After One Disaster Comes Another? Extraordinary Events and Their Lessons in the Croniche di Lucca

Abstract

In the Croniche di Lucca, which covers the period of Lucca’s history from 1168 to 1424, we read about many natural disasters. We can read in detail about the lean years of 1181, 1284, 1330, 1348–1350, and 1400, and the plagues that followed, as well as the great windstorm of 1398. According to the descriptions, epidemics were almost always followed by wars or urban riots. The author of the historical work, Giovanni Sercambi (1348–1424), was not only a writer but also an active politician. He wrote down a significant part of the events he witnessed with the aim of teaching. He tried to formulate correlations both in the case of party fights and riots affecting the life of the city, as well as in the case of the aforementioned disasters. He stated that bad things are usually followed by more bad things.

He usually attached social or moral consequences to the individual events, which are outstanding sources of the history of the mentality of that period. He stated that the moral implications of the disunity experienced in urban politics are famine and epidemics, which in turn can lead to riots and uprisings. The question is, what were the additional consequences of the extraordinary events for the inhabitants of the city at the time? In my presentation, I will examine the relevant entries of the chronicle, analyse the social and moral lessons written down by Sercambi, compare the chapters of the Lucca source with the relevant notes of other contemporary Tuscan historical works, and draw conclusions about the unique features.