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1 On Francesco Guicciardini’s Thought 2 3 Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540), Italian historian, politician and writer, - 4 descendant of one of the most important and faithful families to the Medici family in 5 Florence - received a solid humanistic education and was also the protagonist of the 6 Italian politics in the XVIth century; during the wars between France and Spain for 7 the domination of the peninsula, he became the objective interpreter of these events 8 in terms of historiography. Upright and austere character, he is the author of one of 9 the best histories of Italy, written in the spirit of the time, whose prime quality is the 10 historical veracity. Guicciardini fed the feeling of nationality and the aspiration to 11 independence of Italy. In his works he shows the painful efforts of the princes and 12 heads of republics, dragged in continuous wars, trying to defend, to confederate, to 13 seek help in various foreign powers in order to save themselves from the oppression 14 of the rulers. His genius, intuitive and painfully prophetic, discerns the events from 15 the things; he pronounces safe judgments and recommends possible remedies to save 16 the nation. 17 18 Keywords: Francesco Guicciardini, Sixteenth Century, Italian States 19 20 21 Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540), Italian historian, politician and writer, 22 - descendant of one of the most important and faithful families to the Medici 23 family in Florence - received a solid humanistic education and was also the 24 protagonist of the Italian politics in the XVIth century; during the wars 25 between France and Spain for the domination of the peninsula, he became the 26 objective interpreter of these events in terms of historiography. 27 Upright and austere character, he is the author of one of the best histories 28 of Italy - Storia d’Italia - The History of Italy - written in the spirit of the time, 29 whose prime quality is the historical veracity. We must add his considerable 30 diplomatic skills. Cavour put him ahead of Machiavelli: politician, performing 31 many high dignities, Guicciardini is an imposing figure. 32 The marriage with Maria Salviati, in 1508, strengthened the political 33 influence and it granted him the political ascension. After the war against Pisa, 34 in 1509, he ascended very quickly in the international politics and in 1512 he 35 was appointed by the Florentine Republic as ambassador to Spain at 36 Ferdinand the Catholic. In 1512 he stopped writing his first work, Storie 37 fiorentine - The Florentine Histories, to assume the diplomatic assignment that 38 we mentioned before, the embassy to the court of Spain, where he remained 39 until 1514. The result of this experience in his diplomatic activity will be the 40 political work Il Discorso di Logrogno - The Discourse from Logrogno (1512), a 41 proposal for a political organization of the Florentine state, within which 42 Guicciardini sustains the reform in the aristocratic sense of the Florentine 43 Republic.

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1 After the moment when Giulio de’ Medici became Pope Clement VII, 2 Guicciardini is sent to govern the Romagna, a region very agitated by the 3 struggles between the richest families. To counterpoint the power of Charles 4 V, he proposed an alliance between the regional states of Italy and France, in 5 order to safeguard the independence of the peninsula. The agreement was 6 signed in Cognac in 1526, but was never put into practice. After the predation 7 of Rome – il sacco di Roma - (1527), he was removed from the diplomatic 8 assignments that he had been given. 9 In 1529 he left Florence and returned to Rome with the intention to enter 10 the service of Pope Clement VII, and was offered the position of a diplomat to 11 Bologna. After the fall of the Republic of Florence and restoration of the power 12 of the Medici family, in 1531, Guicciardini returned to Florence, where he held 13 various duties on behalf of the Medici family and Pope Clement VII, but after 14 1534, the new Pope Paul III didn’t give him any big assignments. 15 After the return of the Medici family in Florence, he remained in their 16 residence as counsellor of Duke Alessandro. In the latest years, he finished the 17 Ricordi politici e civili („The Political and Civil Memories”), he collected his 18 Discorsi politici („Political Discourses”) and wrote the Storia d’Italia (History of 19 Italy-1537-1540). None of Guicciardini’s works was published during his 20 lifetime. 21 „The History of Italy”- Storia d’Italia begins with the history of Italy from 22 1490, which is the year of the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent and ends in 23 1534, the year of the descent into Italy of Charles VIII of France (after the 24 predation of Rome by the Lanzichenecchi and the death of Pope Clement VII). 25 Written by a „senior official and advisor to three popes”, with ambitions of 26 classicism – he was inspired by the “Commentaries” of Caesar -, but with a 27 great modernity1. 28 Objective and impartial critic of his times, in his Storia d’Italia (History of 29 Italy) - vast and detailed image of what happened in Italy between the last 30 decade of the Quattrocento and 1534 - he achieved excellent results as an 31 analyst and political thinker. In Guicciardini there is a political realism that 32 follows the idea of a unified Italian state by taking as examples the great 33 national monarchies of Europe, but not taking into account the fact that those 34 had been created through the strength of an enterprising and opened 35 bourgeoisie, while in Italy a petty bourgeoisie survived, unable to look 36 beyond the narrow limits of the municipality or region. 37 In Discorsi politici - Political Discourses Guicciardini imitates the ancient 38 historians, and makes them the main characters of the time. Their councils are 39 intent to make Guicciardini’s contemporaries to seek the salvation of the states 40 which were at that time involved in the ambitions of the foreign rulers, eager 41 to divide Italy. The Discourses have a general character because they highlight

