March of Tuscany

The March of Tuscany was a frontier territory within the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. It occupied northwestern central Italy, with the Papal States to its south, the Ligurian Sea to its west, and Lombardy to its north. The march was made up of several counties, mostly situated in the Arno River valley, and was initially based around 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 itself became the core of the Imperial kingdom of Italy, alongside 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. When Matilda died in 1115, the era of feudal princes in northern Italy ended, replaced by the rise of city-states, maritime republics, and communes.

The margraves of Tuscany from 812 to 1197 included the House of Boniface (originally counts of Lucca who expanded over neighboring counties): Boniface I (812–823), Boniface II (828–834), Aganus (835–845), Adalbert I (847–886), Adalbert II the Rich (886–915), Guy (915–929), and Lambert (929–931). Then came the House of Boso, mostly illegitimate relatives of King Hugh of Arles: Boso (931–936), Humbert (936–961), and Hugh the Great (961–1001). The House of Hucpold had Boniface (III) (1004–1011). A non-dynastic margrave, Rainier, ruled from 1014 to 1027. The House of Canossa followed: Boniface III (1027–1052), Frederick (1052–1055), Matilda (1055–1115), with regents Beatrice of Bar (1052–1069), Godfrey the Bearded (1053–1069), and co-rulers Godfrey the Hunchback (1069–1076) and Welf II (1089–1095). Later non-dynastic margraves included Rabodo (1116–1119), Conrad (1119/20–1129/31), Rampret (c. 1131), Engelbert (1134/5–1137), Henry the Proud (1137–1139), Ulrich of Attems (1139–1152, imperial vicar), Welf VI (1152–1160), Welf VII (1160–1167), Rainald of Dassel (1160–1163, imperial vicar), Christian of Buch (1163–1173, imperial vicar), Welf VI again (1167–1173), and Philip (1195–1197). In 1197, Philip was elected King of Germany, and most Tuscan nobles, cities, and bishops formed the Tuscan League with Papal support. Frederick of Antioch served as imperial vicar and King of Tuscany from 1246 to 1251. After that, Tuscany fragmented among the rival republics of Florence, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, Pistoia, and Lucca. From the 14th century, Florence gained dominance over Pistoia (1306, officially annexed 1530), Arezzo (1384), Pisa (1406), and Siena (1559). Lucca remained an independent republic until the Napoleonic period in the 19th century.