DAVILA, ARRIGO CATERINO

born Oct. 30, 1576, Sacco, Padua, Venetian republic died May 26, 1631, Verona Italian historian who was the author of a widely read history of the Wars of Religion in France. About 1583 Davila became a page in the service of Catherine de Mdicis, wife of King Henry II of France. He subsequently became a soldier and fought in the French civil wars until the peace in 1598. He then returned to Padua, where he led a studious life until, when war broke out, he entered the service of the republic of Venice. He never lost sight of his early design of writing the history of those religious wars in France in which he had borne a part. The success of the Historia delle guerre civili di Francia (1630; The History of the Civil Wars in France) was immediate and enormous. More than 200 editions followed, of which perhaps the best is one published in Paris in 1644. Davila was murdered while on his way to take over Cremona for Venice.