The same name was also used by Florentines, such as the poet Fazio degli Uberti ( circa 1309 – 1367 ), the famous chronicler Giovanni Villani ( c. 1275 – 1348 ), and Giovanni Boccaccio ( 1313 – 1375 ), who wrote that the Brenta River rises from the mountains of Carantania, a land in the Alps dividing Italy from Germany.

Giovanni Villani ( c. 1276 or 1280 – 1348, ) was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica ( New Chronicles ) on the history of Florence.

The Battle of Crécy in 1346, from Froissart's Chronicles ; Giovanni Villani wrote an accurate description of the battle and other events.

Villani wrote that the Cog ( ship ) | small cog type vessel with single mast, square sail, and stern-post rudder was introduced to the Genoa | Genoese and Venice | Venetians in 1304 by pirates from Bayonne.

Villani wrote:

He interpreted this as an omen that foretold the Pope's beating and untimely death shortly after fighting Philip IV at Anagni ; Villani wrote: " when the tamed beast kills the King of Beasts, then the dissolution of the Church will begin.

Giovanni Villani ( 1276 – 1348 ) wrote in his Nuova Cronica that the Uberti were " rebels of Florence and Ghibellines ", stating that the plaza was built so that the Uberti family homes would never be rebuilt on the same location.

Giovanni Villani wrote that Arnolfo di Cambio incorporated the ancient tower of the Foraboschi family ( the tower then known as " La Vacca " or " The Cow ") as the substructure of the tower into its facade ; The name was officially changed after Cosimo removed to Palazzo Pitti, renaming his former palace the Palazzo Vecchio, the " Old Palace ", although the adjacent town square, the Piazza della Signoria, still bears the old name.

He put into triplets the chronicle of Giovanni Villani ( Centiloquio ), and wrote many historical poems called Serventesi, many comic poems, and not a few epico-popular compositions on various subjects.

Villani did travel abroad during much of the early 14th century, yet he had returned to his home in Florence at the time of the Battle of Crécy, so his information was likely second hand if not third or fourth hand.

Villani describes the indulgence connected with this jubilee as a full and entire remission of all sins di culpa e di pena (), and he dwells upon the great contentment and good order of the people, despite the fact that during the greater part of that year there were two hundred thousand pilgrims on an average present in Rome over and above the ordinary population.

According to Villani, Landini was given a crown of laurel by the King of Cyprus, who was in Venice for several periods during the 1360s.

While continuing work on the Cronica and detailing the enormous loss of life during the Black Death in 1348, Villani died of the same illness.

It is unclear how long Villani served his prison sentence for alleged misconduct during the economic disaster of 1346.

In the 36th chapter of Book 8, Villani states that the idea of writing the Cronica was suggested to him during the jubilee of Rome in 1300, under the following circumstances after Pope Boniface VIII made in honor of Christ's nativity a great indulgence ; Villani writes:

The Cronica is also an incredibly rich historical record ; its greatest value to modern historians is its descriptions of the people, data, and events experienced by Villani during his lifetime.

Map showing the spread of bubonic plague in Europe, a process Villani described in detail, noting that the death toll from the Black Death in Florence was not as great as other cities and regions he listed, such as Turkey, Pistoia, Prato, Bologna, Romagna, France, etc.

And this plague lasted till ________ "; Villani left the " _______ " in order to record the time in which the plague was to end.

Villani was unable to finish the line as he succumbed to the same plague.

The Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348, tells how the lord of Lucca sent ` his assassins ' ( i suoi assassini ) to Pisa to kill a troublesome enemy there.

Similarly, the chronicler Giovanni Villani was so impressed on this occasion by the sight of the monuments of Rome and the people who flocked thither that he then and there formed the resolution of his great chronicle, in the course of which he gives a remarkable account of what he witnessed.

Most of the original biographical data on him comes from a 1385 book on famous Florentine citizens by chronicler Filippo Villani, who was also born approximately 1325.

Villani and other chroniclers disdained these rustic non-aristocrats who suddenly rose to power, considering them brazen upstarts incapable of governance.