1V. De Caprariis, Francesco Guicciardini. Dalla politica alla storia, Bari, 1950, p. 28

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1 the conditions of the states of Europe and their relationships with those of the 2 peninsula. It’s part of a series of Discourses that Guicciardini wrote in 1511, 3 after being appointed ambassador of the Republic of Florence through the 4 Crown of Aragon, ruled at the time by Ferdinand the Catholic. This 5 experience made him understand, in a more detached and professional way, 6 the high-level politics of Florence, which he analyzed in his work. 7 Il Discorso di Logrogno („The Discourse of Logrogno”) is a juvenile political 8 work written in 1512 in which Gucciardini sustains a reform - in the 9 aristocratic sense - of the Florentine Republic, proposing a system similar to 10 that of Venice. The discourse takes its name from the city where it was 11 written, the current Logroño. In “The Discourse from Logrogno” he begins from 12 the analysis of the various political events in Italy, still divided into regional 13 states, to arrive at the influence on the peninsula made by the monarchical 14 states of Europe of that time. 15 During the same period, Guicciardini also wrote the Relazioni di Spagna 16 („The Relationships of Spain”) and Il Diario di Spagna („The Diary of Spain”), 17 and started the first draft of the Ricordi („Memories”). His political thinking is 18 exposed in Ricordi - “Memories”2 and he is the author of a skeptical and 19 disenchanted vision on politics and on the human ability to manipulate 20 reality. „The Memories” relates to various periods of Guicciardini’s activity as 21 diplomat and politician, taking its resources from this long and complex 22 experience. Hence the character of the work (the title really means “things to 23 remember” and then, by extension, “thoughts”, “reflections”), that faces, with 24 a bitter and disillusioned pessimism, more general problems. These reflections 25 can provide a useful teaching but they don’t have, however, absolute validity, 26 because reality does not obey to universal laws, maintaining a changing and 27 unpredictable course. 28 Between 1516 and 1527 Guicciardini works for the papal curia, in the 29 service of the Medici popes: Leo X, afterwards Clement VII. In this period, he 30 writes Dialogo del reggimento di Firenze („The Dialogue of the Regiment of 31 Florence”) - 1521-1526, in two books. This is his only political-theoretical 32 treaty. The work is a dialogical treaty, under the form of two days of 33 discussion, a few weeks after the expulsion of Piero de’ Medici from Florence, 34 among people of different political views: Bernardo del Nero, a partisan of the 35 Medici, Piero Capponi, aristocratic, Paolantonio Soderini, a partisan of the 36 people, Piero Guicciardini, father of the writer, moderator. It is a general 37 reflection on the state and on human nature. The author imagines a discussion 38 held in Florence in 1494, after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The 39 interlocutors are the writer’s father, Piero, Paolantonio Soderini and Piero 40 Capponi, all Republicans, to whom Bernardo del Nero - who was linked to the

