Plague broke out in Florence and Rome; following the Sack of Rome (1527) by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The plague emerged in Rome and killed 30,000 Florentines – a quarter of the city's inhabitants. A "Description of the Plague at Florence in the Year 1527" records this plague in detail, authored by Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi and copied out by Niccolò Machiavelli with annotations by Strozzi. He wrote: