The Haunting of Poppi Castle
The Haunting of Poppi Castle
For believers in the supernatural, and for a few others that are undetermined on the legitimacy of ghosts, castles are unequivocally haunted. Castles are old, many with violent history that would make even a casual believe suspect that if a place was going to be haunted, that castle is it.
Built overlooking the Arno River in Italy, Poppi Castle is an extraordinary example of Medieval Italian architecture. Caselli Toscani describes the castle as, “the most important medieval monument of the whole Casentino area. Unlike all the other castles and architectures of the zone it wasn’t wasted by the time or ruined by the men.”
The date of its construction is listed as 1191, however, based on the architecture of the castle, it is believed that the foundation dates back two or three hundred years prior to that date. Poppi Castle boasts a high tower. One important note for medieval architecture enthusiasts, the tower is not the original one. It is now connected to the rest of the castle by a curtain wall. Previously, the different parts of the castle were independent structures built in a way to make the castle more defendable.
Ownership of the castle belonged to the counts of Guidi, until they surrendered the structure to the Florentine Republic in 1440. It is from this family that the castle gets its resident ghost. It is not known when this particular specter came to reside in the castle, or at what date they died. Whenever she died, she is said to be absolutely beautiful. She has maintained her attractiveness even in death.
At some date, in between the construction of the castle in 1191 and the relinquishing of it in 1440, a lovely, young woman named Matilda resided in the castle. Whether by birth or marriage, the detail is unknown and varies between legends, Matilda came into the family. Either way, when she did marry, she lived in the castle with her husband; a man described as elderly, stern, and uncaring in regards to his new wife. Marriages in this class centered upon wealth, status, and politics. The happiness and pleasures of his wife were, apparently, not on her husband’s mind. He preferred to spend long weeks away on military business.
Matilda was left at the castle in a lonely state, with an empty bed. After a time, she began to send servants to the village to b ring back eligible, young men to complete work around the castle. A sort-of civic duty, if you will. The wealthy mistress of the castle, offering jobs to the lesser fortunate people who lived under the rule of the Guidis. They believed they would be well paid and taken care of by her. Little did they know until they arrived at the castle, what all being “taken care of” would entail with the beautiful Matilda.
After completing their work for the day, Matilda would offer overnight accommodations for specific workers. Assumedly, the more attractive ones. They were offered a place to sleep in her chamber. While any additional malicious details were not included in the part of her story about her unhappy marriage. Between retribution from her husband, and a consideration of the family status, Matilda could not, would not, be caught with a lover. She devised a plan. If one less person knew her secret, then there was less of a chance of malicious gossip and rumors reaching her husband’s ears.
Before sunrise the morning after each illicit rendezvous, she would send the men out a back door of the castle. As they went out the door, a second door, a trapdoor, would open in the floor, sending the men down onto a pile of broken glass and sharp razor blades. None of these men were ever seen again. The legend states that their deaths delighted Matilda.
The initial love affairs may have been kept secret, but, countless young men going missing from the village was sure to draw attention. It would have been known where they were last known to have been going, to Poppi Castle. If Matilda truly was one of the first female serial killers, she would not have been on the spectrum of the more intelligent or crafty ones. She reveled in the affairs and the death; both gave her power. That power was not enough to protect her from the rumors in the village or the questions as to the disappearances of attractive, young villagers.
In time, the villagers rose against her, not knowing the extent of her crimes or having evidence to prove anything. The townspeople stormed the castle and sealed all the doors to the tower, preventing Matilda from escaping. She died slowly and alone. From her mortal coil, her spirit arose, still locked in the tower.
When people see her spirit, it is said that she is dressed in white. The reason that the ghost is tied to the legend of Matilda is due to how ravishingly beautiful the ghost is when they see her. These stories also say that she stands in the part of the castle where she was imprisoned and died. This area is now called the ‘Torre dei Diavoli,’ or, in English, the ‘Tower of Devils.’
