The Grand-Duchy of Tuscany

• Brief History
• The Republic of Florence (to 1530)
• The Medici grand-dukes of Tuscany (1569-1737)
• The Habsburg grand-dukes (1737-1801, 1814-60) and the Kingdom of Etruria (1801-07)
• Documents
• Papal Bull of Aug. 27, 1569 conferring the title of Grand Duke on Cosimo de' Medici
• Letters of Eventual Investiture of Francis III of Lorraine as Grand Duke of Tuscany (24 Jan 1737)
• Institution of Secundogeniture by Emperor Francis I and acceptance of his eldest son archduke Joseph (14 July 1763)
• Renunciation of Emperor Leopold II and his eldest son archduke Francis in favor of archduke Leopold (21 July 1790)
• Abdication in the name of Carlo Lodovico, king of Etruria (10 Dec 1807)

Brief History

The Republic of Florence (to 1530)

Like other Tuscan cities, Florence was part of the marquessate of Tuscany, and thus under the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Emperor. After Mathilde left her estates to the Pope in 1115, the line of local imperial representatives was broken, and the cities of Tuscany increasingly asserted their independence, although they were racked by internal strife between partisans of the Emperor (the Ghibellines) and those of the Papacy (the Guelfs). The death of Frederic II in 1250, and the destruction of his lineage in the following years, with the establishment of the French Anjou line on the throne of Sicily, ended all Ghibelline hopes in Tuscany. Florence, until then behind Lucca (11th c.) and Pisa (12th c.) in importance, rose to prominence.  After his election as German king, Rudolf of Habsburg passed agreements with several Tuscan cities, granting them the wide degree of independence they were already enjoying in exchange for one-time payments.

In Florence, the city, or Comune, was governed in republican fashion by elected officials and a legislative body, the maggior consiglio. The executive was known as the Signioria. There were continuing tensions between the upper classes of the Arte maggiori or major guilds, and the lower classes (who briefly took over in 1378-82). In the early 15th c., the struggle between aristocratic and populist factions was won by the latter, led by Cosimo de' Medici. The rule of the Medici (1434-94, 1513-27, and from 1530) was interrupted by popular revolts and restored by external force: in 1512 by the Santa Lega (Milan, Pope, Venice) and in 1530 by the Emperor.  Over the same period, Florence's wealth and power translated into growing accumulation of territory, notably with the defeat of Pisa in 1406.

The last expulsion of the Medici followed the sack of Rome in May 1527, when the representatives of the Medici pope Clement VII were expelled. After the reconciliation of the Emperor and the Pope, the former besieged the city in October 1529, promising to restore the Medici. The city capitulated on 12 Aug 1530 and, under the terms of the capitulation, relinquished to the Emperor the right to determine its form of government. Accordingly, by an imperial diploma of Oct. 27, 1530, Alesandro, illegitimate son of Pope Clement VII (Giuliano Medici) whom the latter had made "dux civitatis Pennae" (duke of Penna), was made head of the government of the Florentine Republic (note that his ducal title did not pertain to Florence and was not granted by the Emperor) "for his lifetime, and after his death to be succeeded by his sons, male heirs and successors, of his body, by order of primogeniture, and failing them by the closest male of the Medici family, and likewise in succession forever, by order of primogeniture." The Emperor's diploma formally ordered the officials of the Republic to appoint Alexander and his successors using the same forms and procedures as were in place before the expulsion of the Medici.

... statuimus ... ut deinceps perpetuis futuris temporibus magistratus dictae reipublicae eisdem formis et modis eligantur, disponantur, et instituantur, quibus ante ejectam ipsam Mediceorum illustram familiam eligebantur atque instituabantur, utque eadem ill. ipsa Mediceorum familia, et inprimis illustr. Alexander de Medicis Dux civitatis Pennae, cum nuper illustr. Margaritham filiam nostram naturalem despondimus, quamdium vixerit, atque eo e vivis sublato, ejus filii, haeredes et successores ex suo corpore descendentes masculi, ordine primogeniturae semper servato, et illis deficientibus, qui proximior masculus ex ipsa Mediceorum familia erit, et sic successive usque in infinitum, jure primogeniturae servato, sit atque esse debeat dictae Reipublicae Florentinae gubernii, status atque regiminis caput, et sub ejus praecipua cura, et protectione ipsa civitas et Respublica, cum universo ejus statu et dominio regatur, manuteneatur et conservetur... (Lünig, Codex Italiae Diplomaticus, 1725, 1:1163).

The Medici grand-dukes of Tuscany (1569-1737)

The genealogical tables of Davide Shamà and Andrea Dominici Battelli  are useful here.

