TUSCANY, ' a grand duchy in Italy, said to have derived the name from a King Tuscus, who in remote ages ruled Etruria. It extends in north latitude from 42° 5' 20” to 44° 31' 10'', and in east longitude from 9° 32' 25’ to 11° 4' 35". It is bounded on the north-west by Lucca and Modena; on the north-east, east, and south-east, by the states of the church; and on the south-west and west by the Mediterranean Sea. Besides what is contained within these boundaries, its territory includes, on the north, the vicariate of Pietra Santa, surrounded by the dominions of Modena, Parma, Genoa, and Lucca. It also possesses the islands of Elba, Pianosa, Palmajola, Gorgona, Giglio, Montechristo, Melora, Formiche, and Gianuti. It comprehends 8494 square miles, or about 5,500,000 acres. It is divided into five departments:

Departments. Cities. Towns. Villages. Inhabitants. Florence 12 55 958 596,258

Pisa 5 19 537 295,649

Sienna 6 22 212 128,095

Aretino 10 32 596 201,292

Groseto 3 6 187 53,736

36 134 2517 1,275,030

By a later enumeration, in 1833, the whole number of inhabitants was found to be 1,320,500. They all adhere to the Roman Catholic church, with the exception of 9300 Jews, mostly in Leghorn, who are fully tolerated, and a few German, English, and other Protestants, in the commercial places. The ecclesiastical establishment is numerous and expensive, there being three archbishops, 16 bishops, and 10,000 secular clergy, with 96 monasteries and 67 nunneries, w hose members are 6750. The whole revenue of the church, including the regular and the secular, is estimated to amount to a very large sum.

The cities of Tuscany, of more than 10,000 inhabitants, are the following:

Cities. Population. Cities. Population.

Florence 78,900 Pisa 20,000

Leghorn 50,550 Patro 10,000

Sienna. 24,500

The Apennine Mountains cover about one third of the duchy, entering it at the north-west part, and extending into the papal dominions, throwing out various branches. The loftiest points of the range are the Boscolengo, 4178 feet in height; the top of Vernina, 3914 feet; the top of Sasso-Eismore, 3798 feet; and Monte Raticoa del Pietramala, 2719 feet The Vale of Arno, which comprehends one sixth of the duchy, is a basin formed by the mountains; [7:21:432]and of this vale Florence is nearly in the centre. While the upper part is narrow, its breadth extends as it approaches the sea, where it forms a wide and level plain, highly unfavourable to the health of the inhabitants. This district, however, called the Maremma, is very fruitful in grass, and feeds abundance of cattle. The river Arno, the chief stream, which receives most of the others, is navigable for boats to Florence; but its chief utility is of a very different kind, and it is diverted into hundreds of channels, for the purpose of watering the fields and gardens. The climate is as different as the face of the country. The Vale of Arno, which includes most of the department of Florence, though only one fourth of the extent, contains half the inhabitants of the duchy, and is generally healthy, and the weather mild. On the mountains the snow lies many weeks, and the cold is severe. In the marshy districts, which comprehend nearly one half of the extent, the fevers are constant, and it is only in winter that the herdsmen are induced to resort to them.

In the Vale of Arno the land is admirably cultivated. It is commonly divided into small tenements, from four to ten acres each; eight or ten of which combine to keep a team of oxen among them, and each has commonly a small horse and some cows, besides a few calves. They are on the Metayer system, paying rent by a portion (commonly one half) of the produce. The corn chiefly consists of wheat, but barley and oats are extensively grown on the Apennines; in some parts a large quantity of maize, and in others of rice; and besides these, pease and beans of various kinds. Chestnuts are used as a substitute for bread by the greater part of the rural inhabitants. From 800,000 to 1,000,000 bushels of this food are computed to be annually obtained and consumed. In years of average productiveness, the corn raised is about equal to the consumption; but in deficient seasons, wheat is required, which Leghorn can commonly supply by importations from the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoph. The unhealthy marshes feed about 400,000 sheep, 30,000 horses, and a multitude of cows and goats. Fruits are abundant, and citrons, pomegranates, figs, and almonds are articles of export. An ample supply of culinary vegetables is always raised. Large quantities of both red and white wine are made; and though not much esteemed by foreigners, some of the best of the former is exported, mostly in flasks. Olive oil is an extensive object of industry. Much of it is converted into soap or consumed at home; but that of the best quality is exported to distant countries, it is said to the amount of more than 700,000 gallons. The whole of the silk produced does not exceed 200,000 pounds weight, and it is all consumed at home in manufactures. Some flax is raised; but that used for making the finest linen is imported from foreign countries. The breed of sheep has been of late years increased by crosses with Merinos, and now the wool is of moderate fineness. The greater part is used at home, but some portion is exported.

