[In the following essay, ffolliott describes the Report from Spain as a genre of writing new to the Renaissance, and observes that this report reveals much about the Florentine Republic's relationship with Spain at a particular point in history.]

The Report from Spain was written by the Florentine lawyer and historian Francesco Guicciardini (1482-1540) while he was Ambassador at the Court of King Ferdinand in 1512-1513 on behalf of the Florentine Republic.¹ It is a unique document never before wholly translated into English: a distillation of Guicciardini's Spanish experience about which. he also wrote a travel diary and numerous letters.² It is significant in being, according to Vincent Luciani, author of the most thorough account of Guicciardini in Spain, the most complete judgment of the Spanish character by an Italian author of the sixteenth century.³ It is also one of the earliest contemporary portraits of Ferdinand of Aragon.

In spite of initial doubts about taking the assignment, since it would mean a loss of revenue from his law practice, the prestige value of the assignment prevailed, the young Guicciardini undertook it, and the records show that he was well paid.⁴ Ferdinand, who interested himself in affairs on the Italian peninsula, had just allied himself with the Venetian Republic and the pope in the so-called "Holy League," designed to serve the interests of the Church which in this case meant driving the French out of Italy.

Not authorized to negotiate, Guicciardini was asked to remind the King of his obligations to Florence. "What a ticklish job it must have been for an ambassador from the country most loyal to France (Spain's enemy) to ask for Spain's help against Pope Julius (Spain's ally), whose armies were led by Raymond de Cardona (the Spanish Viceroy in Naples)."⁵ While Guicciardini was in Spain the Florentine Republic fell and the Medici regained control of the city with the resulting shift in political allegiances. The fact that the initial rationale for his mission no longer existed when it ended does not lessen the significance of the document which he produced for readers desiring a profile of Spain and the Spanish just after the death of Queen Isabella.

The ambassadorial report is a new genre of writing which developed during this period, the extensive collection of those of the Venetian ambassadors being the best known.⁶ These documents are frequently consulted by historians today interested in the insights they offer, and Guicciardini's has been used by historians interested both in Spain and in the historian's own later career and political philosophy. This report combines, as Mark Phillips has noted, observations on geography, history, economics, political analysis, the military, and social organization.⁷ It was written with the premise that its readers wanted to know what to expect from King Ferdinand. Guicciardini has provided them with the material which he thinks they need in order to make that decision. He tries to provide a picture of how the King's mind works and insights into traits of his character, and he includes the background necessary to place these remarks into their proper contexts. Therefore, in addition to the character analysis of the King, he describes his habits, the way in which his court functions, and the peculiar characteristics of the geography and history of the country which he believes to be relevant to its contemporary situation.

This was Guicciardini's first exposure to the workings of a royal court. He relates the history of how Ferdinand and Isabella gained control over their territories and subjects as an example of how the Florentine Republic ought to expect them to act in future. He describes their income and its sources in great detail.⁸ His report is peppered throughout with value judgments: towns are ugly, the people are not industrious or learned. He attributes much of what has happened in Spanish history to what he perceives as being the national character of its people. He notes, for example, their fondness for simulation and ceremony and their adherence to a code of behavior known as the "Hidalgo." His observations in the report illustrate his abilities as a keen observer, but he is quite clearly culturally blased: Spain and the Spanish are seen as being far behind Italy and the Italians.

For Guicciardini himself the Spanish years were important in exposing him to a world wider than that of Tuscany and its environs. Before leaving the Italian peninsula, he had written his History of Florence. ⁹ While in Spain, in addition to the letters, travel diary, and report already mentioned, he wrote the Discorso di Logrogno, a treatise on the ideal government for the Florentine state, and he began writing his Ricordi, the political maxims which he would continue to write for the rest of his career.¹⁰ The latter writings are more general observations on politics and human nature. Guicciardini's humanist education is visible in the pages of this report. He refers to Spain's ancient history in describing the origins of place names and demonstrates his familiarity with Livy and other ancient historians. He sees a definite connection between historical events, even in antiquity, and the present condition of Spain.

The report is a useful gem for the information which it contains and synthesizes into a profile of Spain during the years just after the discovery of the New World and just prior to its assumption into the Habsburg domain under Charles V.

Notes

¹ The best biography of Guicciardini is that of Roberto Ridolfi, The Life of Francesco Guicciardini, trans. Cecil Grayson (New York: Knopf, 1968). I would like to thank Professor Judith Brown and John F. d'Amico for their invaluable assistance in completing this study.

² J. H. Robinson, Readings in European History (New York, 1906), II, p. 24. The "Relazione di Spagna" and the Spanish correspondence are in Opere inedite di Francesco Guicciardini (Florence: Cellini, 1864), Vol. VI.

³ Vincent Luciani, "II Guicciardini e la Spagna", Publications of the Modern Language Association, LVI (1941) p. 1001.

⁴ He was paid three florins per day plus a stipend of three hundred florins. See Richard Goldthwaite, Private Wealth in Renaissance Florence (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), p. 137.

⁵ Francesco Guicciardini, The History of Florence, trans, and intro. by Mario T. Domandi (New York: Harper and Row, 1970), p. xx.

⁶ E. Alberi, ed. Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato (Florence, 1839).

⁷ Mark Phillips, Francesco Guicciardini: The Historian's Craft (Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1977), p. 9.

⁸ For comparisons with wealth in contemporary Florence where the valuations are given in florins, which are equivalent to ducats, see Goldthwaite, op. cit., for tables.

⁹ Francesco Guicciardini, op. cit.

¹⁰ Francesco Guicciardini, Maxims and Reflections of a Renaissance Statesman, trans. by Mario T. Domandi with an intro. by Nicolai Rubenstein (New York: Harper and Row, 1965).