As Florentine ambassador to Aragon (1512–14), and then in the service of the papacy (1515–34), he showed outstanding administrative ability, and he also became a prolific political writer. In 1536, back in Florence, he began his monumental Storia d’Italia (“History of Italy”), which covered the years from 1494–1534. Although he died before completing the final revision, it stands as the most objective contemporary history of the country during the period of Italy’s wars with France.