The analyzed portion of the book starts with an introduction by Hugo Albert Rennert detailing the life, political career, and literary works of Niccolò Machiavelli, the first great Italian historian and political writer. Born in Florence in 1469, Machiavelli served as Secretary in the second Chancery of the Signoria until the downfall of the Florentine Republic in 1512. His diplomatic missions, particularly to Cæsar Borgia, deeply influenced his political philosophy expressed in works like The Prince and the Discourses on Livy. Between 1521 and 1525, he wrote the History of Florence, dedicated to Pope Clement VII.
Book I provides a rapid review of the Middle Ages and the irruption of northern barbarian tribes—such as the Visigoths, Vandals, Huns, and Lombards—upon the Roman territories, leading to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It covers the reigns of Theodoric the Ostrogoth, the campaigns of Belisarius and Narses, the rise of the temporal power of the popes through their alliance with the French kings Pepin and Charlemagne, the rise of the Lombard kingdom, and the eventual passage of the empire to the Germans under Otto I. The narrative further details the rise of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, the Investiture Controversy, the emergence of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Norman conquest of Naples and Sicily, the Crusades under Urban II, and the struggles between the emperors like Frederick Barbarossa and various popes.
Book II turns specifically to the history of Florence, discussing its mythical or early origins from Fiesole, its destruction by Totila, and its rebuilding by Charlemagne. It traces the first major domestic division of Florence sparked by the feud of Buondelmonti and Amidei in 1215, leading to the factional strife between Guelphs and Ghibellines. The text covers the establishment of the Florentine free government, the creation of the Anziani and the Priors, the implementation of the ordinances of justice by Giano della Bella, the rise of powerful merchant guilds, and the bitter rivalry between the Cerchi and Donati families, which split the city into the Bianca and Nera factions and led to the intervention of Charles of Valois and the exile of Dante Alighieri. Subsequent chapters detail the tyranny of the duke of Athens, the struggles with the Visconti of Milan, the domestic turbulence involving the Ricci and Albizzi families, the War of the Eight Saints against the pope, the revolt of the plebeians and the Ciompi uprising under Michael di Lando in 1378, the rise of Cosmo de' Medici, his temporary banishment and triumphant return, the wars against Lucca and the duke of Milan, and the complex political maneuvering of Italian states up to the mid-15th century.
