Editing Matilda of Tuscany (section)

==== Disputes with Henry IV ====
{{main|Investiture Controversy}}
In 1079, Matilda gave the pope all her domains (the so-called ''[[Terre Matildiche]]''), in open defiance of claims by Henry IV as both the overlord of some of those domains and as one of her close relatives. One year later, the fortunes of papacy and empire turned again: at the Roman synod of Lent in early March 1080 Henry IV was again excommunicated by Gregory VII. The pope combined the anathem with a warning: if the king didn't submit to the papal authority by 1 August he should be dethroned. However, unlike previously, the German bishops and princes stood behind Henry IV. In [[Brixen]] on 25 June 1080, seven German, one Burgundian, and 20 Italian bishops decided to depose Gregory VII and nominated Archbishop Guibert of Ravenna as pope, who took the name of [[Antipope Clement III|Clement III]]. The break between the empire and the papacy also escalated the troubled relationship between Henry IV and Matilda. In September 1080, the Margravine stood on behalf of Bishop Gratianus of Ferrara to court. Marquis Azzo d'Este, Counts Ugo and Ubert, Albert (son of Count Boso), Paganus di Corsina, Fulcus de Rovereto, Gerardo di Corviago, Petrus de Ermengarda, and Ugo Armatus all met there. Matilda swore there to maintain the upcoming fight against Henry IV. On 15 October 1080 at [[Volta Mantovana]], the imperial troops defeated the army of Matilda and Gregory VII in [[Battle of Volta Mantovana (1080)|battle]].{{sfn|Overmann|1895|loc=Regest 40a}}<ref>Lino Lionello Ghirardini, "La battaglia di Volta Mantovana (ottobre 1080)". (in Italian) In: Paolo Golinelli (ed.): ''Sant'Anselmo, Mantova e la lotta per le investiture. Atti del convegno di studi (Mantova 23–24–25 maggio 1986)''. Bologna 1987, pp. 229–240.</ref> Some Tuscan nobles took advantage of the uncertainty and positioned themselves against Matilda; few places remained faithful to her. In a donation of 9 December 1080 to the Modenese monastery of [[San Prospero]], only a few local followers are named.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=117}}{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 33}}

Matilda, however, did not surrender. While Gregory VII was forced into exile, by retaining control over all the western passes in the Apennines, she could force Henry IV to approach Rome via [[Ravenna]]; even with this route open, the emperor would find it hard to besiege Rome with a hostile territory at his back. In December 1080 the citizens of Lucca, then the capital of Tuscany, had revolted and driven out her ally, Bishop [[Anselm of Lucca|Anselm]]. She is believed to have commissioned the renowned [[Ponte della Maddalena]] where the [[Via Francigena]] crosses the river [[Serchio]] at [[Borgo a Mozzano]] just north of [[Lucca]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castellitoscani.com/italian/diavolo.htm|title=Ponte della Maddalena (detto 'Ponte del Diavolo')|website=www.castellitoscani.com |language=it |access-date=15 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firenzetoday.it/cronaca/ponte-diavolo-lucca.html|title=La leggenda del ponte del Diavolo (e perché dovreste visitarlo)|website=FirenzeToday|date=2 March 2015 |language=it |access-date=15 November 2020}}</ref>

Henry IV crossed the Alps in the spring of 1081. He gave up his previous reluctance toward his cousin Matilda and honored the city of [[Lucca]] for their transfer to the royal side. On 23 June 1081, the king issued the citizens of Lucca a comprehensive privilege in the army camp outside Rome. By granting special urban rights, the king intended to weaken Matilda's rule.{{sfn|Struve|1995|p=51}} In July 1081 at a synod in Lucca, Henry IV—on account of her 1079 donation to the Church—imposed [[Imperial ban]] upon Matilda and all her domains were forfeit, although this was not enough to eliminate her as a source of trouble, for she retained substantial [[allodial]] holdings. The consequences for Matilda, however, were relatively minor in Italy, but she suffered losses in her far-away Lorraine possessions. On 1 June 1085, Henry IV gave Matilda's domains Stenay and Mosay to Bishop Dietrich of Verdun.{{sfn|Struve|1995|p=53}}{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=121}}

Matilda remained Pope Gregory VII's chief intermediary for communication with northern Europe even as he lost control of Rome and was holed up in the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]]. After Henry IV obtained possession of the pope's seal, Matilda wrote to supporters in Germany only to trust papal messages that came through her.

