The Grand Countess Matilde di Canossa, a rich feudal lord crowned vicereine of Italy by the emperor Henry V, who lived between 1046 and 1115, owned a pet blackbird which she was very fond of.
While she was staying at the Parlascio fortress in Casciana Terme, his blackbird fell ill. The great countess Matilde, in order not to be forced to witness the slow decay of her beloved blackbird, decided to free him.