Tuscany history: relevant facts of policy, art and culture about Tuscany

TUSCANY HISTORY

Tuscany history goes from the prehistory to nowadays, being extremely relevant from the Middle Age for the birth of Italian language. It starts from the VIII century b.C.: with the Etruscans, then won by the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the region was dominated by the Ostrogotes and then the Byzantines, then it was conquered by the Longobards (569). During their domination it became dukedom with Lucca like the main city (Tuscia Dukedom). In the XI century Pisa became the most powerful town in Tuscany with an extension as wide as the Tyrrenic Tuscany of the Marinara Republic. In the XII century the period of Municipal corporations started and Lucca became the first municipality in Italy. The first kinds of democracy and the art corporations were born, those elements made Tuscany a special example of cultural, social and economic autonomy. Amongst the cities of the region the Municipality-Signory of Florence established itself with culture, economics and military. Around 1300 and 1400 Tuscany and especially Florence strongly contributed to the Italian Renaissance, thanks to many important artists and men of letters.

Since the XII century, Tuscany divided itself in many states, amongst those little new states the Republic of Florence and the Republic of Siena were the most important ones. During the XV century the Medici family, that had become rich thanks to the banks and had got politic relevance in the institutions of Republic since the XV century, ascended the government. Since Lorenzo il Magnifico, the power of Medici consolidated and Cosimo de’ Medici got the title of Duke of Tuscany and then in 1569 the title of Granduke of Tuscany. The Medici family went on governing Tuscany up to the 1737. The Gran dukedom of Tuscany passed on the Lorena family. The most important innovation wanted by the family Lorena with the Gran Duke Pietro Leopoldo was the abolition of the death penalty, a very special innovation for the historical period. The unique interruption of the government of the family Lorena was the Napoleonic period that took since 1814. The last Gran Duke of Tuscany was Leopoldo II that governed up to the entrance of the Tuscan territory in the Italian state.

The period of the family Lorena for Tuscany was a progressive period from the government of Pietro Leopoldo (that reformed the l egal code) up top the last grn duke that got positive results thanks to the building of the firs railways, the creation of the land registry and the reclamation of Maremma. The passage to the Italian State was possible thanks to a plebiscite that was promoted by Temporary Government of Tuscany that decide the entrance in the Kingdom of Sardegna and in the young Kingdom of Italy. Waiting for the moving of the Capital to Rome that happened in 1870, Florence had the Government as guest for 5 years, becoming the centre of Italian culture and policy. Since this moment the history of Tuscany is the same of the Italian State, but always keeping its own peculiarity that distinguishes it from all the other regions.