THE FRIENDSHIP NETWORK OF MATILDA OF TUSCANY RECONSTRUCTING MATILDA’S MOTIVATION AND IDEOLOGY THROUGH THE LENS OF HER INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIPS By Francesca Guerri A Dissertation Presented to the Department, of History University of Houston In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY To my husband Marco, and to my children Giulio, Claudia, Cecilia and Livia, without their exceptional and loving presence in my life none of this would have been possible and to my beloved aunt Sonia. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS On the very outset of this report, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the members of my committee. First and foremost, I want to thank my advisor, Professor Sally N. Vaughn, for the success and completion of my dissertation is deeply accredited to her. She has given me the opportunity to research such an extraordinary topic and provided me with invaluable guidance throughout this process. Her vision, passion, and enthusiasm have profoundly inspired me. Dr. Vaughn not only spent countless hours correcting my English but also taught me a rigorous method of research, controlled by evidence. Leading by example, she has shown me how curiosity is the very spark of every research and great discovery. She enabled me to deepen my work in every aspect, encouraging me to look at the subject from every possible perspective. I would not have been able to do this without her unwavering guidance and support. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation for Professor Paolo Golinelli. From the very onset he was willing to give relentless support, even with the obstacle of the distance he reviewed my work and gave important feedback. His extensive knowledge of this topic allowed me to learn and grow with every conversation. He reviewed every source, note, and argument meticulously, while always remaining kind and available to help. Most of all, Dr. Golinelli taught me that history is not an accumulation of information from the past, but rather a study of personal experience. He taught me to look at my research from a human point of view, which was then crucial in my understanding of the subject and allowed me to deepen the exploration of my sources. iii I am also extremely grateful for Professor Catherine F. Patterson; I had the pleasure of taking two classes with her and working with her for my Comprehensive exams. Throughout this path, she made sure that all the important issues were understood and discussed. She challenged me with questions and comments over the course of my Ph.D. studies and pushed me to look at every subject from different points of view. Thanks to her I acquired a method of enquiring that I will be able to apply for all my years to come in this field. Lastly, I am very grateful that she has taught me how to structure my works and write in a more powerful, and more efficient way. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Professor Judith B. Steinhoff, for her guidance and friendship. She is an inspiration for me, her new approach to interpreting the artistic evidence taught me how to look at artwork, not as a nice illustration, but as evidence that can help define and support an argument. Something that I was able to utilize in my thesis and was a crucial breakthrough for my argument. Last but not least, her constant support and interest in my work was a great stimulus and encouragement throughout my whole path. I’d also wish to thank Professor Sara Fishman, who, even though I have not had the pleasure of having her as a professor, she so willingly accepted to be part of my committee and has always shown kindness and availability to review my work. I must thank Professor Richard M. Mizelle, Director of Graduate Studies. He was especially kind and accommodating to my complicated situation and ultimately allowed for my Dissertation Defense to take place. In addition to my committee members, I wish to thank Professor Francesca D’Alessandro Behr, without her I would not be where I am today. When I began pondering iv the possibility of beginning my Ph.D., she showed immense support in every way and lovingly accompanied me ever since. She even went so far as to spend hours correcting my Latin translations for my thesis. I want to thank Professor C. Stephen Jaeger. While researching I had observed a striking similarity between the prayers of Peter Damian, Anselm of Lucca, and Anselm of Canterbury but was skeptical of the accuracy and validity of this intuition. However, when I discussed this with him, he encouraged me to dig deeper and continue on this path and told me that it was a brilliant idea. Without him I would never have taken the risk and developed this investigation and consequently would not have discovered what I did. For this, I will forever have immense gratitude towards Jaeger. I also wanted to give a special thanks to Professor Tiziana Lazzari who, during my research, was so kind as to meet me and gave extremely helpful advices as well as invaluable insights on my topic. She is also the reason why I published my article in 2018 and I cannot thank her enough. I cannot begin to express my thanks to Dr. Dominic F. Aquila. His discrete but powerful mentorship, starting from the recommendation letter he wrote to support my Ph.D. application at the University of Houston, has been a constant instrument in my success. He has continued to support and inspire me throughout this journey of many years and for this, I am deeply indebted to him. I also wanted to thank the History Department at the University of Houston and our Graduate advising assistant Mrs. Daphyne Pitre for their support and kind assistance all these years. They created a space where I could always feel at home. The professors and administrators were willing to give constant help and accommodate my situation. v Specifically, for my difficult circumstance, working from Dubai, I was faced with many obstacles to overcome, but all of the Department was ready to help and arrange accommodations for me. Thanks to this group of people, I never stopped working even in the face of numerous challenges. In addition, I would like to thank my “Friendship Network”, Paolo Nanni, Carlo Torniai, Cecilia Bellucci, Eveline Barbieri, Carlos Monroy, Kristina Leyden, Carlos Rivera, Elisabetta Ciaccia, Paolo Zaffaroni, Diane Aquila, Julie Sarpy, Giulia Guerri, Silvia Guerri, Amanda Pekowski, Silvia Fasana, and Roberto Avallone, who has sustained my journey with their special companionship. Finally, I am extremely grateful to my husband Marco and my children Giulio, Claudia, Cecilia and Livia who supported and encouraged me to embark on this adventure. Throughout these years, they continued to believe in me, even during difficult times. Our conversations at the dinner table, their acute inquiries, and their curiosity in my work inspired me with new questions and new ways to research. A special thanks to my husband, without his love and support I would have given up my studies a long time ago but instead, he encouraged me and acted as a support system I could always fall back on. My sincere thanks to my daughter Claudia, who generously gave her time during the last two weeks of insane revising, helping with proofreading and suggestions. Finally, my gratitude goes to my mother who first gave me the opportunity to pursue my education, even though she expressed concern for this new endeavor, she sustained and helped me by any and all means. vi ABSTRACT Matilda of Tuscany (1046-1115) was one of the most significant female figures in the European Middle Ages. Matilda was the countess and duchess of a vast domain, stretching from Lombardy to the region of Latium, which she ruled in her own right. While a vassal of the German emperors and related to them by blood bonds, she assisted seven popes, thus determining the fate of the Investiture Controversy and, eventually, of the entire Christendom. Matilda successfully defended the reform party and defeated the powerful army of Emperor Henry IV. Although the countess’s exceptional story empowered her alone, as ruler in her own domains, she never acted in isolation. Human relationships were at the center of Matilda’s existence; friendship was an essential way to gain political alliances, to advance the ideals of reform, and to access the Divine. I have shown how Matilda’s concept of friendship was based upon models provided by exemplary women who, before the countess, were vigorously involved with the defense of church reform and absorbed in intense correspondence with passionate reformers. My work demonstrated that these models introduced a new perception of lay female rulership and spirituality and were crucial examples for Matilda. However, Matilda’s extraordinary life, position of power, remarkable devotion, and the particular political setting of the Investiture Controversy would encourage the countess and her most important spiritual and political advisors to seek a redefinition of the meaning of political and spiritual friendship. Indeed, I have shown that Matilda’s intense and reciprocal relationships with the members of her entourage and, most of all, with Pope Gregory VII, Anselm II bishop of Lucca, and Anselm of Bec and Canterbury served as significant triggers for the new language of friendship and new spiritual developments, which transformed the image of women, renovated the language of prayers, and set in motion a change of religious sentiments. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1