Editing Lucca (section)

=== Middle Ages ===
{{See also|Duchy of Tuscia}}[[File:Torre guinigi, view 11, piazza dell'anfiteatro.JPG|thumb|left|[[Piazza dell'Anfiteatro]] and the [[Basilica of San Frediano]]]]
[[Frediano]], an [[Ireland|Irish]] [[monk]], was [[bishop of Lucca]] in the early sixth century.<ref>See article on the [[Basilica of San Frediano|Basilica di San Frediano]].</ref> At one point, Lucca was plundered by [[Odoacer]], the first Germanic King of Italy. Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the sixth century, when [[Narses]] besieged it for several months in 553. From 576 to 797, under the [[Lombards]], it was the capital of a duchy, known as [[Duchy of Tuscia]], which included a large part of today's Tuscany and the [[province of Viterbo]], during this time the city also minted its own coins.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mancini|first=Augusto|title=Storia di Lucca|publisher=Pacini Fazzi|year=1999|isbn=8872463432|pages=23|language=it}}</ref> The [[Holy Face of Lucca]] (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by [[Nicodemus]], arrived in 742.   

Among the population that inhabited Lucca in the medieval era, there was also a significant presence of [[Jews]]. The first mention of their presence in the city is from a document from the year 859. The Jewish community was led by the [[Kalonymos family]] (which later became a major component of proto-[[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic Jewry]]).<ref>{{Citation|title=Lucca|url=https://www7.tau.ac.il/omeka/italjuda/items/show/776|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>  

Thanks above all to the [[Holy Face of Lucca|Holy Face]] and to the relics of important saints, such as [[:it:San Regolo|San Regolo]] and [[Saint Fridianus]], the city was one of the main destinations of the [[Via Francigena]], the major pilgrimage route to Rome from the north.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stopani|first=Renato|title=Le vie di pellegrinaggio del Medioevo.|year=1991|publisher=Le Lettere|isbn=887166048X|pages=61|language=it}}</ref>

The Lucca cloth was a silk fabric that was woven with gold or silver threads. It was a popular type of textile in Lucca throughout the mediaeval period.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmuth |first=Louis |url=http://archive.org/details/dictionaryoftext00harmrich |title=Dictionary of textiles |date=1915 |publisher=New York, Fairchild publishing company |others=University of California Libraries |pages=94}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sarkar |first1=Ajoy K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=471VEAAAQBAJ&dq=lucca+cloth&pg=PA283 |title=The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles |last2=Tortora |first2=Phyllis G. |last3=Johnson |first3=Ingrid |date=2021-11-04 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-6508-9 |pages=283 |language=en}}</ref> 

Lucca became prosperous through the [[silk]] trade that began in the eleventh century, and came to rival the silks of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]]. During the tenth–eleventh centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal [[margraviate of Tuscany]], more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. 

In 1057, [[Anselm of Baggio]] (later Pope Alexander II) was appointed bishop of Lucca, a position he held also during the papacy. As bishop of Lucca he managed to rebuild the patrimony of the [[Catholic Church|Church]] of Lucca, recovering alienated assets, obtaining numerous donations thanks to his prestige, and had the [[Cathedral of Lucca|Cathedral]] of the city rebuilt. From 1073 to 1086, the bishop of Lucca was his nephew [[Anselm of Lucca|Anselm II]], a prominent figure in the Investiture Controversy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ALESSANDRO II, papa in "Dizionario Biografico"|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/papa-alessandro-ii_(Dizionario-Biografico)|access-date=2022-01-09|website=www.treccani.it|language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ANSELMO da Lucca in "Enciclopedia Italiana"|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/anselmo-da-lucca_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)|access-date=2022-01-09|website=www.treccani.it|language=it-IT}}</ref>

During the High Middle Ages, one of the most illustrious dynasties of Lucca was the noble Allucingoli family, who managed to forge strong ties with the Church. Among the family members were Ubaldo Allucingoli, who was elected to the Papacy as [[Pope Lucius III]] in 1181, and the [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinals]] [[Gerardo Allucingoli]] and [[Uberto Allucingoli]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ALLUCINGOLI, Gerardo in "Dizionario Biografico"|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gerardo-allucingoli_(Dizionario-Biografico)|access-date=2022-01-11|website=www.treccani.it|language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Chiesa della Natività di Maria Santissima (Pontetetto) – Arcidiocesi di Lucca|url=https://www.diocesilucca.it/chiesa-della-nativita-di-maria-santissima-pontetetto/|access-date=2022-01-11|language=it-IT|archive-date=11 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111183035/https://www.diocesilucca.it/chiesa-della-nativita-di-maria-santissima-pontetetto/|url-status=dead}}</ref>