After the fall of the Roman Empire (476) Florence was conquered by multiple armies:

• the Byzantines of Belisarius (541)
• the Ostrogoths of Totila (550)
• the Goths of Theodoric (552)
• the Lombards (570)
• the Carolingians of the emperor Lothair (822)

In 1076 Matilda of Canossa, who had already reigned alongside her mother, became at the age of 30 the sole undisputed sovereign of all the lands ranging from Corneto (now Tarquinia) to Lake Garda. In Florence, the clashes between the Patarine heretics and the clergy were contained as long as the Countess was alive.