The Decameron is a mysterious book
The Decameron, written by Giovanni Boccaccio, is a collection of one hundred stories set against the backdrop of the Black Death in 14th century Florence. The book features a group of ten young Florentines who retreat to a villa to escape the plague and share stories over fourteen days. While it is recognized as a foundational text of Italian literature, many of its tales explore themes of love, deception, and morality in a humorous and risqué manner.
- ▪The Decameron was written in the wake of the Black Death that devastated Florence in 1348.
- ▪The narrative follows ten young people who tell stories to entertain themselves during their quarantine.
- ▪Many stories in the Decameron focus on sexual escapades and clever tricks, often challenging societal norms.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
In the summer of 1348, the Black Death arrived in the Tuscan port of Pisa and walked north into Florence. By autumn it had killed somewhere between half and two-thirds of the city. Whole streets emptied. Notaries gave up trying to keep up with the wills. The Florentine chronicler Marchionne di Coppo Stefani wrote that there were not enough living to bury the dead, that bodies were stacked in trenches "like cheese between layers of pasta." Giovanni Boccaccio — thirty-five years old, son of a Florentine banker, friend of Petrarch, lover of Latin classics — watched it happen. Five years later he had written a book of one hundred stories framed by that plague.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Storica.
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