A guerrilla war developed that Matilda waged from her castles in the Apennines. In 1082 she was apparently insolvent. Therefore, she could no longer bind her vassals to her with generous gifts or fiefs. But even in dire straits, she did not let up in her zeal for the reform papacy. Although also a supporter of church reform, her mother had distanced herself from Gregory VII's revolutionary goals where these endangered the foundations of her rule structures.{{sfn|Goez|1995|p=171}} In this setting, mother and daughter differed significantly from one another. Matilda had the church treasure of the Apollonius monastery built near Canossa Castle melted down; precious metal vessels and other treasures from [[Territorial Abbey of Nonantola|Nonantola Abbey]] also were  melted down. She even sold her [[Allod]] city of [[Donceel]] to the [[St James's Church, Liège|Abbey of Saint-Jacques]] in [[Liège]]. All the proceeds were made available to the pope. The royal side of the dispute then accused her of plundering churches and monasteries.{{sfn|Struve|1995|p=66}} [[Pisa]] and [[Lucca]] sided with Henry IV. As a result, Matilda lost two of her most important pillars of power in Tuscany. She had to stand by and watch as anti-Gregorian bishops were installed in several places.

Henry IV's control of Rome enabled him to enthrone Antipope Clement III, who, in turn, crowned him emperor. After this, Henry IV returned to Germany, leaving it to his allies to attempt Matilda's dispossession. These attempts foundered after Matilda (with help of the city of [[Bologna]]) defeated them at [[Bomporto|Sorbara]] near [[Modena]] on 2 July 1084. In the battle, Matilda was able to capture [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parma|Bishop Bernardo of Parma]] and make him a hostage. By 1085 [[Tedald (archbishop of Milan)|Archbishop Tedaldo of Milan]] and the Bishops [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla|Gandolfo of Reggio Emilia]] and Bernardo of Parma, all members of the pro-imperial party, were dead. Matilda took this opportunity and filled the Bishoprics sees in Modena, Reggio, and Pistoia with church reformers again.{{sfn|Struve|1995|p=66}}

Gregory VII died on 25 May 1085, and Matilda's forces, with those of Prince [[Jordan I of Capua]] (her off and on again enemy), took to the field in support of a new pope, [[Victor III]]. In 1087, Matilda led an expedition to Rome in an attempt to install Victor III, but the strength of the imperial counterattack soon convinced the pope to withdraw from the city.

On his third expedition to Italy, Henry IV besieged [[Mantua]] and attacked Matilda's sphere of influence. In April 1091 he was able to take the city after an eleven-month siege. In the following months, the emperor achieved further successes against the vassals of the Margravine. In the summer of 1091, he managed to get the entire north area of the Po with the Counties of Mantua, [[Brescia]], and [[Verona]] under his control.{{sfn|Struve|1995|p=70}} In 1092 Henry IV was able to conquer most of the counties of [[Modena]] and [[Reggio nell'Emilia|Reggio]]. The [[Polirone Abbey|Monastery of San Benedetto in Polirone]] suffered severe damages in the course of the military conflict so that on 5 October 1092 Matilda gave the monastery the churches of San Prospero, San Donino in Monte Uille, and San Gregorio in Antognano to compensate.{{sfn|Goez|2012|p=87}}{{sfn|Goez|Goez|1998|loc=n° 44}} Matilda had a meeting with her few remaining faithful allies in the late summer of 1092 at [[Carpineti]].<ref>Lino Lionello Ghirardini "II convegno di Carpineti "colloquium dignum Carpineti fuit istud"", pp. 401–404 in [[#g1994|Golinelli 1994]]</ref> The majority of them were in favor of peace. Only the hermit Johannes from Marola strongly advocated a continuation of the fight against the emperor. Thereupon Matilda implored her followers not to give up the fight. The imperial army began to siege Canossa in the autumn of 1092, but withdrew after a sudden failure of the siege; after this defeat, Henry IV's influence in Italy was never recovered.{{sfn|Eads|2010|p=23–68}}

