Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Granducato di Toscana
1569–1801 1815–1859
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem "La Leopolda"
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany at its greatest extent in 1796.
Capital		Florence
Languages		Italian
Government		Unitary absolute monarchy
Grand Duke
•	1569–1574	Cosimo I de' Medici (first)
•	1824–1859	Leopold II (last)
History
•	Established	27 August 1569
•	End of Medici rule	9 July 1737
•	Abolished	21 March 1801
•	Reestablished	9 June 1815
•	Deposition of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine	16 August 1859
•	Merged to form the United Provinces of Central Italy	8 December 1859
Population
•	1801 est.	1,096,641 [1]
Currency		Tuscan lira (−1826) Tuscan fiorino (1826–1859)
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Florence First French Empire Duchy of Lucca Kingdom of Etruria United Provinces of Central Italy
[1] United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; House of Commons, John Bowring, 1839, p 6

Coordinates: 43°N 11°E / 43°N 11°E / 43; 11

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (Italian: Granducato di Toscana, Latin: Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. Tuscany was nominally a state of the Holy Roman Empire until the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797.

Initially, Tuscany was ruled by the House of Medici until the extinction of its senior branch in 1737. While not as internationally renowned as the old republic, the grand duchy thrived under the Medici and it bore witness to unprecedented economic and military success under Cosimo I and his sons, until the reign of Ferdinando II, which saw the beginning of the state's long economic decline. It peaked under Cosimo III. The Medicis' only advancement in the latter days of their existence was their elevation to royalty, by the Holy Roman Emperor, in 1691.