The fisheries are carried on extensively on the shores of the continent, as well as from the islands. The tunny fishery has establishments in and near Leghorn and in Elba; while that for anchovies is conducted chiefly from the islands, particularly from Gorgona, the celebrity of whose curing is known in all parts of the world.

There is a variety of manufactures, but they are chiefly carried on at Florence or Leghorn. One which employs many hands, that of straw-plait for hats, is indeed dispersed in all the villages. Cloth of linen and woollen, silks of different kinds, hosiery, hats, and carpets, and some ironmongery, are made for home use. The chief manufacture for foreign trade is paper, which employs 80 mills. There are skilful makers of soap, perfumery, essences, porcelain, coral articles, lamps, glass, alum, vitriol, Florentine wax, marble and alabaster figures, and carriages. These, with the products of agriculture, form the trade of Leghorn, and enable the duchy to procure from foreign countries the several articles which they need.

The revenues of the duchy arise partly from a land-tax, partly from taxes on exports, from stamps, from a lottery, from farming tobacco, from the mines and salt-works, and the public domains. They amount to 16,000,000 francs. The expenditure, which is 100,000 francs less, defrays the communal and departmental expense of the poor, of hospitals, bridges, and roads, as well as of the military, civil, and judicial departments. The national debt is in a gradual course of extinction, having, since the peace, been reduced from L.5,000,000 to L.1,500,000 sterling. The army consists of 5500 men, besides a militia, which can be called out when it is wanted. The naval force is three corvettes and two gun-boats.

The government is an hereditary unmixed monarchy, in a junior branch of the imperial house of Austria; and after the death of Maria Louisa, the widow of Bonaparte, the duchy of Lucca will be united with Tuscany.

After the fall of the western Roman empire, in 476, the Ostrogoths obtained dominion over Tuscany. They were succeeded by the Greeks for a short time, and afterwards by the Lombards. It then assumed its present name, having before been generally called Etruria; and was constituted a feudal dukedom under the supreme government of the kings of Lombardy. When Charlemagne established his empire, Tuscany was ruled as one of its provinces. Under Louis the Pious, it was divided into several districts, under the authority of nobles appointed by him. Some of these called themselves margraves and some dukes, but all of them managed to render the dignity hereditary in their several families. In 1160 the emperor Frederick the First obtained the whole of Tuscany by purchase from the Guelphs, who were then dukes of Bavaria. The cities on this occasion strove to obtain independence. Florence, the capital, which assumed the lead, combined with several other cities against the authority of the empire; but Pisa, with a few other cities, adhered to that authority, and in 1197 formed a league to maintain it. These opposite leagues gave rise to civil wars between the two parties called the Guelphs and Gibbelines, by which Tuscany was wasted during nearly 300 years. Sienna had become an independent and flourishing state from the middle of the thirteenth century, but the theatre of contests between the nobles and the citizens. Similar contests arose in Florence, where the family of the Medici, who had gained vast wealth by trade chiefly with the eastern countries, obtained the supreme authority in 1434, and maintained it during three· centuries. Florence subdued Pisa in 1509, and Sienna in 1557. This was the period when Florence established itself as the nurse of literature and of the fine arts, and collected within its territory the greatest men of the age. Tuscany continued under the power of the family of the Medici till 1737, with the name of a dukedom. Giovanni Gasto de’ Medici then dying without heirs, was, in consequence of a settlement by Cosmo de’ Medici in 1569, succeeded by Francis duke of Lorraine, who afterwards became emperor of Germany. Tuscany was then governed by the house of Austria, till, in the revolutionary war of France, it was seized by that power, and received from Bonaparte the rank of a kingdom, with its ancient name Etruria. This settlement was but temporary, to favour a delusive agreement with the king of Spain, whose daughter was promised the sovereignty; and at length, when Bonaparte fell, it was restored to the family of Austria, who continue to rule it. Tuscany has been celebrated for the illustrious men which it has produced, particularly, besides the Medici, Dante, Petrarca, Galileo, Macchiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michel Angelo.