Letters and speeches of Holy Roman Empress Adelheid, daughter of king of the Rus', in chronicles and books in the late XI - XII centuries

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Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University

University of Verona

Letters and speeches of Holy Roman Empress Adelheid, daughter of king of the Rus', in chronicles and books in the late XI - XII centuries

Radvan D.V.

Kyiv, Ukraine

Verona, Italy

Support for Holy Roman Empress Adelheid (Adelaida, Praxedis, Prassede, Evpraksia Vsevolodivna) at the Legatine council of Constance in April 1094 and at the Papal council of Piacenza in March 1095 was recorded in chronicles and canon law books. The article analyzes information about correspondence, speeches and contacts of Empress Adelheid during 1089-1095, recorded in the primary sources of the late 11^th-12^th centuries, in particular, information about her letters to the pope and to the German bishops, quotations from her phrases, summaries of her speeches at the council of Constance in 1094 and at the council of Piacenza in 1095. The role of the Empress at the imperial court and the circle of dignitaries, who supported Adelheid, are outlined in the article. It will be stated that thanks to rhetoric, logic and knowledge of foreign languages the Holy Roman Empress of Kyivan origin acted in foreign environment independently, and, as the consequence, she gained support and allies and took risks to achieve personal goals leading to the political and ecclesiastical changes in Europe.

Key words: medieval, Latin, Empress Adelheid, Evpraksia Vsevolodivna, Papal Council, Comitissa Matilda of Tuscia, Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV

Радван Д.В. Листи і промови імператриці Священної Римської Імперії Адельгейди, доньки короля Русі, у хроніках і книгах кінця 11-12 століття.

Підтримка імператриці Священної Римської імперії Адельгейди (Аделаіди, Пракседіс, Прасседе, Євпраксії Всеволодівни) єпископським собором у Констанці у квітні 1094 року і папським собором у П'яченці у березні 1095 року увійшла в хроніки і книги канонічного права. У статті проаналізовано інформацію про листування, промови і контакти імператриці Адельгейди протягом 1089-1095 років, наявні у первинних джерелах кінця 11 - 12 століття, зокрема дані про листи Адельгейди до папи і німецьких єпископів, цитати з її висловлювань, а також записи її промов на єпископському соборі у Констанці у 1094 і на Папському соборі в П'яченці 1095 року. Визначено роль імператриці при дворі і коло високопосадовців, які підтримували Адельгейду. Стаття стверджує, що володіння риторикою, логікою та іноземними мовами дозволило імператриці Священної Римської Імперії київського походження діяти самостійно в іноземному середовищі і, як наслідок, здобути підтримку видатних світських і церковних особистостей тогочасної Європи і досягти особистих цілей, які призвели до змін у політичній і церковній сферах тогочасної Європи.

Ключові слова: середньовічний, латина, імператриця Адельгейда, Євпраксія Всеволодівна, Папський собор, комітісса Тусції Матильда, імператор Священної Римської Імперії Генріх IV.

Introduction

Evpraksia, daughter of Prince Vsevolod of Kyiv (ruled 10781093) and Princess Anna of Cumans (d. 1111), left Kyiv to Germany to become Adelheid, Margravine von Staden. Death of her husband Margrave Heinrich von Stade in 1087 caused her move from the family estate to the monastery in Quedlinburg under protection of Abbess Adelheid, the sister of Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV. She resided there in capacity of a betrothed of the Emperor and then left Saxony for Cologne, where in summer 1089 she was crowned Empress under the name of Adelheid and got married to Emperor Heinrich IV. In March 1090 she left Germany to accompany husband on his military expedition to Italy, and spent there the major part of her life as the Empress. After separation from husband with help of Comitissa Matilda of Tuscia and Heinrich's excommunication at the Papal council at Piacenza in March 1095 she left Italy in 1097 and returned to Kyiv via Hungary.

The aim of the article is to analyze extant records in Western European primary sources, which contain summaries of Adelheid's speeches and quotations from her letters and remarks. These texts provide information about communication of Kyivan princess in foreign environment and evidence of her knowledge of rhetoric and foreign languages. At the same time, they relate Adelheid's own account and analysis of circumstances of her life.

A circle of dignitaries at the imperial court, who might have supported Adelheid, is outlined in the article. It will be stated that the Holy Roman Empress of Kyivan origin acted in foreign environment linguistically independently, and she gained support and allies and took risks to achieve goals leading to the political and ecclesiastical changes in Europe.

