Gregorio Dati Book Review

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The memoirs of two Renaissance men: Buoanccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati. Highlight some of the lifestyles of the time. Pitti was clearly the wealthier and political of the two, being involved in wars, diplomacy, and politics. Pitti took his business as more of a side job to his political involvements in France. Compared to his counterpart in the book, Pitti travels considerably more, spending more time outside of Florence as he travels to meet emperors, kings, and nobles.
Pitti’s memoirs also take on a novel persona as he writes to show his own exploits to the future generations rather than a record keeping style memoir of Dati. Pitti’s description of meeting with those of a higher rank, such as the meeting of the Holy Roman Emperor, put Pitti in a
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He is meeting kings and empeorors, becomes a diplomat for Florence to kings again, he leads troops, joins rebellions. All of these things are of a man that does not need to worry about money, and has the spare time to be political. Dati, on the other hand, takes no interest in politics outside of his investments. He needs to make a living for himself and his family. He is clearly not poor either, as he invests thousands of florins into several business ventures. Dati is more of a middle class merchant and Pitti comes off as more of a upper class noble.
Gregorio Dati’s memoir style is very different from Pitti’s style as Dati is constantly thanking God and honoring him at the start of every entry. At the birth and death of every child, he thanks God and says that God has called a child back to him when one has died. He is much more conservative and does not focus on his own exploits with his memoirs. They focus more as a notary than a story like with Pitti. He writes “Memo 1394” for one entry, “children 1393” for another. He writes more to record his life like a legal document, rather than personal

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