Leonardo Bruni (1369 - 1444)

Leonardo Bruni (or Leonardo Aretino) (c. 1370 – March 9, 1444) was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, recognized as the most important humanist historian of the Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. He was the earliest person to write using the three-period view of history: Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Modern. The dates Bruni used to define the periods are not exactly what modern historians use today, but he laid the conceptual groundwork for a tripartite division of history.