Alessandro was murdered on 6 January 1537, leaving no legitimate issue from his marriage to the Emperor's illegitimate daughter Margareta. With him ended the descent of Cosimo il Vecchio (d. 1464); the next in line was the descent of Cosimo's brother Lorenzo. First in line was the murderer, Lorenzo (Lorenzino, called by Alfred de Musset Lorenzaccio) and his brother Giuliano, who would become bishop of Albi. Next came Cosimo de Medici (1519-74), son of Giovanni "delle Bande Nere". Three days after Alessandro's death Cosimo de Medici was chosen by the Consiglio dei 48 (Jan 9) to succeed him. This choice was ratified by the Emperor on Sept. 30, 1537, in a diploma which bestowed the title of "head and chief of the Florentine Republic" (Reipublicae Florentinae gubernii, status, Dominii et Regiminis Caput et Primarius) on Cosimo and his legitimate male descendents (ipsius filii haeredes et successores ex ejus corpore legitime descendentes masculi). In the Emperor's diploma, Alessandro's murderer was explicitly excluded for reasons of "parricide" (although nothing was said of his younger brother).

Under Cosimo the remaining republican institutions were abolished and power centralized in his hands; he also insured the succession of his son Francesco by gradually leaving the government in his hands. In 1555 Siena was besieged and conquered by joint Florentine-Spanish forces.  Formally, the Emperor Charles V ceded Siena in 1556 as a fief to the king of Spain, with the freedom to enfeoff it in turn to whom he pleased; this is what Philip II did on July 3, 1557, conceding Siena as a fief to Cosimo and his legitimate male-line descendants, with reversion to Spain in case of extinction of his line.  Spain only kept for itself Porto-Ercole, Orbitello, Telamone and Portolongone (on the island of Elba) which together formed the stato dei Presidi.

The estates of the Medici were thus comprised of:

• the old state (stato vecchio or stato fiorentino) comprising Florence and Pisa
• the new state (stato nuovo or stato senese) comprising Siena and its dependencies, which remained administratively and legally separate, under a governor (from 1628 always a Medici).  It also comprised Montalcino, the vicariate of Radicofano, the islands of the Tuscan archipelago (Pianosa, Giglio, Monte Cristo) and the part of Elba arround Porto Ferraio, not occupied by Spain.
• various other possessions acquired over time, such as
  
  • the county of Pitigliano, once a possession of the Orsini family and sold in 1604
    
  • the county of Santa Fiora, sold by the Sforza family in 1633
  • Pontremoli, purchased in 1650 from the Spaniards
  • the marquessate of Castiglione, bought by Leonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo, from Silvia Piccolomini
  • the lordship of Pietra Santa between Lucca and Massa
  • various fiefs and alleuds kept by Maria della Rovere, heir of the last duke of Urbino, and wife of grand-duke Ferdinando II
  • the duchy of Capistrano and Citta di Penna in the kingdom of Naples
    

By papal bull of Aug. 27, 1569 the hereditary title of "Granduca nella Provincia di Toscana" was conferred on Cosimo I, who was formally invested by the Pope on March 7, 1570 (Laetare sunday). In spite of an official protest by the Holy Roman Emperor, Florence was henceforth known as the grand-duchy of Tuscany (1569-1859). The emperor ultimately bestowed the title himself by a diploma of 26 Jan 1576, on Francesco and his male legitimate descendents of his body and, in default thereof, on the closest males of the Medici family in perpetuity, by order of primogeniture (eundem illustr. Franciscum Medicem, Ducem, ejusque descendentes in infinitum, masculos, legitimos et naturales, ac illis deficientibus, vel non extantibus, proximiores masculos ex Medicea familia, in perpetuum, ut supra, omnes tamen successuros ordine ac jure primogenii; Lünig, ibid., 1:1310).

Francesco I (d. 1587) was succeeded by his brother Ferdinando I (d. 1609), who was followed by Cosimo II (d. 1621), Ferdinando II (d. 1670), Cosimo III (d. 1723), and Gian Gastone (d. 1737).

The Tuscan Succession Question

Cosimo III married in 1661 a first cousin of Louis XIV, who bore him three children (two sons and a daughter) and returned to Paris where she almost outlived her husband.  The eldest son, Ferdinando, grand-prince of Tuscany, married the daughter of the Elector of Bavaria, but the marriage was childless, and Ferdinando started showing serious signs of mental trouble.  The other son, Gian Gastone, was married in 1697 to another German princess, widow of the Elector Palatine, but the marriage foundered very quickly and various attempts are reuniting the spouses remained vain.   Fearing for his line, Cosimo III turned to the only remaining Medici male, his brother Francesco Maria, who happened to be a 45-year old cardinal.  He convinced him to renounce his priesthood and marry Eleanora Gonzaga in 1709, but the marriage immediately turned into a disaster, and in any case Francesco Maria soon died, in 1711.

