The Duchy of Massa and Principality of Carrara (Italian: Ducato di Massa e Principato di Carrara) was a small state that controlled the towns of Massa and Carrara from 1473 until 1836.[1]
Early 18th century map showing the Duchy of Massa and Carrara
Although the city of Massa had already known its maximum medieval splendor in the 11th century with the Marquisate of Massa and Corsica ruled by the Obertenghi family, the original nucleus of the state was officially born on 22 February 1473 with the purchase of the Lordship of Carrara by the Lordship of Massa in the time headed by the Marquis Jacopo Malaspina, who obtained it from Count Antoniotto Fileremo of Genoa, progenitor of the Fregoso line. The noble title of the Malaspina family therefore became that of Marquises of Massa and lords of Carrara.
From the purchase of the Carrara territory onwards, the seat of Jacopo Malaspina, one of the sons of Antonio Alberico I Malaspina, member of the branch of the family located in Fosdinovo, was located in the city of Carrara, but due to the frequent clashes with the French invaders who occurred often, he and his successors moved to Massa.[2]
Within two generations the Malaspina family died out in male descent and Ricciarda, Iacopo's eldest surviving granddaughter, married in 1520 with Lorenzo Cybo, a member of an influential family of Genoese aristocrats. Pope Innocent VIII (Lorenzo's grandfather) belonged to it and they were related to the Medici (Pope Leo X, Lorenzo's uncle, had himself arranged the Malaspina marriage, together with Lorenzo's elder brother, Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo) . From the marriage the new Cybo-Malaspina family originated, which was to rule the states of Massa and Carrara until 1829. The marriage, however, was rather stormy: the two spouses disputed for a long time the governance of the marquisate and in 1529 Ricciarda managed to obtain from emperor Charles V the investiture of the marquisate, in derogation of the Salic law, for herself, for her male descendants in order of primogeniture or, in their absence, also for females.
The son of Ricciarda and Lorenzo, Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina succeeded his mother as Marquis of Massa and Carrara in 1553. Under his 70-year rule the fiefdom experienced a very favorable period of development, thanks also to the advantageous economic situation in the marble market, which was in great demand by the Renaissance courts of the time. Alberico I, aware that his statelet was surrounded by more powerful and influential neighbors, continued his mother's policy of alignment with the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V of Habsburg, who officially confirmed his investiture of the fiefdom in 1554. Thanks to its cultural and economic successes, the city of Carrara obtained the rank of marquisate in 1558[citation needed]. In 1568 Massa was elevated to principality by the Emperor Maximilian II. In 1664, during the rule of Alberico II, Leopold I of Habsburg raised the Principality of Massa to the rank of duchy and the Marquisate of Carrara to a principality.[3][4]
Malaspina Castle, the main seat of the rulers of the Massa and Carrara state before 1563The Ducal Palace in Massa, the principal residence thereafter
In 1741 Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, the last scion of the family, married Ercole III d'Este, the only male heir of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. Their only surviving child, Maria Beatrice d'Este, was thus the last descendant of both families,[3] but, as a woman, she was not entitled to succeed under Salic law and was only permitted to take over the Duchy of Massa and Carrara thanks to the exemption wrested almost three centuries earlier by her indomitable and often reviled ancestor, Ricciarda Malaspina.
In 1796 the Este were deprived of their possessions by the troops of Napoleon. The latter incorporated the territory into the Cispadane Republic, which later became the Cisalpine Republic. During this period the region was briefly disputed against Napoleon by the Austrians of the anti-French coalition (1799) and experienced a rapid succession of different administrative systems, more or less provisional. As a last administrative change, in 1806, the French emperor assigned the Duchy of Massa and Carrara to the Principality of Lucca and Piombino, governed by his older sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi. In 1809 the honorary title of Duke of Massa di Carrara was granted by Napoleon to the former Minister of Police, Claude Ambroise Régnier.[5]
During the Napoleonic domination Maria Beatrice d'Este (who had succeeded her mother in 1790) was forced to take refuge in Vienna with the family of her husband, Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este, uncle of Emperor Francis II, and pretender to the ducal throne of Modena and Reggio. With the fall of the Napoleonic regime, the Congress of Vienna again assigned to Maria Beatrice the ancestral duchy of which she had been dispossessed. The imperial fiefs in Lunigiana (starting with the Marquisate of Fosdinovo), which were not re-established, were also bestowed upon her, but she handed them over almost immediately to her son and heir Francis IV, Duke of Modena.[6]
In 1829, on the death of Maria Beatrice, the Duchy of Massa and the Principality of Carrara were annexed to the Duchy of Modena and Reggio, led by her son Francis IV of Austria-Este. In 1860, with the deposition, the previous year, of Francis V, the Duchy of Modena and Reggio (also including the territories of Massa and Carrara) was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia, of which it constituted the Province of Massa-Carrara.[7]
Marquis, Princes, then Dukes of Massa and Carrara
Giacomo I Malaspina (1445–1481) Marquis of Massa and Lord of Carrara since 1473
The merge of the Malaspina family with the Cybo family brought the territory to a rather lavish court life. In the conduct of foreign policy the Cybo-Malaspina maintained a role as an intermediary between the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Republic of Genoa.
