Duchy of Massa and Carrara

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Coat of arms of the Duchy of Massa and Carrara

The Duchy of Massa and Carrara was a northern Italian duo- duchy that existed from 1663 to 1859.

Antonio Alberico Malaspina di Fosdinovo became lord of Massa in 1441 . The Margraves of Massa from the House of Malaspina were Giacomo I , Antonio Alberico II , and finally Ricciarda I , who married Lorenzo Cibo . From these descend the Cybo-Malaspina , Margraves of Massa, then princes of Carrara and finally dukes of Massa and Carrara. The neighboring duchies of Massa and Carrara were ruled by monarchs of this dynasty in personal union from 1663 .

Maria Beatrice d'Este (1750–1829) , Duchess of Modena, Massa and Carrara, married Archduchess of Austria, the last heiress of the House of Este , founder of the House of Austria-Este

The last offspring of the house, Duchess Maria Teresa (1731–1790), married the last Duke of Modena from the House of Este , Ercole III. d'Este . However, she continued to rule her own states independently and bequeathed it to their daughter Maria Beatrice d'Este (1750–1829) , who was married to an Austrian archduke, in 1790 .

In 1797, Massa and Carrara were occupied by revolutionary France invading northern Italy, and successively parts of the French vassal states of the Cisalpine Republic , the Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Italy . In 1806 Napoleon spun off Massa-Carrara from his empire as the Italian king and installed his brother-in-law Félix Baciocchi , Duke of Lucca since 1805 , as ruler.

After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, under Austrian protection, the Estonian rule was restored in Massa-Carrara. With the death of Duchess Maria Beatrice in 1829, her son, Duke Franz IV of Modena, Archduke of Austria-Este , inherited the small states of Massa and Carrara, which remained in the Modenese federation until 1859 and first transferred to the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Risorgimento and then joined the new unitary state of Italy .

But the territorial identity as the province of Massa-Carrara still exists today.

Princes, later dukes of Massa

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