da Canossa

Who he is

Name

Not pinned: descendants of Guido di Canossa

Title

Lords of Bianello

Since

1160 (the family's tenure of Bianello)

Family

da Canossa (no proven descent from Countess Matilda's house)

Confidence

low

it.wikipedia (Castello di Bianello): in 1160 Duke Welf (VI) ceded the fortress to Guido di Canossa, the start of the Canossa branch of Bianello. Rossena and Monte Vetro were also held by the Canossa family before their later holders; dates not given. The head of the family in 1200 was not found.

Overlord

The holder of the Matildine lands: Welf VI granted Bianello in 1160; the claim has since passed to the emperor (bought from Welf in 1173-1174), to Philip of Swabia (1195), and is contested by Innocent III.

What it holds

• Bianello, the chief of the four castles of Quattro Castella (since 1160)
• Monte Vetro, one of the four castles (Canossa first, then the da Fogliano and Parma in later times)
• Rossena, the castle facing Canossa (first held by the Canossa family; dates not given)

How it was acquired

Welf VI's grant of Bianello in 1160.

Allies and rivals

Reggio's commune presses on them; the dalla Palude hold Monte Zane, another of the four castles.

How things stand that morning

The da Canossa hold Bianello and the neighbouring castles as heirs of an imperial grant, outside the commune's direct rule.

Wealth

Hill farms, wood and the roads from the Reggio plain to the Enza and the Apennines.

Military

Hill castles; no figures.

Threats

• The commune of Reggio
• The papal claim to Matilda's lands

Places of note

• Bianello: The family's castle since 1160
• Rossena: Castle facing Canossa

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 1160 grant is on it.wikipedia; the family's members and full holdings in 1200 were not found.

On the map: The comune of Quattro Castella stands for the four castles; Monte Zane among them was the dalla Palude's.

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.

• Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
• Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
• Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
• Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
• Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
• Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
• Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
• Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online

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