History
Matilda of Tuscany, also called Matilda of Canossa, was the Canossa countess who held Tuscany and a broad belt of northern Italy. She was born about 1046 and died on 24 July 1115. In the fight between pope and emperor she sheltered Gregory VII and received Henry IV at Canossa in January 1077.
In 1066 she is young, about twenty in the game, and the Canossa crisis has not happened. The duchy is large because the family has already died down to her. The line, and the choice between pope and emperor, are the campaign.
In January 1077 Henry IV came to Canossa, and Gregory VII absolved him while Matilda held the castle. She spent the investiture fight as the imperial vassal who also sheltered the pope. The legends card names the dynasty Lucca. The historical house is Canossa. She died on 24 July 1115. No surviving child of hers kept Tuscany and the Canossa lands. The emperor and the papacy both pressed claims on what she left.
In the game
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1066 |
| Bookmark | Rags to Riches |
| Title | Tuscany |
| Realm size | 15 counties |
| Status | Vassal of the Holy Roman Empire |
| Difficulty | Medium, the bookmark rating in patch 1.20.1.2 |
| Culture | Italian |
| Faith | Catholicism |
| Government | Feudal |
| Dynasty | Lucca, house Canossa |
| Age | 20 |
How to play
Goal. Hold northern Italy and keep a Canossa heir through imperial politics.
She is about twenty, a large Italian vassal of the Holy Roman Empire, rated Medium. The campaign is the choice between pope and emperor, and an heir who can hold the duchy. The historical lands did not pass to a child of hers, so marriage and succession are the domestic half of the reign. Henry IV's page is the 1066 empire. The empire realm page follows that throne into Barbarossa's 1178 bookmark.
Where this run fails. Losing the dynasty line, or being crushed between a papal faction and an imperial one before an heir holds Tuscany.