Tuscany History

Modern Tuscany corresponds to the larger part of ancient Etruria and most of our knowledge of Etruscan Civilitation is derived from findings there. The Romans conquered the region in the mid-4th cent. b.c. After the fall of Rome, it was a Lombard duchy (6th-8th cent. a.d.), with Lucca as its capital, and later a powerful march under the Franks (8th-12th cent.). Matilda (d.1115), the last Frankish ruler, bequeathed her lands to the papacy, an act which long caused strife between popes and emperors.
In spite of the dual claims, most cities became (11th-12th cent.) free communes; some of them (Pisa, Lucca, Siena, and Florence) developed into strong republics. Commerce, industry, and the arts flourished. Guelph (pro-papal) and Ghibelline (pro-imperial) strife, however, was particularly violent in Tuscany, and there were strong rivalries both within and among cities. After a period of Pisan hegemony (12th-13th cent.), Florence gained control over most Tuscan cities in the 14th-15th cent.; Siena (1559) was the last city to fall under Florence's influence.
Under the Medici the ruling family of Florence, Tuscany became (1569) a grand duchy, and thus again a political entity; only the republic of Lucca and the duchy of Massa and Carrara remained independent. After the extinction of the Medici line, Tuscany passed (1737) to ex-duke Francis of Lorraine (later Holy Roman Emperor Francis I ) who was succeeded by Grand Duke Leopold I (1765-90; later Emperor Leopold II ) and then by Ferdinand III (1790-1801; 1814-24). The French Revolutionary armies invaded Tuscany in 1799, and it was briefly included in the kingdom of Etruria (1801-7) and was ruled under the duchy of Parma, before it was annexed to France by Napoleon I.
In 1814, Tuscany 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 Tuscany briefly when it was for a short time a republic. However, in 1852 he was able, with the help of Austria, to rescind the constitution. In 1860, Tuscany voted to unite with the kingdom of Sardinia

Over five centuries ago, a handful of Tuscan city states lifted Europe from the throes of the Dark Ages and made Western Civilization the dominant culture of the planet. So much so, that if little green men were monitoring us, on reaching Earth they would not need to ask some hapless farmer for directions to our leader, they would know precisely where to go. This one enlightened region gave law to the English, science to the Germans, taught the French how to eat - almost, and then electrified the world with its art, literature and architecture. Amazingly, much of Tuscany remains as it was during the Renaissance. Nothing that works requires any change. In fact, the more Tuscany endures, the more we, spinning on our frantic wheels, pray that it does.
The fragrant countryside belongs to the cypress and the pine. In stately rows these tall, narrow sentinels rise above the vineyards to guide us towards the sheltering arch of an old stone farmhouse. On the not too distant Tuscan coast, wide sandy beaches lie at the edge of rolling hills dappled with Etruscan crypts, stately stallions and herds of prized Chiannina steer. Across the waves, Elba, Giglio and Montecristo, three more pieces of Tuscany, glow like emeralds on a sapphire sea. The Tuscan sun, adding glory to what man, nature and time have achieved, paints and repaints the entire tableau from an endless palette of heavenly color.
We come to throw ourselves at the marvels of Siena, the Medici of Florence, the elixir of the vine and to heal our emptiness by the pool. We will leave awakened to our lives spent rushing nowhere. This beauty, in perfect proportion, is deeper than it seems. It frees the mind and fills the sail of our soul with meaning. Among those hills we will be like Tuscans, if only for a while, unshackled from a dungeon of machines and the cold, dim comfort they provide in return for the essence of our lives.