A Brief History of Lucca...

Lucca has very deep roots and its history dates back far before the dawn of Christianity. It is difficult to say whether it was Ligurian or Etruscan, because the data that proves one or the other assumption are only partially complete. However we do know that it was a Roman outpost and a shrewd visitor can trace back some Roman elements even simply by strolling around the city lanes. If you take Via Fillungo, for example, starting from Piazza S. Frediano and continuing straight on towards Via S. Girolamo, you will doubtless have followed the historic access road called "Cardo" which the Romans built to traverse settled areas from north to south. Likewise, if you start at Porta S. Gervasio and walk to Porta S. Donato, you will have taken the "decumano" which is the Roman road that intersects the city from east to west. The Roman imprinted structure and arrangement of the city quickly fused with the shapes and organization of Christianity; later, Lucca passed through a period of Longobard dominion, then Carolingian, during which it was assigned an important role in history, as the capital city of Tuscia. It was an important hub, an early centre of trade and site of a coin mint. This was in the period which, for the sake of brevity, we will define as from 1050 to 1300, during which Lucca, and other cities like it, took on greater responsibility and underwent an innovative process of urban and commercial development. This is how a town is born. Lucca became and was established as an independent city-state. It built a new ring of city walls around itself because the urban area grew and with the construction of new buildings, commerce and the population expanded. In the last decades of the 1200s, the citizens in Lucca numbered between 10 and 20 thousand and it is estimated that in the course of a century, 700 new dwellings, churches and watchtowers were constructed. The emperors visited the city often, bestowing on it a series of important honours such as confirmation of the right to coin money, and the city gained strength, finding a balance between its own needs and the imperial requirements. During the 13th century, many craftsmen's and commercial guilds began to flourish; first among these were the money changers, notaries, bakers, physicians, spice traders, silk spinners, and many other categories. The main purposes of the various guilds was to regulate and protect the trade and establish the tradesmen’s salaries. In the same period, the city was divided into five parts, corresponding to the gates of S.Donato, S.Pietro, S.Gervasio, S.Frediano and Borgo. Suburbs began to spring up in the shelter of the walls. These were also surrounded by a flat and fertile territory called the “Sei Miglia”, while the countryside located outside the Sei Miglia was divided into eleven districts, called vicariates. Later still, the historic urban division into five districts was replaced by a new division into three parts, or "terzieri" that were called the Terzieri of S.Paolino, S.Martino and S.Salvatore. The battles with Pisa, which was the next nearest city, and the struggle to expand and dominate the countryside were constants in the political life of the city. The city responded to this and other difficulties by organizing an elastic government, in the sense that it was ready to change its institutions to meet the various needs that cropped up. However, the institutions that remained essentially stable over the centuries and that were the basis of the political order were the College of Elders, the General or Major Council and the Minor Council or the popular council, all flanked by many other organizations and committees, called authorities. These three Councils had legislative and executive powers, while the justice system was held by the Podestà, a judiciary body that was very important in the middle ages but was stripped of most of its powers after the 16th century. Contrary to other Italian cities, only twice in the course of its history did Lucca undergo the influence of the Signoria: the first time was between 1316 and 1328 at the hands of Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli, a captain who became nearly legendary, who as soon as he gained power, implemented an expansionist policy to enlarge the boundaries of Lucca.