ABSTRACT
Ordinarily, the tombs of noble families are concentrated in a single location, at least in Italy, but in the case of the Attonid dynasty – from Bonifacio and Beatrice to Matilda (d. 1115) – the family tombs were dispersed so as to create a geography of power, intertwined with that of saints whose cults were housed in churches which were reconstructed with the encouragement of members of the family. Donizone, Matilda of Canossa’s biographer, tells us that Matilda arranged for Roman sarcophagi to be used for the burial of her ancestors in the fortress at Canossa. Matilda’s father, Bonifacio, was buried in Mantua while Beatrice, Matilda’s mother, was buried in the so-called Phaedra sarcophagus now in the Camposanto at Pisa. Matilda herself was first buried in San Benedetto Po, though her remains were transported to Rome in the 17th century to be placed in a tomb designed by Bernini within St Peter’s. Matilda was then beatified. The lives of these nobles were intertwined with the cults of the saints who they had translated to various churches with which they were associated. The geography of power and the veneration of relics overlapped. Indeed, burial of both nobility and clergy in reused sarcophagi, usually of Roman origin, became important during the 11th century and can be found around the cathedrals of many cities – from Salerno to Florence. In the Attonid domains examined here, burials in reused sarcophagi adjacent to the cathedrals of Modena and Pisa are well attested.
