The Principality of Lucca and Piombino was created in July 1805 by

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

for his beloved sister

Elisa Bonaparte Maria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy (French: ''Marie Anne Elisa Bonaparte''; 3 January 1777 – 7 August 1820), better known as Elisa Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was Princess of Lucca ...

. It was a State located on the central Italian Peninsula (present-day

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

), reporting to the needs of Napoleonic France.

Formation

The state was the result of the annexation of the Principality of Lucca (est. 22 June 1805), the former

Republic of Lucca The Republic of Lucca ( it, Repubblica di Lucca) was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Lucca in Tuscany, which lasted from 1160 to 1805. Its territory extended beyond the city of Lucca, reaching the surr ...

and occupied by France since late 1799, and the ancient Principality of Piombino, with Elisa the Princess of Piombino since that March. The combined principalities then were ruled as a single

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

. Elisa was the ruling Princess of Piombino and Lucca. Her husband

Felice Pasquale Baciocchi Felice Pasquale Baciocchi (18 May 1762 – 27 April 1841) was born at Ajaccio into a noble, but poor, Corsican family. He was second lieutenant in the French army in 1778, lieutenant in 1788, then captain in 1794. Around 5 May 1797, he married El ...

became the titular Prince of Piombino.

Rule

The Constitution of the principality was written by Napoleon on 22 June (1805), establishing a Council of State to assist the Princess and a legislative Senate. The Principality adopted the

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

as its currency, though few special local coins were minted. On 3 March 1809, as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, her brother Napoleon created the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, with Elisa ruling as Grand Duchess of all

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. The region had been annexed to the French Empire two years before, from the former Kingdom of Etruria (1801-1807). Henceforth the Principality of Lucca and Piombino became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and consequently a territory of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

. It did have special status, and a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

was appointed (Antoine-Marie-Pierre de Hautmesnil). However, the territory was never named a

Department of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

End

In 1814, the Imperial Austrian Army occupied Lucca, ending French control with the fall of Napoleon. Under the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

Piombino was given to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

to the exiled Napoleon. Lucca was restored to separate state status as the Duchy of Lucca (1815–1847). The Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) gave the Duchy to exiled Spanish Borbón Maria Louisa (1782-1824), who became the Duchess of Lucca and disregarded the constitution imposed on her by the Congress and governed in an absolutist fashion.

Bibliography

* Claude Drigon, ''Nouveau traité historique et archéologique de la vraie et parfaite science des armoiries'

*''L'Univers, histoire et description de tous les peuples'

* Marie Nicolas Bouillet, ''Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie''

* Gérard Hubert, ''La sculpture dans l'Italie napoléonienne''

External links

Flags of Lucca

{{coord missing, Italy Lucca, * *

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

States and territories established in 1805 1805 establishments in Europe 1815 disestablishments in Europe History of Tuscany

Formation

Rule

End

See also

Bibliography

External links