Boniface III (also ''Boniface IV'' or ''Boniface of Canossa'') (c. 985 – 6 May 1052), son of

Tedald of Canossa Tedald (died 1012), of the House of Canossa, was the count of Brescia from 980, Modena, Ferrara, and Reggio from 981, and Mantua from 1006. He used the title of margrave because of his vast comital holdings and their frontier nature. His family ...

and the father of

Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany (; or ; – 24 July 1115), or Matilda of Canossa ( ), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was on ...

, was the most powerful north Italian prince of his age. By inheritance he was count (or lord) of

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

Canossa Canossa ( Reggiano: ) is a ''comune'' and castle town in the Province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is where Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV did penance in 1077 and stood three days bare-headed in the snow to reverse his excom ...

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, Reggio, and

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

from 1007 and, by appointment,

margrave of Tuscany The March of Tuscany (; Modern ) was a march of the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages. Located in northwestern central Italy, it bordered the Papal States to the south, the Ligurian Sea to the west and Lombardy to ...

from 1027 until his assassination in 1052.

Early life

He was the son of the Margrave Tedald and Willa of Bologna. The Lombard family's ancestral castle was Canossa and they had held Modena for several generations. They possessed a great many

allodial title Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defense ...

s and their power lay chiefly in Emilia. Boniface was probably associated with his father before the latter's death. In 1004, with the title ''marchio'', he donated land to the abbey of Polirone, and he appears in two documents of the same year as ''gloriosus marchio''. He kept his court at Mantua, which he transformed into a city of culture: "With so many magnificent spectacles and feasts that all posterity and all their contemporaries marvelled thereat."

Imperial politics

In 1014, Boniface aided the

Emperor Henry II Henry II (; ; ; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024 AD), also known as Saint Henry, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler of the Ottonian line. As Duke of Bavaria, ...

in putting down Margrave

Arduin of Ivrea Arduin (; – 14 December 1015) was an Italian nobleman who was king of Italy from 1002 until 1014. In 990 Arduin became margrave of Ivrea and in 991 count of the Sacred Palace of the Lateran in Rome. In 1002, after the death of Emperor Otto ...

, who claimed the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

in opposition to Henry. His father nominated him as heir over his brothers and, in 1016, he was again fighting alongside the emperor, this time against the

margrave of Turin The March or Marquisate of Turin was a territory of medieval Italy from the mid-10th century, when it was established as the Arduinic March (). It comprised several counties in Piedmont, including the counties of Turin, Auriate, Albenga and, proba ...

, Ulric Manfred II. In 1020, Boniface defeated a rebellion of his brother Conrad, but the two reconciled and both were later recorded as dukes. In 1027, he supported the candidacy of the Salian

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II (, – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the Holy Roman Emperor, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian dynasty, Salian emperors, who reigned for one century ...

and

King of Germany This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in ...

for the thrones of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire against the other claimants:

William V of Aquitaine William the Great (; 969 – 31 January 1030) was duke of Aquitaine (as ) and count of Poitou (as or III) from 990 until his death. Upon the death of the emperor Henry II, he was offered the kingdom of Italy but declined to contest t ...

Robert II of France Robert II ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his father on military matters ...

, or Hugh Magnus. When Boniface's Lombard enemies tried to incite his brother against him, the two offered battle to them at Coviolo, near Reggio, and emerged victorious, though Conrad was killed. When Conrad II finally succeeded in entering Italy, he was met with defiance at Lucca and he deposed the reigning margrave of Tuscany, Rainier, and gave his lands and titles to Boniface. This seems to be the probable scenario, though the exact date of Boniface's assumption of the Tuscan lordship is uncertain. He thereby considerably increased his paternal domains and Boniface rose to be the most powerful person between the middle Po and the northern border of the ''Patrimonium Petri'' (

Patrimony of Saint Peter The Patrimony of Saint Peter () originally designated the landed possessions and revenues of various kinds that belonged to the apostolic Holy See. Until the middle of the 8th century this consisted wholly of private property; later, it correspon ...

