History History

Appearances of the first traces of the Etruscan civilization. At its peak (6th century BC), the ancient territory of Etruria largely corresponds to present-day Tuscany. It is generally accepted that it was from the Etruscans that Italy was really born. They settled in Rome for a century and transformed it into a real city. But when their power declined, the Romans chased them away. Etruria was one of the first conquests of Rome and disappeared in 264 BC

A Roman colony was established by Julius Caesar in Florentia, today's Florence. Its advantageous geographical location, on the banks of the Arno and on via Cassia, which linked Rome to northern Italy, allows it to prosper rapidly. The Forum was located in the Piazza della Repubblica and the city had 10,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century.

With the fall of the Roman Empire consummated at the end of the^5th century, Italy experienced great political instability. Tuscany was dominated by the Ostrogoths then the Byzantines before passing under the control of the Lombards in 569: the region then became the Duchy of Tuscia and had Lucca as its capital. The city will remain so for two centuries

Allied to the papacy, Charlemagne put an end to the reign of the Lombards. Tuscany is part of the Carolingian Empire.

By forbidding lay people to confer bishoprics, the famous Pope Gregory VII triggered the no less famous dispute over the Investitures, which pitted him against the German Emperor Henry IV, humiliated in Canossa in 1077. The Duchy of Tuscany is once again independent and Florence becomes its capital.

Chianti, a region between Florence and Siena, became an object of covetousness and conflict between the two cities. The clashes over who will exercise control over this prosperous region will last nearly four centuries.

Countess Matilda dies in Mantua and bequeaths Tuscany to the papacy. At the same time, a communal movement is being born: Lucca becomes the first commune in Italy and Florence becomes a city-state ruled by an assembly. Participatory democracy in its early forms emerges, as well as arts and crafts associations. Tuscany, in the eyes of the world, is a success story of cultural, social and economic autonomy.

The first florins were struck, first in silver, then in gold from 1252 onwards. The Florentine currency, the "Middle Ages dollar", then became a reference point in Europe, testifying to the city's first influence on the peninsula.

A climate of civil war reigns in each Tuscan city and between cities themselves. Supporters of the Papacy, called Guelphs, and supporters of the Emperor, called Gibelins, are engaged in an inexplicable struggle. Florence is dominated by the Guelphs, Lucca and Pisa are in the hands of the Ghibellines.

Battle of Montaperti won by the Sienese against the Florentines. This victory of Siena marks a sudden halt to the spectacular expansion phase of the Florentine commune since the Guelphs came to power.

The Florentine Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, the first poem written in Tuscan dialect, not in Latin.

Major economic crisis in Florence due to the bankruptcy of the Peruzzi and Bardi families.

Terrible epidemic of black plague that ravaged Tuscany and wiped out half the population of Siena and Florence.

After four years of resistance, proud Pisa is defeated by Florence, which finally gets an outlet to the sea. Only the powerful republics of Siena and Lucca resisted the "city of the lily"

A family of rich and skillful Florentine bankers, the Medici, came to power, replacing the communal government. Under the reign of Laurent de Médicis, between 1469 and 1492, the Republic of Florence became a major European financial centre, if not the largest

Leonardo da Vinci was born in Florence.

Birth in Florence of Amerigo Vespucci.

A Florentine sailor, Vespucci first entered the service of the Medici family. Responsible for their banking branch in Lisbon, he felt the call of the open sea. On behalf of the King of Portugal, then of Spain, he embarked on the adventure of maritime discovery. Between 1499 and 1504, several expeditions took him to the coasts of South America. He was the first to cross the equator and the mouth of the Amazon. The results of his voyages had the effect of shattering centuries of established knowledge and beliefs. The German Waldseemüller is credited with using Vespucci's first name to refer to the new lands he had discovered. His wife Simonetta was the muse of many painters. The beauty of her features can be seen in some of Botticelli's works and in a sumptuous portrait by Piero di Cosimo.

Born in Caprese, north of Arezzo, of Michelangelo.

The armies of Charles VIII, King of France, appeared in the north of the peninsula and were welcomed in Florence, where he overthrew the Medici with the help of their opponents.

Savonarola, who had severely denounced the delinquent mores of the Renaissance and Medici Florence, was hanged and burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria, on the very spot where the preacher-monk had had Petrarch's verses and Botticelli's female nudes burned in 1497.

