Their efforts to preserve Padua's autonomy failed and the city was forced to submit to Cangrande della Scala.
The journey to Rome of Henry VII of Germany in 1310 probably provided the impetus for Guglielmo to begin writing.
[3] The Chronica is written in a conservative style, almost in the form of annals, and lack the standard rhetorical flourishes.
It bears no similarity to the proto-humanistic works of Albertino Mussato, influenced by classical historians like Livy.
[1] Cortusi is less interested in motivations than Mussato, but his perspective after 1318 is less warped by hatred for the Carraresi lords of Padua.
[1] The period after the ouster of Ezzelino and the re-establishment of the republican constitution (1256) is portrayed not unreasonably as a golden age of peace and prosperity for Padua.
Marsilio da Carrara, who liberated the city during the Scaliger War in 1337, is portrayed a patriot and hero.
[1] Some modern editors attributed the Chronica to Guglielmo and his great-grandson Albrighetto, but Beniamino Pagnin demonstrated that this was an error.