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TUSCANY (Toscana)

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 486 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TUSCANY (Toscana) , a territorial See also:division of See also:Italy, consisting of the western See also:part of the centre of the See also:peninsula, bounded N.W. by See also:Liguria and See also:Emilia, E. by the See also:Marches and See also:Umbria, S.E. by the See also:province of See also:Rome and W. by the Mediterranean. It consists of eight provinces, See also:Arezzo, Firenze (See also:Florence), See also:Grosseto, Livorno (See also:Leghorn), See also:Lucca, See also:Massa-See also:Carrara, See also:Pisa and See also:Siena, and has an See also:area of 9304 sq. m. Pop. (19o1), 2,566,741. The See also:chief railway centre is Florence, whence radiate lines to See also:Bologna (for See also:Milan and the See also:north), See also:Faenza, Lucca, Pisa and Leghorn, and Arezzo for Rome. Siena stands on a See also:branch leaving the Florence-Pisa See also:line at See also:Empoli and See also:running through the centre of Tuscany to See also:Chiusi, where it joins the Florence-Rome railway. The line from Rome to See also:Genoa runs along the See also:coast throughout the entire length of Tuscany, and at Montepescali throws off a branch joining the Empoli-Chiusi line at See also:Asciano, and at Follonica another to Massa Marittima. Except towards the coast and around Lucca, Florence and Arezzo, where the beds of prehistoric lakes See also:form plains, the See also:country is hilly, being intersected with sub-Apennine spurs. The most fertile country in Tuscany is in the valley of the See also:Arno, where the plains and slopes of the hills are highly cultivated. In strong contrast with this is the coast See also:plain known as the See also:Maremma, 85o sq. m. in extent, where See also:malaria has been prevalent since the depopulation of the country in the See also:middle ages. Here in the first See also:half of the 19th See also:century the See also:grand See also:duke See also:Leopold II. of Tuscany began an elaborate See also:system of drainage, which was gradually extended until it covered nearly the whole of the See also:district. The greater part of the Maremma now affords pasture to large herds of horses and half-See also:wild See also:cattle, but on the drier parts See also:corn is grown, the See also:people coming down from the hills to sow and to reap.

The See also:

hill country just inland, especially near See also:Volterra, has poor See also:soil, largely clayey, and subject to See also:land-slips, but is See also:rich in minerals. But for the Maremma, Tuscany is one of the most favoured regions of Italy. The See also:climate is temperate, and the rainfall not excessive. The See also:Apennines shelter it from the See also:cold north winds, and the prevailing winds in the See also:west, blowing in from the Tyrrhenian See also:Sea, are warm and humid, though Florence is colder and more windy than Rome in the See also:winter and hotter in summer, owing to its being shut in among the mountains. See also:Wheat, See also:maize, See also:wine (especially the red wine which takes the name of Chianti from the district S.S.W. of Florence), See also:olive oil, See also:tobacco, chestnuts and See also:flowers are the chief products of Tuscany. Mules, See also:sheep and cattle are bred, and beeswax is produced in large quantities. But the real See also:wealth of Tuscany lies in its minerals. See also:Iron, See also:mercury, boracic See also:acid, See also:copper, See also:salt, See also:lignite, statuary See also:marble, See also:alabaster and Sienese See also:earth are all found in considerable quantities, while See also:mineral and hot springs abound, some of which (e.g. See also:Montecatini and Bagni di Lucca) are well known as See also:health resorts. The See also:industries of Tuscany are exceedingly varied and carried on with See also:great activity. There are See also:universities at Pisa and Siena. See also:Viareggio and Leghorn are much frequented for sea-bathing, while the latter is a prosperous See also:port.