). Emperor Conrad II wanted to tie his most powerful vassal in south of the Alps to his inner circle in the long term through a marriage. Boniface attended the emperor at the city of

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

in 1036 on the occasion of the wedding of Conrad II's son

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

with

Gunhilda of Denmark Gunhilda of Denmark ( 1020 – 18 July 1038), was Queen of Germany as the wife of King Henry III from 1036 until her death. Biography Gunhilda was a daughter of King Cnut the Great (985/95 – 1035), ruler over the Anglo-Scandinavian North S ...

. On that occasion Conrad, his family and his court took up residence in Nijmegen for more than a month. Here Boniface met Beatrice of Lorraine, niece and foster daughter of Empress

Gisela of Swabia Gisela of Swabia ( 990 – 15 February 1043), was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of ...

with whom a marriage covenant could be arranged. According to the agreements, Beatrice brought important assets in Lorraine: the Château of

Briey Briey (; ) is a former commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val de Briey.Mouzay, Juvigny, Longlier and

Orval Orval may refer to: Places * Orval, Cher, a commune of the Cher ''département'' in France * Orval, Manche, a former commune of the Manche ''département'', in France (now merged with Montchaton into Orval-sur-Sienne) * Orval-sur-Sienne, a commune ...

, all the northern part of her paternal family's ancestral lands. As the daughter of Duke Frederick II of Upper Lorraine and

Matilda of Swabia Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * ''Mathilda'' (gastropod), a genus of gastropods in the family Mathildidae * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thorou ...

, she and her sister Sophia were raised in the imperial court by their aunt Empress Gisela (her mother's sister) after the deaths of their parents. For Boniface, the marriage to Beatrice, a close relative of the Emperor, brought him not only prestige but also the prospect to finally have an heir; his first marriage with Richilda (died after February 1036), daughter of

Giselbert II Giselbert II (, ) (died 1102) was the count of Roussillon from the death of his father, Gausfred II, in 1074 until his own death. His mother was Adelaide. In 1040, he participated in his father's sack of Ampurias. He himself had a peace treaty ...

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

, brought one daughter, born and died in 1014. Boniface subdued

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

and

, in revolt against the emperor, and the emperor made a treaty with Boniface, an act which has been construed as recognition of Boniface's independence. In 1032, he was at war with the rebel Count Odo II of Blois. In early summer 1036, In 1037, he helped put down a revolt against the Emperor Conrad, and in February 1038, hosted the Emperor, while the latter journeyed to Florence. In 1043, for services rendered the Empire, he received the

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto () was a Lombards, Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard ''dux'' Faroald I of Spoleto, Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards invaded northern Italy in 568 and b ...

and

Camerino Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona. Camerino is home to the University of Ca ...

. He also acquired more land in Parma and

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, and his chief residence in this time was at Mantua. In 1039, Boniface travelled to Miroalto to aid Henry against the rebellious Odo of Blois. While he was returning, he destroyed the grain fields of the region and the enraged populace retaliated and stole some of his retainers' horses. It was during his blood reprisal that Boniface made his most famous recorded statement. Preparing to hack off the ears and nose of a young man, Boniface was confronted by the youth's mother, who begged him be spared and promised him her son's weigh in silver. Boniface replied to his offer that he "was no merchant, but a soldier," adding: "Absit ut hostes ferro capti redimantur argento". (Far be it that what was captured by steel should be redeemed with silver.) In 1046, Henry III entered Italy to be crowned emperor. Boniface received the emperor and the empress,

Agnes of Poitou Agnes of Poitou ( – 14 December 1077) was the queen of Germany from 1043 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1046 until 1056 as the wife of Emperor Henry III. From 1056 to 1061, she ruled the Holy Roman Empire as regent during the ...

