Duchy of Florence Ducato di Firenze (Italian) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1532–1569 | |||||||||||
 The Duchy of Florence (green) in 1548 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Florence 43°47′N11°15′E / 43.783°N 11.250°E /43.783; 11.250 | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Italian | ||||||||||
| Religion | Catholic Church | ||||||||||
| Government | Hereditary monarchy | ||||||||||
| Duke of Florence | |||||||||||
• 1532–1537 | Alessandro | ||||||||||
• 1537–1569 | Cosimo I | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1532 | ||||||||||
| 1554 | |||||||||||
• Elevated to Grand Duchy | 1569 | ||||||||||
| Currency | Florin | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||||
TheDuchy of Florence (Italian:Ducato di Firenze) was an Italian principality that was centred on the city ofFlorence, inTuscany,Italy. The duchy was founded afterPope Clement VII, himself a Medici, appointed his relativeAlessandro de' Medici as Duke of the Florentine Republic, thereby transforming theRepublic of Florence into ahereditary monarchy.[1]
The second Duke,Cosimo I, established a strong Florentine navy and expanded his territory, purchasing Elba and conqueringSiena. In 1569,Pope Pius V declared CosimoGrand Duke of Tuscany. The Medici ruled theGrand Duchy of Tuscany until 1737.[2]
Florence had been under informalMedici control since 1434.[3] During theWar of the League of Cognac, the Florentines rebelled against the Medici, then represented byIppolito de' Medici, and restored the freedom of their republic.[4] Following the Republic's surrender in theSiege of Florence,Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor issued a proclamation explicitly stating that he and he alone could determine the government of Florence.[5] On 12 August 1530, the Emperor created the Medici hereditary rulers (capo) of theRepublic of Florence.[6]
Pope Clement VII intended his relativeAlessandro de' Medici[a] to be the ruler of Florence, but also wanted to give the impression that the Florentines had democratically chosen Alessandro as their ruler.[6] The title "Duke of Florence" was chosen because it would bolster Medici power in the region. In April 1532, the Pope convinced theBalía, Florence's ruling commission, to draw up a new constitution, which formally created a hereditary monarchy. It abolished the age-oldsignoria (elective government) and the office ofgonfaloniere (titular head-of-state elected for a two-month term) and replaced it with three institutions:
Even after Alessandro's accession, Imperial troops remained stationed in Florence. In 1535, several prominent Florentine families, including thePazzi (who attempted to killLorenzo de' Medici in thePazzi Conspiracy) dispatched a delegation underIppolito de' Medici, asking Charles V to depose Alessandro. Much to their dismay, the Emperor rejected their appeal. Charles had no intention of deposing Alessandro, who was married to Charles' daughterMargaret of Parma.
Alessandro continued to rule Florence for another two years until he was murdered on 6 January 1537 by his distant relativeLorenzino de' Medici.
As Alessandro left no legitimate issue, the question of succession was open. Florentine authorities selectedCosimo I in 1537.[9] At the news of this, the exiled Strozzi family invaded and tried to depose Cosimo, but were defeated at Montemurlo.[10] Cosimo completely overhauled the bureaucracy and administration of Florence. In 1542, the Imperial troops stationed in Florence by Charles V were withdrawn.
In 1548, Cosimo was givenElba by Charles V, and based his new developing navy there.[11] Cosimo founded the port city ofLivorno and allowed the city's inhabitants to enjoy freedom of religion. In alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, Cosimo defeated theRepublic of Siena, which was allied with France, in theBattle of Marciano on 2 August 1554.[12] On 17 April 1555 Florence and Spain occupied the territory of Siena, which, in July 1557Philip II of Spain bestowed on Cosimo as a hereditary fiefdom.[12] The ducal family moved into thePalazzo Pitti in 1560. Cosimo commissioned the architectVasari to build theUffizi, as offices for the Medici bank, continuing the Medici tradition of patronage of the arts. In 1569, Cosimo was elevated to the rank ofGrand Duke of Tuscany in 1569 by PopePius V. Medici rule continued into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the family became extinct in 1737.
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