Donizo (also Domnizo, Donizone) of

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 ...

, was an Italian

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and author in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. His work is an important source on

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 ...

and her

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

, and also on

Gregorian Reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–1080, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...

and the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest (, , ) was a conflict between church and state in medieval Europe, the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture), abbots of monasteri ...

more generally.

Life

Donizo was born , perhaps at Canossa or at Parma. He became a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Sant’Apollonio of Canossa . By 1136 he was abbot of the monastery.

Works

He composed several works in Latin, including the ''Enarratio Genesis'', a fragmentary commentary on the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

, of which 378

leonine verse Leonine verse is a type of versification based on an internal rhyme between a word within the line before a caesura and a word at the end, and commonly used in Latin verse of the European Middle Ages. The proliferation of such conscious rhymes, ...

s remain. His most famous work is the ''Vita Mathildis'' (''Life of Matilda'', Rome, Vatican, Bib. Apostolica, MS. Lat. 4922), written in leonine hexameters. The ''Life'' is divided into two books, the first of which entitled, ''De Principibus Canusinis'' (‘'On the princes of Canossa’'), concentrates on the ancestors of

, and their possession of the castle of Canossa; the second book focuses on Matilda herself. The ''Vita Mathildis'' was written between 1111 and 1115. It was completed shortly after Matilda died in July 1115 and was thus hastily re-dedicated to

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda (10 September 1167), also known as Empress Maud, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of Henry I, king of England and ruler of Normandy, she went to ...

. There are many later medieval epitomes (or versions) of Donizo's ''Life of Matilda''.Fourteenth-century manuscript of Donizo's ''Vita Mathildis''
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Notes

References

* * * Donizo of Canossa, ''Vita Mathildis'', in ''Vita di Matilde di Canossa'', ed. and (Italian) trans., P. Golinelli (Milan, 2008) {{authority control Italian Christian monks 11th-century Italian writers 12th-century Italian writers 12th-century writers in Latin Italian male writers Matilda of Tuscany