Villani's Chronicle: Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani
()
About this ebook
Read more from Giovanni Villani
Villani's Chronicle: Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVillani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Villani's Chronicle
Related ebooks
The History of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Florence: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCenci Celebrated Crimes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Alfonso VIII of Castile: Government, Family, and War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCelebrated Crimes 'The Cenci', 'The Countess of St Geran' and 'Karl Ludwig Sand' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cenci Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Early Voyages And Travels In The Levant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Age of Napoleon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHenry IV of France and the Politics of Religion 1572 - 1596, Volume 1 & 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Paul Strathern's The Medici Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Christopher Hibbert's The House Of Medici Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Britain and the Holy See 1792-1806 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrivate Memoirs of the Court of Napoleon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cenci (Celebrated Crimes Series) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Medieval Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Barbary Corsairs: Pirates, Plunder, and Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1480-1580 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Florence: Its History, Its Art, Its Landmarks: The Cultured Traveler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRichard I: Makers of History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rise and Fall of Renaissance France (Text Only) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chronicles of England, France and Spain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent: The Extraordinary Life of the Infamous Italian Ruler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParis as It Was and as It Is: A Sketch Of The French Capital, Illustrative Of The Effects Of The Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Richard the First Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 6 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Boke of Noblesse: Addressed to King Edward the Fourth on His Invasion of France in 1475 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prince Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
History For You
100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Secrets, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, and Absurdities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Whore Stories: A Revealing History of the World's Oldest Profession Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ZERO Percent: Secrets of the United States, the Power of Trust, Nationality, Banking and ZERO TAXES! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The War of Art: by Steven Pressfield | Includes Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Richest Man in Babylon: The most inspiring book on wealth ever written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wise as Fu*k: Simple Truths to Guide You Through the Sh*tstorms of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lessons of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Library Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Villani's Chronicle
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Villani's Chronicle - Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani
Villani's Chronicle
Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani
Published by Good Press, 2022
goodpress@okpublishing.info
EAN 4057664610263
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
§ 1. The Text.
§ 2. The References.
§ 3. The Principle of Selection.
§ 4. The Historical Value of Villani’s Chronicle.
§ 5. The Rationale of the Revolutions of Florence.
§ 6. Dante’s Politics.
SELECTIONS FROM THE CHRONICLES OF VILLANI
CHRONICLE OF JOHN VILLANI
BOOK I.
BOOK II.
BOOK III.
BOOK IV.
BOOK V.
BOOK VI.
BOOK VII.
BOOK VIII.
BOOK IX.
INDEX
INDEX TO DANTE REFERENCES
DIVINA COMMEDIA.
Canzoni .
Sonnet .
Vita Nuova .
Convivio .
De Monarchia .
De Vulgari Eloquio .
Epistolæ .
Quæstia de Aqua et Terra .
Johannes de Virgilio .
INDEX
INDEX TO DANTE REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
Table of Contents
§ 1. The Text.
Table of Contents
This
book of selections is not intended as a contribution to the study of Villani, but as an aid to the study of Dante. The text of Villani is well known to be in a very unsatisfactory condition, and no attempt at a critical treatment of it has been made. The Florence edition of 1823, in eight volumes, has been almost invariably followed. Here and there the Editor has silently adopted an emendation that obviously gives the sense intended, and on p. 277 has inserted in brackets an acute suggestion made by Mr. A.J. Butler. In a few cases, by far the most important of which occurs on p. 450, passages which appear in some but not in all of the MSS. and editions of Villani are inserted in square brackets.
§ 2. The References.
Table of Contents
It is probable that many more references to Dante's works might advantageously have been inserted in the margin had they occurred to our minds; and we shall be glad to have our attention called to any important omissions.
As a rule we have aimed at giving a reference to any passage in Dante's works on which the text has a direct bearing, or towards the discussion of which it furnishes materials, without intending thereby necessarily to commit ourselves to any special interpretation of the passage in Dante referred to.