In the 1090s Henry IV got increasingly on the defensive.{{sfn|Althoff|2006|p=209}} A coalition of the southern German princes had prevented him from returning to the empire over the Alpine passes. For several years the emperor remained inactive in the area around [[Verona]]. In the spring of 1093, [[Conrad II of Italy|Conrad]], his eldest son and heir to the throne, fell from him. With the support of Matilda along with the [[Pataria|Patarene]]-minded cities of northern Italy ([[Cremona]], [[Lodi, Lombardy|Lodi]], [[Milan]], and [[Piacenza]]), the prince rebelled against his father. Sources close to the emperor saw Matilda's influence on Conrad as the reason for the rebellion of the son against his father, but contemporary sources don't reveal any closer contact between the two before the rebellion.{{sfn|Goez|1996|p=26}} A little later, Conrad was taken prisoner by his father but with Matilda's help, he was freed. With the support of the Margravine, Conrad was crowned [[King of Italy]] by Archbishop [[Anselm III (archbishop of Milan)|Anselm III of Milan]] before 4 December 1093. Together with the pope, Matilda organized the marriage of King Conrad with Maximilla, daughter of Count [[Roger I of Sicily]]. This was intended to win the support of the Normans of southern Italy against Henry IV.{{sfn|Struve|1995|p=77}} Conrad's initiatives to expand his rule in northern Italy probably led to tensions with Matilda,{{sfn|Goez|1996|p=40}} and for this, he didn't find any more support for his rule. After 22 October 1097, his political activity was virtually ended, his death in the summer of 1101 from a fever being the only mention.{{sfn|Goez|1996|p=46}}

In 1094 Henry IV's second wife, the [[Rurikid]] princess [[Eupraxia of Kiev]] (renamed Adelaide after her marriage), escaped from her imprisonment at the monastery of San Zeno and spread serious allegations against him. Henry IV then had her arrested in Verona.{{sfn|Robinson|2003|p=289}} With the help of Matilda, Adelaide was able to escape again and find refuge with her. At the beginning of March 1095 [[Pope Urban II]] called the [[Council of Piacenza]] under the protection of Matilda. There Adelaide appeared and made a public confession{{sfn|Althoff|2006|p=213}} about Henry IV "because of the unheard-of atrocities of fornication which she had endured with her husband":<ref>[[Bernold of Constance]], ''Chronicon'', 1095.</ref>{{sfn|Goez|1996|p=31}}<ref>Tilman Struve, "War Heinrich IV. ein Wüstling? Szenen einer Ehe am salischen Hof". (in German) In: Oliver Wünsch, Thomas Zotz (ed.): ''Scientia veritatis. Festschrift für Hubert Mordek zum 65. Geburtstag''. Ostfildern 2004, pp. 273–288.</ref> she accused Henry IV of forcing her to participate in orgies, and, according to some later accounts, of attempting a [[black mass]] on her naked body.{{sfn|Robinson|2003|p=289ff.}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Natalia Pushkareva|url=http://bibliotekar.ru/polk-11/5.htm|title=Женщины Древней Руси: Глава I. "Галерея знаменитых россиянок" Анна-Янка и Евпраксия-Адельгейда Всеволодовны|year=1989 |language=ru |access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref> Thanks to these scandals and division within the Imperial family, the prestige and power of Henry IV was increasingly weakened. After the synod, Matilda no longer had any contact with Adelaide.