All of Tuscany [antikvár]

HISTORY There is no doubt that in prehistoric times many areas in Tuscany were already inhabited, as witnessed by interesting finds in the territories of Arezzo, of Siena (Paleolithic) and in the rest of the region (Neolithic and age of metals). Finds from the long period of the bronze age, dating back to 1500 B.C., are already considered historical and include pottery, tools and weapons in stone, bone and metal. The Villanovan culture belongs to the Iron Age (9th-8th cent. B.C.) and is the prelude to the birth here of the great Etruscan civilization. In the 7th and 6th centuries the Etruscans went beyond the current borders of the region and occupied parts of Latium, Campania, Umbría, the valley of the Po and Corsica. During these centuries the Etruscans controlled a large portion of the peninsula and brought a high degree of civilization and progress to the areas they ruled. But in the 5th-4th centuries they were attacked by other peoples who had in the meantime been growing in power and culture. They gave way to the Greek and Carthaginian supremacy of the seas and that of the Celts and Romans on land and were in the end forced to stipulate peace treaties with the Romans, who were the new political force on the peninsula. The policy adopted by the Romans in Etruria was particularly intelligent and permitted the conquered Etruscan cities to retain a partial autonomy. They also sponsored numerous public works (among other they connected Etruria to the most important communication routes). Even so the region slowly and inexorably declined as the population continued to diminish. At the beginning of the Imperial age Tuscany became the VII region of the Roman Empire. In the 3rd century A.D., under the reign of Diocletian, Etruria, now known as Tuscia, was joined to Umbría. In the early Middle Ages Tuscia's decline, which was to continue under Lombard rule, set in. Once -flourishing centers such as Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo and Florence became ever less important. The arrival of the Franks (A.D. 774) marked a turn for the better. The region was divided into feuds and with feudalism the abandoned cities of Tuscia slowly came back to life. The Crusades meant new life for one city in particular - Pisa. A city on the sea, and therefore favored in trade, Pisa was the center where the various Tuscan feudatories met before setting sail for the East from the port of Pisa. In the meanwhile other Tuscan cities, in particular Florence (in the field of textiles) and Siena (for banking activities), began to acquire power. With the passage from the feudal period to that of the communes, Tuscia, by now called Toscana, began a long period marked by struggles between rival cities: these were the years of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, of antagonism between Florence and Pisa, between Siena and Florence. The city which gradually succeeded in coming to the fore was Florence and by the early 14th century it was the most powerful city in the region. Even proud Pisa was forced to surrender to this most powerful of Tuscan cities in 1406. With free access to the sea, Florence was now politically and economically independent. The only cities which still resisted were the small but solid republics of Siena and Lucca. During the 15th century, the Medici, rich and intelligent Florentine bankers, took over the power and transformed the communal status of Florence into a principality, and in the second half of the 16th century, under Cosimo I de' Medici, it officially became the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, of which Siena and Lucca, who had also been forced to surrender, now made part. This was the beginning of a long period of great success for the region. The opulence of Florence, which was also reflected in the other Tuscan cities, permitted the region to live the greatest period in its history. During the periods of Humanism and the Renaissance, Florence and Tuscany became the cradle of international culture. In 1737 the last of the Medici Grand Dukes, Gian-gastone, ceded the sceptre of the Grand Duchy to the Lorraine dynasty, who continued to govern with intelligence and broadmindedness. As a result of great changes in the international scene at the end of the 18th century and of Napoleon's rise to power, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was annexed to the French Empire until the dictator's fall. Then came the Risorglmento and the revolutionary movements for the Union of Italy, and in 1866 Tuscany was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy. Five years later Florence became the capital of the new nation and remained such until 1870. At the beginning of the 20th century the population began to increase and the towns started to develop; these were the years tormented by the «social question»: the vindications of the workers, the birth of fascism. In World War II, Tuscany took an active part in the struggle for liberation and when the war was over initiated a reconstruction activity which led to industrialization. FLORENCE The river Arno cuts its way through the broad plain on which Florence lies, surrounded by the out-hills of the Tusco-Emilian Apennines. Already occupied in prehistoric times, as early as the 8th century B.C. an Italic peoples with a Villanovan culture settled in the area between the Arno and Mugnone rivers, but little is known of these remote times. In 59 B.C. the Roman city was founded with the square ground plan of the castrum. The decumanus maximus was laid out along what are now the Via del Corso, the Via degli Speziali and the Via Strozzi, while the ancient cardo corresponds to the line between Piazza San Giovanni, the Via Roma and the Via Calimala. With the arrival of the barbarians, Florence was first besieged by the Ostrogoths (405) of Radagaisus, who plundered the surrounding countryside, although Florence managed to resist and Stilicho's troops inflicted an overwhelming defeat on the enemy. Next came the Byzantines, who occupied Florence in 539, and the Goths who took over the city in 541. Under Lombard domination (570) it managed to safeguard its autonomy, while under the Franks the number of inhabitants diminished and the city lost most of its territory. Around the year thousand, things began to change for the better and the "lily" city's rise continued for various centuries in spite of numerous controversies, wars and internecine struggles. New walls surrounded the city, new civic and religious buildings went up, and at the same time the arts, literature, and trade continued to prosper. In 1183 the city became a free commune, even though it had already actually availed itself of this freedom for many years. The first clashes between the two factions, Guelph and Ghibelline, date to those years. The former were followers of the Pope, the latter of the Emperor. The ensuing struggles were to lacerate the civic fabric of the city up to 1268. Despite the unstable social and political situation, this period witnessed an upsurge in the arts and in Uterature. This was the time of Dante and the «dolce stil novo-», of Giotto and Arnolfo di Cambio. In the 15th century the city's rise continued. Florence was a trading city but also the new cradle for Italian and eventually European culture. Many powerful families (the Pitti, Frescobaldi, Strozzi, Albizi) vied for supremacy in the city. One above all soon came to the fore, a powerful family of bankers -the Medici - and beginning with the founder Cosimo I, later known as the Elder, they were to govern up to the first half of the 18th century, transforming Florence into a beacon during the period of Humanism and the