Theoretical Background. The institution of queenship, roles and expectations imposed on medieval queens and female nobility were analysed by Teresa Earenfight (2013), Christof Mielke (2017), Penelope Nash (2017). Queen's influence on developments at court has been traced in introduction of new customs, patronage of arts, funding construction of churches and monasteries, commissioning jewelry, books and other objects, and giving royal gifts.

Queen, a noble female foreigner, was supposed to adapt to a very different and often hostile environment, while occupying the highest rank in her new country in capacity of consort of the king and of the state, in accordance with the symbolic formulas of power in the medieval Christian kingdoms. Queen was an attribute of institution of kingship, the promise of continuity of the dynasty and at the same time an ambassador of her native country abroad. Christian Raffensperger (2012) and Hartmund RuB (2006) focused on political and social opportunities and constraints, which Evpraksia Vsevolodivna had faced in capacity of the Holy Roman Empress. Linguistic adaptability of Kyivan Princess and her ability to act independently in foreign environment and according to foreign communication traditions are yet to be interpreted.

Methods. Diplomas of Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV, records in western European chronicles, books of theologians, biographies (vitae), written in the late 11^th century and in the 12^th century, as well as the secondary sources were analysed for the purpose of this interdisciplinary research with the aim to select and analyse extant information on Adelheid's speeches and letters. Adelheid's documented role at imperial court and a circle of chancellors and clergy who maintained contacts with the Empress were reconstructed and interpreted. This article analyses information related to period from 1089 (Adelheid's life in the Quedlinburg abbey and wedding in 1089) to Council at Piacenza in 1095.

Results and discussion

The main political figures in Western Europe of the period on the eve of the first crusade were mentioned by the contemporary chronicler Fulcher of Chartres in “Historia Hierosolymitana” (1913) and by the Saxon Annalist (1844). In 1094 “there was a separation between emperor Heinrich and his wife Adhelheid” (Annalista Saxo, 1844, p. 728). In 1095 Pope Urban II was the head of the Roman Church, Emperor Heinrich IV ruled in Germany, Alexios in Byzantium, King Philippe ruled in France, Comitissa Matilda of Tuscia supported Pope in all his endeavors (Fulcheri Cartonensis, 1913; Annalista Saxo, 1844, p. 728).

Adelheid's crowning in summer 1089 and her life as the Empress coincided with the new wave of important ecclesiastical developments in Europe. Papal legate in Germany, the French cardinal-bishop Odo of Chatillon-sur-Marne (10351099) was elected Pope Urban II in March 1088 and headed the Roman Catholic church until his death in July 1099. He travelled extensively over Western Europe for meetings and frequently convened councils, continuing church reforms of Pope Gregory VII. “Aside from offering venues for business of all kinds, their (councils') formal legislation, the conciliar canons, formed one of the chief building blocks of canon law and of papal monarchy in the High Middle Ages” (Somerville, 2013, p. 3). Giovanni Gaetani (John of Gaeta), cardinal-deacon of St Maria in Cosmedin, became chancellor in the papal chancery in September 1089. During his tenure of almost thirty years (until he was elected Pope under the name of Gelasius II in 1118, years of pontificate 1118-1119), the new standards for documentation were adopted (Morris, 1989, p. 168).

The imperial clergy, antireformist in ideology, was led by Antipope Clemens III. Archbishop of Ravenna Wibert, the former imperial Chancellor in Italy, was nominated by King Heinrich of Germany and elected Pope at the synod of Brixen in 1080 (the same synod deposed Pope Gregory VII). Antipope Clemens III crowned Heinrich emperor in 1084 and remained his ally to his own death in 1100. He had accompanied the Emperor in all his travels since February 1092.

Warlam, Bishop of Naumburg (1089-1111), ordained by Archbishop Hartwig of Magdeburg, went through the experience of service in the imperial antipapal clergy and the move to the adherers of the Pope. In the polemical theological book “De unitatae ecclesiae conservanda” he recorded Adelheid's status as the Emperor's bride. In 1088 Heinrich IV sent Archbishop Hartwig of Magdeburg, one of the so called German “warrior bishops” and by that time his most confident ally, with some contingents of his army, to liberate his sister Adelheid, the Abbess of the Quedlinburg Abbey, and his bride, besieged inside the castle of Quedlinburg by the rebellion marquis Ekbert of Meissen. Of danger imposed on the Abbey and importance of the bishop's assignment tells the fact that Ekbert on his way to Quedlinburg, fuelled by rage on the Emperor for depriving him of fortress in Thuringia, ravaged all around by sward and fire. Hartwig of Magdeburg reportedly sent a message to the marquis demanding from him to fight the Emperor. The marquis withdrew forces from Quedlinburg and departed to Gleichen in Thuringia, where he defeated the Emperor in a surprise attack (Liber de unitate ecclesiae conservanda, 1892, p. 262). The first encounter between Adelheid and Hartwig of Magdeburg took place in the Quedlinburg Abbey in 1088. Crowning of Adelheid was concelebrated in Cologne in summer 1089 by Archbishop Hartwig of Magdeburg (“Post illos autem dies, quibus haec quae diximus facta sunt Moguntiae, concelebrata est etiam Coloniae per eundem Hartvigum ordinatio Adalheidae reginae” (Liber de unitate ecclesiae conservanda, 1892, p. 248) before the wedding. The Saxon Annalist recorded Evpraxia's titles: widow of Margrave Heinrich von Stade, daughter of the King of the Rus' (“Heinricus inperator <...>, Heinrici supradicti marchionis de Stadhe viduam, filiam regis Ruzorum, ducens uxorem” (Annalista Saxo, 1844, p. 726).

