The Duchy of Massa and Principality of Carrara () was a small state that controlled the towns of Massa and Carrara from 1473 until 1829. History Although the city of Massa had already known its maximum medieval splendor in the 11th century with the Marquisate of Massa and Corsica ruled by the Obertenghi family, the original nucleus of the state was officially born on February 22, 1473, with the purchase of the Lordship of Carrara by the Lordship of Massa in the time headed by the Marquis Jacopo Malaspina, who obtained it from Count Antoniotto Fileremo of Genoa, progenitor of the Fregoso line. The noble title of the Malaspina family therefore became that of Marquises of Massa and lords of Carrara. From the purchase of the Carrara territory onwards, the seat of Jacopo Malaspina, one of the sons of Antonio Alberico I Malaspina, member of the branch of the family located in Fosdinovo, was located in the city of Carrara, but due to the frequent clashes with the French invaders who occurred often, he and his successors moved to Massa. Within two generations the Malaspina family died out in male descent and Ricciarda, Iacopo's niece and last direct heir of the lineage, married in 1520 with Lorenzo Cybo, a member of an influential family of Genoese aristocrats related to the Medici and Pope Innocent VIII. From the marriage the new Cybo-Malaspina family originated: the son of Ricciarda and Lorenzo, Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina obtained the government of Massa and Carrara in 1554. Under his administration the fiefdom experienced a very favorable period of development, thanks also to the advantageous economic situation in the marble market, which was in great demand by the Renaissance courts of the time. Alberico I, aware that his statelet was surrounded by more powerful and influential neighbors, decided to submit to the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V of Habsburg in 1554. Thanks to its cultural and economic successes, the city of Carrara obtained the rank of marquisate in 1558. In 1568 Massa was elevated to principality by the Emperor Maximilian II. In 1664 Leopold I of Habsburg raised the Principality of Massa to the rank of duchy and the Marquisate of Carrara to a principality. The Cybo-Malaspina took the title of Dukes of Massa and Princes of Carrara starting from Alberico II. In 1741 Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, the only representative of the family, married Ercole III