THE LANDS OF MATILDE DI CANOSSA
“Singula si fingam, quae fecit nobilis ista, carmina sic crescens, sunt ut numero sine stelle”
The Matildic territory is still remembered today, thanks to the powerful fortified system of castles that defended the vast feudal state governed by the Countess Matilde di Canossa, between the XI and XII century.
The expression "Go to Canossa" can be translated as meaning; "to be humiliated, to bend in the face of the enemy, withdraw, admit that you were wrong, make an act of submission", and derives from an event that occurred in the harsh winter of 1077, when the Emperor, waited outside of the castle for three days and three nights, barefoot and dressed only in a habit before being received and forgiven by the Pope, after the intercession of Matilde.
This expression has since entered into common use, such as in the German: "nach Canossa gehen", the English: "go to Canossa" and the French: "aller à Canossa".
