Tuscan Countess: Matilda of Canossa
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Spike is a lawyer and historian who has lived in Florence since 1989, and has collaborated with her husband, John T. Spike, on numerous books about Italian painters. She presents a biography of Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany (1046-1115). Known primarily for her role in the conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperor and her relationship with Pope Gregory VII, she was a political figure in her own right, and is one of only five women with a tomb near the apostle Peter's. The text is written as a journal of Spike's travels to the ruins, monasteries, and the streets of eight medieval cities that were the scenes of Matilda's life—Mantua, Florence, Rome, Canossa, Salerno, Speyer, Lucca, and Modena. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
