Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Grand Duchy of Tuscany
*Magnus Ducatus Etruriae* (Latin)
*Granducato di Toscana* (Italian)
Grand Duchy of Tuscany Magnus Ducatus Etruriae (Latin); Granducato di Toscana (Italian)
1569–1801; 1814–1860
	Top: Flag (1532–1737); Bottom: Flag (1765–1800, 1815–1848, 1849–1860) Coat of arms under the Medici period; ; Coat of arms under the Habsburg-Lorraine period
	Motto: Sotto una Fede et Legge un Signor solo; (Italian for 'Under one Faith and Law one Lord alone')
	Anthem: La Leopolda;
	Borders of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1815–1847)
	Administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany at the end of 1847
Capital	Florence; 43°N 11°E / 43°N 11°E
Official languages	Italian
Religion	Roman Catholicism (official)
Government	Absolute monarchy (1569–1801, 1814–1848, 1852–1860); Constitutional monarchy (1848–1852);
Grand Duke
• 1569–1574 (first)	Cosimo I
• 1859–1860 (last)	Ferdinand IV
History
• Cosimo I elevated; to Grand Duke	27 August 1569
• End of Medici rule	9 July 1737
• Abolished during Napoleonic Wars	21 March 1801
• Re-establishment	30 May 1814
• Deposition of the Grand Duke	16 August 1859
• Merged to form the United Provinces of Central Italy	8 December 1859
• Annexed to Sardinia	22 March 1860
Population
• 1801	1,096,641
Currency	Tuscan lira (until 1826); Tuscan fiorino (1826–1859);
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	1569:; Duchy of Florence
	1814:; Arno
	Méditerranée
	Ombrone
1801:; Kingdom of Etruria
1860:; Kingdom of Sardinia
Today part of	Italy

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (Italian: Granducato di Toscana; Latin: Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence.^[2] The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population of the Grand Duchy was about 1,815,000 inhabitants.^[3]

Having brought nearly all Tuscany under his control after conquering the Republic of Siena, Cosimo I de' Medici, was elevated by a papal bull of Pope Pius V to Grand Duke of Tuscany on 27 August 1569.^[4]^[5] The Grand Duchy was ruled by the House of Medici until the extinction of its senior branch in 1737. While not as internationally renowned as the old republic, the grand duchy thrived under the Medici and it bore witness to unprecedented economic and military success under Cosimo I and his sons, until the reign of Ferdinando II, which saw the beginning of the state's long economic decline. That economic decline continued under Cosimo III.^[6]

Francis Stephen of Lorraine, a cognatic descendant of the Medici, succeeded the family and ascended the throne of his Medicean ancestors, which was bestowed upon him as compensation for the unwelcome loss of his ancestral Duchy of Lorraine. Francis was also a future Holy Roman Emperor with lands throughout Europe, so Tuscany was governed by his viceroy, Marc de Beauvau, Prince of Craon. His descendants ruled, and resided in, the grand duchy until its end in 1859, barring one interruption, when Napoleon Bonaparte gave Tuscany to the House of Bourbon-Parma (Kingdom of Etruria, 1801–1807), then annexed it directly to the First French Empire. Following the collapse of the Napoleonic system in 1814, the grand duchy was restored. In the lead up to the Italian unification the United Provinces of Central Italy, a client state of the Kingdom of Sardinia, annexed Tuscany in 1859. Tuscany was formally annexed to the kingdom the following year after a landslide referendum, in which 95% of voters approved.^[7]

^ United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; House of Commons, John Bowring, 1839, p. 6.
^ Strathern, Paul (2003). The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. London: Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-952297-3. pp. 315–321.
^ Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce (1862). Popolazione censimento degli antichi Stati sardi (1. gennaio 1858) e censimenti di Lombardia, di Parma e di Modena (1857–1858) pubblicati per cura del Ministero d'agricoltura, industria e commercio: Relazione generale con una introduzione storica sopra i censimenti delle popolazioni italiane dai tempi antichi sino all'anno 1860. 1.1 (in Italian). Stamperia Reale.
^ "bolla papale di Pio V". archeologiavocidalpassato (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-02-10.
^ "Cosimo I | duke of Florence and Tuscany [1519–1574]". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
^ "COSIMO III de' Medici, granduca di Toscana". Dizionario Biografico (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-04-25.
^ Cite error: The named reference Heraldica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; House of Commons, John Bowring, 1839, p. 6.

[2] Strathern, Paul (2003). The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. London: Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-952297-3. pp. 315–321.

[3] Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce (1862). Popolazione censimento degli antichi Stati sardi (1. gennaio 1858) e censimenti di Lombardia, di Parma e di Modena (1857–1858) pubblicati per cura del Ministero d'agricoltura, industria e commercio: Relazione generale con una introduzione storica sopra i censimenti delle popolazioni italiane dai tempi antichi sino all'anno 1860. 1.1 (in Italian). Stamperia Reale.

[4] "bolla papale di Pio V". archeologiavocidalpassato (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-02-10.

[5] "Cosimo I | duke of Florence and Tuscany [1519–1574]". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-02-10.

[6] "COSIMO III de' Medici, granduca di Toscana". Dizionario Biografico (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-04-25.

[Heraldica-7] Cite error: The named reference Heraldica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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