The Eleventh and Twelfth Books of Giovanni Villani’s “New Chronicle”

Download or read book The Eleventh and Twelfth Books of Giovanni Villani’s “New Chronicle” written by Rala I. Diakité and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-02-07 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giovanni Villani’s New Chronicle traces the history of Europe, Italy, and Florence over a vast sweep of time – from the Tower of Babel to the great earthquake of 1348. In the eleventh and twelfth books, Villani depicts a particularly eventful period in the history of Florence, whose grandeur is illustrated in several famous chapters describing the city’s income, expenses, and magnificence. The dramatic account follows Florence’s internal affairs as well as its conflicts with powerful lords like Castruccio Castracani and Mastino della Scala. The chronicler’s perspective, however, ranges beyond his city, as he documents such events as the imperial coronation of Louis of Bavaria, the penitential pilgrimage of Venturino da Bergamo, and the first campaigns of the Hundred Year’s War.