A Dominican monk and prior of the San Marco convent in Florence, Savonarola was devoted to an exalted cult of purity and deprivation. He saw the Antichrist in the neo-Platonism of Lorenzo the Magnificent's court, and delivered fiery sermons on the risks taken by the Florentine people, and on the approach of the Apocalypse. A charismatic figure, he had many emulators (including Botticelli's brother) and divided opinion. When Florence found itself without a government after the French invasion, he enlisted the help of his supporters to establish a theocratic regime, suppressing all non-religious festivals and forcing everyone to burn all possessions that might endanger their souls at the "stake of vanities". His enemies redoubled in number when he directed his attacks against the Pope. Excommunicated, he was hunted down in his convent, condemned to death, hanged and burned. A commemorative plaque in Place de la Seigneurie commemorates his sad end.

The Medicis regained control of the Florentine Republic. Elected Duke of Florence at the age of 18, Cosme I then became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569 until his death. Florence owes him many embellishments, including the creation of the Uffizi Gallery and the Boboli Garden.

After two years of war and a murderous siege, Cosme I's troops capture Siena, Florence's age-old rival, which now controls all of Tuscany. This was the beginning of a long and flourishing period for the Florentine city, which became the most emblematic cultural centre of humanism and the Renaissance

Francis of Lorraine and his wife, MariaTheresa of Austria, heir to the Habsburg dynasty, put an end to the Medici dynasty. On the death of his father, Leopold ^I became the new Grand Duke of Tuscany, moving to Florence in 1765. A supporter of the Enlightenment ideas then spreading throughout Europe, he revived agriculture and put an end to customs taxes.

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany decides to abolish the death penalty. On the initiative of Leopold ^I, Tuscany became the first state in the world to abolish capital punishment. Torture was also banned.

After the European upheavals at the end of the 18th century and the seizure of power by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was annexed to the French Empire until the fall of the Emperor in 1814. Tuscany was then called the "Kingdom of Etruria" in memory of its Etruscan past. In spite of some inevitable exactions in times of war, the Italians discovered for the first time in their history freedom in almost all its aspects.

Napoleon 's exile on the island of Elba.

The Congress of Vienna marks the end of the Napoleonic wars and the return of more or less despotic regimes. The Austrian repression fell on the Italians, who were not consulted at all during the redrawing of their peninsula. This frustration marks the birth of a national awareness, relayed by movements that will be expressed through the action of secret societies, the famous carbonari. The idea of national unity is gaining ground..

Tuscany becomes part of the United Kingdom of Italy. In 1865, Florence became the capital of the emerging nation, with Victor-Emmanuel II as its king. Rome, still occupied by the Pope and the French forces charged with protecting him, could not be chosen to host the throne. It was only in 1870, following the withdrawal of French troops - due to the Franco-Prussian war - that Rome was finally associated with the rest of the nation and even became its capital.

Many of the arteries are named after the man who was the first king of Italy after the unification of the regions from 1861 until his death. Nicknamed "Father of the Fatherland" or "Gentleman King", he was also Duke of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont and King of Sardinia from 1849 to 1861. The son of Charles-Albert and Queen Teresa, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand, the king pursued a moderate policy, tempering the ardour of Giuseppe Garibaldi's supporters and trying to calm conflicts with the Holy See, while continuing the economic work of his Prime Minister, the Count of Cavour.

Once this unity has been achieved, Italy becomes aware of its economic backwardness on a European scale. In 1892, for example, almost half of the Florentine population lived in poverty. But at the beginning of the 20th century, Tuscany experienced considerable demographic growth, accompanied by urbanization intense ; these were years tormented by the "social question", workers' demands and the birth of fascism.

After ten months on the fringes of the First World War, Italy broke its neutrality and decided on 24 May 1915 to declare war alongside the Allies on Austria-Hungary, an empire to which it had been linked since 1882 by the Treaty of the Triplicate, as well as Germany, another former ally. Victory was bitter, and losses were heavy.

In November 1921, Benito Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party. With his black shirts he starts the famous March on Rome.

Although allied with Germany, Italy waited until June 1940 to declare war on Britain and France. Ill-prepared, the Italian army went from defeat to defeat and capitulated in 1943.

The Italian resistance joined the Allied forces. Tuscany was liberated in 1944, but German defence had serious consequences, particularly in Florence: extensive damage to the old medieval districts mined by the Germans, as well as the destruction of all bridges (except Ponte Vecchio)

Once peace had returned, the National Liberation Committee at the head of the government held a referendum, the result of which condemned the monarchy in favour of a republic (71.6% in Tuscany). Humbert II, who ascended the throne after the abdication of his father Victor-Emmanuel III, preferred to go into exile

After the adoption of a new constitution, ratified in 1948, political life was mainly marked by the struggle for power between parties that had emerged from the resistance. Following the country's entry into the NATO pact and then into the European Community project, the post-war years were characterised by the development and success of the Italian economy. Tuscany began a process of reconstruction followed by rapid industrial growth. Florence revives its textile industry and becomes the Italian fashion capital.

