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The State of the Presidi (Italian: Stato dei Presidi, meaning "state of the garrisons") was a small territory on the Tuscan coast of Italy that existed between 1557 and 1801. It consisted of remnants of the former Republic of Siena—the five towns of Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano on the promontory of Monte Argentario, as well as Orbetello, Talamone and Ansedonia—and their hinterland, along with the islet of Giannutri and the fortress of Porto Longone on the island of Elba. The Presidi encompassed about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi). They were effectively attached to the Kingdom of Naples and changed hands several times with it, resulting in three distinct historical periods. From 1557 to 1707, they were a possession of the Crown of Spain administered by the Spanish Habsburg viceroy of Naples; from 1708 to 1733, a possession of the Austrian Habsburgs administered by their viceroy in Naples; and from 1733 to 1801, a dependency of the Spanish Bourbon kings of Naples. By the Treaty of Florence of 28 March 1801, the king of Naples ceded the Presidi to the French Republic, which then ceded them to the new Kingdom of Etruria. After the downfall of France in 1814 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the territories were granted to the restored Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Origins The Presidi were originally certain strategic coastal territories of the Republic of Siena (nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire) that were retained by Spain after the conquest of the Republic by the Duchy of Florence. Duke Cosimo I de' Medici overran Siena in 1555 during the last Italian War. Cosimo received military support from the Emperor Charles V, also King of Spain, and his son, Philip II, who was king of Naples. Since 1548, Cosimo had also been in occupation of the Lordship of Piombino (including Elba). On 29 May 1557, Philip signed a treaty in London with Lord Iacopo VI Appiani of Piombino. The lordship was restored to Iacopo, with Cosimo retaining the Elban fortress of Portoferraio and Philip reserving the right to garrison the cities of Piombino and Scarlino and fortify the island of Elba. With the conflict over Piombino resolved, on 3 July 1557 Siena and its contado, less the coastal fortresses, were granted in fief to Cosimo, in return for which the duke cancelled all debts owed by Philip II or Charles. According to the act of infeudation, "not included, but absolutely excluded, and expressly excluded [are] the Sienese fortresses, castles, ports, places and farmland of, namely, Porto Ercole, Orbetello, Talamone, Monte Argentario and Porto Santo Stefano", a territory of about 287 km2. In April 1558, the French, who still held Talamone, made an unsuccessful assault on Orbetello and in September of the same year, the Spaniards took Talamone by force. History Spanish period (1557–1708) Control of the Presidi allowed the Spanish to monitor maritime traffic between Genoa, an important ally of Spain, and Naples, since in the 16th century ships kept close to the coast. During the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) and the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59), the Presidi served as a stopover on the so-called Cammino di Fiandra ("path of Flanders"). Soldiers were massed in Naples and then moved in stages to the Spanish Netherlands, to fight Netherlandish rebels or the French. If they took ship in Naples, they usually stopped to revictual in the Presidi before moving on to Genoa; otherwise they marched overland from Naples to the Presidi and took ship there. In 1587 Cosimo's successor, Francesco, was offering Philip II a million gold pieces for just one of the Presidi, but the king of Spain refused on the grounds that he had no other ports between Catalonia and Naples. In the 16th century, the Presidi also provided pasture for Tuscan shepherds, who brought their flocks of sheep to the warm coastal grazing lands during the winter. The Tuscan authorities even taxed the head of sheep as their shepherds brought them to the coast, an act which provoked some complaints to the Spanish authorities. In 1603 King Philip III decided to make use of the clause of the treaty of 1557 that allowed Spain to fortify any part of the Island of Elba and on 22 October of the following year he ordered his viceroy, Juan Alonso Pimentel de Herrera, to build a fortress on the island. Construction of Fort San Giacomo at Porto Longone began in March 1605. It had barracks for 2,000 men. The Prince of Piombino, who shared territorial sovereignty over Elba with the Duke of Tuscany, ceded his authority over the thirteen square kilometres of Porto Longone to the Spanish. This was the only case of territorial expansion in the history of the Presidi. From May to July 1646, Orbetello successfully resisted a siege by troops sent by the French royal minister Mazarin in an attempt to dislodge the Spaniards from Italy. However, French efforts to bring Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany out of his alliance with Spain failed. He refortified his own coast and raised a militia of 10,000 to observe the Franco-Spanish conflict across the border. In June, the Spanish gained a naval victory over the French off Porto Ercole. In September of the same year, after conquering Piombino, the French managed to capture Porto Longone. The Spanish garrison, which consisted of merely 80 men, held out for two weeks. The Spaniards recaptured both Piombino and Porto Longone during the summer of 1650, at a time when France was in the throes of the Fronde, a domestic uprising. Piombino fell quickly to a Neapolitan force, while Porto Longone, garrisoned by 1,500 Frenchmen, held out ten weeks. Because of subsequent pirate attacks and to defend against any future attacks by the French, the Spanish Crown decided to build another fortress on the bay of Longone: Fort Focardo. Naples managed to meet this obligation, keeping the Tuscan fortresses fully garrisoned, even during the Messina War (1672–78) and the Nine Years' War (1688–97). At the start of the Messina revolt in 1672, the viceroy dispatched 4,600 infantry and 1,200 cavalry to the Presidi and in May 1677 his successor sent 300 men to strengthen the garrison at Porto Longone. In 1693, the year of heaviest fighting during the Nine Years' War, Neapolitan troops intended for the Catalonian front were instead sent to the Presidi in response to a French fleet. In 1678, Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany sought to take advantage of the Messina War to negotiate the purchase of the Presidi, or at least the exchange of Orbetello for Portoferraio. The latter, although belonging to Tuscany, was frequently used by French privateers. In 1695, during the Nine Years' War, the Republic of Genoa offered to buy the Presidi outright. The Spanish king Charles II refused both offers. Austrian period (1708–1733) During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Presidi were claimed by the Emperor Charles VI, who also claimed the Spanish throne. Between 1708 and 1712, he conquered all of them save Porto Longone. In Article 30 of the Tre.... Discover the Tommaso Astarita popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Tommaso Astarita books.