, with honour and munificence on their arrival at Piacenza and his governor did so at

on their return journey. The relationship between Boniface and Henry, however, soon deteriorated in 1047.

Papal intrigue

With the death of Pope Clement II,

Pope Benedict IX Pope Benedict IX (; ), born Theophylactus of Tusculum in Rome, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States for three periods between October 1032 and July 1048 (1032–1044; 1045; 1047–1048). Aged about 20 when first elected, he may h ...

, with the covert support of Boniface, was re-instated, This was a choice not universally approved, and by Christmas 1047, a delegation of Romans met with the emperor to ask him to name a successor. The following month, Henry called a council. Although the Romans wanted Halinard of Lyons, the Bavarian Bishop Poppo of Brixen was chosen, taking the name of Damasus II. On his way to Rome, Damasus met Boniface, who informed him that Benedict had already been chosen by the people; and declined to accompany Damasus. Damasus returned to Henry, who viewed Boniface's support of Benedict a challenge to imperial authority. He ordered Boniface to escort Damasus to Rome. Damasus was consecrated on 17 July 1048, but died less than a month later, at Palestrina, just outside Rome, probably poisoned. Boniface eventually joined the reform party of

Leo IX Pope Leo IX (, , 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historica ...

and was present at the Synod of Pavia in 1049. In his later years, he kept the

Abbey of Pomposa Pomposa Abbey is a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in the ''Italian commune, comune'' of Codigoro on the Adriatic coast near Ferrara, Italy. It was one of the most important monasteries in the northern Italy and is famous for the Caro ...

well-endowed for the sake of his soul and even confessed to

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

and permitted Guido of Pomposa to flagellate him in punishment for it.

Death

He tried to restrict the rights of his '' valvassores'', despite Conrad's imperial edict of 1037. It was this action against his undertenants which got him killed in 1052, during a hunting expedition. This version of Boniface's death is disputed. Some have alleged that Henry played a part in his assassination. It is also held by some that in 1044 there was an attempt made on the margrave's life at Brescia and that the conspirators fled to Verona, which Boniface subsequently sacked before expelling some Veronese conspirators from Mantua as well. One Scarpetta Carnevari apparently nursed a grudge for this act and years later, while Boniface was preparing a galley for a pilgrimage to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, shot him with a

poisoned arrow Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

on the river

Oglio The Oglio (; or ; , ) is a left-side tributary of the river Po in Lombardy, Italy. It is long. In the hierarchy of the Po's tributaries, with its of length, it occupies the 2nd place per length (after the river Adda), while it is the 4th pe ...

, near Martino dall'Argine in the region of Spineta while on the hunt.

Family

Boniface's first marriage (before 1015) was to Richilda, daughter of

. Richilda took little part in Boniface's government and was dead by 1034, leaving no children. In 1037, he married Beatrice, daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine and

Count of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the '' pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the House of Montbéliard from the 11th century. Part of the county, ...

, and niece and adoptive daughter of Empress Gisela, wife of Emperor Conrad II. They celebrated their marriage in high style, keeping court at Marengo for three months afterwards. Boniface and Beatrice had three children, one son,

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

(named after his maternal grandfather), and two daughters, Beatrice (named after her own mother) and Matilda (named after her maternal grandmother). The eldest child, Beatrice, died in 1053, shortly after Boniface. The only son, Frederick, succeeded his father, but died soon after. The youngest child was Matilda, who inherited the great patrimony from Frederick. Beatrice was Regent of Tuscany from 1052 until her death in 1076, during the minority of and in co-regency with, Matilda. Beatrice remarried in 1054 to Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who co-ruled as consort until his death in 1069.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Letter from St Peter Damian requesting Boniface to protect the monasteries
{{Authority control 980s births 1052 deaths Year of birth uncertain Boniface 03 House of Canossa 11th-century counts in Europe 11th-century Italian nobility Matilda of Tuscany