Nuova Cronica

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.