jan 1, 1055 - Matilda of Tuscany

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A fierce ally of the Pope against the interests of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Matilda effectively and successfully supported her ally while taking in refugees and presiding over a cultural boom in Tuscany. She became the most powerful women in Italy and one of the most powerful women throughout the middle ages.

It was her castle where Emperor Henry IV humbled himself in an attempt to secure reconciliation with the church. He was forced to supplicate himself on his knees waiting for three days and three nights before the entrance gate of the castle.

She would become much mythologized by later historians and myth-makers with emphasis paid to her piety, loyalty, justness and courage.

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