But in some instances such a reference would, in our opinion, distinctly tend to the perpetuation of error. In such cases we have purposely abstained from appearing to bring a passage of Villani into relation with a passage of Dante with which we believe it to have no connection. For instance, to have given a reference to the Vita Nuova § 41, 1-11, on p. 320 would have appeared to us so distinct and dangerous a suggestio falsi that we have felt compelled to abstain from it even at the risk of being charged with a suppressio veri by those who do not agree with us.
§ 3. The Principle of Selection.
Table of Contents
Our aim has been to translate all the passages from the first nine books of Villani's Chronicles which are likely to be of direct interest and value to the student of Dante.[1] A few chapters have been inserted not for their own sakes but because they are necessary for the understanding of other chapters that bear directly on Dante. When a chapter contains anything to our purpose, we have usually translated the whole of it. Where this is not the case the omissions are invariably indicated by stars * * * * * *. We have given the headings of all the chapters we have not translated, so that the reader may have in his hand the continuous thread of Villani's narrative, and may have some idea of the character of the omitted portions. By these means we hope we have minimised, though we do not flatter ourselves that we have removed, the objections which are legitimately urged against volumes of selections.
The nature of the interest which the Dante student will find in these selections will vary as he goes through the volume.
The early portions, up to the end of Book III., are interesting not so much for the direct elucidation of special passages in Dante as for the assistance they give us in realizing the atmosphere through which he and his contemporaries regarded their own past; and their habitual confusion of legend and history.
From Book IV. on into Book VIII. our interest centres more and more on the specific contents of Villani's Chronicle. Here he becomes the best of all commentators upon one phase of Dante's many-sided genius; for he gives us the material upon which Dante's judgments are passed, and enables us to know the men and see the events he judges as he himself knew and saw them. Chapter after chapter reads like a continuous commentary on Purg. vi. 127-151; and there is hardly a sentence that does not lighten and is not lightened by some passage in the Comedy. Readers who have been accustomed to weary themselves in attempts to digest and remember historical notes (into which extracts from Villani, torn from their native haunts, have been driven up for instant slaughter, as in battue shooting) will find it a relief to have the story of the battles and revolutions of Florence, as Dante saw and felt it, continuously set before them—even though it be, for the present, in the partial and therefore mutilated form of selections.
When we come to the later portions of Book VIII. and the first part of Book IX. the interest again changes. To the events after 1300 Dante's chief work contains comparatively few and scattered allusions; but as the direct connection with his writings becomes less marked the connection with his biography becomes more intimate. As we study the tangled period of Florentine politics that coincides with Dante's active political life (about 1300
a.d.
), the ill-concerted and feeble attempts of the exiles to regain a footing in their city, and later on the splendid but futile enterprise of Henry, we seem to find the very fibres of Dante's life woven into the texture of the history. The dream of the De Monarchia was dreamed by Henry as well as by Dante; but as we read the detail of his failure it is borne in upon us that he not only did fail but must fail, for his ideal was incapable of realization. Italy was not ready for him, and had she been ready she would not have needed him.
Finally, the last pages of our volume, which cover selections from the portion of Book IX., extending from the death of Henry to the death of Dante himself, are for the most part inserted for a very special reason, as to which some little detail is necessary. Strangely enough they derive their importance not from any interest Dante may have taken in the events they record, but from the fact that he did not take enough interest in them to satisfy one of his most ardent admirers. The editions of Dante's collected works include a correspondence in Latin hexameters between Johannes de Virgilio and Dante. Now in the poem that opens this correspondence Johannes refers to Statius and to Lethe in a manner that proves beyond all doubt that the whole of the Purgatorio as well as the Inferno was in his hands. But he alludes to the Paradiso—the poem of the super-solar
realms which is to complete the record of the lower
ones—as not yet having appeared. It therefore becomes a matter of extreme interest to the Dante student to learn the date of this poem. Now one of the considerations that led Johannes to address Dante was the hope of inducing him to choose a contemporary subject for a Latin poem and so write something worthy of himself and of studious readers! With this object he suggests a number of subjects:—
Come! tell thou of the flight by which Jove's armour-bearer (the Imperial Eagle = Henry VII.) sought the stars. Come! tell thou of the flowers and lilies (of Florence) crushed by the ploughman (Uguccione da Faggiuola). Tell of the Phrygian does (the Paduans) torn by the mastiff's (Can Grande's) tooth. Tell of the Ligurian mountains (the Genoese) and the Parthenopæan fleets (of Robert of Naples).