The See also:

main See also:art centres of Tuscany are Florence, Pisa and Siena, the headquarters of the chief See also:schools of See also:painting and See also:sculpture from the r3th century onwards. While the former See also:city, however, See also:bore as prominent a part as any in Italy in the See also:Renaissance, the art of Pisa ceased, owing to the See also:political decline of the city, to make any advance at a comparatively See also:early See also:period, its importance being in ecclesiastical See also:architecture in the 12th, and in sculpture in the 13th century. Siena, too, never accepted the Renaissance to the full, and its art retained an individual See also:character without making much progress. The See also:language of Tuscany is remarkable for its purity of See also:idiom, and its See also:adoption by See also:Dante and See also:Petrarch probably led to its becoming the See also:literary language of Italy. (See See also:ITALIAN LANGUAGE, vol. xiv. p. 895.) See E. Repetti, Dizionario geografico fisico storico della Toscana (6 vols., Florence, 1834-1846). See also G. See also:Dennis, Cities and Cemeteries of See also:Etruria (2 vols., See also:London, 1883). On See also:medieval and Renaissance architecture and art there are innumerable See also:works. Among those on architecture may be mentioned the great See also:work of H. von Geymuller and A. Widmann, See also:Die Architektur der Renaissance in Toscana.

(T. As.) See also:

History.—Etruria (q.v.) was finally annexed to Rome in 351 B.C., and constituted the seventh of the eleven regions into which Italy was, for administrative purposes, divided by See also:Augustus. Under See also:Constantine it was See also:united into one province with Umbria, an arrangement which subsisted until at least 400, as the Notitia speaks of a " consularis Tusciae et Umbriae." In See also:Ammianus See also:Marcellinus there is implied a distinction between " Tuscia suburbicaria " and " Tuscia annonaria," the latter being that portion which lies to the north of the Arno. After the fall of the Western See also:empire Tuscia, with other provinces of Italy, came successively under the sway of Herulians, See also:Ostrogoths, and See also:Greek and Lombard See also:dukes. Under the last-named, " Tuscia Langobardorum," comprising the districts of See also:Viterbo, Corneto and See also:Bolsena, was distinguished from " Tuscia Regni," which See also:lay more to the north. Under See also:Charlemagne the name of Tuscia or Toscana became restricted to the latter only. One of the earliest of the Frankish marquises was See also:Boniface, either first or second of that name, who about 828 fought with success against the See also:Saracens in See also:Africa. See also:Adalbert I., who succeeded him, in 878 espoused the cause of See also:Carloman as against his See also:brother See also:Louis III. of See also:France, and suffered See also:excommunication and imprisonment in consequence. Adalbert II. (the Rich), who married the ambitious Bertha, daughter of See also:Lothair, See also:king of See also:Lorraine, took a prominent part in the politics of his See also:day. A subsequent See also:marquis, See also:Hugo (the Great), became also duke of See also:Spoleto in 989. The male line of marquises ended with Boniface II.

(or III.), who was murdered in 1052. His widow, See also:

Beatrice, in 1055 married See also:Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, and governed the country till her See also:death in 1076, when she was succeeded by See also:Matilda (q.v.), her only See also:child by her first See also:husband. Matilda died in 1114 without issue, bequeathing all her extensive possessions to the See also:Church. The consequent struggle between the popes, who claimed the See also:inheritance, and the emperors, who maintained that the countess had no right to dispose of imperial fiefs, enabled the See also:principal cities of Tuscany gradually to assert their See also:independence. The most important of these Tuscan republics were Florence, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, See also:Pistoia and Lucca. The Return of the See also:Medici.—After the surrender of Florence to the Imperialists in See also:August 1530 the Medici See also:power was re-established by the See also:emperor See also:Charles V. and See also:Pope See also:Clement VII., although certain outward forms of republicanism were preserved, and Alessandro de' Medici was made duke of Florence, the dignity to be hereditary in the See also:family. In the reign of Cosimo III. Siena was annexed (1559); the See also:title of grand duke of Tuscany was conferred on that ruler in 1567 by Pope See also:Pius V. and recognized in the See also:person of See also:Francis I. by the emperor See also:Maximilian II. in 1576. Under a See also:series of degenerate Medici the history of Tuscany is certainly not a splendid See also:record, and few events of importance occurred See also:save See also:court scandals. The people becamemore and more impoverished and degraded, a new and See also:shoddy See also:nobility was created and granted wide privileges, and art and letters declined. Giovan Gastone was the last Medicean grand duke; being childless, It was agreed by the treaty of See also:Vienna that at his death Tuscany should be given to Francis, duke of Lorraine, husband of the archduchess Maria See also:Theresa, afterwards empress. In 1737 Giovan Gastone died,' and Francis II., after taking See also:possession of the grand duchy, appointed a regency under the See also:prince of Craon and departed for See also:Austria never to return.

