languages_spoken_or_written filippo villani
Florence is the capital city of the ___MASK20___ region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence . It is the most populous city in Tuscany , with 383 , 083 inhabitants , expanding to over 1 , 520 , 000 in the metropolitan area . Giovanni Villani ( 1276 or 1280  1348 ) was an ___MASK20___ banker , official , diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the " Nuova Cronica " (" New Chronicles ") on the history of Florence . He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavory reputation and served time in prison as a result of the bankruptcy of a trading and banking company he worked for . His interest in and elaboration of economic details , statistical information , and political and psychological insight mark him as a more modern chronicler of late medieval Europe . His " Cronica " is viewed as the first introduction of statistics as a positive element in history . However , historian Kenneth R . Bartlett notes that , in contrast to his Renaissance - era successors , " his reliance on such elements as divine providence links Villani closely with the medieval vernacular chronicle tradition ." In recurring themes made implicit through significant events described in his " Cronica ", Villani also emphasized three assumptions about the relationship of sin and morality to historical events , these being that excess brings disaster , that forces of right and wrong are in constant struggle , and that events are directly influenced by the will of God . A chronicle ( from ___MASK5___ , from , " chronos ", " time ") is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order , as in a time line . Typically , equal weight is given for historically important events and local events , the purpose being the recording of events that occurred , seen from the perspective of the chronicler . This is in contrast to a narrative or history , which sets selected events in a meaningful interpretive context and excludes those the author does not see as important . Florence ( ___MASK20___ : " Firenze ") is a major historical city in Italy , distinguished as one of the most outstanding economic , cultural , political and artistic centres in the peninsula from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance . Rome is a city and special " comune " ( named " Roma Capitale ") in Italy . Rome is the capital of Italy and of the Lazio region . With 2 , 870 , 336 residents in , it is also the country ' s largest and most populated " comune " and fourth - most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits . The Metropolitan City of Rome has a population of 4 . 3 million residents . The city is located in the central - western portion of the ___MASK20___ Peninsula , within Lazio ( Latium ), along the shores of Tiber river . The Vatican City is an independent country geographically located within the city boundaries of Rome , the only existing example of a country within a city : for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states . The Nuova Cronica or New Chronicles is a 14th - century history of Florence created in a year - by - year linear format and written by the Florentine banker and official Giovanni Villani ( c . 1276 or 1280  1348 ). The idea came to him after attending the first Jubilee in the city of Rome , in 1300 , where he realized that Rome ' s many historical achievements were well - known , and he desired to lay out a history of the origins of his own city of Florence . In his " Cronica ", Villani described in detail the many building projects of the city , statistical information on population , ordinances , commerce and trade , education , and religious facilities . He also described several disasters such as famines , floods , fires , and the pandemic of the Black Death in 1348 , which would take his own life . Villani ' s work on the " Cronica " was continued by his brother and nephew after his death . It has been described as the first introduction of statistics as a positive element in history . A pandemic ( from ___MASK5___  " pan " " all " and  " demos " " people ") is an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread through human populations across a large region ; for instance multiple continents , or even worldwide . A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic . Further , flu pandemics generally exclude recurrences of seasonal flu . Throughout history , there have been a number of pandemics , such as smallpox and tuberculosis . One of the most devastating pandemics was the Black Death , killing over 75 million people in 1350 . The most recent pandemics include the HIV pandemic as well as the 1918 and 2009 H1N1 pandemics . Filippo Villani ( fl . end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century ) was a chronicler of Florence . Son of the chronicler Matteo Villani , he extended the original Nuova Cronica of his uncle Giovanni Villani down to 1364 . Kenneth R . Bartlett ( born 1948 ) is a Renaissance historian , author , public lecturer and professor of History and Renaissance Studies at Victoria College in the University of Toronto . He received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1978 , and then assumed a position in the department of History before moving into the administration as Assistant to the President of the University of Toronto and subsequently Acting Vice - President Institutional Relations . In 1985 he returned to full - time academic work at Victoria College . He was the founding director of the Office of Teaching Advancement ( now CTSI ), and the director of the Faculty of Arts and Science ' s faculty programs , which include the First - Year Seminars , the Research Opportunities Program and the Independent Experiential Study Program , which won the Northrop Frye Award for excellence and innovation in linking teacher and research . Professor Bartlett was also the founding director of U of T ' s Art Centre , and served as a trustee for the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art for fifteen years . He has been the recipient of the Victoria University Excellence in Teaching Award , the Students Administrative Council and Association of Part - Time Students Undergraduate Teaching Award ( on two occasions ), and the Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award . In 2005 , Professor Bartlett was awarded both the prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship and a University of Toronto Arbor Award . In 2007 he was awarded an inaugural LIFT Award by the Province of Ontario and was a finalist in the TVO Best Lecturer Competition . In addition to teaching , he has published many monographs and over 35 scholarly articles and contributions to books , and several editions and translations of Renaissance texts and a recent book on historiography . He has served as the editor of Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme , and President of the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies . He has produced five video series for the Teaching Company on various aspects of ___MASK20___ Renaissance culture , European civilization and European travel , and has also appeared on television series such as Museum Secrets . Together with his wife , Dr Gillian Bartlett , he leads cultural tours of Europe either sponsored by museums or universities or through the partnership they founded , Bartlett Cultural Connections . Selected Publications The Experience of History ( 2017 ) A Short History of the ___MASK20___ Renaissance ( 2013 ) The English in Italy 1525 - 1558 : A Study in Culture and Politics ( 1991 ) The Civilization of the ___MASK20___ Renaissance ( First edition , 1992 ; revised edition , 2011 ) The Northern Renaissance and the Reformation ( with M . McGlynn , 2014 )