Giovanni Villani

Giovanni Villani was a merchant, public official and chronicler from the Republic of Florence. Born around 1280 (sources give dates between 1275 and 1280), he died in 1348 in his native city. He wrote in medieval Italian, and his chronicle is one of the earliest attempts to tell the continuous history of a city in the vernacular. He matters both for what he recorded and for his unusual attention to the economic life of his city.

He came from a family of merchants and spent much of his working life in trade and finance. He first worked for the Peruzzi banking house, travelling through Italy, France and Flanders, and later became a partner in the Buonaccorsi company. Alongside business, he held public office, serving several times as one of Florence's priors, taking part in the running of the city mint, and in 1341 spending some months as a hostage in Ferrara to guarantee a financial agreement.

The collapse of the Buonaccorsi company led to his conviction and imprisonment in 1346. He died in 1348, probably of the Black Death, while still working on his chronicle. The Nuova Cronica grew out of his visit to Rome during the jubilee of 1300, and it is arranged year by year in twelve books, beginning with the Tower of Babel and reaching his own day. His brother Matteo published it in 1363, and his nephew Filippo followed with another edition in 1410.

Villani included figures, prices and financial details that were rare among medieval historians. His belief that events reflected the will of God ties him to the older chronicle tradition, and his treatment of Florence and the papacy has drawn criticism from modern scholars. His legacy is that of an early forerunner of economic and statistical history, and his chronicle remains a valuable source on Florence in his lifetime.