The Life of Mathilda of CanossaCanossa (Italy), 1115Carolingian script
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City
Date of Publication of the Facsimile: 1984 Countess Mathilda of Canossa (1046-1115) ruled over northern Italy at a time when the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV (to the north) and the Pope (to the south) were struggling for supremacy on the European scene. She sided with the church and turned over her extensive possessions to the Papacy. This is an account of her life by a monk of her entourage. The edges of each page in the facsimile have been cut so as to match the corresponding page in the manuscript. This type of facsimile, which aims at complete verisimilitude, also strives to duplicate the original feel of the vellum sheets by careful selection of the texture, thickness, and coating of the acid-free paper on which it is printed.
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