Alberico I brought large urban restructurations in the cities of Carrara and Massa, mainly for prestige reasons. Both cities were equipped with new city walls - with representative functions, rather than military, since the policy of the territory was not expansionist - and new ducal palaces. In Carrara was established the Office of Marble (1564), to regulate the marble mining industry.
The city of Massa, in particular, saw much of its plan redesigned (new roads, plazas, intersections, pavings) in order to make it worthy of an Italian country's capital.
The War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was the beginning of the period of deep economic crisis for the duchy. The Empire punished with heavy fines the Cybo-Malspina, who had given hospitality to French troops on its territory. Already Alberich III, but especially Alderamo, found themselves forced to sell many city goods. Alderamo arrived to force people to buy food at a premium, and also because of the luxurious and extravagant lifestyle of the nobleman, the economics of the Duchy was brought to its knees. The financial situation recovered only by dynastic union between the families of the Malaspina and the Este, achieved with the marriage of Maria Teresa and Ercole d'Este in 1741.
From that date, the Duchy of Massa and Carrara gradually lost its political autonomy, going to gravitate more and more closely into the city of Modena sphere of influence. Under the domination of the Este, the Duchy of Massa Carrara rose to occupy a strategic position, in that it provided a sea outlet to the hinterland domains and promised an easier trade route. Already under Maria Teresa road links between the Duchy of Modena and Reggio to Massa & Carrara were significantly improved. These road reform attempts include the construction of the Via Vandelli, starting as early as 1738.
In 1751, was made a first attempt for the excavation of a dock and the construction of a port in the city of Carrara. The port would have been functional to the trade and military activities of the Este, would have housed in a safe place the small fleet of the Duchy of Modena and, finally, would have been essential to free the marble exports from dependence of other nearby ports. The coast, however, had a tendency to silt up and after a few years the construction work had to be suspended.
In 1807 Napoleon's engineers built the important mail road to the Foce, to link the cities of Massa and Carrara through the inland hills. During the Napoleonic rule were also initiated other public works such as the bonification of the plains, the plantation of coastal pine trees to combat malaria and arrangement of river banks. These works were continued by Maria Beatrice and successors in subsequent decades. In 1821 the Este Land Registry was established, with the task of regulating and listing the properties of the inhabitants of the duchy.
The years following the annexation to the Duchy of Modena were particularly complex, both for the insurrectional riots that characterized the historical period, and for the economic crisis, which have long gripped the region. The rulers tried several times to exit the stagnation in promoting the construction of infrastructure to increase the volume of trade, but the lack of money often proves an insurmountable obstacle.
A second attempt to build the port of Carrara was entrusted by Duke Francis IV to the engineer Aschenden in 1830, but the project was never made for lack of funds. A dock loader, which came to be the first authentic port core of Carrara was built successfully only in 1851, thanks to the English engineer and tycoon William Walton. In 1846 the Count Francesco del Medico proposed to the Duke Francis V the construction of the Marble Railway of Carrara, to link the marble quarries to the sea and thereby facilitating the transport of blocks to the areas for sorting, loading, and shipping. This project was also suspended for lack of funds. The Marble Railway was finally built after the Italian unification (1871–1890).
In the last years of the duchy, an increasing number of clashes was seen between the liberals and the ducal government, especially in Carrara. The territory was chosen by Count Camillo Benso di Cavour and Napoleon III to organize popular anti-Austrian riots and give France an opportunity to intervene on the side of Piedmont in Italy, giving way to the Second Italian War of Independence.
