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''The Decameron'' (; it, label= Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's '' Comedy'' "''Divine''"), is a collection of short stories by the 14th-century Italian author
Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...
(1313–1375). The book is structured as a
frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of the ''Decameron'' after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in ''The Decameron'' range from the
erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...
to the tragic. Tales of wit,
practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
s, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's '' Canterbury Tales''), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the
Florentine language The Florentine dialect or vernacular ( or ) is a variety of Tuscan, a Romance language spoken in the Italian city of Florence and its immediate surroundings. A received pedagogical variant derived from it historically, once called (literally, ...
, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.


Title

The book's primary title exemplifies Boccaccio's fondness for Greek philology: ''Decameron'' combines Greek , ''déka'' ("ten") and , ''hēméra'' ("day") to mean "ten-day vent, referring to the period in which the characters of the frame story tell their tales. Boccaccio's subtitle, ''Prencipe Galeotto'', refers to Galehaut, a fictional king portrayed in the 13th-century '' Lancelot-Grail'' who was sometimes called by the title ''haut prince'' "high prince". Galehaut was a close friend of
Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
, but an enemy of
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
. When Galehaut learned that Lancelot loved Arthur's wife,
Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First ment ...
, he set aside his own ardor for Lancelot in order to arrange a meeting between his friend and Guinevere. At this meeting the Queen first kisses Lancelot, and so begins their love affair. In Canto V of '' Inferno'', Dante compares these fictional lovers with the real-life paramours
Francesca da Rimini Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was a medieval noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a co ...
and
Paolo Malatesta Paolo Malatesta (; – 1285), also known as il Bello ('the Beautiful'), was the third son of Malatesta da Verucchio, lord of Rimini. He is best known for the story of his affair with Francesca da Polenta, portrayed by Dante in a famous episode ...
, whose relationship he fictionalises. In ''Inferno'', Francesca and Paolo read of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the story impassions them to lovemaking. Dante's description of Galehaut's munificence and savoir-faire amidst this intrigue impressed Boccaccio. By invoking the name ''Prencipe Galeotto'' in the alternative title to ''Decameron'', Boccaccio alludes to a sentiment he expresses in the text: his compassion for women deprived of free speech and social liberty, confined to their homes and, at times, lovesick. He contrasts this life with that of the men free to enjoy hunting, fishing, riding, and falconry.


Frame story

In Italy during the time of the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
, a group of seven young women and three young men flee from plague-ridden Florence to a deserted villa in the countryside of Fiesole for two weeks. To pass the evenings, each member of the party tells a story each night, except for one day per week for chores, and the holy days during which they do no work at all, resulting in ten nights of
storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...
over the course of two weeks. Thus, by the end of the fortnight they have told 100 stories. Each of the ten characters is charged as King or Queen of the company for one of the ten days in turn. This charge extends to choosing the theme of the stories for that day, and all but two days have topics assigned: examples of the power of fortune; examples of the power of human will; love tales that end tragically; love tales that end happily; clever replies that save the speaker; tricks that women play on men; tricks that people play on each other in general; examples of virtue. Only Dioneo, who usually tells the tenth tale each day, has the right to tell a tale on any topic he wishes, due to his wit. Many commentators have argued that Dioneo expresses the views of Boccaccio himself. Each day also includes a short introduction and conclusion to continue the frame of the tales by describing other daily activities besides story-telling. These framing interludes frequently include transcriptions of Italian folk songs. The interactions among tales in a day, or across days, as Boccaccio spins variations and reversals of previous material, forms a whole and not just a collection of stories. Recurring plots of the stories include mocking the lust and greed of the clergy; female lust and ambition on a par with male lust and ambition; tensions in Italian society between the new wealthy commercial class and noble families; and the perils and adventures of traveling merchants.


