From a Catholic perspective, Matilda was glorified for supporting the pope; for the Protestants, she was responsible for the humiliation of Henry IV in Canossa and was denigrated as a "pope whore", as in the biography of Henry IV by [[Johann Stumpf (writer)|Johann Stumpf]].{{sfn|Golinelli|2015b|p=32}}{{sfn|Golinelli|2006|p=598}}<ref>Mareike Menne, ''Zur Canossa-Rezeption im konfessionellen Zeitalter''. (in German) In: Christoph Stiegemann, Matthias Wemhoff (ed.): ''Canossa 1077. Erschütterung der Welt''. Munich 2006, p. 610.</ref>

In the historiography of the eighteenth century ([[Ludovico Antonio Muratori]], [[Girolamo Tiraboschi]]) Matilda was the symbol of the new Italian nobility, who wanted to create a pan-Italian identity. Contemporary representations ([[Saverio Dalla Rosa]]) presented her as the Pope's protector.

In addition to the upscale literature, numerous regional legends and miracle stories in particular contributed to Matilda's subsequent stylization. She was transfigured relatively early from the benefactress of numerous churches and monasteries to the sole monastery and church donor of the entire Apennine landscape. Around 100 churches are attributed to Matilda, this developed from the twelfth century.{{sfn|Golinelli|1998|pp=29–52}}<ref>Paolo Golinelli, ''Matilde nella storia di città, chiese e monasteri''. In: Paolo Golinelli (ed.): ''I mille volti di Matilde. Immagini di un mito nei secoli''. Milan 2003, pp. 119–131. {{ISBN|8871794206}}</ref> Numerous miracles are also associated with the Margravine. She is said to have asked the pope to bless the Branciana fountain; according to a legend, women can get pregnant after a single drink from the well. According to another legend, Matilda should prefer to stay at the Savignano Castle; there one should see the princess galloping in the sky on full moon nights on a white horse. According to a legend from Montebaranzone, she brought justice to a poor widow and her twelve-year-old son. Numerous legends also surround about Matilda's marriages: she is said to have had up to seven husbands and, as a young girl, fell in love with Henry IV.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=204}}