The Holy Roman Empire consisted of Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Italy and Kingdom of Burgundy. Since “the Roman Emperors of the middle ages had no fixed capital, but moved from city to city” (Kollmorgen, 2009), Adelheid accompanied husband in his travels in Germany and on his military campaign to Italy, that he had launched against his cousin and subject Comitissa (Markgrafin) Matilda of Tuscia (also reffered to as Matilda of Canossa) on news of her political union with Bavarian Duke Welf IV and marriage with his son Welf V in 1089. Empress Adelheid had never dwelled relatively permanently in a palace of her own on the royal land, with which her name could be associated, and where she could oversee administration of households or fund construction of churches, as did another European royal of Kyivan origine, her aunt Anna, Queen of Franks, in property, assigned to her by her husband King Henri Capet (ruled 1031-1060) and son King Philippe I (crowned 1059, ruled 1060-1108).

The episcopal palace in Verona and the castrum outside might have been Heinrich's possible residences in Verona. He returned to Verona most frequently during all his stays in Italy until his departure to Germany in April 1097.

The imperial couple lived in the episcopal palace in Padua in 1090. The name of medieval via Rutena in Padua might have implied the settlement of Adelheid's Ruthenian compatriots. The court was accommodated in the palace in Mantua, although Cosma of Prague did not mention in “Chronica Boemorum” Adelheid's presence among bishops and nobility during his audience in Mantua in January 1092 (Cosma Pragensis, 1923, p. 156). Precise description of Romanesque urban landscape, that surrounded her in Italy, is complicated by the consequences of the disastrous earthquake of 1117 that demolished almost all the stone buildings to their foundations. The buildings of the same name in their present state are mostly the later reconstructions of the buildings constructed on the place of the ruined palaces. roman empress adelheid

Documented forms of influence that medieval queens had in their disposition were donations and interventions (official support provided to the petitioner and written down in the royal diploma). The only extant document, in which Adelheid acted as intervener and petitioner (“ob interventum et petitionem coniugis nostre Adalheit regine”) (Die Urkunden Heinrichs IV, 1959, pp. 537-538), was an imperial diploma issued on 14 August 1089 in Bamberg for Meinger, the ministerial of the church in Bamberg (the ministerials were unfree royal servants, intrusted with supervision of crown lands (Robinson, 2004)). He was given six royal estates in Ehrenbach. Adelheid's petition was supported by Hartwig of Magdeburg, Robert, Bishop of Bamberg, and Ulrich, Bishop of Eichstatt. The document is preserved in the Staatsarchiv Bamberg.

Of 28 extant diplomas of Heinrich IV, that had been issued from August 1089 to 1093 (no documents were issued during 1094, moreover, the sources did not mention any activities of the Emperor during that year), three documents (of 7 August 1089 in Regensburg, and two dated 1090 and 1091) survived either partly or as quotations, without paragraphs mentioning interveners. 12 diplomas had intervention clauses. Adelheid appeared as intervener in one of 12 diplomas. King Konrad of Italy, Heinrich's eldest son, acted as intervener in three diplomas, in one diploma he was mentioned as a judge. Bishop Oger of Ivrea, the chancellor, is mentioned as intervener in one diploma, five diplomas contain a clause referring to him as a person who had advised to make a decision. Several documents were issued on petition or request of clergy or nobility.