Analysis

Throughout the ''Decameron'' the mercantile ethic prevails and predominates. The commercial and urban values of quick wit, sophistication, and intelligence are treasured, while the vices of stupidity and dullness are cured, or punished. While these traits and values may seem obvious to the modern reader, they were an emerging feature in Europe with the rise of urban centers and a monetized economic system beyond the traditional rural
feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
and monastery systems which placed greater value on piety and loyalty. Beyond the unity provided by the frame narrative, the ''Decameron'' provides a unity in philosophical outlook. Throughout runs the common medieval theme of Lady Fortune, and how quickly one can rise and fall through the external influences of the "
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...
". Boccaccio had been educated in the tradition of Dante's '' Divine Comedy'', which used various levels of
allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
to show the connections between the literal events of the story and the Christian message. However, the ''Decameron'' uses Dante's model not to educate the reader but to satirize this method of learning. The Roman Catholic Church, priests, and religious belief become the satirical source of comedy throughout. This was part of a wider historical trend in the aftermath of the Black Death which saw widespread discontent with the church. Many details of the ''Decameron'' are infused with a medieval sense of
numerological Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...
and mystical significance."The Plague as Key to Meaning in Boccaccio's Decameron," in: The Black Death. Daniel Williman, ed. Binghamton, New York: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1982. pp 39-64. Ferrante, Joan M. "The Frame Characters of the Decameron: A Progression of Virtues." Romance Philology 19.2 (1965). For example, it is widely believed that the seven young women are meant to represent the
Four Cardinal Virtues The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in both classical philosophy and Christian theology. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term ''cardinal'' comes from the La ...
(Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude) and the
Three Theological Virtues Theological virtues are virtues associated in Christian theology and philosophy with salvation resulting from the grace of God. Virtues are traits or qualities which dispose one to conduct oneself in a morally good manner. Traditionally they ha ...
(Faith, Hope, and Charity). It is further supposed that the three men represent the classical Greek tripartite division of the soul ( Reason, Spirit, and Appetite, see Book IV of ''
Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
''). Boccaccio himself notes that the names he gives for these ten characters are in fact pseudonyms chosen as "appropriate to the qualities of each". The Italian names of the seven women, in the same (most likely significant) order as given in the text, are Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, and Elissa. The men, in order, are Panfilo, Filostrato, and Dioneo. Boccaccio focused on the naturalness of sex by combining and interlacing sexual experiences with nature.


Literary sources

Boccaccio borrowed the plots of almost all his stories (just as later writers borrowed from him). Although he consulted only French, Italian and Latin sources, some of the tales have their origin in such far-off lands as India, the Middle East, Spain, and other places. Some were already centuries old. For example, part of the tale of Andreuccio of Perugia (Day II, Story 5) originated in 2nd-century Ephesus (in the
Ephesian Tale The ''Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes'' ( el, Ἐφεσιακά or Τὰ κατὰ Ἀνθίαν καὶ Ἁβροκόμην) by Xenophon of Ephesus is an Ancient Greek novel written before the late 2nd century AD. Translator Graham Ander ...
). Even the description of the central motivating event of the narrative, the
Black Plague The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
(which Boccaccio surely witnessed), is not original, but is based on a description in the ''Historia gentis Langobardorum'' of
Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
, who lived in the 8th century. Boccaccio also drew on Ovid's works as inspiration. He has been called "the Italian Ovid," both because of his writing as well as his relationship to Ovid. Some scholars have suggested that some of the tales for which no prior source has been found may still not have been invented by Boccaccio, but may have been circulating in the local oral tradition. Boccaccio himself says that he heard some of the tales orally. In VII, 1, for example, he claims to have heard the tale from an old woman who heard it as a child. The fact that Boccaccio borrowed the story lines that make up most of the ''Decameron'' does not mean he mechanically reproduced them. Most of the stories take place in the 14th century and have been sufficiently updated to the author's time that a reader may not know that they had been written centuries earlier or in a foreign culture. Also, Boccaccio often combined two or more unrelated tales into one (such as in II, 2 and VII, 7). Moreover, many of the characters actually existed, such as Giotto di Bondone,
Guido Cavalcanti Guido Cavalcanti (between 1250 and 1259 – August 1300) was an Italian poet. He was also a friend and intellectual influence on Dante Alighieri. Historical background Cavalcanti was born in Florence at a time when the comune was beginning its ...
, Saladin, and King William II of Sicily. Scholars have even been able to verify the existence of less famous characters, such as the tricksters Bruno and
Buffalmacco Buonamico di Martino, otherwise known as Buonamico Buffalmacco (active c. 1315–1336), was an Italian Renaissance painter who worked in Florence, Bologna, and Pisa. Although none of his known work has survived, he is widely assumed to be the ...
and their victim
Calandrino Calandrino is a character from Giovanni Boccaccio's the ''Decameron'', in which he appears in four stories. In these tales he is the victim of the pranks of Bruno and Buffalmacco. He becomes a recurring character in Renaissance literature, espec ...
. Still other fictional characters are based on real people, such as the Madonna Fiordaliso from tale II, 5, who is derived from a Madonna Flora who lived in the red light district of Naples. Boccaccio often intentionally muddled historical (II, 3) and geographical (V, 2) facts for his narrative purposes. Within the tales of the ''Decameron'', the principal characters are usually developed through their dialogue and actions, so that by the end of the story they seem real and their actions logical given their context. Another of Boccaccio's frequent techniques was to make already existing tales more complex. A clear example of this is in tale IX, 6, which was also used by Chaucer in his " The Reeve's Tale", which more closely follows the original French source than does Boccaccio's version. In the Italian version, the host's wife and the two young male visitors occupy all three beds and she also creates an explanation of the happenings of the evening. Both elements are Boccaccio's invention and make for a more complex version than either Chaucer's version or the French source (a
fabliau A ''fabliau'' (; plural ''fabliaux'') is a comic, often anonymous tale written by jongleurs in northeast France between c. 1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by sexual and scatological obscenity, and by a set of contrary attitudes ...
by Jean de Boves).


