Florence, uncovered unpublished text by Francesco Guicciardini, accompanied by a drawing of a tank

Important discovery at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence, where an unpublished text by the great historian Francesco Guicciardini (Florence, 1483 - Arcetri, 1540), accompanied by a drawing depicting a tank, has been found. The text, which is unsigned (the attribution to Guicciardini derives from a comparison with other known autographs: it is an attribution formulated without doubt, say the Library’s experts), was discovered during the cataloguing operations of some manuscripts coming from the Biblioteca lorenese, as part of the Pal-Mo (Palatino-Manus on line) digitization project that has had several scholars among paleographers and codicologists on the job for several months.

It was in a folder with materials from different sources collected in the 19th century at the behest of Leopold II of Habsburg Lorraine. The text, dated August 1515, was written a month before the Battle of Marignano, fought between September 13 and 14, 1515, at Melegnano between Franco-Venetian forces and an alliance composed of Milan, Mantua and the Swiss confederation (it was won by the Franco-Venetian). In the document, Guicciardini describes a military secret, namely the design of a “machina found by Francesco Barducci,” known to him and Lorenzo de’ Medici the Younger, captain general of the Florentine army (Guicciardini was part of Lorenzo’s private council).

In the text, Guicciardini details the workings of the “machina,” a real 16th-century tank , and tries to draw a sketch at best (“el meglio ha saputo”), aware that he was more adept with words than with depictions: the tank had plenty of “rockets,” the text reads. “The arduous work of deciphering and studying the ancient maps, only apparently dry and erudite,” reads a note from the National Central Library of Florence, “is still able to give new and unknown episodes to the history of Italy.”

Pictured: the drawing of the tank made by Guicciardini.

Florence, uncovered unpublished text by Francesco Guicciardini, accompanied by a drawing of a tank

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.