The correctness and security of the interpretation of this passage will not be doubted by any one accustomed to the pedantic allusiveness of the age; and it is moreover guaranteed by the annotator of the Laurentian MS., thought by many to be Boccaccio himself. It will be seen, therefore, from the study of the concluding pages of this volume, that when Johannes addressed Dante (after the appearance of the Inferno and the Purgatorio, but before that of the Paradiso) Henry VII. had died (
a.d.
1313), Can Grande had defeated the Paduans (
a.d.
1314 and 1317), Uguccione had defeated the Florentines (
a.d.
1315), and Robert had collected his fleet to relieve Genoa (February, 1319). It also seems highly probable that Can Grande had not yet suffered his reverses at the siege of Padua (August, 1320). This is perhaps the one unassailable datum for the chronology of Dante's works, and we have therefore included in our selections so much as was needed to establish it. Our readers will perhaps forgive us for having then left the fate of Genoa hanging in the balance, for as Villani says: Who could write the unbroken history of the dire siege of Genoa, and the marvellous exploits achieved by the exiles and their allies? Verily, it is the opinion of the wise that the siege of Troy itself, in comparison therewith, shewed no greater and more continuous battling, both by sea and land.
§ 4. The Historical Value of Villani’s Chronicle.
Table of Contents
An adequate edition of Villani would have to examine his statements in detail, and, where necessary, to correct them. Such a task, however, would be alike beyond our powers, and foreign to our immediate purpose. These selections are intended to illustrate the text of Dante; and for that purpose it is of more consequence to know what were the horrible crimes
of which Dante supposed Manfred to be guilty, than to enquire whether or no he was really guilty of them. To know whether Constance was fifty-two, or only thirty, when she married Henry VI., and whether he took her from a convent or a palace is of less immediate consequence to the student of Dante than to be acquainted with the Guelf tradition as to these circumstances.
At the same time, the reader may reasonably ask for some guidance as to the point at which the authentic history of Florence disengages itself from the legend, and, further, as to the general degree of reliance he is justified in placing on the details supplied by Villani.
On the first point very few words will suffice. There was probably a Fiesolan mart on the site now occupied by Florence from very remote times; but the form of the ancient circle
carries us back to a Roman camp and a military colony as the origin of the regular city. Beyond this meagre basis the whole story of Troy, and of Fiesole and Rome,
in connection with Florence must be pronounced a myth. The notices of Florence before the opening of the twelfth century are few and meagre, but they suffice to prove that the story of its destruction by Totila, and rebuilding by Charlemagne, is without foundation; and of all the reported conquests of Fiesole that of 1125 is the first that we can regard as historical.
The history of Florence is almost a blank until about 1115
a.d.
, the date of the death of the Countess Matilda.
With respect to the second point, it is impossible to give so brief or conclusive an answer. Villani is as valuable to the historian as he is delightful to the general reader. He is a keen observer, and has a quick eye for the salient and essential features of what he observes. When dealing with his own times, and with events immediately connected with Florence, he is a trustworthy witness, but minute accuracy is never his strong point; and in dealing with distant times and places he is hopelessly unreliable.
The English reader will readily detect his confusions in Book VII., §39, where at one time Richard of Cornwall, and at another Henry III., is called king of England; and Henry of Cornwall and Edward I. are regarded indifferently as sons of Richard or sons of Henry III., but are always said to be brothers instead of cousins.
Here there is little danger of the reader being misled, but it is otherwise in such a case as that of Robert Guiscard and the house of Tancred in Book IV., §19. By way of putting the reader on his guard, we will go into this exceptionally bad, but by no means solitary, instance of Villani's inaccuracies.