Papal censorship

Despite its enduring popularity, the ''Decameron'''s overtly anti-clerical stances frequently brought the work into conflict with the Catholic church. The first instance occurred when the Dominican Friar Girolamo Savonarola incited a bonfire of 'sinful' art and literature in the centre of Florence known later as the " Bonfire of the Vanities". The ''Decameron'' was among the works known to have been burned that day. More official clerical challenges would follow upon the creation of the ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum 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 ...
.'' Instituted by Pope Paul IV in 1559, the ''Index'' was a list of texts that were officially anathema to the Catholic Church; Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' was among the original texts included. Despite this, the book continued to circulate and grow in popularity, prompting Gregory XIII to commission a revised edition in 1573 in which the clergymen were replaced with secular people. Even this would prove to be too immoral for Sixtus V who commissioned another revision during his time as Cardinal resulting in the 1582 edition by Salviati.


Translations into English

The ''Decameron''s individual tales were translated into English early on (such as poet William Walter's 1525 ''Here begynneth y hystory of Tytus & Gesyppus translated out of Latyn into Englysshe by Wyllyam Walter, somtyme seruaunte to Syr Henry Marney'', a translation of tale X.viii), or served as source material for English authors such as Chaucer to rework. The table below lists all attempts at a complete English translation of the book. The information on pre-1971 translations is compiled from the G. H. McWilliam's introduction to his own 1971 translation.


Incomplete


Complete


Table of cities and characters mentioned in the English text in order of days and Novels


Notable early translations

It can be generally said that Petrarch's version in ''Rerum senilium libri'' XVII, 3, included in a letter he wrote to his friend Boccaccio, was to serve as a source for all the many versions that circulated around Europe, including the translations of the very ''Decameron'' into
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
(first recorded translation into a foreign language, anonymously hand-written in Sant Cugat in 1429; later retranslated by
Bernat Metge Bernat Metge (; ( 1350 – 1410) was a Catalan writer and humanist, best known as the author of '' Lo Somni'', which he wrote from prison (c. 1398), in which Metge discusses the immortality of the soul. He was a courtier and Secretary for Joan I o ...
),
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and Spanish. The famous first tale (I, 1) of the notorious Ser Ciappelletto was later translated into Latin by Olimpia Fulvia Morata and translated again by Voltaire.


