| After some occasional
neolitic settlements, the hills between the valleys of the river
Enza and Secchia, were colonized by romans who developed there
famous centres like Luceria, not far from what is today called
Ciano. On the same cliff of Canossa, some findings suggest the
hypothesis of an ancient roman blockhouse for this important
residential centre. After the dark period of the Late Middle
Ages, when the Lombard and Byzantine invaded the land devasting
it, Atto Adalberto, a Lord from a Lucca family, decided to build
here a fortified system that had its most significant dimensions
between the XI and the XII centuries. Meanwhile a net of villages
was developing all around saving pastures and cultivations from
the savage woods. But it is just under Matilde, the Great Countess,
that these lands got a continental reputation, playing an important
role in the quarrel between the Pope and the Emperor. Matilde's
feud was extremely powerful, covering from Mantova to Lucca,
to Florence, to the Po's mouth. She was an european woman, from
an important family operating internationally, from Italy to
Lorraine. She gave a fundamental impulse to the origin of the
University of Bologna; she was also one of the main responsible
of the reformation of the church engaged by Gregorio VII. After
the matildic renaissance, the local history witnesses first
the predomination of the commons, then the power of local noble
families. Between the 1425 and the 1427 the largest part of
the matildic territories suffered the invasion of the Estensi
family, who hold them for centuries. |
|
 
Above: a historical map showing the extent of the Canossas'
rule in Italy at the time of Countess Matilda (XI-XII century).
|
