Papal claim · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Matildine lands (claim)

Countess Matilda of Canossa (died 1115) left her family lands to St Peter, and popes and emperors have fought over them for eighty years.

On 1 January 1200 the papal claim is alive but empty. Philip of Swabia holds the title as duke of Tuscany, though he is in Germany fighting for the crown; the castles and estates are in the hands of the communes of Reggio, Modena, Mantua and Lucca, of local lords, and of the abbeys Matilda founded. Innocent will press the claim in every bargain with a would-be emperor.

Who holds it

Name
Philip of Swabia (duke of Tuscany since 1195) against Innocent III (claimant)
Title
Claimed by the pope under Matilda's donation; held in law by the Staufen duke of Tuscany, in fact by communes and local lords
Since
1195 (Henry VI's grant to Philip); papal claim since Matilda's donation
Confidence
medium

The Tuscan League of Florence, Siena, Lucca, Volterra, Arezzo, Prato and others was formed on 11 November 1197; when Innocent renewed its pact in October 1198 on the 1197 terms, the cities still refused to hand Matildine lands over to the pope (Gregorovius). Philip, the titular duke, is in Germany fighting Otto IV for the crown and has no officers of weight left in Tuscany.

What it holds

  • The Canossa heartland in the Reggiano Apennines: Canossa, Bianello (Quattro Castella), Carpineti and the castles of the Enza and Secchia hills
  • The upper Dragone valley around Frassinoro, the abbey founded by Matilda's mother [medium]
  • Mantua and the lower Po estates around the abbey of Polirone (San Benedetto Po), Matilda's burial place: Gonzaga, Quistello, Suzzara, Sermide, Revere [medium]
  • Ferrara, a Canossa city in Matilda's time [thin as a separate claim in 1200]
  • The Garfagnana, the upper Serchio valley north of Lucca [medium]
  • San Miniato, the imperial seat in Tuscany [thin: its Matildine standing is doubtful]

How it was acquired

Matilda's donation to the Roman Church, first made around 1079-1080 and renewed by charter in 1102, covered her allods; her imperial fiefs were the emperor's. The emperors took everything regardless: Lothar III held the allods of the pope for a census from 1133, Barbarossa kept them, and Henry VI gave them to his brother Philip with the duchy of Tuscany in 1195.

How things stand that morning

Claimed by the pope; held by no papal officer anywhere.

Wealth

Castles commanding the Apennine passes from Emilia into Tuscany; the Po traffic, fisheries and farmland of the Mantuan lowland; the Garfagnana's timber and chestnuts.

Threats

  • Any emperor-elect who keeps the lands for himself
  • The communes absorbing the castles into their contadi

Advocates and rivals

Philip of Swabia as duke of Tuscany; Otto IV, who will promise the lands to the pope at Neuss in 1201; the Tuscan League, which refused to surrender them; the communes of Reggio, Modena, Mantua, Lucca and Ferrara; local lords holding the castles.

Places of note

  • Canossa: Matilda's ancestral castle

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The claim and its history are well known; which blocks the claim covered in 1200, and who held each castle, could not be checked in detail here. The blocks drawn are the best-known cores.

On the map: Only the best-known blocks are drawn, all as claims. Matilda's inheritance was a scatter of allods, fiefs and rights across Emilia, Lombardy and Tuscany, and by 1200 most of it had been absorbed by communes; no single map of 'the Matildine lands' existed even then.

Primary sources for Empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. F. Gregorovius, Storia della citta di Roma nel medio evo, vol. 5 (Project Gutenberg)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.