Operations of the German chancellery suffered decay after death of Archchancellor Wezilo in August 1088. Dietrich von GladiB and Alfred Gawlik (1941), who had analysed and published Heinrich's diplomas, remarked, that the office was undermanned and lacked institutional continuity, and the documents were drafted by the petitioners. The chancellery provided an eschatocol (a paragraph with name and title of scribe/chancellor and archchancellor responsible for issuance of the diploma and information about date and place of issuance) and the Emperor's monogram and seal (von GladiB & Gawlik, 1941).

Some Italian diplomas were produced en marche, amid hostilities, the petitioners could only ask people present on place to act as interveners. The diplomas were issued irregularly in wartime (the previous periods of Heinrich's reign were more productive in this regard), some diplomas survived partly, some original documents contained signs of the deliberate manipulation with names (name of Empress Agnes, mother of the Emperor, appeared as intervener in a diploma of 1078, a year after her death; Archhcancellor Routhard left service in 1099, yet he was mentioned in the eschatocol of diplomas in 1101, most probably to prove legitimacy of imperial decision (von GladiB & Gawlik, 1941)). Adelheid's sole known so fare intervention in Bamberg can be therefore considered as proportionate to the activities of chancellery and longevity of her marriage.

A closer look at dignitaries in chancellery who were in direct contact with the imperial family can provide information about the imperial entourage close to the queen, the people who might have supported her at the court and found it necessary to give the Empress the chance to leave the Emperor.

Adelheid's Bambergian diploma of 14 August 1089 was the first imperial document written by the newly appointed Chancellor Humbertus and attested by new Archchancellor Ruothard, Archbishop of Mainz. Humbertus was the last professional notary of the German branch of the imperial chancellery (von GladiB & Gawlik, 1941). In a diploma issued in Luttich on 15 July 1103 for the diocese and episcopal church in Bamberg, Humbertus was mentioned in the capacity of Archbishop of Bremen. His promotion tells that for twelve years before the appointment he had already occupied an important clerical post (von GladiB & Gawlik, 1941).

The chancellors accompanied the emperor to Italy to enforce the Italian branch and worked in teams operating in different places. Chancellor Humbertus and Archchancellor Ruothard worked in Italy in 1091 - 1096. They produced two diplomas in Verona in September 1091, two diplomas in Pavia on 12 May 1093 and two diplomas in 1096 (in Verona and in Verona/Padua), where Ruothard is mentioned also in the capacity of Archbishop of Mainz. Some Veronese diplomas were issued in the Abbey of San Zeno, that was traditionally favoured by the emperors. In 1099 the Archbishop of Mainz took side of the Emperor's youngest son Heinrich V, who was crowned that year (ruled 1099-1125). He served as his Archchancellor until the death of deposed Heinrich IV in 1106 and his own death in 1109.

Herimannus, a kinsman of Archbishop Hartwig of Magdeburg, worked at the German branch of the archchancellery and briefly headed it in 1088. He was appointed Archbishop of Cologne in summer 1089. He spoke both Latin and Greek and might have been in charge for Heinrich's contacts with Byzantium. He wrote his name and title in Greek in the eschatocol of two diplomas, issued in 1086. The bilingualism was so unusual for the Latin-language imperial documents, that his name and title in Greek were even copied in one forgery. Herimannus worked in Italy as Archchancellor from April 1090 to June 1095, he attested six diplomas (in April 1090 in Verona, in June 1090 in Rivalta, in January 1091 in Padua, in May 1091 for the monastery of St Felix and St Fortunatus near Vicenza, in Pavia in May 1093, in Mestre in June 1095, one document is undated).

Chancellor Oger, bishop of Ivrea, came to Italy earlier, in entourage of King Konrad, and served until his own death in 1095. Experienced in the Italian affaires, Oger von Ivrea played significant role in the imperial decision making process: five documents, composed by him, mention that the decision had been taken on his advice. When Mantua, the home city of Comitissa Matilda of Tuscia, had fallen to Heinrich IV in spring 1091, the emperor confirmed the privileges to the city of Mantua on intervention of king Konrad and “many requests” of Oger von Ivrea; in a diploma issued for the church of Mantua the chancellor himself acted as intervener. He reintroduced practice of writing names as monograms in the Italian chancellery. The model became fashionable and was appropriated even by Matilda of Tuscia, her scribes wrote the name Matilda/Mathildis as a monogram in eight documents issued after 1101 (Goez E. & Goez W., 1998, p. 10). Matilda's chaplain, deacon of church in Carpi Joannes, followed the style of the imperial chancellery in three Matilda's letters (Goez E. & Goez W., 1998, p. 322).

