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Giovanni Boccaccio (sometimes misspelled Bocaccio or Boccacio) was a poet, scholar and diplomat whose work helped raise literature in the vernacular to the respectability of classical texts. Though known for writing in Italian, Boccaccio wrote primarily in Latin later in life. Much like Dante and Petrarch, Boccaccio had his own muse in the lovely "Fiammetta," whose real-world identity remains undetermined but who appeared in many of his early works.
Today Boccaccio is best known for his earthy masterpiece the Decameron, in which ten individuals fleeing from the plague into the countryside tell stories, and which is believed to have influenced Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Later in life he met Petrarch and established a friendship with the older author; together their works are considered by some to be the foundation of humanist literature.
It has been argued that Boccaccio may have had a fairly enlightened view of women for a man of his times. Seven of his ten storytellers in the Decameron are women, and while some are not portrayed in a flattering light, some stories told show clever women scoring victories over dull-witted men. Inspired by Petrarch's Lives of Famous Men, he wrote the first collection of biographies in western literature devoted exclusively to women: Famous Women.
Important Dates
Died: Dec. 21, 1375
At About
Giovanni Boccaccio - Author of the Decameron
In-depth, eight-page article from the 1911 Encyclopedia, online here at the Medieval History site.
On the Web
Biographical
Boccaccio, Giovanni
Concise bio at the Columbia Encyclopedia.Catholic Encyclopedia: Giovanni Boccaccio
Fairly thorough overview of the poet's life and works by Joseph Dunn.Decameron Web
Very nicely-presented site focuses on Boccaccio's masterpiece and offers a chronology of his life, historical background, maps, a segment on the plague and much more.Giovanni Boccaccio
Very brief but well-hyperlinked intro at Wikipedia.Giovanni Boccaccio, 1313-1375
Concise biography by Steven Kreis at his History Guide.Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Concise introduction to the poet is followed by analogies to individual Canterbury Tales and further sources, at Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website.
Images
Olga's Gallery: Giovanni Boccaccio
Four frescoes by Botticelli, a painting by Hogarth and a piece by John Everett Millais depict tales from Boccaccio's Decameron. Nicely presented at the online art museum Olga's Gallery.
Works by
Boccaccio
The Death
English translation of the introduction to the Decameron by Richard Hooker.Decameron di Giovanni Boccaccio
The Decameron online, in Italian.
In Print
The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the book's page at one of the online merchants.
Biographical
Giovanni Boccaccio As Man & Author
by John A. Symonds
Works by
Boccaccio
Decameron
translated by David WallaceFamous Women
edited by Virginia Brown
Related Resources
Medieval Italy
Sites that focus on people, places, and historical topics concerning Italy during the middle ages and Renaissance.Drama, Literature & Poetry
A multi-page index of general resources, online texts, journals, organizations and other sites addressing medieval drama, literature, epic and romantic poetry from Beowulf to Shakespeare.
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