Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato was born in
Vicenza, in the
Republic of Venice, on 23 July 1606. He followed his father into a military career at an early age. Gualdo Priorato served with
Maurice, Prince of Orange, against the Spaniards, with d'Hauterive at
La Rochelle, with
Count Mansfeld, with
Wallenstein and the
Imperial Army, and finally with the
Elector of Bavaria at the head of a Venetian regiment which was destroyed at the
battle of Nördlingen. In later years he attached himself to the entourage of
Cardinal Mazarin, becoming a
naturalized French subject. In 1657, he passed into the service of
Queen Christina of Sweden. Priorato left Christina's retinue to work for emperor
Leopold I and subsequently received the title of imperial councillor and court historiographer. Gualdo Priorato retired eventually to Vicenza, his home town, where he prepared his works for publication. He died in Vicenza in 1678 and was buried in the family tomb in the church of S. Lorenzo. In the fourteen years spent outside of Italy Gualdo Priorato gained a wealth of political and military experience, which was to his advantage to write his many historical works. His record as historian includes an account of the military actions between the Spanish and Austrian
Habsburgs and
Gustavus Adolphus, a history of
the Fronde and another of
Cardinal Mazarin's ministry (commissioned by the latter in 1652), biographies of
Louis XIV and Queen Christina and books on contemporary warfare. He also wrote a history of the reign of
Ferdinand III. Translated into
Latin by Josua Arnd (1626-87), Priorato's life of Wallenstein is still one of the main near contemporary sources to the life and fate of the imperial
generalissimo. Gualdo Priorato was one of the most observant narrators of the events, which took place in Germany after 1618. He not only gave the reader important information about the course of the military operations during the crucial years of the Thirty Years' War but he succeeded in describing, with great intensity, the story and the actions of the main protagonists of these events, including Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and Wallenstein. His literary style is not affected by the flamboyance of the high
Baroque era and stands out for its candour and directness. A prolific and learned author, with political but also literary ambitions, Priorato was a prominent member of the Venetian
Accademia degli Incogniti. Several of Priorato's works were translated into
English. == English translations ==