The Duchy of Lucca () was a small Italian state existing from 1815 to 1847. It was centered on the city of Lucca.

History

The Duchy was formed in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, out of the former Republic of Lucca and the Principality of Lucca and Piombino, which had been ruled by Elisa Bonaparte. It was created to compensate the House of Bourbon-Parma for the loss of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, which was bestowed on the former Empress of the French, Marie Louise of Austria. According to the final act of the Congress of Vienna the duchy was to revert to Tuscany on the end of its Bourbon-Parma line of rulers or when the line would obtain another territory; no stipulation was provided regarding the final fate of the Duchy of Parma upon the death of its new ruler.

The Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, erstwhile Queen Consort (then Regent) of Etruria, widowed daughter-in-law of the last Duke of Parma, Ferdinand I, and thus a sort of matriarch of the House of Bourbon-Parma, drastically rejected the stipulations of the Congress and induced her brother King Ferdinand VII of Spain to refuse them as well. She retreated into her family's Roman residence and would not take possession of her new duchy by any means.

In 1817 the great powers finally found an accommodation: Ferdinand VII agreed to sign the Final Act and a was stipulated by which the Infanta, her son Charles Louis and his male descendants were recognized as having the right of reversion over the Duchy of Parma on Marie Louise's death; whereupon the reversion of the Duchy of Lucca to Tuscany was also to take place. For its part, Austria undertook to pay, starting from June 1815, the huge compensatory annuity of 500,000 francs already provided for by the Final Act.

When she died in 1824, Charles Louis which however happened within two months due to the sudden death of Marie Louise of Austria.

In taking possession of his new state, on 11 October 1847 Leopold II promulgated an unexpected law which abolished the death penalty there, thus making the former Duchy of Lucca the only European territory in which this measure was then legally in force. However, this situation did not last long as, with a ruling in February 1848, the Court of Cassation of Florence promptly extended the effectiveness of the measure to the entire grand ducal territory. Three years earlier, in 1845, Charles I had denied pardon to five thieves sentenced to death, having them executed in one fell swoop on the lawn in front of the gate of Lucca called Porta San Donato.

From 1815 to 1818, the flag of Lucca was yellow and red horizontal stripes. From 7 November 1818, to 1847 the flag was white, with Maria Luisa's coat of arms and the yellow–red flag in the canton.<br><small>(Abdication)</small>

| notes2 = Son of Maria Luisa

| family2 = Bourbon-Parma

| image2 = Carlo II di Parma.jpg

| alt2 = Charles Louis

Symbols

<gallery>

File:Flag of the Duchy of Lucca (1815-1818).svg|Duchy of Lucca (1815-1818)

File:Second Flag of the Duchy of Lucca (1818-1824).svg|Duchy of Lucca (1818-1824)

File:Third Flag of the Duchy of Lucca.svg|Duchy of Lucca (1824–1847)

File:Merchant Flag of Lucca (1819).svg|Merchant Flag (1819)

File:Merchant Flag of Lucca (1820).svg|Merchant Flag (1820)

File:Coat of Arms of the Duchess of Lucca.svg|Coat of Arms (1815-1824)

File:Coats of Arms of Duchy of Lucca Mantle Variant.svg|Middle Coat of Arms (1824-1847)

</gallery>

References

Further reading

  • Case, Lynn M., ed. "The diplomatic relations between France, the grand duchy of Tuscany and the grand duchy of Lucca, 2nd series, 1830-1848, vol 1, August 18, 1830 To December 28, 1843, Vol 2, January 9, 1844 To February 29, 1848-Italian-Saitta, A." (1961): 455-456.
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  • DiQuinzio, Mary Elizabeth. Opera in the Duchy of Lucca, 1817-1847. PhD Diss. Music) (Catholic University of America, 1997)
  • Murray, John. A Handbook for Travellers in Central Italy: Including Lucca, Tuscany, Florence, the Marches, Umbria, Part of the Patrimony of St. Peter, and the Island of Sardinia. J. Murray, 1861.
  • Ross, Janet, and Nelly Erichsen. The story of Lucca. (1912) online.