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During the Gothic wars the city was besieged and
taken by Totila (550). Lucca later fell into the
hands of the Lombards, becoming a place of great
importance and the favourite seat of the
Marquesses of Tuscany. In 1081 Henry IV made it a
free city and conferred other favours upon it,
especially in the way of trade. (This was the
origin of the Republic of Lucca, which lasted
until 1799.)
From 1088 to 1144, Lucca was continually at war
with her rival Pisa but either by conquest or
purchase increased her possessions. In the
thirteenth century, despite her wars with Pisa,
Florence, and the imperial cities, Lucca
continued to increase her power and commerce, but
in 1313 the city was taken by Uguccione della
Faggiuola, Lord of Pisa.
The Lucchesi, however, under the most dramatic
circumstances, freed themselves and chose as
captain their fellow-citizen, Castruccio degli
Antelminelli, also known as Castracane (1316).
Castruccio drove out the Pisans, was given the
title of Defender of the People, and received
from Louis the Bavarian the hereditary title of
Duke of Lucca.
On the death of Castruccio, Louis conferred
Lucca on Francesco, a relative, but enemy, of
Castruccio. The Lucchesi, however, placed
themselves under John of Bohemia who in 1333
pawned the city to the Rossi of Parma, who ceded
it to Mastino della Scala (1335). Mastino later
sold to the Florentines for 100,000 florins
(1341). This displeased the Pisans, who occupied
the city in 1342. It was liberated by Charles IV
(1360). A relatively peaceful situation in Lucca
remained from then on.
In 1799 Lucca was joined to the Cisalpine
Republic and in 1805 Napoleon made it a dukedom
for his cousin Felice Bacciochi. In 1814 it was
occupied by the Neapolitans, and later by the
Austrians. In 1817 it was given to Maria Luisa,
widow of the King of Etruria, whose son Carlo
Ludovico ceded it to Tuscany in 1847.
Lucca is twinned with the English market town of
Abingdon, near Oxford.
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Lucca is the birthplace of composers Francesco
Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini,
Giacomo Puccini and Alfredo Catalani.
The statue of Puccini (1858-1924)
(below) is situated near his birthplace on
Via di Poggio.
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The Guinigi tower (left and
below)The Case Guinigi and the Guinigi Tower
represent a good example of the Medieaval
architecture in Lucca. The Case Guinigi was a
group of mansions and defensive towers where one
of the most important banker families of the
town, the Guinigi, lived. Paolo Guinigi ruled the
town during the first half of the fifteenth
century.
Today only one of the four original towers
survives. It is 44.25 metres high and is built of
brick, sandstone from Matraia, and Verrucano from
the Monti Pisani. The tower construction was
begun in 1384 and from the top, where seven
holm-oaks grow, there is a spectacular view of
the town and surrounding countryside.
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