Duchy of Lucca

The Duchy of Lucca was a small Italian state that existed from 1815 to 1847, centred on the city of Lucca in Tuscany. It was created 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, and was intended to compensate the Bourbon-Parma family for the loss of Parma, which was given to Marie Louise of Austria. The Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, widow of the last Duke of Parma, at first refused the settlement and did not take possession until 1817. Her son Charles Louis succeeded her in 1824 as Charles I. The duchy was small and financially dependent on an Austrian annuity, but it maintained its own administration, flag and currency. In October 1847 Charles I renounced the duchy in favour of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Lucca reverted to Tuscany shortly before he inherited Parma. The duchy is remembered as one of the artificial states created by the Vienna settlement to balance the great powers in Italy.