2Marin Vătafu, С. Antoniade, Trei Figuri Din Cinquecento, in “Gând românesc”, Cluj, anul IV, nr.3-4/1936, p. 236

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1 Medici party - opposes. The latter, starting from a careful analysis of the facts 2 and not from any preconceived ideas, demonstrates to the three of them how 3 illusory their republican faith is. 4 Guicciardini wants for Florence a “mixed” government, on the oligarchic - 5 Venetian example, which is superior to the defects of the signoria and of the 6 republican regime. It comprises two magistrates formed by representatives of 7 the wealthiest and most illustrious families, being headed by a gonfaloniere3 8 appointed for life. The aristocracy that Guicciardini had defended was that 9 class of magnates, clever and intelligent people, who had been able to take 10 control of the trade and industry, in alliance with the new mercantile and 11 financial bourgeoisie. For him this was the only class to be skilled in the art of 12 governing, both at the political-administrative and military levels. 13 Guicciardini is a political conservative, looking with suspicion and distrust at 14 the popular movements (e.g. Il Tumulto dei Ciompi), at the absolutism of the 15 prince and he considers as impossible the idea of a national state. 16 Guicciardini realizes that it was absolutely necessary to evaluate the 17 political interference. He admits, however, the difficulty of restoring the 18 Medici power in that times, offering an alternative to the democratic 19 constitution of a mixed government, which provides a gonfaloniere for life, as 20 we mentioned, a Grand Council for the election of the magistrates, a Senate 21 for the preparation of the laws and for the discussion of the matters of major 22 importance. He has the belief that in politics you can not give absolute rules, 23 general theories or systematic doctrines valid at any time and any place. 24 Forced to privacy for having served the Medici family, Guicciardini wrote 25 three orations in his defense: Consolatoria, Accusatoria, Defensoria. 26 He composed in 1529 Considerazioni intorno ai “Discorsi” di Machiavelli sulla 27 prima Deca di Tito Livio - “Considerations on Machiavelli’s Discourses on the 28 first decade of Titus Livius”. Through a precise and rigorous analysis on the 29 work of Machiavelli, Guicciardini tries to show that his reasoning, apparently 30 so tight and convincing, is actually unfounded and arbitrary. The resulting 31 worldview is so entirely relative and fragmentary, without being able to re- 32 compound in the totality of a theoretical system capable to provide concrete 33 and indisputable criteria. In „Considerations on the Discourses of 34 Machiavelli”, Guicciardini contests the fact that the national unification is a 35 better goal, preferred to the balance between the various existing political 36 entities, and sustains the fact that the autonomous development of the various 37 cities and signorie, besides being the source of the economic well-being, 38 corresponds better to the ancient customs of the Italians. 39 The Considerations on the Discourses of Machiavelli are the conclusion of 40 Guicciardini’s political meditation: to the deep love for the “rules” of

3The battle standard-bearers of the Italian republics

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1 Machiavelli, Guicciardini contraposes his empiricism, his refusal to attribute 2 to ancient Rome a valid model for the actual reality.4 3 His main concern is to preserve the old municipal and corporative 4 institutions. I Ricordi politici e civili - “The Civil and Political Memories” are more 5 than 400 political and moral thoughts, of varying length, written between 1525 6 and 1530, intended to be read by family members and descendants (published, 7 like many of his other works, only during the half of the Nineteenth century). 8 In the Civil and political memories - Ricordi civili e politici he portrays the truest 9 image of the society of the XVIth century, which is one fine, wise, that dazzles 10 the world with the artistic works of universal genius, but without any faith in 11 the state.5 12 Guicciardini emphasizes the renascentist principle of the autonomy of the 13 politics, totally separated from religion and morals; he claims that history is 14 man’s product, and not of the providence, even if luck has an important place 15 in people’s lives. The persons who make history are those who have 16 intelligence, strength, cunning, skill, authority. The historical events are 17 indecipherable if referring to a predefined theoretical framework with which 18 we would like to interpret them. In history, the exceptions, the fortuitous 19 circumstances, the details, the necessary “distinguo” make impossible a 20 general or global comprehension of reality. Facts must be understood in their 21 particular circumstances, in each particular case. 22 The result of the collapse of each political illusion and of a forced 23 renunciation to the political activism, The Memories reveal in front of the 24 reality the disenchanted sight of the moralist. It is no coincidence that in the 25 times when story will appeal to certain eternal principles of psychology and 26 human behavior, the same themes and words of Memories will return.”6 27 “Ricordi” („Memories”) is a large collection of scattered thoughts and notes, 28 collected by Guicciardini. Moral and political recommendations are mixed in a 29 work that lacks the systematic nature of the Storia d’Italia (“History of Italy”). 30 Some of the main topics in “Memories” are: the discretion and the ingratitude 31 (man can not control the events, so it is impossible to give universally valid 32 recommendations for action, to dictate general and absolutes principles). You 33 just have to take things by each one, case by case, in their infinite nuances. The 34 hundreds of memories provide, through the short and incisive form of the 35 aphorism, suggestions for an attentive and efficient action; they valorize the

