The Marquisate of Fosdinovo was a small fiefdom, led by a

Marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

, that existed in the Italian peninsula between 1355 and 1797. It was based around

Fosdinovo Fosdinovo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa. Fosdinovo borders the following municipalities: Aulla, Carrara, Cast ...

, a city east of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, and was ruled by the Malaspinas, a prominent Italian family, throughout its existence. Rivista italiana di numismatica 1891 p 153 b

Founding of the Marquisate

The Marquisate of Fosdinovo was established around 1355 when Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg visited the area and granted the rank of Marquisate to Galeotto I Malaspina. The area Galeotto I took control of had been owned by the

Bishops of Luni A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and had been occupied by

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

not long before this. In 1393, Galetto I died, and his sons split the Marquisate into small territories for themselves. Under Gabriele II (1467 - 1508), the Marquisate developed and expanded significantly. in 1468, an oratory was built, followed by several other religious buildings in the next few decades.

End of the Marquisate

Carlo Emanuele became the ruler of the Marquisate in 1759, thirty years before the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and the Revolutionary Wars began. Eventually, the fiefdom was occupied by the

Republic of France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

. With the conclusion of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and the establishment of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, Fosdinovo was put under the control of the

Duchy of Modena and Reggio The Duchy of Modena and Reggio ( Emilian: ''Duchêt ed Mòdna e Rèz'', it, Ducato di Modena e Reggio, la, Ducatus Mutinae et Regii) was an Italian state created in 1452 located in Northwestern Italy, in the present day region of Emilia-Romagn ...

. Towards the end of the 19th century, descendants of the Marquises that formerly ruled over the country regained possession of the town's castle. They still own it to this day.

Bibliography

* Giovan Battista Bianchi, Fosdinovo. I suoi Signori e i suoi Marchesi, ed. Felici, Pisa 2002. * Eugenio Branchi, Storia della Lunigiana feudale, Beggi, Pistoia 1898. * Massimo Dadà (a cura di), Fosdinovo, ed. Giacche, La Spezia 2010. * Umberto Dorini, A great feudatory of the Trecento. Spinetta Malaspina, Olschki, Firenze 1940.

References

{{Malaspina Italian states 15th-century establishments in Italy Malaspina family