Accademia della Crusca in Florence: setting the rules for the Italian language since 1583

The Accademia della Crusca, commonly referred to as La Crusca, is a society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology based in Florence. It is one of the most important research institutions on the Italian language, as well as the oldest linguistic academy in the world.
It was founded in Florence in 1583 with the aim of sifting the Italian language and separating the "bran" (crusca) or coarser part of the flour, from the purer part, which for the founders of the academy was represented by the Florentine dialect. Hence the name Accademia della Crusca.
In 1590, the frullone, a tool used to separate the flour from the bran, was chosen as the symbol of the Academy. A verse by Francesco Petrarca was then chosen as its motto: “il più bel fior ne coglie” ("the most beautiful flower it gathers").
The academicians were not lacking in sense of humor and established that all objects, including the members of the Academy, should have names related to the world of grain (mills, bread, straw, flour, millstones, etc.). The identifying images of each member were painted on bread baking trays and still decorate the Academy's main hall today.

The Accademia della Crusca immediately began compiling a Vocabulary, aiming to preserve the beauty of 14th-century Florentine dialect. Thus, 14th-century Florentine writers were cited first, while only the best Florentine-derived words of non-Florentine languages were included.
The Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca was printed in Venice and published in 1612 and received great interest. However, it also sparked considerable controversy due to the criteria adopted, which entirely favored Florentine. Despite this, the Accademia della Crusca was the first example of an institution of its kind in Italy and Europe, and its vocabulary represented for centuries a fundamental tool for defining the common language for those who wished to speak and write correct Italian.
This text was also adopted as a model by European academies to compile their own dictionaries.
Four more editions followed, the fifth published in 1863 with the first volume, and subsequent volumes were published one after another until 1923, when printing was discontinued. It ended at the letter O (the last recorded entry is ozone). However, the archives od the Accademia still preserve the preparatory notes that had already been compiled of the sections P through Z.

The Accademia della Crusca, can be visited by appointment only, at its headquarters at Villa Medicea di Castello in Florence, at Via di Castello 46.
Tours for individuals are every last Sunday of the month at 11:00 a.m.; group visits are generally daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., save exceptions.