Dino Compagni's Chronicle of Florence

by Dino Compagni, Daniel Ethan Bornstein (translator)

Dino Campagni's classic chronicle gives a detailed account of a crucial period in the history of Florence, beginning about 1280 and ending in the first decade of the fourteenth century. During that time Florence was one of the largest cities in Europe and a center of commerce and culture. Its gold florin was the standard international currency; Giotto was revolutionizing the art of painting; Dante Alighieri and Guido Cavalcanti were transforming the vernacular love lyric. The era was marked as well by political turmoil and factional strife. The inexorable escalation of violence, as insult and reprisal led to arson and murder, provides the bitter content of Compagni's story.

Dino Compagni was perfectly placed to observe the political turmoil. A successful merchant, a prominent member of the silk guild, an active member of the government. Gompagni—like Dante—sided with the Whites and, after their defeat in 1301, was barred from public office. He lived the rest of his life as an exile in his own city, mulling over the events that had led to the defeat of his party.

This chronicle, the fruit of his observation and reflection, studies the damage wrought by uncontrolled factional strife, the causes of conflict, the connections between events, and the motives of the participants. Compagni judges passionately and harshly. Daniel Bornstein supplements his lucid translation with and extensive historical introduction and explanatory notes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1726

Reviews

[Mehmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5-A heartbreaking account of a city rending itself in destruction and burning through its own in a horrible cycle. Dino’s chronicle was written because of his belief that with the advent of Henry VII at the gates of Florence, an era of peace and change could be at hand. The reader knows that in a couple months Henry will be dead and the horrors of the strife in the peninsula will continue. Dino’s expectation was not for the judgement of the guilty individuals per se, the chronicle already ends having recounted the horrific deaths of all held responsible, but for a wholesale change in the system in which they lived and a bringing of peace and respite to persist onwards. That it failed brings sorrow to the reader who has read through this detailed autopsy of the collapse of the white Guelf government. Dino is a great author with a talent for character portraits and the portrayal of both civic strife in both the intensely personal and the shockingly anonymous. Along with Villani (a much bigger achievement in historiographical terms, but I still prefer Dino’s human touch more) this is one of the core texts to approach Dante’s age (which is where almost all readers will have encountered Dino. The lessons about the perils of governance, the sheer importance of decisiveness, activeness and vigilance in defence of public good and the reality of chaos and butchery at every turn in dereliction of civic duty are lessons that Dino teaches very well.

[Amélie Pfister]

So, I think, maybe, and this is just an inkling I have, Dino Compagni might just MAYBE ALMOST PERHAPS think of himself as a benevolent genius, guys…not sure tho

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Importante testimonianza storica che si legge un po' a fatica.

Volume più che altro per storici, addetti ai lavori, ricercatori e die hard dell'Italiano Fiorentino dell'epoca.

Da non approcciare come un romanzo o una novella.

[Isabel]

Struggled with this one in the beginning, but it won me over in the second half. I found the emergence of Henry as Holy Roman Empire particularly fascinating and his evolving alliances with the Guelphs and Ghibellines.

[Charlotte Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

love love loved studying dino but find his lack of dating annoying. love his sass and bias though

[Judy]

Very little color or detail of life in Florence in the 1300's. Instead it is a review of the power struggles of the times between the Guelphs and the Ghybellines. The Black Guelphs and the Whites.

[Simone Noto · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Così sta la nostra città tribolata! così stanno i nostri cittadini ostinati a mal fare! E ciò che si fa l'uno dì, si biasima l'altro."
La cronaca puntuale di un trentennio di storia a cavallo tra il XIII ed il XIV secolo della città di Firenze e dei luoghi limitrofi in Toscana e oltre, raccontata da chi quegli anni li ha vissuti da cittadino, storico, politico e sconfitto. Le vicende tra guelfi e ghibellini, tra bianchi e neri, tra le famiglie dei Cerchi e dei Donati, per contendersi la supremazia su una delle città più fiorenti e indipendenti del periodo. Uno spaccato su cui si affacciano i nomi di Dante, della famiglia Cavalcanti ma anche di regnanti e papi. Una storia poco imparziale per essere cronaca effettiva in quanto vissuta dall'autore stesso come uno dei contendenti, ma al contempo troppo poco letterale per essere annoverata tra i grandi classici del Trecento.

[Na · Rating 2 out of 5]

An exhaustive detailing of the feud between the Ghibellines and the Guelfs in thirteenth century Florence, which eventually turns into fighting between the Black and White Guelfs and draws in other parts of Italy as well as the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.
Essentially, this is 101 pages of people betraying each other and destroying their city; Florentines seem to live for war and discord (Dino admits and denounces this many, many times). The introduction summarizes the rest of the book very nicely; if you need to read this for a class I would suggest only reading that!

[Keaton]

Read: Excerpt from Book I

[Salvatore · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good read into medieval Italy.