Tuscany was governed by a series of See also:

foreign regents and was a See also:prey to adventurers from Lorraine and elsewhere; although the See also:administration was not wholly inefficient and introduced some useful reforms, the people were ground by taxes to pay for the apanage of Francis in Vienna and for See also:Austrian See also:wars, and reduced to a See also:state of great poverty. Francis, who had been elected emperor in 1945, died in 1765, and was succeeded on the See also:throne of the grand duchy by his younger son, Leopold I. Leopold resided in Tuscany and proved one of the most capable and remarkable of the reforming princes of the 18th century. He substituted Tuscans for foreigners in See also:government The offices, introduced a system of See also:free See also:trade in See also:food- Reforms of stuffs (at the See also:suggestion of the Sienese Sallustio Leopold II See also:Bandini), promoted See also:agriculture, and reclaimed wide areas of marshland to intensive cultivation. He reorganized See also:taxation on a basis of equality for all citizens, thereby abolishing one of the most vexatious privileges of the nobility, reformed the administration of See also:justice and See also:local government, suppressed See also:torture and See also:capital See also:punishment, and substituted a See also:citizen See also:militia for the See also:standing See also:army. His reforms in church matters made a great stir at the See also:time, for he curbed the power of the See also:clergy, suppressed some religious houses, reduced the See also:mortmain and rejected papal interference. With the aid of Scipione de' See also:Ricci, See also:bishop of Pistoia, he even attempted to remove abuses, reform church discipline and purify religious See also:worship; but Ricci's See also:action was condemned by Rome. Ricci was forced to resign, and the whole See also:movement came to nothing. (See PISTOIA, See also:SYNOD OF.) The grand duke also contemplated granting a form of constitution, but his See also:Teutonic rigidity was not popular and many of his reforms were ahead of the times and not appreciated by the people. At the death of his brother, See also:Joseph II., in 1790, Leopold became emperor, and repaired to Vienna. After a brief regency he appointed his second son, See also:Ferdinand III., who had been See also:born and brought up in Tuscany, grand duke. During the See also:French revolutionary wars Ferdinand tried to maintain See also:neutrality so as to avoid foreign invasions, but in 1799 a French force entered Florence and was h welcomed by a small number of republicans.

The oceu atfau. grand duke was forced to See also:

fly, the " See also:tree of See also:liberty " p was set up, and a provisional government on French lines established. But the great See also:mass of the people were horrified at the irreligious character of the new regime, and a See also:counter-revolution, fomented by Pope Pius VII., the grand ducalists and the clergy, See also:broke out at Arezzo. Bands of armed peasants marched through the country to the cry of " Viva Maria!" and expelled the French, not without committing many atrocities. With the assistance of the Austrians, who put an end to disorder, Florence was occupied and the grand ducalists established a government in the name of Ferdinand. But after See also:Napoleon See also:Bonaparte's victory at See also:Marengo the French returned in great force, dispersed the bands, and re-entered Florence (See also:October 1800). They too committed atrocities and sacked the churches, but they were more warmly welcomed than before by the people, who had experienced Austro-Aretine See also:rule. See also:Joachim See also:Murat (afterwards king of See also:Naples) set up a provisional government, and by the See also:peace of See also:Luneville Tuscany was made a part of the See also:Spanish dominions and erected into the See also:kingdom of Etruria under Louis, duke of See also:Parma (18o1). The new king died in 1803, leaving an See also:infant son, Charles Louis, under the regency of his widow, See also:Marie See also:Louise of See also:Spain. Marie Louise ruled with ' The history of Tuscany from 1530 to 1737 Is given in greater detail under MEPIcI. reactionary and clerical tendencies until 1807, when the emperor Napoleon obliged Charles IV. of Spain to cede Tuscany to him, compensating Charles Louis in See also:Portugal. From 1807 to 1809, when Napoleon's See also:sister, Elisa Baciocchi, was made grand duchess, Tuscany was ruled by a French See also:administrator-See also:general; the French codes were introduced, and Tuscany became a French See also:department. French ideas had gained some adherents among the Tuscans, but to the See also:majority the new institutions, although they produced much progress, were distasteful as subversive of cherished traditions.