Cosimo III was now facing the probably extinction of his house, and started worrying about his succession, as the grand-ducal branch of the house of Medici was verging on extinction.  By the terms of the investiture of 1530, the line descended from Salvestro (Chiarissimo) and his grandson Giovanni di Bicci (d. 1429) should have been succeeded by the line descended from Salvestro's brother Giovenco, who had two sons Giuliano and Antonio.  The descendents of Giuliano remained in Florence, held positions in the government of Florence and became marchese di Castellina in 1628; several were knights of San Stefano: at the time, the head of that line was Francesco Maria (d. 1741), marchese di Castellina, knight of San Stefano.  The line descended from Antonio split with his grandsons Averardo and Lorenzo. Averardo's descendants remained in Florence as well and his senior representative was Niccolò Giuseppe Medici, who was the secretary of Cosimo III's daughter the princess Anna Maria.  Lorenzo's son Ottaviano married Francesca Salviati, daughter of Lucrezia Medici (herself daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent) and had two sons: Bernadetto, who purchased the barony of Ottaiano in 1567 and moved to the kingdom of Naples, and Alessandro, who became pope Leo XI.  The descendant of Bernadetto was Don Giuseppe (1635-1717), prince of Ottaiano and duke of Sarno in 1693, grandee of Spain of the 1st class.  An internal memorandum drafted in the French ministry of foreign affairs in 1717 stated that it was "beyond doubt" that a descendant of Giovenco was entitled to succeed to Florence, if not Siena (see Recueil des instructions données aux ambassadeurs de France, XIX, p. xlvii, p. 118).

Cosimo III initially did think of the prince of Ottaiano as successor (skipping over the Florence Medici whom he deemed too lowly), and he tried to put this proposal before the diplomats gathered the The Hague to negotiate an end to the War of Spanish Succession.  He later changed his mind, and had the senate of Florence pass a decree in November 1714 appointing his daughter Anna Maria (1667-1743), Electress Palatine, as his universal heir.

The problem of the Tuscan succession was knotty, if only because the two parts of Tuscany, the stato vecchio and the stato nuovo, were not governed by the same laws, the former was under the investiture of 1530, the latter under the investiture of 1557, both theoretically imperial fiefs or at least under imperial control, but at least one (the stato nuovo) directly a Spanish fief.  The allodial, papal and female fiefs also posed problems of their own.  But international diplomacy cut through all these difficulties and wholly ignored the rights of the collateral Medici, as follows.

That war ended with the treaties of Utrecht of 1713 and Baden of 1714, yet all was not settled. In particular, the two rival claimants to the throne of Spain were king Felipe V of Spain and Emperor Karl VI (thus in natural conflict over Tuscany), and had not yet signed a peace. Karl was reluctant to relinquish his rights on the Spanish throne; conversely, Felipe did not want to renounce the former Spanish possessions in Italy or the Low Countries, which the war had left in the Emperor's hands. In 1717, Spain invaded Sardinia and Sicily, and appeared ready to attack the mainland of Italy. To preserve the peace, a defensive alliance was formed between the Emperor, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands by the treaty of London of August 2, 1718 (Quadruple Alliance): the stick was a threat of war against Spain, the carrot was the offer of the succession to Tuscany to the infante Carlos, son of Felipe V of Spain and his second wife Elizabeth Farnese. Carlos, through his mother, was the closest relative in female line (descended from Margherita, daughter of Cosimo II). He was also promised the eventual succession to Parma and Piacenza, his mother's inheritance, as the house of Farnese was also nearing extinction.

Spain refused to accept the terms, and a war ensued (1718-19) which Spain promptly lost. Spain acceded to the term of the treaty of the Quadruple Alliance in 1721. The reciprocal renunciations of the Spanish king and the Emperor to their claims were made and exchanged in London in 1721; letters of eventual investiture of Don Carlos were issued by the Emperor in 1724; a final peace treaty between Spain and the Emperor signed in Vienna on April 30, 1725 and ratified by the Empire on June 7, 1725. By the treaty of Seville of 1729 between France, Spain, and Great Britain, it was decided that Spanish garrisons would be placed in Livorno, Porto-Ferraio, Parma and Piacenza to guarantee Don Carlos's rights. The Emperor was displeased by these terms and, when Antonio Farnese died on January 20, 1731 he immediately occupied the duchy; but he relented and agreed to the garrisons by the treaty of Vienna of March 16, 1731, in exchange for British and Dutch recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction. Spanish troops landed at Livorno on October 27, soon followed by Don Carlos.  The widow of the last duke, Dorothea Sophie von Neuburg (1670-1748) assumed the regency of Parma in the name of Don Carlos, who arrived in October 1732.

The grand-duke of Tuscany had repeatedly protested against these proceedings, in particular in 1722 at the time of the congress of Cambrai, circulating a protest. (Excerpts from the protest were published in the Gazette d'Amsterdam, 1722, n. 5-9; a rebuttal was published in the same year, n. 21-25, and a rejoinder n. 38-48; see these texts in a 3.5Mb PDF file). Marais (Journal, 2:262) attributes the protest to Eusèbe Renaudot (1648-1720).

By 1731, however, his successor Gian Gastone had no support of any kind, and gave in. By a convention with Spain signed in Florence on July 25, 1731, he agreed to bequeathe his possessions to Don Carlos; in exchange Spain guaranteed to maintain the constitution and privileges of Florence, and to give his sister (if she survived him) rank and style of grand-duchess, with a suitable allowance, and rights of regency in case of minority or absence of Don Carlos. (The grand-duke nevertheless deposited a protesto segreto with the archbishop of Florence on Sept. 11, 1731.) The Emperor ratified these arrangements on Oct. 17, 1731. In the meantime, Don Carlos took possession of the duchy of Parma.

