Ammirato was born at Lecce in the Kingdom of Naples in 1531, of a family originally from Florence. He was sent to Naples to study the law, for which, however, he had no taste. He applied himself chiefly to literature and poetry, and in 1551 he received the minor orders from the Bishop of Lecce, who gave him a canon's stall in the cathedral of that town. He afterwards travelled, or rather wandered, about Italy in quest of occupation; he resided some time at Venice, Rome, and Naples; returned to his native country, was temporarily employed by several noblemen, and was sent by the Archbishop of Napleson a mission to Pope Pius V. At last he fixed his residence at Florence in 1569, and the Grand DukeCosimo I commissioned him to write the Istorie Fiorentine, the work by which he is best known, and CardinalFerdinando de' Medici gave him the use of his own country house at La Petraia. In 1595 he was made canon of cathedral of Florence. He died in 1601.
Works
Ammirato was a very copious writer; the following are those of his works which deserve notice:
Delle Famiglie Nobili Napoletane, a genealogical work in two parts, folio, the first of which was in 1580, and the second in 1651, after the author's death;
Discorsi sopra Cornelio Tacito, 1594, often reprinted. Ammirato invoked Tacitus to refute Machiavelli's republicanism and composed his Discorsi as a counter to Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy. Ammirato also condemns Machiavelli for having subjugated the Christian religion to the demands of the state. Rather than adjust religion to fit themselves, he writes, men, and especially princes, must adjust laws to fit religion, «since in the nature of men in the fields and the caverns, before cities were built, there was a belief in God sooner than there were civil gatherings, on behalf of which laws were made; because it would not otherwise be necessary to say that religion should accommodate to civil life, than who might say that seasons of the year should change to fit individuals rather than the other way round.» ;
Orazioni a diversi Principi intorno a' Preparamenti che s'avrebbero a fare contro la Potenza del Turco, 1598;
Il Rota ovvero delle Imprese, 1598; a treatise heraldic devices;
Istorie Fiorentine, in two parts. Part I, consisting of twenty books, comes down to the year 1434, when Cosimo de' Medici, styled Pater Patriae, returned from his exile, and it was published in 1600, in 1 vol. fol. Part II, in fifteen books, to the year 1574, was published 1641, in 1 vol. fol., by Ammirato the younger, and dedicated to the Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Ammirato the younger published also in 1647 a second and improved edition of the first part, with additions, in 2 vols fol. Ammirato's history of Florence is considered the most accurate and complete of its kind. The Accademia della Crusca called him "the modern Livy". Ammirato, was highly critical of Machiavelli's Florentine Histories; he said that Machiavelli «altered names, twisted facts, confounded cases, increased, added, subtracted, diminished and did anything that suited his fancy without checking, without lawful restraint and what is more, he seems to have done so occasionally on purpose!»;
Delle Famiglie nobili Fiorentine, completed and published in 1615 by Ammirato the younger, in fol.
Rime spirituali sopra salmi, Venice, 1634;
I Vescovi di Fiesole di Volterra e d'Arezzo, con l'Aggiunta di Scipione Ammirato il Giovane, 1637. These are biographical notices of the bishops of those three sees;
Opuscoli, being of his minor works, in 3 vols, 1637-1642. They contain orations addressed to several princes and popes, biographies of King Ladislaus and his sister Joanna II of Naples, and of several distinguished members of house of Medici; dialogues, treatises, and short poems;
Albero e Storia dei Guidi coll'Aggiunte di Scipione Ammirato Giovane, fol. 1640, and again, with additions, in 1650. The Counts Guidi acted an important part in the early history Florence;
Discorsi delle Famiglie Paladina e Antoglietta, 1595. Ammirato was a laborious and accurate investigator of genealogical notices, and his works on these subjects are very valuable as materials for history. He states that he examined fifty thousand papers for his work on the Neapolitan families, and six thousand for those of Florence. These works are now become very scarce.
Ammirato left also several MSS. works, among others a continuation of the chronicle of Montecassino, and his own autobiography, which is kept in the library of Santa Maria la Nuova of Florence. Scipione Ammirato the younger, above mentioned, but whose real name was Cristoforo del Bianco, was born at Montaione in Tuscany about 1582; he acted as amanuensis to Ammirato in the latter part of his life, and was made his heir by will, on the condition of assuming his name and surname. He edited several of the posthumous works his benefactor.