After Napoleon's defeats in 1814 Murat seceded from the emperor and occupied Tuscany, which he afterwards handed over to Austria, and in See also:

September Ferdinand III. returned, warmly welcomed by nearly everybody, for French rule had proved oppressive, especially on See also:account of the heavy taxes and the drain of See also:conscription. At the See also:Congress of Vienna he was formally reinstated with certain additions of territory and the reversion of Lucca. On Napoleon's See also:escape from See also:Elba Murat turned against the Austrians, and Ferdinand had again to leave Florence temporarily; but he returned after See also:Waterloo, and reigned until his death in 1824. The restoration in Tuscany was unaccompanied by the excesses which characterized it elsewhere, and much of the French legisla-The tion was retained. Ferdinand was succeeded by his Restoration. son, Leopold II., who continued his See also:father's policy of benevolent but somewhat enervating despotism, which produced marked effects on the Tuscan character. In 1847 Lucca was incorporated in the grand duchy. When the political excitement consequent on the See also:election of Pius IX. spread to Tuscany, Leopold made one concession after another, and in See also:February 1848 granted the constitution. A Tuscan contingent took part in the Piedmontese See also:campaign against Austria, but the increase of revolutionary agitation in Tuscany, culminating in the See also:proclamation of the See also:republic (Feb. o, 1849), led to Leopold's departure for See also:Gaeta to confer with the pope and the king of Naples. Disorder continuing and a large part of the See also:population being still loyal to him, he was invited to return, and he did so, but accepted the See also:protection of an Austrian army, by which See also:act he forfeited his popularity (See also:July 1849). In 1852 he formally abrogated the constitution, and three years later the Austrians departed. When in 1859 a second See also:war between See also:Piedmont and Austria became imminent, the revolutionary agitation, never completely quelled, broke out once more. There was a division of See also:opinion between the moderates, who favoured a constitutional Tuscany under Leopold, but forming part of an Italian federation, and the popular party, who aimed at the See also:expulsion of the See also:house of Lorraine and the unity of Italy under See also:Victor See also:Emmanuel.

At last a See also:

compromise was arrived at and the grand duke was requested to abdicate in favour of his son, See also:grant a constitution, and take part in the war against Austria. Leopold having rejected these demands, the Florentines See also:rose as one See also:man and obliged him to quit Tuscany (See also:April 27, 1859). A provisional government, led by Ubaldino Beruzzi and afterwards by Bettino See also:Ricasoli, was established. It declared war against Austria and then handed over its authority to Boncompagni, the Sardinian royal See also:commissioner (May 9). A few See also:weeks later a French force under Prince Napoleon landed in Tuscany to threaten Austria's flank, but in the meanwhile the emperor Napoleon made peace with Austria and agreed to the restoration of Leopold and other Italian princes. Victor Emmanuel was obliged to recall the royal commissioners, but together with See also:Cavour he secretly encouraged the provisional governments to resist the return of the despots, and the constituent assemblies of Tuscany, Romagna and the duchies voted for See also:annexation to See also:Sardinia. A Central Italian military See also:league and a customs See also:union were formed, and Cavour having overcome Napoleon's opposition by ceding See also:Nice and See also:Savoy, the king accepted the annexations and appointed his kinsman, Prince See also:Carignano, See also:viceroy of Central Italy with Ricasoli as See also:governor-general (See also:March 22, 186o). Union with The Sardinian See also:parliament which met in April See also:con-the Italian tained deputies from Central Italy, and after the Kingdom• occupation of the Neapolitan provinces and See also:Sicily the kingdom of Italy was proclaimed (Feb. 18, 1861). In1865, in consequence of the Franco-Italian See also:convention of September 1864, the capital was transferred from See also:Turin to Florence, where it remained until it was removed to Rome in 1871. Since the union with Italy, Tuscany has ceased to constitute a See also:separate political entity, although the people still preserve definite regional characteristics. It has increased in wealth and See also:education, and owing to a See also:good system of land See also:tenure the peasantry are among the most prosperous in Italy.

End of Article: TUSCANY (Toscana)

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