Editing Elba (section)

===Middle Ages and early modern===
In the early [[medieval period]], Elba was invaded by the Ostrogoths and the [[Lombards]], and later it became a possession of the [[Republic of Pisa]]. After the [[battle of Meloria]], the [[Republic of Genoa]] took possession of Elba, but it was regained by Pisa in 1292.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elbaworld.com/en/elba-island/p-332-elba-history.htmlHistory |title=History of Elba Island |website=elbaworld.com }}{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The island was retained for two centuries by the [[Appiani family]], Lords of [[Piombino]], when they sold Pisa to the [[Visconti of Milan|house of Visconti]] of Milan in 1399.

In 1544, the [[Barbary pirates]] from North Africa devastated Elba and the coasts of Tuscany.<ref>{{cite book |author=David, Robert C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5q9zcB3JS40C&pg=PR14 |title=Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2004 |isbn=1-4039-4551-9}}</ref> In 1546, part of the island was handed over to [[Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]], who fortified Portoferraio and renamed it "Cosmopoli", while the rest of the island was returned to the Appiani in 1577. In 1596, [[Philip II of Spain]] captured Porto Longone and had two fortresses built there. This part of Elba came into the direct power of Spain through the [[State of the Presidi]], including [[Porto Longone]]. In 1736, the sovereignty of this part of Elba was claimed by the [[Kingdom of Naples]] but remained abandoned.<ref>Roberto Ferretti (a cura di), Aspetti e problemi di storia dello Stato dei Presìdi in Maremma, 1979;
Giuseppe Caciagli, Stato dei Presidi, Pontedera, Arnera Edizioni, 1992</ref>