These plans were completely up-ended by the War of Polish Succession which broke out in 1733 and ended in 1735 with the preliminaries of Vienna of Oct. 3, 1735. As a result of the war, Don Carlos had seized the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which he was allowed to keep; he ultimately gave up Parma and Piacenza to the Emperor. As for Tuscany, it was now allocated Tuscany as compensation to François de Lorraine, husband of Maria-Teresa, who gave up his duchy to the dispossessed king of Poland Stanislas Leszcynski and loser of the War (father-in-law of the king of France). These peace preliminaries signed between France and the Emperor were ratified by Spain and Sicily (i.e., Don Carlos and his father) during the year 1736. An agreement of April 11, 1736 gave immediate possession of Lorraine to Stanislas, and the duke of Lorraine formally ceded his possessions on Sep. 28, and Dec. 13, 1736. The Emperor ceded the Two Sicilies and the ports of Tuscany to Don Carlos on Dec. 11, 1736; the same day, Don Carlos ceded Parma and Piacenza to the Emperor, and his rights to Tuscany to the duke of Lorraine; the king of Spain had ceded his rights to Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany on November 21, 1736. in 1736, renouncing all their rights and claims to Tuscany.

The Habsburg grand-dukes (1737-1801, 1814-60) and the Kingdom of Etruria (1801-07)

The amazing game of musical chairs was played out as planned. Accordingly, shortly before the last Medici died, the Emperor Charles VI formally granted the eventual investiture of the grand-duchy of Tuscany to his son-in-law (see text below).  Since the grand-duchy was in compensation for the loss of Lorraine and Bar, the law of succession was the same as the one that prevailed for Lorraine.  Thus, the remainder was to François's descendants in male line, by order of primogeniture, followed by his brother Charles and the latter's male issue, followed by all other male princes of the house of Lorraine; and in case of its complete extinction, the remainder extended to the princesses of the house of Lorraine by order of primogeniture. (Charles died without issue; the other male lines of Lorraine not descended from François became extinct in 1825).

Gian Gastone died on July 9, 1737. Three days, later, on July 12, in the Palazzo Vecchio, the Council and the Senate of Florence heard the text of the imperial investiture, and took an oath in the hands of Marc de Beauvau, prince de Craon and the plenipotentiary of the duc de Lorraine. Craon remained as regent while François remained in Vienna. A mooted regency by the sister of the last Medici, Anna Maria Louise (widow of the Elector Palatine) did not materialize, in part because of disputes over the free estates of the Medici which she inherited (when she died in 1743 she made the grand-duke her universal heir).

On September 13, 1745, François was elected Emperor.  By a Motu-Proprio of 1763, he erected a "secundogeniture", leaving the duchy after his death to his second surviving son Peter Leopold I (1747-92) and his male issue, with reversion rights to the rest of the house of Austria. Leopold took up residence in Florence at his accession, but became king of Hungary and Bohemia at the death of his brother Joseph in 1790, and on Sep 30, 1790 he was elected emperor.  Leopold then ceded Tuscany to his younger son Ferdinand III (1769-1824): see the text of the renunciation by Leopold and the acceptance of Leopold's eldest son Francis below.

Ferdinand III ruled until a Napoleonic interruption.  By article 5 of the treaty of Lunéville (Feb 9, 1801) between France and the Empire, it was agreed that he would renounce the grand-duchy which would pass to the duke of Parma  ("Il est en outre convenu que S.A.R. le Grand-Duc de Toscane pour elle et ses successeurs et ayants-cause, au Grand Duché de Toscane et à la partie de l'île d'Elbe qui en dépend, ainsi qu'à tous droits et titres résultant de ses droits, sur lesdits Etats lesquels seront possédés désormais, en toute souveraineté et propriété, par S.A.R. l'Infant duc de Parme[...]").

By the secret treaty of Ildefonso of 1 Oct 1800 between France and Spain, France had promised to secure for the dispossessed duke of Parma a state of 1m to 1.2m subjects somewhere in Italy, with the title of king, if possible Tuscany, in exchange for a restitution of Louisiana. By the Treaty of Aranjuez of 21 Feb 1801 between the same parties,  the reigning duke of Parma Ferdinando (died 9 Oct 1802) renounced Parma for himself and his heirs in favor of the French Republic (art. 1).  His son Lodovico, prince of Parma, was compensated with the grand-duchy of Tuscany (art. 2) with the title of "king of Tuscany" (art. 4), for himself and his (male) heirs, with reversion to the house of Spain (art. 7). By a laconic convention of 26 Dec 1802, the German emperor recognized "HRH the Infant of Spain who is in possession of the grand-duchy of Tuscany" as "king of Etruria".