The House of Este is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries.
Carrara is a town and comune in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some 100 kilometres (62 mi) west-northwest of Florence. Its motto is Latin: "Fortitudo mea in rota", a reference firstly to the marble shipping industry from Roman times onwards.
The Duchy of Modena and Reggio was an Italian state created in 1452 located in Northwestern Italy, in the present day region of Emilia-Romagna. It was ruled since its establishment by the noble House of Este, and from 1814 by the Austria-Este branch of the family. The Este dynasty was a great sponsor of the arts, making the Duchy a cultural reference during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Francis IV Joseph Charles Ambrose Stanislaus was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara, Archduke of Austria-Este, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Francis V, Duke of Modena, Reggio and Guastalla, Archduke of Austria-Este, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Mirandola and of Massa, Prince of Carrara was a reigning prince. He was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Duke of Guastalla from 1847 and Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara from 1846 to 1859. His parents were Francis IV of Modena and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. He was the last reigning duke of Modena before the duchy was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.
This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the Este family, which main line of Marquesses rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came from, Este.
The House of Habsburg-Este, also known as the House of Austria-Este and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este, is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic line. It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. After the death of Ercole III in 1803, the Modena ruling branch of the Este family's male line ended, and the Habsburg-Este line subsequently inherited his possessions in what is now Italy.
Ercole III d'Este was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1780 to 1796, and later of Breisgau. He was a member of the House of Este.
Giulio Cybo was an Italian noble of Genoese ancestry, who was briefly marquis of Massa and lord of Carrara from 1546 to 1547, ousting his mother Ricciarda Malaspina. However, in a few months she managed to regain power and Giulio ended up beheaded the following year in Milan, exemplarily condemned to death for treason by the emperor Charles V.
Francesco III d'Este was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1737 until his death.
The House of Cybo, Cibo or Cibei of Italy was an old and influential aristocratic family from Genoa of Greek origin that ruled the Duchy of Massa and Carrara.
Maria Beatrice d'Este was the last descendant of the House of Este, of the House of Cybo-Malaspina and, through her maternal grandmother Ricciarda, also of the House of Gonzaga of Novellara and Bagnolo. Ducal princess of Modena and Reggio, she became the sovereign duchess of Massa and Carrara from 1790 until 1796 and from 1815 until her death in 1829. Through her marriage, she was co-founder of the new House of Austria-Este.
Taddea Malaspina was an Italian noblewoman of the 16th century. A scion of the Massa branch of the ancient Malaspina family, she was the mistress of Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence, from the early 1530s to about 1537 and was likely the mother of at least two of his children, Giulio and Giulia de' Medici. Giulio de' Medici was associated with the Malaspina family at different points throughout his life.
Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina was sovereign Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara from 1731 until her death in 1790. From 1780, she also formally held the title of Duchess consort of Modena and Reggio as the wife of Ercole III d'Este.
Lorenzo Cybo, also spelt Cibo, was an Italian general, who was duke of Ferentillo, and co-owner marquis of Massa and lord of Carrara.
Ricciarda Malaspina was an Italian noblewoman, who was marquise of Massa and lady of Carrara from 1519 to 1546, and again from May 1547 until her death in 1553. She was ultimately succeeded by her younger son Alberico I.
Sigismondo d'Este was a Ferrarese nobleman. He was lord of San Martino in Rio, Campogalliano, Rodeglia, Castellarano and San Cassiano, governor of Reggio, governor and duke's lieutenant of the duchy of Ferrara and captain-general of the duke of Ferrara's army.
The House of Malaspina was a noble Italian family of Longobard origin that descended from Boniface I, through the Obertenghi line, that ruled Lunigiana from the 13th to the 14th centuries, and the marquisate of Massa and lordship of Carrara since the 14th century.
Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina was the first Prince of Massa and Marquis of Carrara. He was also the last Count (1553–1619) and the first Duke of Ferentillo (1619–1623).
Eleonora Cybo-Malaspina was an Italian noblewoman and writer. A princess from the House of Cybo-Malaspina, she was the daughter of Ricciarda Malaspina, Marquise of Massa and Lady of Carrara, and Lorenzo Cybo, Count of Ferentillo, who, from 1530 to 1541, also held, in a turbulent condominium, the sovereign titles of his wife.
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