New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: Tuscany
Tuscany, a division of central Italy, includes the provinces of Arezzo, Florence, Grosseto, Livorno, Massa and Carrara, Pisa, and Siena; area, 9304 sq. miles; population in 1911, 2,900,000. Ecclesiastically it is divided into the provinces of Florence, with 6 suffragan dioceses; Pisa, with 4 suffragans; Siena, with 5 suffragans, the Archdiocese of Lucca; and the immediate Dioceses of Arezzo, Cortona, Montalcino, Montepulciano, and Pienza. The territory is essentially the same as that of ancient Etruria. In the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. the Etruscans were the dominant power in northern and central Italy, and brought Latium and Rome under their supremacy. Towards the end of the sixth century B.C. Rome regained its independence, and from the second half of the fifth century it began a struggle for supremacy. There were many changes of fortune during the long war, but it ended about 280 B.C. with the overthrow of Etruria. During the Empire Etruria formed the seventh region of Italy. After the fall of the Western Empire, Tuscany was ruled successively by the Germans under Odoacer, by the Ostrogoths, by the Eastern Empire through Narses, and by the Lombards. Tuscany, or Tuscia as it was called in the Middle Ages, became a part of the Frankish Empire during the reign of Charlemagne and was formed a margravate, the margrave of which was also made the ruler several times of the Duchy of Spoleto and Camerino. In 1030 the margravate fell to Boniface, of the Canossa family. Boniface was also Duke of Spoleto, Count of Modena, Mantua, and Ferrara, and was the most powerful prince of the empire in Italy. He was followed by his wife Beatrice, first as regent for their minor son who died in 1055, then as regent for their daughter Matilda; in 1076 Beatrice died. Both she and her daughter were enthusiastic adherents of Gregory VII in his contest with the empire, After Matilda's death in 1115 her hereditary possessions were for a long time an object of strife between the papacy and the emperors.