The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (Italian: Granducato di Toscana, Latin: Magnus Ducatus Etruriae)is a central Italian monarchy that exists, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence.
The grand duchy's capital is Florence.
Tuscany is nominally a state of the Holy Roman Empire until the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797.
Initially, Tuscany is 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 thrives under the Medici and it bears witness to unprecedented economic and military success under Cosimo I and his sons, until the reign of Ferdinando II, which sees the beginning of the state's long economic decline.
It peaks under Cosimo III.
The Medicis' only advancement in the latter days of their existence is their elevation to royalty, by the Holy Roman Emperor, in 1691.
Francis Stephen of Lorraine, a cognatic descendant of the Medici, succeeds the family and ascends the throne of his Medicean ancestors.
Tuscany is governed by a viceroy, Marc de Beauvau-Craon, for his entire rule.
His descendants rule, and reside in, the grand duchy until 1859, barring one interruption, when Napoleon Bonaparte gives Tuscany to the House of Bourbon-Parma.
Following the collapse of the Napoleonic system in 1814, the grand duchy is restored.
The United Provinces of Central Italy, a client state of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, annex Tuscany in 1859.
Tuscany is formally annexed to Sardinia in 1860, following a landslide referendum, in which 95% of voters approve.