Bishop of Verona Sigimboldo (Sidebodo) held the office from 1080 to 1094 and died between 1094 and 1096. His activities are mentioned in documents dated 15 January 1089 and 13 March 1092. An Italian Cistercian monk and church historian of the 17^th century Ferdinando Ughelli wrote about bishop's virtues and efforts aimed at dissemination of education: “Episcopum Sigimboldum praeter caeteras virtutes assidua in populo erudiendo opera, atque in gentes prolixa liberalitas nobilitarunt” (Sidebodo, nd).

The Cathedral was the seat of bishop of Verona. Chapter of Canons, a monastery, subordinated to the bishop, was connected with the Cathedral. The main occupation of the canons, according to the Benedictine rules, was production of illuminated manuscripts with texts of the Holy Scripture and books for liturgy. The traditional number of canonical presbyters (priests) was twelve, of deacons seven (G.G. Meersseman cited by Ferrari, 2002, p. 31, comment 131). The library of the Chapter of Canons in Verona has been famous for a precious collection of manuscripts, of which the earliest is dated 1 August 517 and signed by the priest of the Cathedral Ursicino. In the end of the 11^th century Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona was a European intellectual centre with a rich collection of manuscripts.

Heinrich IV was known as a literate and educated individual, he could read the documents that had been sent to him. “Anonymi Chronica imperatorum” tells that he spent time among learned clerks singing psalms, reading and discussing scriptures and the liberal arts. Vita of Bishop Otto of Bamberg recorded that the binding of the Emperor's psalter was worn out from constant use, and he received with gratitude a new biding from the Bishop Otto, with whom he spent time singing psalms, whenever free from his imperial duties. The Emperor sang psalms during religious processions and public “crown-wearing” ceremonies, which he often arranged (Robinson, 2000, p. 352). His entourage compared him to King David.

The Italian branch of chancellery reflected his affection in the diplomas: quotations from the Bible, especially from the Psalter, were followed by the comments and served as a motivation statement for decision. One diploma also tells that rulings were made after thorough counselling as it had been prescribed in the Psalter.

Adelheid's opinion on the culture of psalmody at the court was recorded in the “Annales Palidenses”, the 12^th century chronicle of the Premonstratensian monastery in Pohlde (diocese of Mainz), compiled by Monk Theodorus. She asked the head of the Church, whether it was allowed to insist on psalmody in the toilet, and received a letter with the answer that Biblical Job was known for praising the Lord even in dunghill. Her question itself, laconic summary of her circumstances and request to help, deplored the hypocrisy of her husband's affection for signing of psalms. The reference to Job's sufferings was the way to encourage the queen.

Compared to the late 11^th century sources, the “Annales Palidenses” were more informative on Adelheid's character, virtues and problems in marriage to the tyrant or Nero, as he was often referred to by the contemporary adversaries. Monk Theodorus wrote about Adelheid's austerity, a quality for which the order of Canons Regular of Premontre, established in 1120, was famous. Adelheid, called Agnes in the chronicle (either a mistake or a deliberate choice, because the meaning of the name Agnes in Greek is `holy, pure', and the Latin word `agnus' means `lamb') was described as honest and the most chaste queen, who bravely and wittingly disclosed attempts of her husband to falsely accuse her in fictional adultery. The royal council supported the queen and made ruling that ordered the king to abstain from further attempts to humiliate her. On the day of Pentecost, when the emperor eventually succeeded, Archbishop of Mainz Ruothard, having received the news, not only arrived and intervened to interrupt the crime of dishonor, but also informed the pope in writing of the committed inhumanity. It is not clear from the chronicle, whom the Archbishop sent the letter, although we can presume that it was Antipope Clement III, because the excommunication imposed to Heinrich IV as a punishment was brief, and Ruothard still held the position of the Archchancellor in 1096.

Confrontation between Adelheid and Heinrich IV was a domestic affair, interweaved with the politics. The fates of the empresses of the earlier periods depended on their virtues, but also on rumours and false accusations. Empress Cunigunde (975-1040), the chaste queen, who supported her husband Emperor Henry II's (973-1024) decision to establish bishopric in Bamberg with funding from her own dowry, had to walk over the glowing ploughshares to prove her innocence and fidelity to the husband (Ansatt, 2023) (they both were buried in the cathedral in Bamberg and canonized more than a century later). Queen Judith, the second wife of Louise the Pious (778-840), Charlemagne's son, was exposed to trials on false accusations in infidelity, fueled by the order of inheritance in favour of the children from his first marriage. There is a remarkable set of coincidences in the biographies of Luis the Pious and Heinrch IV that could lead to the idea that a certain imperial mystery of the 9^th century symbols was ostentatiously replayed in the late 11^th century, although the final was different. They both did the voluntary penance of sins, the Carolingian emperor at Attigny in 822 and the Salian emperor in Canossa in 1077, the choice of their second spouses was their own (Louis chose the bride in the Byzantine-styled contest of noble beauties), they both were deposed by their sons, their reign, as Contreni (2023) observed, was the longest among the medieval emperors, with Louis the Pious' 26 years superseded by Heinrich IV's 50 years.

