Duchy of Massa and Carrara

The Duchy of Massa and Principality of Carrara was a small Tuscan state that controlled the towns of Massa and Carrara from 1473 until 1829. Its origin was the purchase of the Lordship of Carrara by the Lordship of Massa under the Marquis Jacopo Malespina, who took the title marquis of Massa and lord of Carrara, and who seated himself at Carrara before frequent French incursions pushed him and his heirs back to Massa. The Malespina males died out within two generations, and Ricciarda, Jacopo's eldest surviving granddaughter, married Lorenzo Cybo of a great Genoese family related to the Medici, giving rise to the Cybo-Malaspina house that ruled both states until 1829. In 1529 Ricciarda wrung from Charles V an investiture derogating the Salic law so that women of the line could succeed. Alberico I held the fief for seventy years and its marble trade flourished with the Renaissance courts. Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina married Ercole Rinaldo d'Este in 1741, their daughter Maria Beatrice ruled from 1790 through the Napoleonic suppressions and restorations, and on her death in 1829 the duchy and principality were annexed to the Duchy of Modena.