Tancred, of the castle of Hauteville (near Coutances, in Normandy), had twelve sons, ten of whom sought their fortunes in southern Italy and Sicily. Four of these were successively Counts of Apulia, the last of the four being Robert Guiscard. He was followed by his son Roger, and his grandson William, who died childless. Another of the sons of Tancred was Roger, who became Count of Sicily. He was succeeded by his son Roger II., who possessed himself of the Apulian domains of his relative William, on the decease of the latter. Roger now had himself proclaimed King of Sicily by the anti-pope Anaclete, and united Sicily and Naples under his sway. He was followed by his son William (the Bad), and his grandson William (the Good), on whose death, without issue, Henry VI., who married Roger's daughter Constance, claimed the succession in the right of his wife. (L'Art de Vérifier les Dates.)
The most important of these relations may be set forth thus:
Let the reader construct the family tree from the data in Villani, and compare it with the one given above. He will find that Villani, to begin with, makes Robert Guiscard a younger son of the Duke of Normandy, then makes his younger brother, Roger I., into his son (occasionally confounding him with Roger II.); and, finally, ignores William the Bad, and makes William the Good the brother of Constance. His details as to the pretender Tancred are equally inaccurate. These must suffice as specimens; but they are specimens not only of a special class of mistake, but of a style of work against which the reader must be constantly on his guard if he intends to make use of any detailed dates or relations, or even if he wishes to make sure that the Pope or other actor named in any connection is really the right one.
So, too, even well within historical times, Villani is prone to the epic simplification of events. His account of the negociations of Farinata with Manfred, and of the battle of Montaperti for instance, represents the Florentine legend or tradition rather than the history of the events. These events are conceived with the vividness, simplicity and picturesque preponderance of personality which make them easy to see, but impossible to reconstruct in a rationally convincing form.
To enter into further detail under this head would be to transgress the limits we have set ourselves.
§ 5. The Rationale of the Revolutions of Florence.[2]
Table of Contents
The settled conviction of both Villani and Dante that a difference of race underlay the civil wars of Florence, rests upon a truth obscurely though powerfully felt by them.
We have seen that the legend of Fiesole and Florence, upon which they rest their case, is without historical foundation; but the conflict of races was there none the less. And as it is here that modern historians find the key to the history of Florence, our readers will probably be glad to have set before them a brief account of the general conceptions in the light of which modern scholars would have us read the naive and ingenuous records of Villani.
The numerous Teutonic invasions and incursions which had swept over northern and central Italy, from Odoacer to Charlemagne, had established a powerful territorial nobility. They constituted a dominating class, military in their habits, accustomed to the exercise and the abuse of the simpler functions of government, accepting certain feudal traditions, but owning no practical allegiance to any power that was not in a position instantly to enforce it. Their effective organization was based on the clan system, and the informal family council was omnipotent within the limits of the clan. They were without capacity or desire for any large and enduring social organization. Their combinations were temporary, and for military purposes; and internecine family feuds were a permanent factor in their lives. Their laws were based on the Barbarian
codes, but the influence of Roman law was increasingly felt by them.
In the cities it is probable that the old municipal organization had never wholly died out, though it had no formal recognition. The citizens were sometimes allowed to live under their own law,
and sometimes not; but the tradition of the Roman law was never lost. Nominally the cities were under the jurisdiction of some territorial magnate, or a nominee of the Emperor, but practically they enjoyed various degrees of independence. Their effective organization would depend upon their special circumstances, but in such a case as that of Florence would be based on the trade guilds.
In Florence a number of the Teutonic nobles had settled in the city; but it owed its importance to its trade. The city-dwelling nobles kept up their clan life, and fortified their houses; but in other respects they had become partially assimilated in feeling, and even in habits and occupations, to the mercantile community in which they lived. They filled the posts of military and civil administration, and were conscious of a strong unity of interest with the people.
Under the vigorous and