Gerhoh of Reichersberg (1093/94-1169) was a prominent theologian, who wrote extensively on clergy reforms. His “Libellus de simoniacis” includes the canons of Council of Piacenza, he might have used the entire textus receptus of the legislation from Piacenza (Somerville, 2013, p.84) and therefore had first-hand information about ruling on Adelheid's complaint. He analyzed the case of Adelheid from the point of view of the church reformer in the chapter on abominations in Liber I of “De investigatione antichristi” (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, pp. 324-325). Adelheid, whom he called Gisila, daughter of king of the Ruthenians (“regis Ruteni filiam, nomine Gisilam” (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324)), was the first person who objected to participate in the worships of impiety. In account of Gerhoh, Adelheid got married to Heinrich completely unaware of his worship practices. Neither his first wife Berta, nor other women spoke of it, suffering silently. The Empress experienced the worship of impiety firstly observing others and finally personally, she kept silence because of the shame of the women, but the enormity of crimes had overcome the matronly patience, and she informs about the matter the faithful bishops and priests of Christ, flees and secretly deliberates the separation (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324). The escape took place during the royal trip from the Cisalpine to Lombardy. “She is reported to have said, among other things, that she was justly beset by grief, and that she should detract from the feeling that she has been so prostituted by her own husband that she cannot know from whom she has conceived a child” (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324). According to Gerhoh of Reichersberg, the bishops persuaded the Queen to depart on the royal trip (being pregnant she could decline participation in the worships and the travel itself). Adelheid, however, availed this opportunity to flee with the help of “some God-fearing men”.

The God-fearing men were Matilda of Tuscia and a small troop led by her husband Welf V, son of Duke of Bavaria Welf IV, approximately of the same age as the Empress and German-speaking, which was an asset for the assignment in view of the Emperor's German entourage. Matilda and Welf hospitably received Adelheid in Matilda's castle of Canossa, providing her with care and showing respect according to her imperial status.

Adelheid was kept in custody in Verona most probably after the Pentecost 1091 or 1092. The rescue operation led to decisive shift in favour of Matilda's forces marked by series of her victories over the Emperor's army starting from October 1092. Imprisonment of king Konrad in April 1093 by his own father Heinrich IV, Konrad's subsequent flight to Milan, joining Matilda's pro-papal group and crowning king of the Lombards took place after Adelheid's escape.

The sources report on secret exchange of messages between Adelheid and Matilda prior to escape. The most reliable information was recorded by the witness and, probably, the participant of the events, Donizone (1070-1136) in a poem “Vita Mathildis”, known also as “Carmine scripta a Donizone Presbytero” (1111-1115): trembling with fear of the husband, as a lamb fears of a wolf's teeth, Praxedis secretly asks Matilda for protection and seeks separation from husband (“Sic timet ipsa virum, dentem velut agna lupinum,/ Cumque timore tremit, furtim munimina quaerit / Mathildis, poscens ut eam disiungat ab hoste” (Vita Mathildis, 1930-1940, pp. 79-80). Paxedis also states that she and Matilda confront the same enemy.

The anonymous author of “Vita Comitissae Mathildis” (the so called “Epitome Polironese”) relates, that Queen Praxedis abhorred the atrocity of her husband and secretly negotiated a divorce with the Comitissa (“Contigit inter haec imperatoris infelix augurium, nam uxor eius regina Praxedis, ipsius flagitia abhorrens, secreto cum Comitissa tractavit divortium” (Vita Comitissae Mathildis, 1724, p. 395)).

Why Matilda? Brother of Matilda's stepfather Gottfried of Lorraine, Frederic de Lorraine, who was elected Pope Stephen IX (years of pontificate 1058-1059), had visited Kyiv in the second half of 1054 as a member of the Papal delegation led by Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida. Prince Vsevolod was in Kyiv in February 1054 at the deathbed of his father Prince of Kyiv Yaroslav. He might have been in Kyiv until autumn, waiting for arrival of the new ruler Prince Iziaslav, and might have met the delegation.

