History of Tuscany
Following this, at the beginning of the Iron Age, the Villanovan culture (c. 900–700 BC), regarded as the oldest phase of Etruscan civilization,[2][3] saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms.
[4] The Etruscans were the first major civilization in this region; large enough to lay down a transport infrastructure, implement agriculture and mining, and produce vivid art.
[6] Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks,[7] the cultures of Greece, and later Rome, influenced the civilisation to a great extent.
One reason for its eventual demise[6] was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans.
[5] Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace.
[5] These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, and the construction of many buildings, both public and private.
[8] In this period Tuscany acquired many castles, abbeys and monasteries, while the main towns started again to grow demographically, turning themselves into communes mostly independent from the Holy Roman Empire.
The south of current Tuscany (roughly identifiable with the modern province of Grosseto) was instead a feudal dominion of the Aldobrandeschi family.
[5] In the 11th century Pisa became the most powerful of them, building a trade (as well as colonial) empire in the Mediterranean and playing a key role in the Crusades.
Banking, soon turned into an international activity with branches in Flanders, France and England, was instead the main resource of Florence, Siena and Lucca.
After its conquest of Arezzo and Pisa, by the early 15th century Florence had gained a prominent role in Tuscany, as well as in Italy, and was also the cultural capital of the region.
In 1254, after a popular revolt, the maritime republic held the creation of the captaincy and the "council of the elders", but the most important institutional figure remained that of the podestà.
[13] Before becoming a de facto monarchy ruled by the powerful Medici family, the Florentine Republic adopted various forms of republican government.
In 1172 the Florentines elected their first Consuls: Giovanni di Uguccione Giandonati, Importuno, Truffetto dei Fifanti and Ormanno Caponsacchi.
At this point Pope Clement VII and Charles V appointed Alessandro de' Medici as the first formally hereditary ruler.
[20] For most of the 16th century the Medici ruled Florence and Tuscany quite successfully, expanding the state's territory greatly by acquiring Siena.
[citation needed] Ferdinand III was deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801 so that Tuscany could be given to the Bourbon Dukes of Parma as compensation for the loss of their duchy.
