Guicciardini, Francesco (1483–1540)

Italian writer of Florence whose methods in research have given him the title of the “first modern historian.” He studied at the universities of Ferrara and Padua and at first sought a career in the church. His father disapproved of his choice and he turned to the law and a political career in Florence. The government of Florence appointed him as an ambassador to King Ferdinand of Spain. In 1515, he entered the service of Leo X, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence. Guicciardini became the papal governor of Reggio and Modena, towns of northern Italy then under the control of the pope. As governor of Parma, he defended the town against an assault by the French, an action that was rewarded by Pope Clement VII with an appointment as vice regent of Romagna and then as lieutenant-general of the army of the pope.

In 1531 Guicciardini became the governor of Bologna, but in 1534 resigned his post. By this time he was disillusioned with the ambition and greed of the popes and decided to seek his fortune by allying with the Medici clan. For this the city of Florence, which had expelled the Medici, declared him an outlaw. After Alessandro de' Medici, his patron and protector, was murdered in 1573, Guicciardini allied himself with Cosimo de' Medici, a boy whom Guicciardini believed he could manipulate and through whom he hoped to rule Florence as a regent. Seeing through his machinations, however, Medici dismissed Guicciardini and exiled him to his country home.

With his hopes of power and influence in Florence ended, Guicciardini began to write The History of Italy, the work for which he is best known. In great detail, this work describes events in Italy in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

He also set down his thoughts on politics and religion in the Ricordi Politici, a commentary on the works of Machiavelli, and essays collected under the title of Political Discourses.

See Also: Machiavelli, Niccolo; Medici, Cosimo de'