DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61902#0011
INTRODUCTION.
The history of Florence has been often written, and in
many ways. In the iife-like annals of the old chroniclers,
who set down with vigorous simplicity, what they them-
selves did and heard and saw ; and in the more philosoph-
ical narratives, compilations, and collections, made with
elaborate care and judgment, which make the study of
Italian history more grateful than most researches of the
kind ; the tale of her greatness and of her weakness has been
told over and over again, from each man’s different point
of view. Some have occupied themselves with the art
story of the city—an aspect of her life which is full of the
deepest interest; others have devoted themselves to the
varied strifes which have rent her in pieces—chronicling
the casting out and taking back of her successive exiles,
and her own often blind and foolish struggle against sup-
posed tyrannical attempts, and confused misapprehension
of her true safety and interest. Others, again, have treated
Florence as but one actor in the great drama of Italian
history. There is enough material for all ; and even the
fragmentary efforts contained in this volume—“short
swallow flights” of biographical essay—do not, I hope,
require apology, so rich is the ground in all directions, so
tempting to the writer, so full of pleasant illustration of
the life and meaning of the great past. I do not promise
the reader that he will find any consecutive history of
Florence in the following pages; for new histories are
scarcely needed, nor is the present writer qualified to un-
dertake such a task. The biographical chapters which fol-
The history of Florence has been often written, and in
many ways. In the iife-like annals of the old chroniclers,
who set down with vigorous simplicity, what they them-
selves did and heard and saw ; and in the more philosoph-
ical narratives, compilations, and collections, made with
elaborate care and judgment, which make the study of
Italian history more grateful than most researches of the
kind ; the tale of her greatness and of her weakness has been
told over and over again, from each man’s different point
of view. Some have occupied themselves with the art
story of the city—an aspect of her life which is full of the
deepest interest; others have devoted themselves to the
varied strifes which have rent her in pieces—chronicling
the casting out and taking back of her successive exiles,
and her own often blind and foolish struggle against sup-
posed tyrannical attempts, and confused misapprehension
of her true safety and interest. Others, again, have treated
Florence as but one actor in the great drama of Italian
history. There is enough material for all ; and even the
fragmentary efforts contained in this volume—“short
swallow flights” of biographical essay—do not, I hope,
require apology, so rich is the ground in all directions, so
tempting to the writer, so full of pleasant illustration of
the life and meaning of the great past. I do not promise
the reader that he will find any consecutive history of
Florence in the following pages; for new histories are
scarcely needed, nor is the present writer qualified to un-
dertake such a task. The biographical chapters which fol-