Adaptations


Theatre

* William Shakespeare's 1605 play ''
All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates rangin ...
'' is based on tale III, 9. Shakespeare probably first read a French translation of the tale in William Painter's ''Palace of Pleasure''. * Posthumus's wager on Imogen's chastity in '' Cymbeline'' was taken by Shakespeare from an English translation of a 15th-century German tale, "Frederyke of Jennen", whose basic plot came from tale II, 9. *
Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...
adapted at least twelve stories from the ''Decameron'' for the theatre, including: ** ''El ejemplo de casadas y prueba de la paciencia'', based on tale X, 10, which was by far the most popular story of the ''Decameron'' during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries ** ''Discreta enamorada'', based on tale III, 3 ** ''El ruiseñor de Sevilla'' (''They're Not All Nightingales''), based on parts of V, 4 * Molière's 1661 play ''L'école des maris'' is based on tale III, 3. * Molière borrowed from tale VII, 4 in his play ''
George Dandin ou le Mari confondu ''George Dandin ou le mari confondu'' (''George Dandin or The Thwarted Husband'') is a French Comédie-ballet in three acts by Molière, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, choreography by Pierre Beauchamp, and architecture/staging by Carlo Vigaran ...
'' (''The Confounded Husband''). In both stories the husband is convinced that he has accidentally caused his wife's suicide. * Thomas Middleton's play ''The Widow'' is based on tales II, 2 and III, 3. * The ring parable from tale I, 3 is at the heart of
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...
's 1779 play '' Nathan the Wise''. *
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
used tale V, 9 for his 1879 play ''The Falcon''.


Prose works

* Martin Luther retells tale I, 2, in which a Jew converts to Catholicism after visiting Rome and seeing the corruption of the Catholic hierarchy. However, in Luther's version (found in his "Table-talk #1899"), Luther and
Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...
try to dissuade the Jew from visiting Rome. * The story of Griselda (X, 10) was also the basis for the 1694 verse novel ' by
Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...
, later included in his 1697 collection '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. * Jonathan Swift used tale I, 3 for his first major published work, '' A Tale of a Tub'' (1704).


Poetry

* The tale of patient
Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...
(X, 10) was the source of Chaucer's " The Clerk's Tale". However, there are some scholars who believe that Chaucer may not have been directly familiar with the ''Decameron,'' and instead derived it from a Latin translation/retelling of that tale by Petrarch. *
John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...
borrowed the tale of Lisabetta and her pot of basil (IV, 5) for his poem, ''
Isabella, or the Pot of Basil ''Isabella, or the Pot of Basil'' (1818) is a narrative poem by John Keats adapted from a story in Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' (IV, 5). It tells the tale of a young woman whose family intend to marry her to "some high noble and his olive trees", b ...
''. * At his death
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
had left a fragment of a poem entitled "Ginevra", which he took from the first volume of an Italian book called ''L'Osservatore Fiorentino''. The plot of that book was in turn taken from tale X, 4. * Henry Wadsworth Longfellow adapted tale V, 9 for the poem "The Falcon of Ser Federigo", included in his 1863 collection '' Tales of a Wayside Inn''.


Songs

* Tale IV, 1 was the basis for
Child ballad The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...
269, "
Lady Diamond Lady Diamond is Child ballad 269 (Roud 112), existing in several variants. The story is derived from that of Ghismonda and Guiscardo from ''The Decameron'' of Giovanni Boccaccio. Synopsis A great king has a daughter (Lady Diamond, Daisy, Dysma ...
".


