Francesco da Barberino

Francesco di Neri di Ranuccio, known better as Francesco da Barberino (1264–1348), was a Tuscan notary, doctor of law and author. He first went to Florence to study in 1281. Between 1303 and 1314 and again between 1315 and 1317, he was exiled from the city on account of his Ghibelline political leanings. He worked for a time as a diplomat for Venice and passed his exile at courts in Provence, France and Spain. After his return to Florence, he gained respect as a notary and lawyer, but was not admitted to political office until the last three years of his life. He is best known for two didactic works on virtue, the Documenti d'amore for men and the Reggimento e costume di donna for women, written in a mixture of prose and verse in both Tuscan and Latin. They are notable for their citations of other authors from classical antiquity to his own time, including numerous vernacular authors not known from any other source.