The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was founded in 1569. It succeeded the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy was initially ruled by the House of Medici, until their extinction in 1737. The grand duchy passed to the House of Lorraine, and then, to its cadet branch, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine ruled Tuscany from 1765 to 1801, and then 1814 to 1859.
The Medici became extinct in 1737. Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine acceded the grand-ducal throne.
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine was deposed by the Treaty of Aranjuez in 1801. The House of Bourbon-Parma ruled over Tuscany in the form of the Kingdom of Etruria until their own deposition by forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807.
Elisa Bonaparte become Duchess of her ancestral homeland in 1809 by appointment from her own second older brother and King of Italy, Napoleon himself.
The Habsburgs were restored by the Congress of Vienna in 1814.
Tuscany was annexed to the United Provinces of Central Italy in 1859, and then absorbed into the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860.