Most Serene Republic of Lucca | |||||||||
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| 1160–1805 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
| Motto: Luca potens sternit sibi quae contraria cernit (Latin for 'Luca is powerful and spreads to himself what he sees as the opposite') | |||||||||
 Detail of a French map of Italy fromc. 1700–1750 showing the territory of the Republic of Lucca. The map was designed byNicolas Sanson (1600–1667) and published after his death by Covens & Mortier. | |||||||||
| Capital | Lucca | ||||||||
| Common languages |
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| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Oligarchic republic | ||||||||
| Governanti di Lucca | |||||||||
• 1251–1313 | Capitani del popolo | ||||||||
• 1316–1328 | Castruccio Castracani | ||||||||
• 1400–1430 | Paolo Guinigi | ||||||||
| Historical era | |||||||||
• Established | 1160 | ||||||||
• Paolo Guinigi overthrows the republican government starting aSignoria | 1400–1430 | ||||||||
• Republican government restored | 1430 | ||||||||
| 23 June 1805 | |||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• Estimate | 100,000 in the 18th century | ||||||||
| Currency | Autonomousmint (known asducato) | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||
TheRepublic of Lucca (Italian:Repubblica di Lucca) was amedieval andearly modern state that was centered on theItalian city ofLucca in Tuscany, which lasted from 1160 to 1805.
Its territory extended beyond the city ofLucca, reaching the surrounding countryside in the north-western part of today'sTuscany region, to the borders withEmilia-Romagna andLiguria.
The Republic of Lucca remained independent until 1799. Later the state continued to exist but was, de facto, dependent uponNapoleonic France, and ceased officially its existence in 1805, when it was transformed in thePrincipality of Lucca and Piombino.
Within the ImperialKingdom of Italy, the city ofLucca had been the residence of theMargraves of Tuscany until the time of MargraveHugh. A certain autonomy was granted by a 1084 diploma issued by EmperorHenry IV, while on his Italian campaign during theInvestiture controversy withPope Gregory VII. No feudal castle could be built in the range of 6 miles from the city wall. More privileges were granted by the following emperors.
After the death of MargravineMatilda of Tuscany in 1115, the city began to constitute itself an independentcommune, with an administration officially acknowledged by MargraveConrad in 1120 and by EmperorFrederick in 1162. The city bought the feudal rights from MargraveWelf VI in 1160, hence became subject only to the emperors. For more than 500 years, Lucca remained as an independent republic.
At the end of the 12th century, Lucca and other cities of Tuscany created an alliance to fight the neighbour feudal lords and subjugate their lands. This allowed Lucca andFlorence in particular to control large territories and to compete for military supremacy in the region. The 13th century was characterised by political fights inside many communes, including Lucca. As a consequence, the republic witnessed the rise of the populist faction and change in government structure, as well as participating in a long series of wars betweenGuelphs and Ghibellines. In 1273 and again in 1277 Lucca was ruled by a guelphcapitano del popolo (captain of the people) namedLuchetto Gattilusio.
Lucca in the 14th century became one of the most important cities of the ItalianMiddle Ages. There were many noble families in power, such as the Nuccorini, who from 1300 to 1371 were enrolled in the Supreme Magistrate of the Elderly.[1]Dante Alighieri included many references to the great feudal families that had jurisdiction there, with administrative and judicial powers. Dante himself spent many of his years in exile in Lucca.[2]
In 1314, internal discord allowedUguccione della Faggiuola to make himself lord of Pisa and then to conquer Lucca. Revolts in the two cities quickly ended Uguccione's regime. In Lucca, the citizens gave the lordship over their Republic to the ghibellineCastruccio Castracani, member of theHouse of Antelminelli and leader of great political and military capacity. His reign represented the highest peak of the Republic's power, whose territories included theGarfagnana to the north, the coast from the city ofCarrara toPisa to the west, the city ofPistoia to the east (under the codomain of Lucca and Florence), and south theValdarno constantly disputed with the Republic of Florence. Castracani also succeeded in making Lucca the only antagonist to the expansion ofRepublic of Florence leading to the victory in theBattle of Altopascio, in 1325, where he defeated the powerful Florentine army chasing them up to the walls of Florence.[3]
When Castruccio died, the city fell into a period of anarchy which saw it subject at first to the dominion of a military company, which had Marco from theHouse of Visconti as its leader and hostage at the same time. Later the republic was repeatedly sold to different lords who were unable to exploit it due to the hostility of the Republic of Florence. Subsequently, it was acquired by theRepublic of Pisa and administered by its Lord, Giovanni Dell'Agnello.[4]
Having regained its freedom in 1370, Lucca returned to a republican government and with a shrewd foreign policy gained remarkable fame in Europe thanks to its bankers and the silk trade.
In the thirteenth century Lucca became an important silk manufacturing center thanks to the arrival of immigrant weavers fromSicily. It was known for brocaded silks with decorative designs ofByzantine or Chinese inspiration repeated diagonally rather than vertically. From the early fifteenth century on, its workshops turned out silk fabrics decorated with religious scenes as well as patterned velvets.
