Dante’s Matelda: Queen, Saint, and Mother of Emperors

Dante’s Matelda, his guide through his Earthly Paradise, has been a source of perplexity for Dante scholars. This study summarizes discussions surrounding Matelda’s identity, concluding that the personage Dante most likely intended was Queen and Saint Matilda of Saxony, progenitor of the German line of Roman emperors, an identification that has never been fully explored. The contextual analysis supporting this identification examines Dante’s prefigurations of Matelda, his description of Matelda and her surroundings, and the many references to imperial, founding, and ruling women and mothers in Dante’s writings. Further supporting this identification is Dante’s concern for worldly justice and a revived empire that integrates the final cantos of Purgatorio with concerns in his Monarchia. The article then analyzes the manuscript traditions exalting Queen Matilda that Dante may have encountered; it concludes by arguing for consideration of the literal and figurative Matelda within the context of Dante’s imperial politics and dreams of justice.