Tuscany & Siena

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Tuscany & Siena

The central region of Tuscany includes the following provinces:? Arezzo, Grosseto, Florence, Leghorn, Lucca, Mass-Carrara, Pisa, Pistoia, and Siena.? The total area of this region is 8.877 square miles.

A Chorological History of Tuscany

The word Tuscany comes from the Tusci, Tuscans or Etruscans.? Etruria (their country) at one time comprised Tuscany and the northern part of Lazio.? Charlemagne occupied northern Italy in the 8th century AD, at which time the name of Tuscia or Toscana became restricted to the area.? The counts of Lucca then utilized the region as a frontier district.1

In the 10th century, the House of the Attoni of Canossa rose to power.? After this period, prosperous towns began to assert their independence; the rise of communes in Italy had begun.? In Tuscany, the first communes were Pisa, Lucca, and Pistoia, as well as Siena, Florence, and Arezzo.? After Matilda of Tuscany (a decendant of the House of the Attoni of Canossa) died in 1115, a struggle over the region ensued between the popes and the emperors.? As a result, the Tuscan cities further confirmed their independence.2

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Pisa, backed by Siena and Pistoia, was contested by Florence, Lucca, and Genoa.? After being defeated by Genoa, Florence rose to be the leading city of Tuscany.? In Florence, the standard form of Italian was being developed through the Tuscan dialect of that region.3

The Medici dynasty then ruled Florence for most of the later medieval history.? The Medici?s were the most powerful family in Italy, and had gained their wealth in banking.4? Most famous of the Medici?s is Loreno il Magnifico, or Lorenzo the Magnificent.? During his rule, he continued to support the atmospher...

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...d.? p. 33.

8 Ibid.? p. 34.

9-10 Italy:? Tuscany.?? The New Encyclopaedia Britannica.? 15th edition.? 1992.? p. 253.

11-13 ?Ibid.? p. 253.

14-15 ?Ibid.? p. 254.

16 Jepson, Tim.? The National Geographic Traveler:? Florence & Tuscany.? Willard, Ohio:? R.R. Donnelley & Sons.? 2001.? p. 194.

17-18 Ibid.? p. 196.

19 Ibid.? p. 204.

20 Ibid.? p. 194-195.

21 Ibid.? p. 204.

22? Ibid.? p. 10.

23-24 Ibid.? p. 227.

25 Ibid.? p. 232.

26-27 Ibid.? p. 266.

28-29 Ibid.? p. 274.

30 Ibid.? p. 275.

31 Ibid.? p. 49.

Additional sources of note:

Bethemont, Jacques, and Jean Pelletier.? Italy:? A geographical introduction.? New York:? Longman.? 1983.

Hook, Judith.? Siena:? A City and its History.? London:? Hamish Hamilton.? 1979.

Schevill, Ferdinand.? Siena:? The History of a Medieval Commune.? New York, New York:? Harper.? 1937.

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