" Villani's Cronica also provides the first known biography of Dante Alighieri ( 1265 – 1321 ), author of the Divine Comedy, who Villani described as haughty, disdainful, and reserved.

A 16th-century depiction of Philip IV of France, one of many victims of ill fate who Villani states fell from power and grace due to sin and immorality rather than fortune or circumstance

For example, Villani described the story of Count Ugolini of Pisa, who at the height of attaining his ill-gotten wealth and power was overthrown and eventually starved to death along with his sons.

Marilyn Aronberg Lavin states that Villani was most likely serving as a Peruzzi representative in Flanders when he heard the story of the French Jew who in 1290 tried to destroy Host bread ( of the Eucharist ) but was unsuccessful as the bread allegedly bled profusely as he stabbed it, and turned into flesh as he attempted to boil it in water.

The forces were equal as far as the large groups of foot-soldiers were concerned ; the mounted knights of the Aretine forces only came to 800, but those were " the flower of the Ghibellines of Tuscany, of the March, and of the Duchy, and of Romagna ; and all were men experienced in arms and in war " ( Villani ).

Dante would have learned of the battle, its preparations ( documented by Latini in the Libro di Montaperti ), strategies and treachery, as well as those of the Battles of Benevento and Tagliacozzo, from the Chancellor, using material also to be gleaned later by Giovanni Villani, the Florentine merchant and historian.

Later, in the mid-14th century, Giovanni Villani recorded the long-remembered details — as Florentines remembered them — in his chronicle, though the casus belli he offers are merely conventional " outrages " on the part of Arezzo ; the elaborately staged raid and fight led by aristocrats on both sides sounds like stylized gang warfare, though carried out, according to Villani, under the battle standard of the absent Charles, the Angevine King of Naples.

The Florentine Giovanni Villani agreed that they were destructive on the field, though he also indicated that the guns continued to fire upon French cavalry later in the battle:

A painting by Giotto di Bondone in the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, within the chapel owned by the Peruzzi bankers ; Giotto's artworks were praised by Villani.

Other banking companies also went bankrupt, such as the Peruzzi in 1343 and the Compagnia dei Bardi in 1346 ( they were allied in a joint venture by 1336 ); Villani calculated that before their bankruptcy the Peruzzi had lost some 600, 000 florins and the Bardi had lost some 900, 000 florins.

Although Villani attributed the losses to the companies ' massive monetary loans to Edward III of England which were never repaid, historian Edwin S. Hunt suggests that the firms simply lacked the resources to have made such loans, which in all probability were much smaller and were not the key reasons for the companies ' failures.

In addition to the questionable figures Villani posed for the Peruzzi and Bardi companies, it is also known that several events described in his Cronica surrounding the Buonaccorsi's bankruptcy were written to deliberately obscure the truth about the company's fraudulent behavior ; Miller writes that " this is one of the most convincing conclusions " of historian Michele Luzzati's Giovanni Villani e la Compagnia dei Buonaccorsi ( 1971 ).

However, he did find civic pride in that the whole city — including the novi cives — had joined together in an uprising against Walter VI, whose sins of imposing tyranny were, to Villani, sufficient justification for the violence needed to overthrow him.

Despite this, Villani states that the paramount prosperity and tranquility of the city by 1293 was evidenced by the fact that its gates were no longer locked at night and that indirect taxes such as the gate fee ( common in times of war ) were not levied.

Villani also contradicts himself by writing of a night attack on Florence in 1323 which clearly demonstrates the fact that the gates were locked at night.

" However, Villani admitted in his writing that republicanism bred factional strife, that benevolent rulers like Robert of Naples were sometimes needed to keep order, and republicanism could become tyrannical if it came to represent only one class ( such as exclusive favoring of aristocrats, merchants, or artisans ).

Besides Divine Providence, Villani acknowledged other events that he believed were explainable via the supernatural.

" For example, although Nicolai Rubinstein acknowledged that Villani's chronicles were much more matured and developed than earlier ones, Villani still relied on legend and hearsay to account for the origins of cities such as Fiesole.