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Article: The countess who was a great pope's good friend.(BOOKS)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- December 26, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Stephanie Deutsch, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The first person who was neither a pope nor saint to be buried in St. Peter's Basilica was female, a 12th-century Tuscan countess, Matilda of Canossa. Her grand marble tomb, carved by Gianlorenzo Bernini, bears an inscription that describes her as "a woman with a virile soul and champion of the Apostolic See, known for her piety, celebrated for her generosity."
In 1992 Michele Spike, an art historian living in Florence, encountered Matilda in a Mantua exhibition; she learned that Matilda had generously endowed abbeys in northern Italy, had worn armor and led troops into battle and that she was ...