Lodovico reigned as Lodovico I, king of Etruria from 28 July 1801.  He died 27 May 1803, leaving an infant son Carlo Lodovico under the regency of his mother the Spanish Infanta Maria Luisa.  By the secret treaty of Fontainebleau of Oct 27, 1807, Etruria was ceded to Napoleon (art. 9: "S. M. le Roi d'Etrurie cède en toute propriété et souveraineté le royaume d'Etrurie à S. M. l'Empereur des Français, Roi d'Italie"), while the Portuguese provinces between Minho and Duero and the city of Oporto were given to the former king of Etruria as "kingdom of Northern Portugal (note; the same treaty gave the province of the Algarves to Godoy, prince of the Peace). Neither the king of Etruria nor his mother the Regent were parties to the treaty, but Maria Luisa abdicated in her son's name on 10 Dec 1807 (see text below), after which Tuscany was formally annexed to the French empire by a decree of March 28, 1808.

The treaty of Paris (May 30, 1814) and the final act of the Congress of Vienna returned Tuscany to Ferdinand III of Austria exactly as he held it before the treaty of Lunéville. He resumed the same style and arms as before 1801. The territory of the Grand-Duchy was defined by article 100 of the Act of the Congress of Vienna of 1815. He was succeeded in 1824 by his son Leopold III (1797-1870), who promulgated in 1848 a constitution suppressed in 1852, and was expelled by his subjects in 1859. The preliminary treaty of Villafranca of July 1859 between France and Austria provided for his return, but the city of Florence rejected it. A referendum on March 11, 1860 gave a 95% vote in favor of union with Piedmont-Sardinia, which became effective by a March 22, 1860, notwithstanding Leopold III's official protest (published in the British and Foreign State Papers and in Hertslet).

Documents

Papal Bull of Aug. 27, 1569 conferring the title of Grand Duke on Cosimo de' Medici

Letters of Eventual Investiture of Francis III of Lorraine as Grand Duke of Tuscany (24 Jan 1737)

Source: 35 CTS 41.  The Italian text, in Martens: Recueil des Principaux Traités, suppl., vol. 1, p. 234, comes from Crome, Staatsverwaltung von Toscana, vol. III, p. 3, also in Codice della Toscana legislazione, vol. I, p. 1.

The original was no doubt in Latin.

Noi, Carlo Sesto per grazia di Dio eletto Imperadore de' Romani sempre Augusto, e Rè di Germania, di Castiglia d'Aragona, di Leone, dell'una, e l'altra Sicilia, di Gierusalemme, di Ungheria, di Boemia, di Dalmazia, e Schiavonia, di Navarra, di Granata, di Toledo, di Valenza, di Galizia, di Majorica, di Siviglia, di Sardegna, di Cordova, di Corsica, di Murcia, di Jaen, de los Algarves, di Algezia, di Giailtera, e dell'Isole Canarie dell'Indie Orientali ed Occidentali, dell'Isole e Terra ferma del Mar Oceano, Arciduca d'Austria, Duca di Borgogna, di Brabante, di Milano, Mantova, Stiria, Carintia, Carniola, Limburgo, Lucemburgo, Gheldria, Wirtemberg, Slesia alta, e bassa, Calabria, d'Athene, di Lepanto, Principe di Svevia, Catalogna, e d'Asturia, Marchese del Sacro Romano Impero, Burgaw, Moravia, ed alta, e bassa Lusazia, Conte d'Ausburgo, Fiandra, Tirolo, Ferreto, Kiburgo, Gorizia, e dell'Artesia, Landgravio d'Alsazia, Marchese d'Oristagni, Conte di Goziano, Namur, del Roussillon, e della Cerdagna, Signora della Marca di Schiavonia, Porto Naone, Biscaia, Molina, Salim, Tripoli, e Malines &c.

In virtù delle presenti facciamo noto, ed attestiamo.  Per finire la guerra luttuosissima a tutto il Mondo Christiano tra Noi, ed il Serenissimo e potentissimo Principe Ludovico XV. Re di Francia fu convenuto il giorno tre d'Ottobre dell'Anno 1735, d'alcuni Articoli Preliminari contenenti in se le condizioni della Pace, delle quali amendue li contraenti si dichiararono contenti, e fra l'altre cose in essi fu disposto, che li Ducati di Bar, e di Lorena, comechè allora si possedevano dalla Serenissima casa di questo nome, appartengano parte subito, e parte dopo l'estinzione della stirpe mascolina della Casa de' Medici, al Serenissimo Re di Polonia, e Gran Duca di Lithuania Stanislao I. per essere incorporati in perpetuo alla Corona di Francia dopo la morte del medesimo re.  Dipoi vicendevolmente, che per indennizzare la prefata Serenissima casa di Lorena delli Ducati per l'addietro posseduti, appartenga alla medesima dopo la morte del presente Possessore, il Gran Ducato di Toscano.  In oltre che tutte le Potenze, che averanno parte alla Pace, prendano sopra di se il mantenimento, e la garanzia di questa eventual Successione in favore della sopramentovata Casa: che le Truppe Spagnole sieno ritirate dalle Piazze, e Fortezze del Gran Ducato di Toscana, ed in loro luogo vi sianò introdotte le nostre Truppe Cesaree per maggior sicurezza della suddetta successione eventuale, nella stessa maniera, ch'è stato stipulato in riguardo dei Presidi neutrali nella Quadruplice Alleanza; che Livorno resti, comme è stato pel passato, Porto Franco.