Flooding of the Arno River in Florence: dozens of people perish in the floods and the toll of artworks and manuscripts destroyed by the water and mud is catastrophic

Particularly agitated and difficult, the "lead years", nicknamed by the media, began with the autunno caldo (hot autumn) of 1969, during which strikes, demonstrations and riots followed one another. Italy faces violent and uncontrollable activism, involving the Red Brigades on the one hand (who murdered the mayor of Florence in 1986, Lando Conti) and small extreme right-wing groups on the other, some of which have the support of powerful people (there is even talk of a role played by the CIA in the "strategy of tension"). Italy is on the verge of disintegration. This social and political confusion culminated in the assassination of Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978.

Italy discovers the extent of the mafia's control. Operation Mani Pulite (clean hands) is being set up to clean up the country's political and public life. Despite several attacks (including the one against the Uffizi Gallery which killed five people in June 1993) and much deadly violence (including the murder of judges Falcone and Borsellino), scandals broke out, fraudulent actions by politicians were exposed, and the ministers' waltz began again. In 40 years, 48 governments have succeeded each other at the head of the country...

Maurizio Gucci, the heir to the famous Florentine fashion house branded with the double G, was murdered in the heart of Milan. His ex-wife, nicknamed the "black widow", was sentenced to 26 years in prison for ordering the murder.

Roberto Benigni, born on October 27, 1952 in Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany, wins the Oscar for Best Actor for his film La Vie est belle.

In the regional elections, Claudio Martini, the centre-left president, won his second term of office with flying colours, confirming Tuscany's status as a bastion of the left.

The unsinkable Silvio Berlusconi and his right-wing allies won the national elections after the fall of Romano Prodi's government. By the way, Tuscany's traditional support for left-wing candidates is being diluted. At the age of 71, Berlusconi became President of the Council for the third time. But the "Silvio" edifice began to crack: one scandal after another culminates in a vice case involving a minor, the "Ruby Gate" affair, when the Constitutional Court overturns the law protecting him from prosecution during his term of office.

150th anniversary of the Italian unification . In November, following Berlusconi's resignation, economist Mario Monti became President of the Council. Despite the austerity plan and the demonstrations against his rigorous policy to counter the economic crisis, Monti managed to stay the course. "Super Mario", as he is nicknamed by journalists, launched a pension reform, implemented a policy to fight tax evasion and asked the Church to pay a property tax

Cavaliere Berlusconi was stripped of his mandate as a senator and declared ineligible for six years.

Matteo Renzi, Mayor of Florence since 2009, becomes the youngest Prime Minister in the history of Italy. Incisive, it is undertaking expected reforms (lowering taxes for the most modest households, new electoral law, promotion of women at the head of large Italian public groups, etc.).

The Florence City Hall signs a decree imposing 70% of local products in the city's restaurants.

Almost 60% of Italians rejected in a referendum Renzi's reform to reduce the power of the Senate and the regions, and in the process announced his resignation after spending a thousand days at the head of the country.

Anti-terrorist security measures implemented in Florence and installation of metal detectors at the entrances to the main museums.

Legislative elections: victory for anti-European forces. As of June 2018, Italy has a new government under the leadership of Giuseppe Conte, resulting from the unprecedented coalition between two anti-system parties, the 5-Star Movement and the League

Opening of a new tramway line in Florence: the T2, which connects the airport with the city centre.

Inauguration of Piazza Salvatore Ferragamo, near Ponte Vecchio, in homage to the famous Florentine shoemaker.

Italy confines itself to the Covid-19 pandemic. By the end of February, the country was the hardest hit in the European Union.

Anecdotally, the social distancing measures saw the reopening of wine windows in Florence, small openings created in the ^16th century to allow the sale of wine, used in particular during plague epidemics.

Mario Draghi, former ECB governor, is appointed Prime Minister of Italy

After the resignation of Mario Draghi, early legislative elections were marked by the victory of Giorgia Meloni and her far-right party, Fratelli d'Italia. Tuscany, a traditional left-wing bastion, voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party (PD) of former Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

Tourism in Italy, the locomotive of the country's economy, is returning to its pre-pandemic levels of 2019, with record figures: over 445 million overnight stays have been recorded, representing an 8% increase on 2022.

The announced (and long-awaited!) reopening of the Vasari Corridor in Florence, closed since 2016 for major restoration work . An architectural feat, this corridor, designed by the Medici family, starts at the Palazzo Vecchio, crosses the Uffizi, spans the Arno on the Ponte Vecchio and winds through the Oltrarno before arriving at the Palazzo Pitti.

For its ^111th edition, the Tour de France will set off from Italy in 2024 for the first time in its history, and more precisely from Florence!