Francesco Guicciardini

Francesco Guicciardini (March 6, 1483 – May 22, 1540) was an Italian historian and statesman. He is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance and the Father of Modern History. He was a friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli.

Biography
His family was illustrious and noble; after the usual education of a boy in grammar and elementary classical studies, his father, Piero, sent him to the universities of Ferrara and Padua, where he stayed until the year 1505. In 1512, he went to the court of the King of Aragon, Ferdinand the Catholic as ambassador.

In 1515 he became working for the Pope Leo X, who made him governor of Reggio Emilia in 1516 and of Modena in 1517.

Works

 * Storie fiorentine (1508–1510)
 * Diario di Spagna (1512)
 * ''Discorso di Logrogno ("Discourse of Logrogno"; 1512)
 * ''Relazione di Spagna (1514)
 * ''Consolatoria (1527)
 * ''Oratio accusatoria (1527)
 * ''Oratio defensoria (1527)
 * ''Del reggimento di Firenze or Dialogo e discorsi del reggimento di Firenze ("Dialogue on Florentine Government" or "Dialogue on the Government of Florence"; 1527)
 * Considerazioni intorno ai "Discorsi" del Machiavelli sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio ("Observations on Machiavelli's Discourses"; 1528, or possibly 1530)
 * Ricordi or Ricordi politici (as the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica refers to it) or Ricordi civili e politici (the name given by Giuseppe Canestrini when he first published (1512-1530)
 * Le cose fiorentine (second "History of Florence"; 1528–1531)
 * Storia d'Italia ("History of Italy"; 1537–1540)