Duchy of Florence (jan 1, 1530 – jan 1, 1569)

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In 1529, the Holy Roman Empire sacked Rome, destroying the city and imprisoning Pope Clement VII, while during the tumult a wave of Puritanism drove the Medici from Florence. Clement VII signed the Treaty of Barcelona with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in which Charles would restore the Medici in exchange for the Pope's blessing. Charles stated that he alone could determine the government of Florence, making the Medici hereditary rulers and naming them Dukes in 1530.

Pope Clement VII intended his relative Alessandro de' Medici to be ruler of Florence, but wanted to create impression of democratic choice. After his ascension, several prominent Florentine families dispatched a delegation to Charles V to ask to depose Alessandro, to no avail as Alessando was married to Charles' daughter. Alessandro was murdered in 1537 by distant relative Lorenzino de' Medici. Florentine authorities selected Cosimo I to succeed him, who completely overhauled the bureaucracy and administration of the city. He was given a part of the Island of Elba by Charles V in 1548, where he based a developing navy, founding port city of Livorno. Cosimo, along with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, defeated the Republic of Siena in the Battle of Marciano, occupying the city in 1555 and being bestowed it as a hereditary fiefdom by Philip II of Spain.

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