Opera

* The Venetian writer
Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 in Venice – 11 November 1750 in Venice) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a colonial branch of the Zeno family, an ancient Venet ...
wrote a libretto named ''Griselda'' in 1701, based in part on tale X, 10, and in part on Lope de Vega's theatrical adaptation of it, ''El ejemplo de casadas y prueba de la paciencia''. Various composers wrote music for the libretto, including Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (''Griselda'', 1701),
Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...
(''Griselda'', 1703), Antonio Maria Bononcini (''
Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...
'', 1718),
Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...
(''
Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...
'', 1721), Giovanni Bononcini (''
Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...
'', 1722) and
Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
(''
Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...
'', 1735). * Giuseppe Petrosinelli in his libretto for Domenico Cimarosa's comic opera ''
The Italian Girl in London ''L'Italiana in Londra'' (''The Italian Girl in London'') is one of eight comic operas, termed intermezzi, which Domenico Cimarosa wrote between 1777 and 1784 for the Teatro Valle, a handsome neo-classical Roman theatre built in 1726, which still ...
'' uses the story of the heliotrope (bloodstone) in tale VIII, 3.


Film and television

* ''
Decameron Nights ''Decameron Nights'' is a 1953 anthology Technicolor film based on three tales from ''The Decameron'' by Giovanni Boccaccio, specifically the ninth and tenth tales of the second day and the ninth tale of the third. It stars Joan Fontaine and, a ...
'' (1924) was based on three of the tales. * ''
Decameron Nights ''Decameron Nights'' is a 1953 anthology Technicolor film based on three tales from ''The Decameron'' by Giovanni Boccaccio, specifically the ninth and tenth tales of the second day and the ninth tale of the third. It stars Joan Fontaine and, a ...
'' (1953) was based on three of the tales and starred
Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lette ...
as Boccaccio. *
Archandel Gabriel a paní Husa
' (Archangel Gabriel and Madam Goose) by Jiří Trnka (1965) is an animated puppet film based on a story from ''Decameron'' (IV, 2) * Pier Paolo Pasolini's '' The Decameron'' (1971) is an anthology film which includes nine of the stories. * The 2007 film '' Virgin Territory'' is a romantic comedy based on the framing story of the ''Decameron''. * The 2015 film '' Wondrous Boccaccio'' is loosely based on four of the tales. * The 2017 comedy ''
The Little Hours ''The Little Hours'' is a 2017 American medieval black comedy film written and directed by Jeff Baena. The film is loosely based on the first and second stories of day three of ten of ''The Decameron'', a collection of novellas by Giovanni Bocc ...
'' adapted tales III, 1 and III, 2.


Wrongly considered to be adaptations

* Chaucer's "
The Franklin's Tale "The Franklin's Tale" ( enm, The Frankeleyns Tale) is one of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. It focuses on issues of providence, truth, generosity and ''gentillesse'' in human relationships. Synopsis A medieval franklin was free, ...
" shares its plot with tale X, 5, although this is not due to a direct borrowing from Boccaccio. Rather, both authors used a common French source. * The motif of the three trunks in '' The Merchant of Venice'' by Shakespeare is found in tale X, 1. However, both Shakespeare and Boccaccio probably came upon the tale in '' Gesta Romanorum''.


Collections emulating the ''Decameron''

* Marguerite de Navarre's ''
Heptaméron The ''Heptaméron'' is a collection of 72 short stories written in French by Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), published posthumously in 1558. It has the form of a frame narrative and was inspired by ''The Decameron'' of Giovanni Boccaccio ...
'' is heavily based on the ''Decameron''. *
Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...
's set of six novellas, ''
Das Hexameron von Rosenhain Das or DAS may refer to: Organizations * Dame Allan's Schools, Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne, England * Danish Aviation Systems, a supplier and developer of unmanned aerial vehicles * Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, a former Colombian ...
'', is based on the structure of the ''Decameron''. * In 2020 State Theatre Company of South Australia and ActNow Theatre created a project called ''Decameron 2.0'' in response to the COVID-19 crisis, which involved 10 writers creating 10 stories each over 10 weeks, loosely connected to themes in the ''Decameron''. * Also in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the July 12, 2020 issue of '' The New York Times Magazine'' featured a short story collection entitled ''The Decameron Project'', with new writings from contemporary authors including
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...
, and illustrations by Sophy Hollington and other artists. *Published in 2021, ''The San Diego Decameron Project Anthology'' features 100 stories from 100 San Diegan authors based loosely around the theme of the COVID-19 pandemic, in tribute to the ''Decameron''. The collection is presented by Write Out Loud, San Diego Public Library, La Jolla Historical Society, and San Diego Writers Ink.