Dipoi per singulare favore del Cielo, che sempre più andava beneficendo li pacific sentimenti di Noi, e del Re Christianissimo, segui, che gli stati del sacro Romano Imperio legittimamente adunati nella Dieta di Ratisbona non solamente acconsentirono alli predeti Articoli Preliminari, ed a tutto ciò che in essi si contiene, ma trasferirono altresi in Noi la piena, e totale facoltà di trattare, di conchiudere, e di fare norma delli medesimi, non solo in proprio nome, ma ancore in nome dell'Imperio tutte quelle cose, che restavano da trattarsi, e da compirsi per por fine alla salutare opera della Pace; e quantunque pel tenero affetto, che portava e che di presente ancora porta alli Popoli suoi sudditi il Serenissimo Duca di Lorena e di Bar Francesco III.  Nostro carissimo Genero esitasse da principio a mandarne in proprio nome, e delli suoi successori, la novella alli stati suoi Patrimoniali già lasciatigli dalli suoi Magiori ed Antenati; tanto nondimento appresso lui prevaltero si la riverenza, ed attenzione verso di Noi, e del Re Christianissimo, si l'ardente lodevolissima brama di beneficare il mondo Christiano, che per fare, che avesse effetto il publico riposo prestò il suo consenso, non solamente a quelle cose, che nelli poco fa citati Articoli Preliminari, e nella convenzione dell'esecuzione sottoscritta, e firmata il di 11 del passato Aprile poste si ritrovano, ma altresi a quelle, che dipoi furono stabilite concernenti un'altra Epoca della Cessione del Ducato di Lorena diversa da quella, che da principio piacque, sotto clausule, e condizioni, de quali fu insieme convenuto.

Le quali cose cosi essendo, non solamente la giustizia, e l'equità, ma altresi la stessa buona fede evidentissimamente richiede, che ne sia indennizzato non solo il soprammemorato Serenissimo Duca di Lorena, e di Bar, e li suoi Discendenti, ma ancora tutti quanti gli altri Eredi, e successori, alli quale senza la sopradetta Cessione sarebbe toccato il diritto di succedere nelli Ducati fin qui posseduti dalla casa di Lorena.

Per la qual cosa Noi di certa nostra scienza con maturo consiglio, e colla nostra Imperiale Potestà, ed in vigora ancora del consenso datoci dal Sacro Imperio Romano Germanico in Nome Nostro, e delli Nostri legitimi Successori nella Corona Imperiale Imperadori, e Re de' Romani, al sopradetto Serenissimo Duca di Lorena, e di Bar Francesco III. Nostro Carissima Genero, ed alli suoi Discendenti Maschi, in infinito, e questi (che Iddio non permetta) mancando, al Principe Carlo Fratello del sopraddetto Duca, ed alli suoi Discendenti Maschi parimente, in infinito, osservando sempre l'ordine di Primogenitura, che è sempre stato osservato in riguardo alla successione nel Gran Ducato di Toscana, e se ancora questi Discendenti Maschi, delli quali abbiamo in ultimo luogo parlato, venissero del tutto a mancare, agli altri Principi maschi procedenti per stirpe mascolina della Serenissima Casa di Lorena parimente secondo l'ordine di Primogenitura, e finalemente estinta affatto la stirpe mascolina della Casa di Lorena, e non rimanendo più alcun Principe maschio, o della linea presentemente Regnante, o delle linie collateriali, ancora Principesse femmine nate della Serenissima Casa di Lorena altresi secondo l'ordine di Primogenitura, che come s'è detto, si dee in perpetuo osservare, l'eventuale diritto si succedere nel Gran Ducato di Toscana, cioè in tutti, ed in ciascheduno degli stati, e Feudi posseduti dal presente Gran Duca di Toscana colle lore appartenenze, e dipendenze, e col jus de superiorità Territoriale (giacchè tutte queste cose insieme unite, sicomme in vigore delle presenti le uniamo, debbono intendersi sotto il nome del Gran Ducato di toscana, e cosi sempre per l'avvenire si nominerano) tostochè il presente Possessore delle Casa de' Medici manchèra senza legittima Prole Masculina a norma delli Trattati benignamente concediamo, ed in vigore delle presenti fin da ora alli medesimi ne accordiamo l'eventuale investitura nel più stabile, e miglio modo, che farsi possa, giusta il diritto, la legge, e la consuetudine Imperiale; in vigore della quale eventuale investitura il sopramentovato Serenissimo Duca di Lorana, e di Bar Francesco Terzo, Nostro Carissimo Genero, ovvero, mancando forse esso avanti che trepassi all'altra vita il presente Possessore della Casa de' Medici senza legittima Prole Masculina, quello o quella, il quale, o la quale secondo l'ordine, e la maniera di sopra esposta verrebbe chiamato, o chiamata alla successione del predetto Gran Ducato di Toscana, sopravenendo il caso dell'apertura, come s'è detto qui sopra, potrà assumersi, e dconseguire la totale possessione del Gran Ducato di Toscana, ed il Governo, e regimente di esso ed esigerne dagli Abitatori di qualunque grado, o dignita sieno il giuramento di fedeltà, ovvero Omaggio, e fare finalemente senza indugio tutte quelle cose, le quiali far potrebbe un vero, e legittimo Possessore, e Signore di questo Gran Ducato, comeche per tale dee tenersi, e considerarsi nello stesso momento della morte del presente Gran Duca senza Legittima Prole Mascolina; salvi, però sempre li Nostri diritti, e del Sacro Romano Imperio, e quelli ancore della Nostra Casa d'Austria sopra lo stato di Siena, con molti patti solenni, e convenzioni, con Lettere d'investitura, e con altri indubitati documenti corroborati.