Lucca achieved international fame for its workmanship of the more elaborate and costly fabrics, thanks to its technological edge in weaving and dyeing, and its closely guarded monopoly over advanced technologies such as looms and combs for brocades and velvets and the silk twisting mill. Lucca's skilled artisans could match the best wares of Damascus. Until the end of the Renaissance the Tuscan city was the main Italian center of production for silk cloths, exported all over Europe and even toAsia: when the Portuguese arrived inCalcutta in the early sixteenth century, they found Lucca silk in thebazaars.[5]
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During the 15th century the republic was of less importance than the two great republics ofFlorence andSiena. In the first decades of the century, Lucca falls under the pseudo-tyranny of the Guinigi family.[6][7]
A judgment of the important historianGiovanni Sercambi from Lucca has been preserved on this period, he especially highlights the conferment of all offices to supporters of the dominant family and also mentions the provisions to prevent the largest assembly of citizens (the General Council) from meeting. The role of this was taken by a Commission made up of twelve or eighteen partisans of the ruling house. Sercambi remembers more generally the restriction of all expenses, except those in favour of the mercenaries, considered indispensable to not live in continuous fears and dangers, and which had to be kept happy, as well as the secret acts of violence committed to get rid of the most rebels dangerous.[8]
The alliance between the Republic at the time was controlled by the Guinigi family and theDuchy of Milan led Lucca into the ruinous war against theRepublic of Venice andRepublic of Florence; towards the end of this war, an insurrection finally ended the dominion of the Guinigi family and the republic had to negotiate in order not to lose its independence, which led it to lose parts of its former territories.[9]
In 1429 Florence besieged Lucca to take revenge on the republic. After several days of siege, the Republic of Lucca asked the Duchy of Milan for help. The Duchy sentFrancesco I Sforza, who overwhelmed the Florentines with his army and forced them to retreat. A few days after the retreat of the Florentines, the inhabitants of Lucca arrested Paolo Guinigi, the leader of the republic, because he was said to have dealt with the Florentines. Florence later paid Sforza to abandon Lucca and, in 1430, Lucca was besieged once again. During the siege, the Florentines tried to stem the Serchio to flood Lucca, but due to some errors, the Florentine camp flooded. Meanwhile, the Lucchesi asked again for help fromFilippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, who, once again, acted indirectly (according to a previous treaty Milan could not interfere in the affairs of Florence) asking theRepublic of Genoa to help Lucca. Genoa, relying on an ancient alliance with Lucca, asked Florence not to disturb Lucca. When Florence refused, Genoa sent an army of 6,000 men led byNiccolò Piccinino who attacked the Florentines on the Serchio and, after a bloody battle, they were forced to withdraw because the Lucchesi had taken them behind leaving the city.[10]
Merchants from "Luca" living in London appear in English Court records (the plea rolls of the Court of Common Pleas), during the Medieval period, for example: the Podeo family: Lawrence, Nicholas, and Joan, in 1452.[11]
Lucca managed, at first as a democracy, and after 1628 as anoligarchy, to maintain its independence – alongsideVenice andGenoa. It painted the wordLibertas on its banners, until the French Revolution in 1789.[12] Lucca was the third largest Italian city-state with a republican constitution ("comune") to remain independent over the centuries, as larger Venice and Genoa also did.
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After thewar of the First Coalition, which ended with theTreaty of Campo Formio, the Government of the Republic of Lucca decided to start negotiations with the newly formedCisalpine Republic with the aim of maintaining its independence. The jurist Luigi Matteucci, the father of the more famousFelice, was sent to Milan to negotiate withNapoleon.[13]
The republic was the only territory in all of continental Italy that the French army had not yet invaded and Matteucci's proposals were rejected, so much so that on 22 January 1799 the French troops entered the city, overthrowing the oligarchic republic and establishing a new centralized republic, with a democratic constitution, under the Frenchprotectorate. The constitution granted the government to anExecutive Directory, with a bicameral legislature composed of the Council of Juniors and the Council of Seniors. The democracy did not last long.
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On 17 July 1799, during thewar of the Second Coalition, the AustrianHabsburg army occupied Lucca and established a Provisional government. Upon Napoleon's return from Egypt, however, the situation reversed just as quickly. On 9 July 1800, the French occupied the city, installing a provisional government under the control ofAntoine Christophe Saliceti. A new constitution for the State of Lucca was published in 1801, restoring the office of Consul of Justice as the president of the Executive branch, with a parliament called the Great Council. The oligarchy was restored.
In 1805, the governance of Lucca was taken over byNapoleon, who merged the State of Lucca with thePrincipality of Piombino to become thePrincipality of Lucca and Piombino (1805–1809). He put his favoured sisterElisa Bonaparte Baciocchi in place to rule, his only female sibling to gain political power. Elisa began rule as the Duchess of Lucca and Princess of Piombino, based atVilla Reale di Marlia.[14]
| Sister republics |
|  Europe at the height of Napoleon's Empire | |||||||||||
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| Napoleonic creations |
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43°51′0″N10°31′12″E / 43.85000°N 10.52000°E /43.85000; 10.52000
