"Povera nostra Toscana" and the "French usurpation". From the exile correspondance of the archduke Ferdinand and the Envoy Luigi Angiolini
Abstract
The paper describes an event related to the conditions of conclusion of peace in Lunéville (1801) and Amiens 91802) which concluded the ten-year armed conflict in Europe, namely the cession of Tuscany by the Habsbourg Duke Ferdinand (brother of Francis I) to the Duke of Parma. THe study aims at describing this geographic and political change on the basis of private documents preserved in the family archives of the Tuscany Habsbourgs in the National Archives in Prague.
My prime interest has been how this cession of Tuscany was perceived by some persons concerned, how it was interpreted and what strategies they chose to prevent this loss or to gain adequate compensations. The principal material was the correspondance between Ferdinand III and hst prime ministres (Manfredini, Fossombroni), selected European rulers and diplomats but, first of all, the extensive correspondance of Ferdinands chief diplomat in France, Luigi Angiolini, who was also the chief negotiator with the French - as well as a sharop ob