Ed in oltre essendoci stato decentemente esposto in nome dell' antedetto Serenissimo Duca di Lorena e di Bar, Nostro Carissimo Genero, che Egli, e li suoi Maggiori hanno goduto in vigore della transazione di Norimberga riguardevolissime essenzioni, immunità, e diritti, e per consequenza che è convenevole, che Noi, per quanto far si puô, illesi li Nostri diritti, e del Sacro Romano Impero, e della Nostra Casa d'Austria ci mostriamo indulgenti verso di lui, e delli suoi successori; Noi pertanto per soddisfare a si giuste preghiere, ed inerendo a ciô ch'è stato stabilito nelli Articoli Preliminari della Pace toccante l'indennita dellla Csa di Lorena, non solamente abbiamo determinato di dare tutti, e chiascheduno delli diritti, immunita, essenzioni, onori, dignità, prerogative, preeminenze, e regalie, che giusta il diritto, e le consuetudine godono, e debbono godere li Possessori delli maggiori Feudi dell'Italia, ad esso d alli suoi Eredi, e Successori, o di estendere li medisimi diritti, immunita, ed essenzioni a tutte le Giurisdizioni, Signiorie, e Terre possedute dal presente Gran Duca di Toscana, ma altresi di concedere molto benignamente il privilegio dell'inappellazione nella più ampia e giuridica forma, che far si possa, e secondo che trovasi conceduto al più privilegiato delli maggiori Vassalli d'Italia, e finalemente per ragione dell' attuale Investitura da prendersi ogni qualcunque volta, che venisse il caso d'accordare colla medisima indulgenza tutte quelle cose, che sovente abbiamo accordate alla Casa di Sacoja; siccome in vigore delle presenti Leterre di certa Nostra scienza, con maturità di consiglio, e colla pienezza della Nostra Imperiale Potestà nel più valido, e solenne modo, che far si possa, ad Esso ed alli suoi Eredi, e Successori, diamo, confermiamo, estendiamo, e concediamo.

Commandiamo perciò, ed ordiniamo a tutti, ed a chiascheduno delli Nostri e del Sacro Romano Impero Elettori, e Prencipi si Ecclesiastici, come Secolari, Arcivescovi, Vescovi, Abati, Duchi, Marchesi, Conti, Baroni, Soldati, Nobili, Vassalli, Capitani, Vicedomini, Luogotenenti, Governatori, Presidenti, Prefetti, Castellani, Rettori, Magistrati, Anziani, Gonfalonieri, Potesta, Capi de' Cittadini, Consoli, Giuidici, e generalmente a tutti li sudditi, e fedeli diletti Nostri, e del Sacro Romano Impero, Regni, e Provincie Nostre Ereditarie di qualunque grado, stato, ordine, dignità, e preminenza sieno, che non turbino in veruna cosa contro il tenore di questo Nostro Cesareo Diploma, che seco altresi contiene l'eventuale investitura, il sopramentovato Serenissimo Duca di Lorena e di Bar Francesco Terzo Nostro Carissimo Genero, e li suoi Eredi e Successori nel modo, e coll' ordine sopra detto, nè loro rechino veruno quantunque minimo impedimento nel plenario uso di tutto ciò che loro abbiamo conceduto; ma piutosto ve gli mantengano, e difendamo, e studino, e procurino prequanto potranno, che ciò dagli altri ancora si faccia, nè permettano in alcun modo, che sieno turbati, ovvero impediti.

