Page:Valperga (1823) Shelley Vol 1.djvu/9

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PREFACE.

The accounts of the Life of Castruccio known in England, are generally taken from Macchiavelli's romance concerning this chief. The reader may find a detail of his real adventures in Sismondi’s delightful publication, Histoire des Republiques Italiennes de l'Age Moyen. In addition to this work, I have consulted Tegrino's Life of Castruccio, and Giovanni Villani’s Florentine Annals.


The following is a translation from the article respecting him in Moreri.

"Castruccio Castracani, one of the most celebrated captains of his time, lived in the fourteenth century. He was of the family of the Antelminelli of Lucca; and, having at a very early age borne arms in favour of the Ghibelines, he was exiled by the Guelphs. He served not long after in the armies of Philip