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| 1621-1670 |
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1737-1799 |
| The Duchy of Tuscany, 1670-1737 |
Duke Cosimo III. ruled from 1670 to 1723, had travelled to London and Paris. Under him, the isolation of the Jewish community from their christian neighbours was strictly enforced. While his predecessor still had offered protection to Galileo, under Cosimo III.scholars and philosophers could be tortured by the Inquisition. The Duke interfered in the curriculum of the University of Pisa and forbade Tuscan students to enrol in foreign universities. Thus, the specific climate of protected science which had characterized Tuscany for so long, was no longer. Duke Cosimo III. added to the financial burden of his subjects by introducing new taxes.
Cosimo's son Ferdinando again favoured the arts, corresponded with Domenico Scarlatti and Georg Friedrich Händel. Ferdinando was married to Princess Violante Beatrice of Bavaria; the couple produced no heirs. He died early (1713), and his brother Gian Gastone (1723-1737), also unhappily married to a German princess, Anna Maria Franziska von Sachsen-Lauenburg, succeeded to the throne. Gian Gastone was an alcoholic He was a collector of relics.
In 1675 Livorno (Leghorn) was proclaimed a Free Port.
In 1691 the Academy of Sciences called 'the Physiocritics' at Siena was founded, in 1716 the Botanical Society of Florence, in 1735 the Tuscan Academy of Sciences and Letters at Florence.
The fate of Tuscany was decided upon by the European Powers. In the War of Polish Succession France occupied Lorraine and awarded the duchy to Stanislas Leszczynski, ex-king of Poland, father-in-law of French King Louis XV. Duke Francis of Lorraine, soon to be husband of Austrian heir Maria Theresia, was to be compensated with Tuscany after the last Medici would pass away (1738).
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EXTERNAL LINKS |
Article Tuscany, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 edition History of the Order of St. Stephen (Tuscany, 1561-), from Chivalric Orders Academy of Sciences of Siena, from Scholarly Societies Tuscan Academy of Sciences, from Scholarly Societies Article Leghorn (= Livorno), from Catholic Encyclopedia From the 16th century to Napoleon, from Tuscan Archipelago |
| DOCUMENTS |
Heraldry in Tuscany, from heraldica.com Tuscany, historical flags, from FOTW List of Grand Dukes of Tuscany, from World Statesmen : Italian States to 1860 by Ben Cahoon Medal : Cosimo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, from Medal Web (Collection Benjamin Weiss) Article Toscana, from Zedlers Universallexikon (1730es), posted by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, in German, 18th century font |
| REFERENCE |
History of Italian Regions : Tuscany, from History Book Reviews Christopher Hibbert, The House of Medici, its Rise and Fall, New York : Morrow Quill 1980, 364 pp. |
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