Duchy of Tuscia

The Duchy of Tuscia, initially known as the Duchy of Lucca, was a Lombard state in central Italy that covered much of modern Tuscany. It was formed in the late sixth century, during the period of ducal anarchy that followed the death of King Alboin, when Lombard warbands beyond royal control established duchies at Lucca and Spoleto. Its capital was Lucca, a city on the Via Francigena where the dukes resided. Lombard law and Roman institutions coexisted in the duchy. The duchy bordered the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Byzantine territories of the Exarchate of Ravenna, and its frontier shifted as the Lombards and Byzantines contested the province of Viterbo and the Pisan coast. Tuscia prospered through agriculture and river and maritime trade, and its dukes gained considerable autonomy from the Lombard kings. After Charlemagne conquered the Lombard kingdom in 774, the duchy was absorbed into the Carolingian order and eventually evolved into the March of Tuscany.