Vine & Wine Chronicles: Matilde of Canossa (Tuscany)
Original article read here
MATILDE OF CANNOSSA; A TRUE AMAZON QUEEN ALLIED WITH WINE
A woman ahead of her times, pioneer in many areas who “ran with the wolves”. I will be mentioning her briefly in my FREE ZOOM talk & wine-launch event this Sunday on “The Elixir of Life: Wine & the Knights Templar” but wanted to share a brief article I just wrote today on this remarkable, inspiring woman, see below.
https://www.eventbrite.com/.../the-elixir-of-life-wine...
Matilda of Tuscany (c. 1046 – 24 July 1115) or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as la Gran Contessa ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was one of the most important governing figures of the Italian Middle Ages. She reigned in a period of constant battles, political intrigues and Roman Catholic excommunications, and was able to demonstrate an innate and skilled strategic leadership capacity in both military and diplomatic matters.
As the daughter of Duke Frederick II of Upper Lorraine and Matilda of Swabia, she and her sister Sophia were raised in the imperial court by their aunt Empress Gisela (her mother's sister) after the deaths of their parents. She was also the aunt of Burgundian crusader Godfrey of Bouillon, defender of Jerusalem, who founded the first 2 military orders in the Holy Land; the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in 1098 (to protect holy relics) and the Order of the Priory of our Lady of Mount Sion in 1099 (to protect the bloodline). What is interesting here is the connection between the Priory of our Lady of Mount Sion - which for me,like Godfrey, has everything to do with the founding of the Knights Templar - but also with Peter the Hermit and Countess Matilda. Godfrey’s aunt was known as a 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 and is associated with miracles, but she is also connected to the Priory of Mount Sion as mentioned above and is believed to have provided funding for it. Matilda was another woman ahead of her times and prior to her nephew Godfrey, would establish the world’s first military order in 1070 well ahead of the first crusade and possibly inspiring her nephew Godfrey; the Order of Saint James of Altopascio, also called the Knights of the Tau (Symbol connected to the Knights Templar and associated with resurrection) or Hospitallers of Saint James. It is earliest Christian institution and military order (even if outside of Jerusalem) to combine the protection and assistance of pilgrims, the staffing of hospitals, and a military wing. American historian Ephraim Emerton who undertook the first systematic study of the Order, stated that "the fame of the house drew visitors, both well and sick, including women in childbirth and infants" from around Italy.”
Dante Alighieri, renowned Italian writer and member of the Fideli di Amore (an artistic branch of the Knights Templar based on the Sufi concept of “the beloved”) who even included Bernard of Clairvaux (head of the Cistercian order and family member of initial founding Knights Templar) in his Divine Comedy, also 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 earthly paradise in Dante's Purgatorio;[235] whether Dante is referring to the Margravine, Mechthild of Magdeburg or Mechthild of Hackeborn is still a matter of dispute. In the 15th century, Matilda was stylised by Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti and Jacopo Filippo Foresti as a warrior for God and the Church.
Last but not least, since lately I am trying to draw attention to notable and empowered women of history like the world’s first archaeologist Empress Helena and of course, my favourite, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Matilda deserves a further mention in connection to a very Templar undertaking which has now become mine: wine. Italy’s refreshing “frizzante” Lambrusco wine and the Lambrusco vines and vineyards as we know them were largely brought into being by this wonder of a woman She came up with the idea to start harvesting and farming the Lambrusco vines.” Bugno Martino even designed their label for the Rosso Matilde inspired by the signature of Matilde. Additionally, to honour her historical love of Lambrusco, the chamber of commerce in Reggio Emilia in Central Italy holds a blind-tasting to select the best Lambruscos, appropriately titled ‘Concorso Matilde’, or The Matilde Awards. Furthermore, the clever Matilde availed of her intuition as a woman and the power of wine in military conflicts. Let me describe a glimpse of the story:
“Enveloped in the relentless clutches of Henry IV's military force, the Tower of Sorbara stood as an impregnable bastion, its city and fortress gripped tightly in the vice of enemy occupation. Matilde, a paragon of cunning stratagem, chose to place her faith in the boundless allure and artful alliance she had made with the potent Lambrusco wine as the key to dismantling this formidable siege. With calculated finesse under the cloak of night, she orchestrated a covert operation, tasking her loyal men with the surreptitious delivery of wine-filled barrels and laden carts of sustenance to the very heart of the adversary's encampment. Patiently biding her time until the moon ascended its zenith and Henry IV's soldiers succumbed to the intoxicating embrace of the wine and the bounty laid before them, Matilde, some whisper clad in impervious armour and astride a noble steed, dispatched her men to assail the befuddled foe. Overcoming the besotted opposition with ease, Matilde secured a triumphant victory at the Battle of Sorbara in 1084, casting her as a formidable, sagacious, and resourceful matriarch in the tapestry of history.”
See also: