Women of the Romance Countries | Page 7

to be scattered over the
northern part of Italy, she built the beautiful public baths at Casciano,
and the great hospital of Altapascio.

Never strong physically, Matilda was possessed of remarkable vitality
and an iron will, and she showed great powers of execution and
administration, never shirking the gravest responsibilities. A part of her
life was spent in the rough camps of her devoted feudal soldiery,
and--weak woman though she was--she led them on to battle more than
once, when they seemed to need the inspiration of her presence.
Women warriors there have been in every day and generation in some
part of the world perhaps, but never one like this. Clad in her suit of
mail, and urging on her battle horse at the head of her followers, her
pale face filled with the light of a holy zeal, it is small wonder that her
arms triumphed, and that before her death she came to be
acknowledged openly as by far the most important person in all Italy.
It happened at one time that the emperor--Henry IV.--deserted by his
friends in Germany, and excommunicated by the pope, found that his
only hope for restoration to popular favor lay in a pardon from his
enemy and the lifting of the ban of excommunication. He set out,
therefore, alone and without an army, to meet the pope and sue for
peace. Gregory, uninformed as to Henry's intended visit (for news did
not travel quickly in those early days), was at the time on his way to
Germany, where an important diet was to be held, and with him was his
faithful ally Matilda. When they learned of the emperor's approach,
however, the papal train turned aside to the nearby fortress of Canossa,
one of Matilda's possessions, there to await the royal suppliant. In the
immense hall of that great castle, all hung with armor, shining shields
and breastplates, and all the varied accoutrements of war, the frowning
turrets without and the dark corridors within swarming with the pope's
defenders, Henry, the great emperor, who had once tried to depose
Gregory, was now forced to his greatest earthly humiliation and was
compelled to bend the knee and sue for pardon. Matilda it was who sat
beside the pope at this most solemn moment, and she alone could share
with Gregory the glory of this triumph, for she it was who had supplied
the sinews of war and made it possible for the pope to impose his will.
On their return to Rome, to insure a continuance of papal success and
give stability to the ecclesiastical organization, she made over by
formal donation to the Holy See all her worldly possessions. This was

not only an act of great liberality, but it was a very bold assertion of
independence, as it was not customary to make disposition of feudal
possessions without first gaining the emperor's consent. As it was a
foregone conclusion that he would never give his consent to this
arrangement, Matilda thought best to dispense with that formality.
Henry's submission was the distinct recognition of papal supremacy for
which Matilda had been battling, but Gregory, in his exactions, had
overstepped the bounds of prudent policy, as he had shown himself too
arrogant and dictatorial. In consequence, all Lombardy rose against him,
Tuscany soon followed suit, and, in 1080, Matilda herself was forced to
take refuge in the mountains of Modena. Henry, who had regained in
part his power and his influence at home, descended upon Rome in
1083, and in revenge for his former disgrace, expelled Gregory, who
retired to Salerno, where he died soon after. Now comes a period of
conflict between popes and anti-popes, Matilda sustaining the regular
successors of Gregory, and Henry nominating men of his own choice.
The long period of warfare was beginning to weigh heavily upon the
land, however, and in a solemn assembly at Carpinetto, the friends and
barons of Matilda implored her to cease her struggles, but she refused
to listen to their entreaties because a monk of Canossa had promised
her the aid of heaven if she should persevere in this holy war. Before
long, Lombardy, which had long been restless, revolted against the
emperor, and Matilda, by great skill and a display of much tact, was
enabled to arrange matters in such a way that she broke Henry's power.
This victory made Matilda, to all intents and purposes, the real Queen
of Italy, though in title she was but the Countess of Tuscany. Then it
was that she confirmed her grant of 1077, giving unconditionally to the
pope all her fiefs and holdings. While the validity of this donation was
seriously questioned, and while it was claimed that she had really
intended to convey her personal property only, so ambiguous was the
wording