List of grand dukes of Tuscany

Grand Duke of Tuscany
Coat of arms (1569–1737)
Longest reigning
Cosimo III de' Medici

23 May 1670 – 31 October 1723
Details
First monarchCosimo I de' Medici
Last monarchLeopold II (de jure)
Ferdinand IV (de facto/titular)
Formation27 August 1569
Abolition16 August 1859
ResidencePalazzo 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]

  1. ^ "COSIMO I de' Medici, duca di Firenze, granduca di Toscana in "Dizionario Biografico"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  2. ^ "Storia della famiglia Medici di Firenze". Skuola.net - Portale per Studenti: Materiali, Appunti e Notizie (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  3. ^ "ALESSANDRO de' Medici, primo duca di Firenze in "Dizionario Biografico"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  4. ^ "La dinastia dei Medici: chi furono i signori di Firenze che governarono per centinaia di anni". www.visitflorence.com. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  5. ^ 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.