References to the ''Decameron''

*
Christine de Pizan Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes. Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...
refers to several of the stories from the ''Decameron'' in her work '' The Book of the City of Ladies'' (1405). * The title character in George Eliot's historical novel '' Romola'' emulates Gostanza in tale V, 2, by buying a small boat and drifting out to sea to die, after she realizes that she no longer has anyone on whom she can depend. * Reference to the ''Decameron'' by Miss Lavish in '' A Room with a View'' by E. M. Forster (1908). * In the 1994 movie ''
My Summer Story ''My Summer Story'' (originally released in theaters as ''It Runs in the Family'') is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Bob Clark that serves as a sequel to his 1983 film ''A Christmas Story''. Like the previous film, it is based on semi-au ...
'', Ralphie does a book report on the ''Decameron'' and gets in trouble with his teacher for doing so. This is based on a story in the 1966 Jean Shepherd book, “
In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash ''In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'' is a novel by American humorist Jean Shepherd first published in October 1966. A best-seller at the time of its publication, it is considered Shepherd's most important published work. The work inspired se ...
.” * The tales are referenced in '' The Borgias'' in season 2, episode 7, when a fictional version of Niccolò Machiavelli mentions at a depiction of the '' Bonfire of the Vanities'' that he should have brought his friend "the Decameron" who would have told the "one-hundred and first" tale. * Season 1, episode 5 (2013) of the American TV series ''
Da Vinci's Demons ''Da Vinci's Demons'' is a historical fantasy drama series that presents a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life. The series was conceived by David S. Goyer and stars Tom Riley in the title role. It was developed and produced in ...
'' portrays a theatrical adaptation of stories from the ''Decameron''. * Inspectors find a pocket edition of the ''Decameron'' on the body of a dead man in the
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
story '' A Study in Scarlet''.


Boccaccio's drawings

Since the ''Decameron'' was very popular among contemporaries, especially merchants, many manuscripts of it survive. The Italian philologist Vittore Branca did a comprehensive survey of them and identified a few copied under Boccaccio's supervision; some have notes written in Boccaccio's hand. Two in particular have elaborate drawings, probably done by Boccaccio himself. Since these manuscripts were widely circulated, Branca thought that they influenced all subsequent illustrations. In 1962 Branca identified Codex Hamilton 90, in Berlin's Staatsbibliothek, as an autograph belonging to Boccaccio's latter years.Armando Petrucci, ''Il ms. Berlinese Hamilton 90. Note codicologiche e paleografiche'', in G. Boccaccio, ''Decameron'', Edizione diplomatico-interpretativa dell'autografo Hamilton 90 a cura di
Charles S. Singleton Charles Southward Singleton (1909–1985) was an American scholar, writer, and critic of literature. He was an expert on the work of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio. He wrote ''An Essay on the Vita Nuova'' (1949) and ''Dante Studies'' (I vo ...
, Baltimora, 1974.


See also

* '' Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles'' * ''
One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'' * ''
The Masque of the Red Death "The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague ...
'' * ''The Plague'' (novel)


References


External links


''Decameron'' Web
from
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

''The Decameron''
– Introduction from the
Internet Medieval Sourcebook The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the Fordham University History Department and Center for Medieval Studies. It is a web site with modern, medieval and ancient primary source documents, maps, secondary sources, bibliographies, ...

''The Enchanted Garden''
a painting by
John William Waterhouse John William Waterhouse (6 April 184910 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their dep ...
* (Rigg translation) (Rigg translation) (Payne translation)
''Decameron''
– English and Italian text for a direct comparison * {{DEFAULTSORT:Decameron, The 14th-century books 1353 books 1353 in Europe 14th century in Italy Books adapted into films Censored books Culture in Florence Frame stories Italian short story collections Medieval Italian literature