4Valentina Lepri, Maria Elena Severini, Viaggio e metamorfosi di un testo: I “Ricordi” di Francesco Guicciardini tra XVI e XVII secolo, Geneva, Libraire Droz, 2011 (series «Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance»), p. 26 5Enrico Zanoni, op. cit., p. 11 6Pasquini, Introduzione ai Ricordi

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1 practical and operational dimension of it and represent one of the first 2 attempts at secularization of the political discourse.7 3 The memories were written after the retreat from the political life and all 4 his long efforts appeared to him in the bitter light of the vanity and failure. At 5 the end of this thought, the prevailing pessimistic tone fades into the 6 background: the desire for honor and glory appears as an essential necessity 7 of the human soul. 8 9 *** 10 Guicciardini considers Machiavelli to be a “utopian” rather than a 11 “realistic”. On the theoretical side, the comparison with the positions of 12 Machiavelli is conducted primarily in Considerazioni intorno ai Discorsi del 13 Machiavelli sulla prima deca di Tito Livio Considerations on Machiavelli’s 14 Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius, written around 1529 in two 15 books, and unfinished. They are reflections through which Guicciardini 16 analyzes some statements or particular theoretical nuclei of Machiavelli, 17 criticizes and deconstructs the thought of Machiavelli rather than to advance 18 some alternative proposals or to build a different conceptual system. 19 Despite the common secular view, based on the verità effettuale” (“actual 20 reality”), Guicciardini remains anchored to an absolute and radical 21 empiricism: he believes only in the experience and in the need to judge each 22 case, due to the fact that each event or historical phenomenon is unique and 23 unrepeatable and it can not be analyzed starting from abstract and universal 24 categories. 25 Although aware of the limit opposed by Fortuna to the human activity, 26 however, Machiavelli believes in history as a rational and human construction 27 and finds within the virtue the basis and the legitimacy of the freedoms of 28 man and of his active and energetic capacity to build and modify the history 29 according to his purposes and plans. 30 The meditation of Guicciardini begins, however, from the bitter 31 recognition of the incapacity of the individual to succeed in changing the 32 course of the events and in reducing them to rational schemes. There is in him 33 the consciousness of an extreme complexity and irrationality of the reality that 34 can not be exhausted by any formula. Therefore, it is useless to expect to 35 establish general rules of action, because an unpredictable reality disturbs the 36 patterns in which we would like to force it. To the virtue of Machiavelli, he 37 shall therefore replace la discrezione (the “discretion”), which is the ability to 38 analyze and understand the single facts in their infinite nuances, in order to 39 insert their action in their tumultuous course, without being overwhelmed,

7 Valentina Lepri, Maria Elena Severini, Viaggio e metamorfosi di un testo: I “Ricordi” di Francesco Guicciardini tra XVI e XVII secolo, Geneva, Libraire Droz 2011 (series «Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance»), p. 34

