History of Tuscany Italy - Travel Guide & Information

This description page of Tuscany, will guide you in planning your trip to Italy and help you to find useful travel information about the history of this Italian Region.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, Toscana lay largely under water.  Inland areas were submerged beneath large lakes and its coastal strip was almost completely covered. The hills leading down to Lucca and on to Livorno and Monte Argentario in the south were islands. As the lakes receded and river basins were formed, the low-lying silt deposits built up to form what are now the modern day Tuscan plains of Firenze, Pisa, Grosseto, and Pistoia.

Prehistoric man left his mark on many parts of the region.  Up to the Iron Age there is evidence of tribal settlements, usually in woodlands near lakes or rivers or in hillside caves and gorges, away from the dangers of the swamps and marshlands. These primitive settlements were found in many parts of Toscana, and it 't until the 1st century BC that the advanced Etruscan civilization would change the landscape forever.  Modern Toscana corresponds to the larger part of ancient Etruria, and most of what we know about the Etruscan civilization comes from these findings.

Who the Etruscans were is far from clear. Some say they came to Italy by sea from the Far East, others that they came down from northern Europe, and still others claim they are descended from the “Pre-Italians” of the Bronze Age. What is clear is that they formed the first consistent civilization in Toscana.

Originally settling around the rivers Arno and Tiber, their reach eventually extended as far as Liguria to the north, and down through Umbria and into Lazio to the south. They were exceptional road builders and able seafarers and…they were artists.  The exquisite art work and jewelry, their tombs and “cities of the dead” (necropolis) have survived the centuries, revealing much of what we know about the Etruscans today.

Talented, artistic and creative, the Etruscans were also enterprising with an innate sense of organization and social order. Their communities exemplified both political and social stability.  Towns were self-governing.  The inhabitants shared a strong sense of national and religious identity. Aside from Greece, no other European civilization can claim such longevity--Etruscan settlements such as Cortona, Arezzo, Fiesole (close to Firenze), Chiusi, and Volterra are thousands of years old!

With invasion from the Greeks, Gauls, and Carthigians, and then by the power of Rome, the Etruscan demise was relatively swift, but the strong influence of the Etruscan civilization and language could not ignored by the conquering Romans.  Eventually, the Etruscan ruling class was absorbed into Roman civilization. Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Firenze, and Pistoia, were all founded by the Romans. By the beginning of the 3rd century BC the Roman colonization of Toscana was almost complete.

The fall of the Roman Empire saw a flurry of barbarian invasions. A Lombard duchy during the 6th-8th centuries AD, with Lucca as its capital, it came under Frankish rule during the 8th–12th centuries. Matilda, the last Frankish ruler, bequeathed her lands to the papacy, causing causing strife between the popes and emperors. Eventually, Toscana became part of the papacy lands, causing a long-lasting dissension between popes, emperors, and their backers—the Guelph (pro-papal) and Ghibelline (pro-imperial, the most famous Ghibelline being Frederick Barbarossa).  Despite the conflict and in spite of allegiances, key figures became increasingly wealthy and independent. This marked the beginning of the Tuscan Communes with their impressive craftsmanship and trading prowess that rapidly led to great wealth, influence and, again, conflict.

In medieval times the area was divided into small states, with some cities becoming free communes and some—such as Pisa, Firenze, Lucca, and Siena—becoming powerful republics.  Life in the early communes was one of unrest and conflict. Toscana was changing rapidly, and there were many wars between the major players (Pisa against Lucca, Firenze against Fiesole, Siena against Arezzo,) but commerce, industry, and the arts flourished, forever marking the character of Toscana, still evident today in the re's cities, people, and landscape.

Until the late thirteenth a semblance of order prevailed between the communes of Firenze, Siena, Pisa, and Lucca—each commune reordering the balance of power according to its strength.  Pisa, as the principal port, held the power for a while (12th–13th centuries); Siena, experts in banking and able to forged key financial links to France and England, took priority over Firenze, and Lucca grew wealthy on silk and banking.  Ultimately, Firenze gained control over most Tuscan cities during the 14th–15th centuries, with Siena being the last city to succumb to Fir's influence.

As the victor of conflicts and having defeated Pisa and with Lucca and Siena surviving as republics, Firenze pronounced itself the unifying force within Toscana during the 15th and 16th centuries. The position was strengthen by the support of key European families and monarchies who assisted in the rise of the most famous native dynasty, the Medici, then a family of middle class Florentine bankers.

During the 15th century, the Medici clan became ever more powerful, eventually transforming the Commune of Firenze into a principality. Under the Medicini, Toscana became a grand duchy (1569), and thus again a political entity.  Only the republic of Lucca and the duchy of Massa and Carrara remained independent. The paternal patronage of the Medici enabled an enormous blossoming of intellect and culture in Firenze, the epicenter of the Renaissance throughout the 15th and 16th centuries.

Following the end of the Medici line in 1737, Toscana passed to ex-duke Francis of Lorraine (later Holy Roman Emperor Francis I), who was succeeded by Grand Duke Leopold I, Emperor Leopold II and then by Ferdinand III. The French Revolutionary armies invaded Toscana in 1799, and under Napoleonic reforms, Firenze became the capital of the “Kingdom of Etruria,” gifted by Napoleon to Bourbons from Parma. Toscana, divided into three districts, was then officially annexed to the French Empire, only to then be reunited into a Grand Duchy and given by Napoleon to his sister, Elisa Baciocchi.

In 1814, Toscana again became a grand duchy, under the returning Ferdinand III and then under Leopold II (1824–59) and briefly under Ferdinand IV (1859–60). In 1848, Leopold was forced to grant a constitution, and in 1849 he had to leave Toscana briefly during its brief time as a republic. However, in 1852 Leopold was able, with the help of Austria, to rescind the constitution.

In 1860, Toscana entered into a united Italy, with Firenze immediately establishing itself as a vital center of an undivided nation.  It went on to be the temporary capital of Italy from 1865 to 1870 and in 1861 hosted the first Italian exhibition of industry and manufacturing.

With the arrival of the 20th century, Toscana would again experience conflict and unrest. Submitting to Fascist dictatorship in 1922, Toscana was also hit hard during WW2 when for a time the front line was marked by the Arno River, and later the “Gothic Line”. Firenze, Pisa, and Livorno were very badly damaged by intensive bombing, and the region took a very active role in the Resistance, as it did with the vigorous post-war reconstruction.

But despite the conflicts, unrest and strife, Toscana has survived. Today, it has grown wealthy on agriculture, its unique specialty craftsman industries, and an increasingly successful tourism business.  It’s struggles behind, Toscana continues to share its magnificent history, distinctive culture and its passion for the arts with a world of people captivated by its beauty.

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