The nephew’s nomination by the church as a leader for the first Crusade in 1095 “was hardly happenstance” dying during the crusades and finally placing her as the undisputed heir of all her parents' allodial lands yet she spent the remainder of her life fighting to be formally invested by the Holy Roman Emperor as the Margraviate. Lands later passed to Matilda’s husband and then after his death in 1076 he willed her assets to his nephew Godfrey Bouillon. Her father’s death in 1052 placed the extensive family lands under her step-father as women in accordance with Roman laws had no rights to own or manage property. She challenged the boundaries between military and gender, was a defender of the reforming papacy supporting them financially, militarily and diplomatically and stood with pope Gregory VII and the church against Henry IV, turning the tide of the first great war between Church and State known as the Synod of Worms, a controversy each claiming the right to appoint bishops and abbots within the Empire. Her revolt against the feudal system laid the foundations for the Italian Renaissance and is one of the few medieval women remembered for her forty year military accomplishments known to have fought in armor at the head of her troops. Matilda became one of the most powerful rulers of the Italian Middle Ages controlling most of central and northern Italy.

Matilda of Tuscany, Imperial Vicar and Vice-Queen of Italy, 1046-1115, daughter of Margrave Boniface III of Tuscany, wife to Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine and briefly to Welf V, no issue.

Appendix chronology notes bibliography index.

Readers will be swept along on this engrossing journey retracing the steps of a courageous and brilliant woman'. This unique biography is also a journal of the author's travels through contemporary Tuscany as she explores the palaces where Matilda held court, the blood-stained plains on which her soldiers battled, the churches and cathedrals she endowed, and the fortified aeries where she sought refuge.

She is best remembered for her role in the conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperor, the climax of which took place at her castle of Canossa. Her personal power was so extraordinary that even centuries after her death she became the first woman to be interred in St. 'Matilda of Canossa, the 'Great Countess,' was a remarkable woman. Pages are clean and tight this is a NEW book. Mark Magowan Books Series B/W & Maps 6.25 X 1.125 X 9.25 inches 311 pages Hard cover is black with black lettering on spine.

Tuscan Countess by Michele K. Spike