Ma in ispecie seriamente commandiamo, ed inguingiamo a tutti, ed a chiascheduno delli Luogotenenti, Consiglieri, Pretori del Gran Ducato di Toscana, e di tutte le Città, Castelli Fortezze, Ville, e Terre a quello appartenenti, al Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, al Senato, e Populo Fiorentino, alli Colonelli della Milizia, Capitani, Sargenti, Caporali, a tutti li Soldati, ed a tutti gli altri di qualunque preminenza, dignità, condizione, e grado che sieno, presenti, e futuri Vassalli Nostri e del Sacro Romano Impero, che tosto che per la morte del presente Gran Duca senza Prole Legitima Maschile manchera la stirpe Mascolina della Casa de' medici, conoscano per proprio, vero, e legittimo Signore, e Principe il sopranominatto Duca di Lorena e di Bar Francesco Terzo Nostro Carissimo Genero; o se Essó in tal tempo non fosse più vivo, il di lui Erede, e Successore nel modo, e coll' ordine sopradetto, ed al medesimo prestino il solito Omaggio, Giuramento di fedeltà, riverenza ed obbedienza, e cosi facciano tutte quelle cose, che bisogna, e conviene, che li fedeli ed obbedienti Vassali, e sudditi facciano, e prestino alli loro veri, e legittimi Signori, e Principi; non ostante, e senza avere riguardo alcuno a qualunque cosa, che fosse altramente, e fin qui è stata esposta, prima d'ora disposta, fatta, o tentata, ovvero che in avvenire si disporrà, si farà, o si tenterà, e spezialmente non ostante e senza riguardo alscuno all' eventuale investitura conceduta tempo fa ala nominato successore al Gran Duca di Toscana nel trattato della Quadruplice Alleanza, giacche con tutta la Nostra Imperiale potestà pienamente deroghiamo a tutte, ed a ciascheduna di queste cose, quantunque qui non sieno spezialmente espresse, comme atti o da se nulli, e vani, o che sono stati mutati medianti posteriori condizioni, e patti fatti col censenso del Sacro Romano Impero, e corroborati in oltre colli solenni Instriumenti delle rinunzie, e delle cessioni in nome di tutti quelli, che dalla predetta Quadruplice Alleanza venivano chamati all' eventuale successione nel Gran Ducato di Toscana.

Se taluno poi presumerà con temerario artire di trasgredire, o violare questro Nostro presente Editto, e Diploma Imperiale, sappia, che oltre la gravissima Nostra indignazione, e del Sacro Romano Impero dovra ancora tante quante volte farà, o tenterà qualche cosa in contrario, pagare la pena di quattro cento Marche d'oro puro per una metà al Fisco, o sia al Cesareo Nostro Erario,  e per l'altra metà a quello, a cui sarà fatto il torto, ovvero il danno.

E questa è la seria Nostra mente, e la Nostra stabile e ferma volontà, manifestata col testimonio di queste Leterre sottososcritte di Notra proprià Mano, e munite col Nostro Cesareo Sigillo ad esse appeso.  Date nella Nostra Città di Vienna il giorno 24 del Mese di Gennajo dell' Anno di Signore 1737, e de' Nostri Regni il 26 del Romano, il 34 di Spagna, ed il 26 di quello d'Ungheria, e di Boemia.

CARLO.   (L.S.)

 V. Giovanni Adolfo conte di Metsch
per ordine espresso della Sacra Cesarea Maestà.
 M. H. de Ley
 

Institution of Secundogeniture by Emperor Francis I and acceptance of his eldest son archduke Joseph (14 July 1763)

Renunciation of Emperor Leopold II and his eldest son archduke Francis in favor of archduke Leopold (21 July 1790)

 Ferdinand III sent from Vienna a Proprio-Motu dated 22 Feb 1791 to the president of the  Regency Council in Florence, instructing him to take possession of the grand-duchy in his name.  He received homage of the officers of state in Florence on 16 March 1791.

Abdication in the name of Carlo Lodovico, king of Etruria (10 Dec 1807)

Charles Louis, infant d'Espagne, roi d'Etrurie, etc.; et pour Sadite Majesté, S. M. Marie Louise, infante d'Espagne, reine régente d'Etrurie, etc.

S. M. l'Empereur des Français et roi d'Italie, ayant donné à connaître que par un traité conclu avec S. M. Catholique, il nous est destiné d
autres états, en compensation du royaume d'Etrurie, cédée par le traité susmentionné à cet auguste empereur, Nous regardon, à dater de ce jour, notre gouvernement en Etrurie comme ayant cessé, et nous dégageons en conséquence la nation toscane de tout serment et de toutes les obligations qu'elle avait contractées envres notre personne.

Nous ne pouvons nous séparer de nos chers sujets, sans leur témoigner publiquement notre reconnaissance, nous conserverons toujours le souvenir de l'attachement qu'ils ont montré dans tous les tems à notre gouvernement.

Si quelque chose peut diminuer le regret d'une telle séparation, c'est le sentiment si cher à notre coeur, que le royaume d'Etrurie et une nation aussi docile passent sous la domination d'un monarque doué des vertus les plus héroiques, parmi lesquelles domine particulièrement le désir constant d'assurer la prospérité des peuples qui lui sont soumis.

Donné le 10 Décembre 1807.

MARIE LOUISE.

V.G. MOZZI-EMILIO STROZZI.