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1 while preserving its own “particularness”, that is its own interest, its goals 2 and projects. 3 As Machiavelli, Guicciardini believed that man is a phenomenon of 4 nature subjected to the fixed and immutable laws, but, unlike his great friend, 5 he believes that humans are naturally inclined to good than to wrong and if in 6 reality he does more often bad than good, this is due to the fact that the 7 temptations are many and the human consciousness is weak; he also belied 8 that just doing the evil, man can more easily and more often to achieve his 9 gain. This self-interest, which Guicciardini called “particulare” („particular”), 10 is actually the latch that triggers all the human actions: it most often 11 corresponds to the material wealth, to the power, but it can also become 12 ennobled, corresponding to the interests of the State, to the glory, to the fame. 13 To realize the “particular”, both in a political and in a domestic way, one 14 can not refer to the history and draw lessons from events already occurred to 15 resolve the facts of the present, because throughout history the events are 16 never repeated: even when a present circumstance seems to reflect an episode 17 from the past history, in fact the situation is quite different, as different are the 18 persons who have to deal with it. 19 But if history can not give us universal laws of behavior, our personal 20 experience can refine in us the “discretion”. And man has to follow only his 21 relationship with the contingent reality, because the interest in wanting 22 supernatural and invisible things it is a vain and simple mental exercise. And 23 in respect of this consideration, he shares with Machiavelli the need to look 24 after the “verità effettuale” („real truth”). To the contemporary Italian 25 situation he gives a different assessment: it is not possible for him to make 26 from Italy at that time a unitary state, and opts instead for a confederation of 27 small states, possibly under the form of a republic but still governed by „savi” 28 (“wise men”). He is opposed to the temporal power of the popes (although he 29 used it for his personal gain) and shares with Machiavelli the desire to see 30 Italy freed from foreigners. 31 Significant in this regard is the following thought from Guicciardini: “I 32 would like to see two things before I die; but I doubt that I would see it, even 33 that I lived a lot: a life of well-ordered republic in our city, Italy liberated from 34 all barbarians and of the tyranny of these popes.” 35 It is no accidentally that Guicciardini made a remarkable political career. 36 But who has been more “awarded” by the story? Which of them two could 37 benefit from a greater historical realization of his own deals? Can we say that 38 Guicciardini was more “realistic” than Machiavelli when he thought when 39 Italy could oppose, only with the resources of the papacy or of a provisional 40 league formed by the greatest Italian states, to the power of nations such as 41 Spain or France? Was he more realistic than Machiavelli when he rejected the 42 idea of building a non mercenary army?

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1 The policy of Guicciardini has been more successful than that of 2 Machiavelli, but we can not say that it has had more reasons. 3 Before of the foreign invasions, the deliberations come first. Some 4 decisions were not taken inside the peninsula, but at the courts of Madrid or 5 Paris. Hence, the need to send right and able ambassadors at the foreign 6 courts in order to learn to use a wise policy, to induce the sovereign to the 7 wishes and views of the policies of governments they represented. Thus, in 8 various centers of the peninsula, the loss or the preservation of the own 9 independence, the calamities or gains that derived from the wars of Italy, 10 depended on the ability of the ambassadors. Guicciardini outlines the specific 11 conditions of the European powers, and calculates the hopes or the fears that 12 they can get from them. 8 13 The virtue that the politician must possess, for this purpose, is the 14 discretion, which is the ability to discern with insight and based on 15 experience, the individual events (therefore, the analysis prevails on the 16 synthesis). In this sense, Guicciardini opposes Machiavelli; he does not accept 17 the constant reminder of the ancients (because he thinks that past can not help 18 us to live the present, due to the fact that it isn’t a logical sequence of historical 19 facts), nor he appreciates the extraction of the universal laws from history. 20 Facts can not be traced within a unitary vision, nor can somebody pass from 21 the particular to the general: future remains unpredictable. Hence the strong 22 intellectual pessimism of Guicciardini, which is also manifested on the 23 conception of man: in his opinion, human nature is fundamentally inclined to 24 evil, at least in the moment in which someone accepts to live in society. 25 To this idealistic politics of Machiavelli, Guicciardini opposes a policy that 26 he called “realistic” but that would be better described as “opportunistic”; the 27 policy of that diplomat, who is expert in the art of negotiating and advising, 28 very attentive to his own “particulare”, that is, to his own dignity, reputation 29 and political career. For “particulare” we must not understand the material 30 gain. 31 Guicciardini divides the ambition into negative and positive. It is negative 32 when the person who uses it in order to realize his own projects, does not 33 scruple to trample on the basic human values (conscience, honor, humanity). 34 La fortuna (the luck): Guicciardini says, unlike Machiavelli, that a ruler 35 could ascend the throne only by having la fortuna (“the luck”) in his favor. La 36 fortuna is so much more important than the virtues of each person. 37 The social relationships: The man in the social-political relationships must 38 be able to know that: the dissimulation and the lie can serve as a useful tool to 39 achieve their own goals. Guicciardini affirms, unlike Machiavelli, that a ruler