Matilda herself was briefly kept hostage as a child together with her mother by Heinrich III. She was a friend of Heinrich IV's mother-in-law Adelaide of Turin and his first spouse Berta, whom she hosted at Canossa (Golinelli, 2011). She was a witness of Heinrich's penance in Canossa and his advocate before Pope Gregory VII in 1077. A highly intellectual woman, she supported outstanding theologians (Anselm of Lucca, Donizone, Bonizone of Sutri, Anselm of Canterbury) at her court and founded a law school, the Studium, in Bologna in 1088, that later developed into the oldest European University. A powerful subject of the Emperor, who's lands were exposed to his military attacks in 1090s, Comitissa Matilda of Tuscia united Lombardian forces against the imperial army, counterattacked and defeated Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV.

Gerhoh of Reichersberg informs that Adelheid sent letters to the bishops of Germany, in which she explained the causes of her flight and separation from her husband and thus made a public complaint. According to the 12^th century theologian, the mystery of iniquity, that previously had been told in darkness, was taken into the light and told publicly, as far as the public hearing could admit (“Dumque, ubi poterat, delitesceret missis ad episcopos Germaniae litteris causas fugae ac separationis publica manifestat querimonia sique iniquitatis misterium, quod prius dicebatur in tenebris, cepit in luce et publico dici, quantum tamen publicus auditus poterat admittere” (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324)).

Adelheid's rhetoric can be traced in the chronicle of Bernold of Constance. He wrote under the year 1094, that the wife of the Emperor had suffered many injuries for a long time, and had been guarded for many years so that she would not run away. She finally fled to Welf, and complained that she had suffered so many and such unheard-of evils among her own people, that she did not doubt that she would find mercy even among her enemies. She was not disappointed in her hope. The Duke and his wife Matilda received her gratefully, and treated with honor (Bernoldi Chronicon, 1854).

One addressee of Adelheid's letter, Gebhard, Bishop of Constance (10841110), Vicar Apostolic for Germany, convened a Legatine synod of German bishops in Constance in April 1094. It was attended by innumerous abbots, clergy and German princes. The synod, at which i.a. “wholesome ecclesiastical reforms were decreed” (Ott, 1908), dealt with complaint of Queen Praxedis who had recently left her husband and attended synod to present her case. According to Bernold of Constance' records of her speech, she complained that she had suffered so many and such unheard-of acts of fornication, and that she had suffered from so many, that even among her enemies she could very easily excuse her flight, and win sympathy of all Catholics for her injuries (Bernoldi Chronicon, 1854, p. 458). Thus, the first ruling was made in her favour and the Saxon chronicler records separation between emperor Heinrich and his wife in 1094 (Annalista Saxo, 1844, p. 728). Hugh, Archbishop of Lyon and Papal legate in France, convened the same year a general council at Autun, at which excommunication of Heinrich IV and antipope Wibert was renewed.

According to estimations of Bernold of Constance, approximately 4000 clerics from Italy, France, Germany, Burgundy, Spain and Portugal, and 30,000 laity participated at the council of Piacenza, held outside the town on 1-7 March 1095. A ruling on Adelheid's case at the council of Piacenza is written in the chronicle of Bernold of Constance. “In this synod Queen Praxedis, long separated from Henry, complained to the lord pope and the holy synod about her husband, regarding the unheard-of filth of fornication that she suffered at his hands. The lord pope with the holy synod received her complaint very mercifully, since he recognized for certain both that she had not initiated such filthiness and also had endured it unwillingly. Whence with clemency he absolved her of the penance that ought to be imposed for disgraces of this sort - she who willingly and publicly was not ashamed to confess her sin” (Somerville, 2003, pp. 54-55).

The justice system in the Kingdom of Germany offered the possibility to resolve conflicts at courts. There were court proceedings on cases involving German aristocrats and the Emperor as the sides, with the decisions taken in favour of Heinrich IV. The Queen addressed the Church as the sole contemporary institution that had the authority to resolve her issue, firstly in her own kingdom, where she received full support, and then at the highest level at the Papal synod at Piacenza. Issue that she raised, seen as her personal, would immediately revoke the sufferings of martyrs of the earliest periods of Christianity. Queen Adelheid however provided the ecclesiastic authorities with the instrument to punish the perpetrators and combat the heresy. According to Donizone (Vita Mathildis, 19301940), facta malorum were condemned at the council. The Emperor and antipope Wibert were condemned at the council as heretics and enemies of the Lord. Praxedis and Matilda were present after these words, pope said farewell to both ladies and departed to France (Vita Mathildis, 1930-1940).

