Canossa

Canossa Castle crowns a rocky hill in the Apennine foothills south of Reggio. It was a stronghold of Matilda of Tuscany and the scene of the reconciliation of Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII in 1077, during the Investiture Controversy. Its walls protected a residence, a church and a small Benedictine community.

Troops from Reggio had destroyed the castle and church in 1255. After changing hands repeatedly, the castle returned to the Canossa family in 1402, but was ceded to the Este in 1409. Duke Ercole I appointed the poet Ludovico Ariosto as castellan in 1502; he stayed for six months. Later the dukes granted Canossa to the Rondinelli and Valentini families. In 1796 the local population expelled the Valentini and joined the Republic of Reggio.