The Malaspina was a noble Italian family of Longobard origin descending from Boniface I, Margrave of Tuscany through the Obertenghi line, which ruled Lunigiana from the 13th to the 14th century through many feuds and, since the 14th century, the marquisate of Massa and lordship of Carrara. The Malaspina alo retained the almost useless title of Imperial Vicars for Tuscany, which only signified a closer nominal relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor inherited from Ghibelline politics.
The Malaspina family also had a strong grasp of the territories in the north of Genoa, in the valleys of the Trebbia and Staffora rivers with Godiasco. Both the lordships in the Lunigiana and in the north of Genoa were soon fragmented due to the adoption of the Longobard Right, which required an equal division of assets between male sons, including feuds.
«
E in el dicto anno [1312] li marchezi Malaspina tolsero a Luccha Fosdinuovo et Barbassano».
Giovanni Sercambi, Chronica delle cose occorrenti ne'tempi suoi, Cap. CXV.
TERRITORY
Lunigiana, a mountainous region dissected by the Magra river, covers an area which runs from the Apennines to the Mediterranean Sea. The region has a strategical importance as the crossroad for goods that comes from Liguria, Tuscany or Lombardy.
ECONOMY
Lunigiana is one of the poorest regions in Italy, as the mountainous land does not allow large agricultural fields, and
AGRICULTURE
The economy of Lunigiana is based on chestnut, both for alimentary purposes and lumber. In the valley of Magra river there is also room for small wine and olive farms. Cereals are cultivated in the few plain and non-swampy areas. Cattle, sheeps and goats from Lombardy passes through Lunigiana, in transhumance towards the pastures of Tuscany, giving impulse to artisanship on leather. Famine is endemic in the area, and Gabriele Malaspina often recurred to buy grain and what from abroad.
Fishing was poor, but the large woods favoured either hunting or timber.
MARBLE EXTRACTION
The only item worth for profitable commerce is marble from Carrara, one of the best and purest quality of marble available. The prize yield from Carrara quarries through millennia has been Statuario, a pure white marble. The work at the quarries was so tough and arduous that almost any aspirant worker with sufficient muscle and endurance was employed, regardless of their background.
POLITICS
As a region which controls the passage from Tuscany to the northern territories of Lombardy and Parma, as well as from Tuscany to the eastern lands of Liguria and across the Apennines into Reggio Emilia, Lunigiana was fought over for centuries in countless wars which pitted the native feudal dynasties against one another. Thus, through the centuries, many large and small castles were built in Lunigiana, but at the cost of weakening the overall power of the Malaspina family at each generation.
ARMY
Several members of the Malaspina family seek their fortune as Condottieri, arming their retinue and fighting wars with their soldiers. Being a mountainous land, we have news of a marchional army composed by infantry (Palvesari) crossbowmen, man-at-arms and mounted crossbowmen acting as guards for the commander. Being a small state, however, the army never exceeded 500 people in the period from 1430s to 1480s. Mustering more people would have been to costly to mantain, and local lords whould have preferred to keep them at home to prevent raids - even from other relatives - in time of war.
Condottas operating abroad are a source of revenue, as the money derived from them is crucial to keep alive the small state.
SOURCES
Eugenio Branchi,
Storia della Lunigiana feudale, ristampa anastatica, 3 vol., Forni, Bologna 1971.
Patrizia Meli, Gabriele Malaspina marchese di Fosdinovo: condotte, politica e diplomazia nella Lunigiana del Rinascimento, University Press, Firenze 2008