AMMIRATO, SCIPIONE (1531-1601), Italian historian, born at
Lecce, in the kingdom of Naples. His father, intending him
for the profession of law, sent him to study at Naples, but
his own decided preference for literature prevented him from
fulfilling his father's wishes. Entering the church, he resided
for a time at Venice, and afterwards engaged in the service
of Pope Pius IV. In 1569 he went to Florence, where he was
fortunate in securing the patronage and support of Duke Cosimo
I., who gave him a residence at the Medici Palace and the Villa
Zopaja on the understanding that he should write his
Istorie
Fiorentine (1600), the work by which he is best known. In 1595
he was made a canon of the cathedral of Florence. He died in
1601. Among the other works of Ammirato, some of which were
first published after his death, may be mentioned discourses on
Tacitus and genealogies of the families of Naples and Florence.
This article is from the 1911 edition of an
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