| Grand Duke of Tuscany | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms (1569–1737) | |
.jpg) | |
| Details | |
| First monarch | Cosimo I de' Medici |
| Last monarch | Leopold II (de jure) Ferdinand IV (de facto/titular) |
| Formation | 27 August 1569 |
| Abolition | 16 August 1859 |
| Residence | Palazzo Pitti |
The title of Grand Duke of Tuscany was created on August 27, 1569 by a papal bull of Pope Pius V to Cosimo I de' Medici, member of the illustrious House of Medici. His coronation took place in Rome on March 5, 1570, by the hands of the Pope himself.[1]
Cosimo's family, the Medici dynasty, had been ruling the Florentine Republic, the predecessor of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, since 1434, first as Lords of Florence and later as Dukes.[2] The title of Grand Duke, was in fact the second title of recognition within the Tuscan politics given by a Pope to the Medici family, the first being that of Duke of the Florentine Republic, created by Pope Clement VII in 1532.[3][4]
The official residence of the Grand Dukes was the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, bought by the Medici in 1549.[5]
- ^ "COSIMO I de' Medici, duca di Firenze, granduca di Toscana in "Dizionario Biografico"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.
- ^ "Storia della famiglia Medici di Firenze". Skuola.net - Portale per Studenti: Materiali, Appunti e Notizie (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.
- ^ "ALESSANDRO de' Medici, primo duca di Firenze in "Dizionario Biografico"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.
- ^ "La dinastia dei Medici: chi furono i signori di Firenze che governarono per centinaia di anni". www.visitflorence.com. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
- ^ Candidi, Vieri Tommasi (2019-08-29). "Palazzo Pitti: il più prestigioso edificio di Firenze dai Medici ai Savoia". TuscanyPeople (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.