Ancestor of Matilda of Tuscia, Adalbert Atto, a vassus and then a count, hosted in Canossa Adelheid of Burgundy, the nineteen years old widowed queen of Lombards (c.931-999), who fled from imprisonment at the castle of Garda and with his support got help from King Otto I, her future husband and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Canonization of the Ottonian Empress Adelheid of Burgundy took place shortly after the decisions taken at the Council of Piacenza in favour of the Salian Empress Adelheid. Coincidence can be interpreted as remarkable, it highlighted the strength of these two queens and their supporters.

The Lucca Antiphonary (Lucca, Biblioteca Capitolare), created ca 1112 by the female artists and scribes of the Benedictine monastery at Pontetetto near Lucca, presents a strikingly new idea of portraits of female saints and martyrs, and Biblical heroines (Vandi, 2012). Agatha, Cecilia, Lucia, Agnes, Ester, whose portraits are framed by the capital letters, point with their hands at sentences further on the page, containing their life story and spiritual motto, as if they were talking directly to readers. The idea of visual presentation of a speaking woman could have been also shaped by news of the unprecedented appearance and speech of Empress Adelheid at the Papal council at Piacenza, of which Humbrina, Abbess of this monastery, could have been informed by Rangerius, Bishop Lucca from 1096, who himself belonged to Matilda's scholarly court (Nash, 2017, p. 52) and had direct connections with the papal chancellery.

Gerhoh of Reichersberg informed that Adelheid returned to the kingdom of Ruthenia for security reasons. Heinrich had been released and was trying to win his wife back, sending envoys everywhere (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324). L.Simeoni suggested that Matilda had helped Adelheid to return home and that Matilda's close contacts with Rus', of which wrote Donizone, were established afterwards (Simeoni, 1930-1940). Ch. Raffensperger (2013), commenting Eupraxia's travel home, assumed that she had attendants with whom she would travel.

Adelheid took veil and entered monastery on 6 December 1106, four month after death of Heinrich IV in Luttich (Liege), and passed the rest of her life “in holy widowhood” (Gerhoh Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324)). “The Tale of Bygone Years” wrote under the year 1109: “Evpraxia, the daughter of Vsevolod, died on July 10 and was laid in the Crypt Monastery by the southern portal. A chapel was built over her in which her body lies” (translation Hazzard Cross & Scherbowitz-Wetzor, 1953, p. 204).

Conclusions and perspectives

Adelheid's letters and speeches were cited by the theologians of the late 11^th and the 12^th century and analyzed in terms of achievements of the church reform. Adelheid's case was also discussed in the canonical literature of the 12^th century by the prominent canon lawyers.

Bernold of Constance left accounts of Adelheid's speeches at the Legatine council at Constance in April 1094 and the Papal council at Piacenza in March 1095 in his late 11^th century chronicle. Information about exchange of messages between Adelheid and Matilda of Tuscia is recorded in Donizone's “Vita Mathildis” and the later “Vita Comitissae Mathildis” by the anonymous author. “Annales Palidenses” and Gerhoh of Reichersberg's book “De investigatione antichristi” contain information about her letters to the pope and the high-ranking clergy in Germany and quotations of Adelheid's phrases, providing examples of her witty bitter rhetoric. Records about her decision to explain the causes of the flight and separation to the German bishops in written, and the decision of clergy to handle the sensitive information “as far as the public hearing could admit” (Gerhohi Praepositi Reichersbergensis, 1897, p. 324) provide important insight into the court proceedings of the late 11^th century.

While at the imperial court, during her martyr-like life as the emperor's wife, she was helped by Routhard, Archbishop of Mainz, and the imperial council. She gained support of Comitissa Matilda of Tuscia and Welf V, the German bishops in her own kingdom and high-level clergy from different European countries at Piacenza. She communicated as a person to be counted with not only by her high status by birth and by marriage, but also as educated witty personality, who shared her observations and experience without any linguistic constraints. Rhetoric and logic of her speeches, remarks and comments were cited by the prominent intellectuals even a century later.

The case of Adelheid's courageous self-defence was the subject in canon law books of the 12^th century. Indeed, it provided the example of collective united response of the Christian community to the act of violence, single on her own example yet concerning many silent victims.

A cknowledgements.

The article presents results achieved during the authors ' stay in Verona, Italy, as a Visiting Researcher at the Department of Cultures and Civilisations of the University of Verona. The author extends her deep gratitude to the University of Verona for support and funding the research project and to Academic Supervisor Dr Marco Stoffella for his support, providing access to books, libraries and scientific institutions and for commenting this article. The author is grateful to the libraries of the University of Verona and the University of Padua for providing access to their rich collections and for friendly support.

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