8Enrico Zanoni, La mente di Francesco Guicciardini nelle opere politiche e storiche, Firenze, G. Barbera Editore, Firenze, 1897, p. 40

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1 could ascend the throne only by having the luck (la fortuna) in his favor. La 2 fortuna (the luck) is so much more important than the virtue. 3 The being and the appearing: the family should know how to educate 4 their child and give him a good moral education. 5 The “various natures of men”: Guicciardini warns on the extreme 6 complexity of the real and on man’s inability to fully control it, to impress to it 7 the seal of his rationality, and he also warns on the extreme precariousness of 8 our lives. Guicciardini’s analysis is not limited to the field of politics, but it 9 covers the whole human aspects. 10 Having abandoned all that was absolute, Guicciardini detached himself 11 from ideality and watched the corrupted society, but within which there still 12 remained many good things. He researched the depths of the human heart, he 13 studied all the social classes, he examined the various forms of government, 14 and he expressed his opinion on each one, on its virtues and defects, trying to 15 adapt them to the republic of Florence.9 16 During the sixteenth-century, Italy - as she enjoyed the triumphant 17 splendor of the arts and philosophy and the prosperity of many cultural 18 centers that gave birth to artists and thinkers - is attacked by the French, 19 Germans and Swiss who want to destroy its independence. 20 A century earlier, in the fifteenth century, the popes and the Medici 21 family strove to end the wars, to seal treaties, to organize new leagues to 22 maintain the balance between the Italian states. During the sixteenth century, 23 however, each state of the peninsula searches in the confederations only its 24 particular interest. 25 The supreme goal of the political science in all nations is that to form the 26 strong and independent states and to establish, with a sure criterion, the 27 political rights of the citizens to safety and preservation of free institutions: the 28 necessity, therefore, of the political thinker, to ponder and be precise the 29 functions of the government and the powers of the citizens under the idea that 30 besides the rights there are also the duties. 31 He noticed that the continuous changing of forms of government of 32 Florence had diminished its prestige and studied the duties of the citizens, the 33 fact that each class had to have its place within the social hierarchy and the 34 limits that a well-ordered constitution had to offer to the governors and to the 35 governed ones. According to him, the selfish and ambitious aristocracy tends 36 to restrict the State, to exploit it only in its benefit, expelling the people from 37 any participation in the government.10 38 The best government is the one, according to Guicciardini, that respects 39 the republican appearances, as Augustus in Rome, and Lorenzo de’ Medici

9Enrico Zanoni, La mente di Francesco Guicciardini nelle opere politiche e storiche, Firenze, G. Barbera Editore, Firenze, 1897, p. 10 10Enrico Zanoni, op. cit., p. 19

