The march was a
Carolingian creation, a successor of the
Lombard Duchy of Tuscia. After the
fall of the Western Roman Empire, Tuscia from 568 had been part of the Italian
Kingdom of the Lombards (
Langobardia Major) until, in 754, the
Frankish kings intervened in the conflict with
Pope Stephen II. By the
Donation of Pepin, the southern part of Tuscia around
Viterbo became part of the newly established Papal States, while the northern part (or
Lombard Tuscany) developed into the Imperial March of Tuscany after
Charlemagne had finally conquered the
Lombard kingdom in 773/74. Lombardy proper became the nucleus of the
Imperial kingdom of Italy, together with the marches of Tuscany and
Verona. The first Tuscan margrave was
Adalbert I, who was granted that title in 846. Before him, his father and grandfather, Count
Boniface I of Lucca and
Boniface II, probably of
Bavarian origin, had controlled most of the counties of the region and had held higher titles as well, such as prefect of
Corsica or duke of Lucca. The Bonifacii held the march until 931. During the late ninth and early tenth century, the support of the margraves of Tuscany was instrumental for any candidate intent on becoming king of Italy. In 931,
Hugh of Arles, who had made himself king of Italy, dispossessed the Bonifacii in an attempt to consolidate all the important fiefs of Italy in his relatives' hands. He granted Tuscany to his brother
Boso. It remained in the hands of members of the family known as the
Bosonids down to 1001. It also retained its influence regarding royal elections. As late as 1027,
Rainier was deposed from the march by
Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II for opposing him as king. In 1027, the duchy was granted to the
counts of Canossa.
Boniface III used the title '''': duke and margrave. He was an ally of the
Holy Roman emperors, but his power was so great that he threatened that of the emperors in Italy. He united the Canossa inheritance, which was largely in the
Emilia, to Tuscany and passed it on to his daughter
Matilda. Besides her vast Emilian
allods, her greatest possession was Tuscany, held in
feudal tenure, and she wielded it to the benefit of the
Papacy in the
Investiture Controversy. With Matilda's death in 1115, the era of the feudal princes had passed in northern Italy, to be replaced by the dominance of the
city-states,
maritime republics and
communes. ==Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197==