Masuccio Salernitano (1410–1475), born Tommaso Guardati, was an Italian poet. Born in

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

or Sorrento, he is best known today for ''Il Novellino'', a collection of 50 "novelle" or short stories, each prefaced by a letter of dedication to a famous person and with an epilogue containing the "moral" of the story. The stories have a strongly anti-clerical bent, which caused ''Il Novellino'' to be included in the first ''

Index of Prohibited Books The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidden ...

'' in 1557. The 33rd of these stories is the story of ''Mariotto and Ganozza'', which was apparently adapted by Luigi da Porto (1485–1529) first as ''Giulietta e Romeo'' and later as ''Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti'' ("Newly retrieved story of two noble lovers"). These three stories, plus another later version by Matteo Bandello and the English translation by Arthur Brooke in the poem ''Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet'' (1562) appear to be the sources for

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

famous play ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

''.

References

"Shakespeare in Love"—The Italian Connection
by Nicholas A. Patricca

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salernitano, Masuccio 1410 births 1475 deaths People from Salerno 15th-century Italian poets 15th-century Italian writers Italian male poets Italian novelists Romeo and Juliet