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1 did in Florence. Adding the minds to the virtues and to all the peculiar vices 2 of each of the forms of government, there was the need to seek for a form that 3 would satisfy and harmonize all the interests, to calm all the passions, to make 4 the citizens content and happy in the enjoyment of a fair and safe freedom, 5 away from the dangers that could come from the outside of the form of state. 6 Within the medieval form of states, freedom was frequently confused 7 with the possession of power and with the proscription of the opposite party. 8 There was not yet developed the sense of civic duty that would, in his turn, be 9 the legal and practical basis of freedom. 10 Guicciardini fed the feeling of nationality and the aspiration to the 11 independence of Italy. In his works he shows the painful efforts of the princes 12 and heads of republics, dragged in continuous wars, trying to defend, to 13 confederate, to seek help in various foreign powers in order to save 14 themselves from the oppression of the rulers. His genius, intuitive and 15 painfully prophetic probably discerns the events from the things, he 16 pronounces safe judgments, and he recommends possible remedies to save the 17 nation. He is always serene in the examination of the facts, but reveals his 18 fears and his love for Italy, which would like free by the Spanish with the help 19 of the French. 20 In his vast collection of letters there is engraved the cry of sorrow for the 21 misfortunes that plagued the Italian states and the bitterness against the 22 ferocity of the invaders and against the princes, captains, soldiers, unable to 23 face the fortune and win it. His writings form one of the greatest and wise 24 documents on the Italian states’ situation in the sixteenth century, serving to 25 illuminate an entire epoch. There is a sense of nostalgia in Guicciardini for the 26 noble and pure people. He is a powerful Florentine genius, a natural product 27 of the times, deep, skeptical, practical and brilliant, expressing his deep 28 observations with an elegant style. 29 30 31 Bibliography 32 33 Alexander, S. (1969). Introduction to Francesco Guicciardini, The History of Italy, 34 Princeton, 35 Brown, A. (1994). Introduction to Francesco Guicciardini, Dialogue on the Government of 36 Florence, Cambridge 37 Cantimori, D. (1966). Francesco Guicciardini, in E. Cecchi, N. Sapegno, „Storia della 38 letteratura italiana”, Milano 39 Constantin, A. (1935). Renaşterea italiană: trei figuri din Cinquecento: Pietro Aretino, 40 Francesco Guicciardini, Benvenuto Cellini, Editura Fundaţia pentru Literatură şi 41 Artă „Regele Carol II”, Bucureşti 42 De Caprariis, V. (1950). Francesco Guicciardini. Dalla politica alla storia, Bari 43 Fubini, M. (1947). Studi sulla letteratura del Rinascimento, Firenze 44 Getto, G. (1966). Immagini e problemi di letteratura italiana, Milano

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1 Gilbert, F. (1985). Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Politics and History in Sixteenth-Century, 2 Florence, Princeton 3 Lepri, Valentina, Severini, Maria Elena. (2011) Viaggio e metamorfosi di un testo: I 4 “Ricordi” di Francesco Guicciardini tra XVI e XVII secolo, Geneva, Libraire Droz 5 (series «Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance») 6 Palumbo, M. (1988). Francesco Guicciardini, Napoli 7 Phillips, M., (1977). Francesco Guicciardini: The Historian’s Craft, Toronto 8 Ramat, R. (1953). Il Guicciardini e la tragedia d’Italia, Firenze 9 Ridolfi, R. (1960). Vita di Francesco Guicciardini, Roma 10 Rubinstein, N. (1984). Guicciardini politico, in „Francesco Guicciardini, 1483-1983”, nel 11 V Centenario dalla nascita, Florence 12 Rubinstein, N. (1953). The “Storie Fiorentine” and the “Memorie di Famiglia” by Francesco 13 Guicciardini, Firenze 14 Spirito, U. (1944). Machiavelli e Guicciardini, Firenze 15 Vătafu, M. (1936). С. Antoniade, Trei Figuri Din Cinquecento, in “Gând românesc”, Cluj, 16 Anul IV, nr. 3-4/1936 17 Zanoni, E. (1897). La mente di Francesco Guicciardini nelle opere politiche e storiche, 18 Firenze, G. Barbera Editore, Firenze 19 Encyclopaedia Britannica: 20 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/248497/Francesco-Guicciardini 21 http://www.archive.org/stream/lamentedifrances00zanouoft#page/n35/mode/2up 22 http://www.archive.org/stream/lamentedifrances00zanouoft#page/40/mode/2up 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

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1 Appendix 1 2

3

12