History of Tuscany

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Tuscany is named after its pre-Roman inhabitants, the Etruscans. It was ruled by Rome for many centuries. In the Middle Ages, it saw many invasions, but in the Renaissance period it helped lead Europe back to civilisation. Later, it settled down as a grand duchy. It was conquered by Napoleonic France in the late 18th century and became part of the Italian Republic in the 19th century.

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[edit] Etruscan period

The name Tuscany comes from its first culture, the Etruscan Civilisation.

[edit] Roman period

Tuscany came under Rome in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Roman rule continued until the 5th century AD.

[edit] Mediæval period

In the Middle Ages, between the 5th and 13th centuries AD, Tuscany was involved in the kalaidoscopic changes brought about in Italy by numerous invasions. The main invaders to sweep over Tuscany in this period were the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Lombards, the Franks and the Germans.

[edit] Renaissance period

With the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire, the urban centres of northern and central Italy emerged as independent merchant city republics, the 'communes'. These high-achieving statelets gave birth to the Renaissance. Of particular significance to Tuscany are the communes of Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Livorno.

Though 'Tuscany' remained a linguistic, cultural and geographic conception, rather than a political reality, in the 15th century, Florence extended dominion in Tuscany through the purchase of Pisa in 1405 and the suppression of a local resistance there (1406). Livorno was bought in as well (1421). (Siena was more resistant. The Sienese commune was not incorporated into Tuscany until 1555, and during the 15th century Siena enjoyed a cultural 'Sienese Renaissance' with its own more conservative character. Lucca remained an independent Republic until 1847 when it became part of Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the will of its people.)

In the leading city of Florence, the republic was from 1434 onward dominated by the increasingly monarchical Medici family. Initially, under Cosimo, Piero the Gouty, Lorenzo and Piero the Unfortunate, the forms of the republic were retained and the Medici ruled without a title, usually without even a formal office. These rulers presided over the Florentine Renaissance. There was a return to the republic from 1494 to 1512, when first Girolamo Savonarola then Piero Soderini oversaw the state. Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici retook the city with Spanish forces in 1512, before going to Rome to become Pope Leo X. Florence was dominated by a series of papal proxies until 1527 when the citizens declared the republic again, only to have it taken from them again in 1530 after a siege by an Imperial and Spanish army. At this point Pope Clement VII and Charles V appointed Alessandro de' Medici as the first formally hereditary ruler.

[edit] Grand Duchy of Tuscany

[edit] Later Medici

For most of the 16th century the Medici ruled Florence and Tuscany quite successfully, expanding the state's territory greatly by acquiring Siena. The Medici were patrons of science and the arts which flowered for much of their reign. Tuscany became a more cohesive and unified state during these years, rather than simply the dominion of a dominating city, Florence.

As time went on, Tuscany was transformed in a number of ways, not always positively. Most importantly, the economy underwent a fundamental change in character. The wool industry was decimated during these later years, though the silk industry was, to some extent, able to replace it. Nonetheless, industry, which had shaped and sustained Florence since the Middle Ages, began to decline throughout the 17th century. Investment in business became less lucrative and there was some “re-feudalization” of the Tuscan state with many patricians investing in land instead of industry. Tuscany is generally agreed to have declined greatly by the early 18th century under a series of inept grand dukes.

The Medici dukes were as follows.

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine

After the Medici dynasty died out, there was a take-over by Habsburg-Lorraine rulers with extensive Austrian domains.

Known in Italy as Pietro Leopoldino, Leopold I was the only progressive reformer to rule Tuscany. He abolished the last vestiges of serfdom, encouraged trade and industry, and reformed the bureaucracy. During his long reign Tuscany became one of the most prosperous states in Italy. On 30 November 1786, he promulgated a penal reform making Tuscany the first sovereign state to abolish the death penalty. In this time period Tuscany was also known as a "Guild".

[edit] House of Bourbon-Parma

Ferdinand III was deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801 so that Tuscany could be given to the Bourbon Dukes of Parma as compensation for the loss of their duchy. During this brief period, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was known as the Kingdom of Etruria.

Tuscany/Etruria was annexed by Napoleonic France in 1807.

[edit] House of Bonaparte

In 1809 Napoleon gave his sister Elisa the honorary title of Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine

In 1814, after Napoleon's downfall, Ferdinand III was restored as grand duke. However, in 1815, the Congress of Vienna separated the Duchy of Lucca from Tuscany to give to the Bourbons of Parma in compensation for other losses. (Lucca would be reintegrated into Tuscany in 1847.)

[edit] Italian Republic

In 1860 Tuscany became part of modern Italy.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Strathern, Paul (2003), The Medici: The Godfathers of the Renaissance (ISBN 1-844-13098-3). Covers Florence and Tuscany under Medici.