Tuscany in the Age of Empire

Description

A new history explores how one of Renaissance Italy’s leading cities maintained its influence in an era of global exploration, trade, and empire. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was not an imperial power, but it did harbor global ambitions. After abortive attempts at overseas colonization and direct commercial expansion, as Brian Brege shows, Tuscany followed a different path, one that allowed it to participate in Europe’s new age of empire without establishing an empire of its own. The first history of its kind, Tuscany in the Age of Empire offers a fresh appraisal of one of the foremost cities of the Italian Renaissance, as it sought knowledge, fortune, and power throughout Asia, the Americas, and beyond. How did Tuscany, which could not compete directly with the growing empires of other European states, establish a global presence? First, Brege shows, Tuscany partnered with larger European powers. The duchy sought to obtain trade rights within their empires and even manage portions of other states’ overseas territories. Second, Tuscans invested in cultural, intellectual, and commercial institutions at home, which attracted the knowledge and wealth generated by Europe’s imperial expansions. Finally, Tuscans built effective coalitions with other regional powers in the Mediterranean and the Islamic world, which secured the duchy’s access to global products and empowered the Tuscan monarchy in foreign affairs. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Introduction Part I. Parasitism and Symbiosis Chapter 1. Finance and the Spanish Alliance Chapter 2. Cooperative Empire Chapter 3. The Northern European Alternative Part II. A Global Tuscany Chapter 4. The Uses of Access Chapter 5. The Shadow Capital Part III. The Tail Wags the Dog Chapter 6. The Tuscans in North Africa Chapter 7. The Plot to Destroy the Ottoman Empire Chapter 8. Persian Dreams Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Index