March of Tuscany

The March of Tuscany was a march of the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages. Located in northwestern central Italy, it bordered the Papal States to the south, the Ligurian Sea to the west and Lombardy to the north. It comprised a collection of counties, largely in the valley of the River Arno, originally centered on Lucca. This march was established by the Carolingians, replacing the earlier Lombard Duchy of Tuscia.

Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Tuscia had been part of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy from 568 until Frankish kings intervened in a conflict with Pope Stephen II in 754. The Donation of Pepin gave the southern part of Tuscia, near Viterbo, to the new Papal States, while the northern section—Lombard Tuscany—became the Imperial March of Tuscany after Charlemagne conquered the Lombard kingdom in 773/74. Lombardy proper became the nucleus of the Imperial kingdom of Italy, together with the marches of Tuscany and Verona. The first margrave of Tuscany was Adalbert I, who received the title in 846.

Before him, his father and grandfather, Count Boniface I of Lucca and Boniface II—likely of Bavarian origin—had controlled most of the region’s counties and held higher offices, such as prefect of Corsica or duke of Lucca. The Bonifacii family held the march until 931. During the late 800s and early 900s, the backing of the Tuscan margraves was crucial for anyone trying to become king of Italy.

In 931, King Hugh of Arles, aiming to consolidate Italy’s major fiefs under his relatives, removed the Bonifacii and gave Tuscany to his brother Boso. The march then stayed with the Bosonid family until 1001, and it continued to influence royal elections. As late as 1027, Emperor Conrad II deposed Margrave Rainier for opposing him as king. In 1027, the march was granted to the counts of Canossa.

Boniface III used the titles dux et marchio (duke and margrave). He was an ally of the Holy Roman emperors, but his power grew so large that it threatened imperial authority in Italy. He merged the Canossa lands—mostly in Emilia—with Tuscany and passed them to his daughter Matilda. Besides her vast Emilian allods, her main holding was Tuscany, which she held as a fief and used to support the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy.