9/19/2023 0 Comments Matilde di canossaIn 1076 she came into the possession of a large territory that included present day Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany with its centre in the town of Canossa. Matilde (in English, Matilda) was born in Lucca in 1046 and died at Bondeno Romagna in 1115. In case you didn’t know why Matilde is such an amazing mediaeval woman here’s a summary of her life. The president of the Michel de Montaigne Institute, Marcello Cherubini, then gave an introduction to the great figure that Matilde was. There were prefatory remarks by the Mayor of Bagni di Lucca, Massimo Betti. The conference was opened by the chair, Bruno Micheletti vice-president of the Fondazione and director of our section of the Lucca Historical association. The fact that Matilde is closely associated with our part of the world is an added bonus and a good reason to dedicate a study afternoon to her by the industrious Fondazione Michel de Montaigne, the historical and cultural association which operates within the comune of Bagni di Lucca.Īfter the initial traditional hand-cannon (technical term gonne) blast-off by members of the Vicariato della Val di Lima Matilde di Canossa is to be placed among that divine hierarchy of mediaeval women which includes Hildegard of Bingen, Berengaria of Navarre and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She built the bridge as a means of helping travellers across the Serchio river along the Via Francigena pilgrim route which connects Canterbury with Rome. In fact, the bridge was ordered to be built by an extraordinary woman, someone even more astonishing considering she lived at a time when women were usually still considered as chattels – the Countess Matilde di Canossa. (An old print, in the current BdL library exhibition showing the Ponte della Maddalena ) Those who have crossed the amazing Ponte della Maddalena (more colloquially known as the ponte del Diavolo – see my post on it at ) near Borgo a Mozzano will realise that the old story of the devil requiring the heart of the first living soul crossing the bridge if he completed it on time (and getting a dog’s heart instead) – a story oft repeated in many other parts of the world such as Pontarfynach (Devil’s bridge) near Aberystwyth in Wales – isn’t quite correct!
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