Looking at the story, surely, there would have been bodies, or gossiping servants to supply the necessary tools to prove that Matilda was guilty and her punishment, for the time, adequate. It also leaves questions as to exactly how long her husband was gone. Typically, when nobles were married during this time, there were designs to get an heir. The couple could live apart afterwards. Not to mention, that accounts of this story all seem to date following the political upheaval in the area and the exile of the Guidi family. During those troubled times, the family had supported Milan instead of Florence. In 1440, Florence took possession of the castle.
The overall feel of the story is reminiscent to that of another real life, powerful woman with political enemies, Countess Elizabeth Báthory. The countess has become immortalized a female serial killer, one of the first on record. Unlike Matilda’s story with young men from the village, Elizabeth chose her victims from the young women of the village. She enjoyed having the girls tortured and murdered, before bathing in their blood to maintain her beauty. There is little wonder as to why she is viewed as having vampiric tendencies in the folklore. Her murderous spree began with the lesser gentry. It was when she became thirsty for the blood of daughters of more noble families, that she was brought to trial.
Countess Báthory and her servants were arrested on December 30, 1609. Three of her servants were executed for taking part in her crimes. She never received a trial, instead she was placed under house arrest and forbidden from leaving the castle. Legends likes to say that she was bricked inside of it, that claim is unsubstantiated. As for the question of her husband, Count Ferencz Nádasdy died in 1604.
While it is known that the countess was a real person, her legend is similar to Matilda in a variety of ways. Again, all of the accusations against her were likely based in politics. The countess was powerful, even more so after her husband’s death. It was not until his death, that the rumors of the killings began to arise. The King of Hungary order her cousin, the count palatine of Hungary, to investigate the claims. After she imprisoned in her castle, the other members of her family, including the ones investigating her, took control of her lands. They reached an agreement with the king that if he allowed the family to be in control of her captivity, they would forgive the massive debt that he owed to Báthory. Politics, land, money-owed, both of these stories can also bear a striking resemblance to several witchcraft trials. It was dangerous to be a woman with property. Of course, there was evidence of testimonies and accusations laid against the countess. What is there to say that those accusations were true. Women have been accused of witchcraft and worse without any actual evidence.
It is possible that both women were the victims of slander, and not as villainous as they are portrayed in legend. If the ghost of Matilda does haunt the castle, perhaps it is not her deeds that have led her to remain captive. The actions of others can just as easily cause a haunting effect on a place.
Regardless as to whether or not ghosts exist in a supernatural sense, this castle is haunted by the past. The conflict that led to the Guidi family losing the castle had been going on for centuries. The Guidi family being in the later portion of the events between the two sides. References to the earlier violence and unrest can be read in Dante's Inferno. As with the Guidi family, Dante was on a losing side. He took his anger out in the work by devising horrible tortures for those who he considered enemies and traitors to his cause. For instance, his Florentine enemy, Filippo Argenti, who is trapped in the Fifth Circle of Hell. In Canto VIII, Argenti is torn to pieces by shades. Inferno just further proves how deep seeded the political anger was, and the lengths one would go to write tales that damage the reputation of the opposing side.
When the fierce soul departs from the body from which it has uprooted itself, Minos sends it to the seventh mouth. It falls into the wood, and no place is assigned to it, but where chance hurls it, there it sprouts like a grain of spelt. It grows into a shoot, then a woody plant; the Harpies, feeding on its leaves, give it pain and a window for the pain. Like the others, we will come for our remains, but not so that any may put them on again, for it is not just to have what one has taken from oneself. Here we will drag them, and through the sad wood our corpses will hang, each on the thornbush of the soul that harmed it.
- Dante Alighieri, Inferno
References:
Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise. New York: The Union Library Association, 1935.
“Conti Guidi Castle – Poppi,” Castelli Toscani. (10/5/2023) Conti Guidi Castle - Poppi - Arezzo (castellitoscani.com)
Mingren, Wu, “Poppi Castle and the Murderous Madam Matilda”. Ancient Origins. 11, June, 2016. Poppi Castle and the Murderous Madam Matilda | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net)
Pallardy, Richard. "Elizabeth Báthory". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Aug. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Bathory. Accessed 6 October 2023.
Quinn, Donna, “The Legend of the Beautiful Lady Matilda in Poppi Castle”. Tuscany Villas. 22 August, 2013. Learn About The Gru
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