Europe · The successor kingdoms
Duchy of Tuscia
drawn on the map AD 577–586
Tuscia (Tuscany) was originally a Lombard duchy centered on Lucca, established after the Lombard conquest. Under the Carolingians and their successors it became the March of Tuscany (Marca di Tuscia), a powerful frontier province governed by margraves.
- Shown on the map
- AD 577–586
- Peak area
- 17k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
Tuscia (Tuscany) was originally a Lombard duchy centered on Lucca, established after the Lombard conquest. Under the Carolingians and their successors it became the March of Tuscany (Marca di Tuscia), a powerful frontier province governed by margraves. It covered much of modern Tuscany and adjacent areas.
Decline and legacy
The march reached its height under the Attonid/Canossa dynasty, culminating in Matilda of Tuscany (Matilda of Canossa, d. 1115), one of the most powerful figures of the Investiture Contest, a staunch ally of the reforming papacy against Emperor Henry IV (the famous "Walk to Canossa" of 1077 took place at her castle). After Matilda's death, her contested bequest of her lands to the Church fueled long imperial–papal disputes, and Tuscany fragmented into the independent communes (Florence, Pisa, Siena, Lucca).
Common questions
- What was the Duchy of Tuscia?
- Tuscia (Tuscany) was originally a Lombard duchy centered on Lucca, established after the Lombard conquest. Under the Carolingians and their successors it became the March of Tuscany (Marca di Tuscia), a powerful frontier province governed by margraves.
- When is the Duchy of Tuscia shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Duchy of Tuscia AD 577–586. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
- How large was the Duchy of Tuscia?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Duchy of Tuscia covered about 17,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- How did the Duchy of Tuscia end?
- The march reached its height under the Attonid/Canossa dynasty, culminating in Matilda of Tuscany (Matilda of Canossa, d. 1115), one of the most powerful figures of the Investiture Contest, a staunch ally of the reforming papacy against Emperor Henry IV (the famous "Walk to Canossa" of 1077 took place at her castle).
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity as the primary basis, cross-checked against Encyclopædia Britannica and the World History Encyclopedia, while flagging entries built on thin or contested evidence — Samo's Empire on a single Fredegar passage, Venice's 697 founding date as legendary, the Pacta conventa as a probable forgery. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Duchy of Tuscia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Tuscia
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the Duchy of Tuscia in its world
Open the atlas at AD 582 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at AD 582 →