Boniface III, Margrave of Tuscany

Who was Boniface III, Margrave of Tuscany?

Boniface III, son of Tedald of Canossa and the father of Matilda of Canossa, was the most powerful north Italian prince of his age. By inheritance he was Count of Brescia, Canossa, Ferrara, Florence, Lucca, Mantua, Modena, Pisa, Pistoia, Parma, Reggio, and Verona from 1007 and, by appointment, Margrave of Tuscany from 1027 until his assassination in 1052. He was the son of the Margrave Tedald and Willa of Bologna. The Lombard family's ancestral castle was Canossa and they had held Modena for several generations. They possessed a great many allodial titles and their power lay chiefly in Emilia.

Boniface was probably associated with his father before the latter's death. In 1004, with the title marchio, he donated land to the abbey of Polirone, and he appears in two documents of the same year as gloriosus marchio. He kept his court at Mantua, which he transformed into a city of culture:

In 1014, Boniface aided the Emperor Henry II in putting down Arduin, Margrave of Ivrea, self-styled King of Italy, a royal title that the Emperor did not recognise. His father nominated him as heir over his brothers and, in 1016, he was again fighting alongside the emperor, this time against the Margrave of Turin, Ulric Manfred II.