Giovanni Boccaccio (UK:/bəˈkætʃioʊ/bə-KATCH-ee-oh,US:/boʊˈkɑːtʃ(i)oʊ,bəˈ-/boh-KAH-ch(ee)oh, bə-;Italian:[dʒoˈvannibokˈkattʃo]; 16 June 1313[1] – 21 December 1375) was anItalian writer, poet, correspondent ofPetrarch, and an importantRenaissance humanist. Born in the town ofCertaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was sometimes simply known as "the Certaldese"[2] and one of the most important figures in the European literary panorama of thefourteenth century. Some scholars (includingVittore Branca) define him as the greatest European prose writer of his time, a versatile writer who amalgamated different literary trends and genres, making them converge in original works, thanks to a creative activity exercised under the banner of experimentalism.
His most notable works areThe Decameron, a collection of short stories, andOn Famous Women.The Decameron became a determining element for the Italian literary tradition, especially afterPietro Bembo elevated the Boccaccian style to a model of Italian prose in thesixteenth century. Boccaccio wrote his imaginative literature mostly inTuscanvernacular, as well as other works in Latin, and is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue which differed from that of his contemporaries,medieval writers who usually followed formulaic models for character and plot. The influence of Boccaccio's works was not limited to the Italian cultural scene but extended to the rest of Europe, exerting influence on authors such asGeoffrey Chaucer,[3] a key figure inEnglish literature, and the later writersMiguel de Cervantes,Lope de Vega and classical theatre in Spain.
Boccaccio is considered one of the "Three Crowns" of Italian literature along withDante Alighieri andPetrarch.[4] He is remembered for being one of the precursors ofhumanism, of which he helped lay the foundations in the city ofFlorence, in conjunction with the activity of his friend and teacher Petrarch. He was the one who initiated Dante's criticism and philology: Boccaccio devoted himself to copying codices of theDivine Comedy and was a promoter of Dante's work and figure.
The details of Boccaccio's birth are uncertain. He was born inFlorence or in a village nearCertaldo where his family was from.[5][6] He was the son ofFlorentine merchantBoccaccino di Chellino and an unknown woman; he was likely born out of wedlock.[7] Boccaccio's stepmother was called Margherita de' Mardoli.[8]
Boccaccio grew up in Florence. His father worked for theCompagnia dei Bardi and, in the 1320s, married Margherita dei Mardoli, who was of a well-to-do family. Boccaccio may have been tutored by Giovanni Mazzuoli and received from him an early introduction to the works ofDante. In 1326, his father was appointed head of a bank and moved with his family toNaples. Boccaccio was an apprentice at the bank but disliked the banking profession. He persuaded his father to let him study law at theStudium[7] (the present-dayUniversity of Naples), where he studiedcanon law for the next six years. He also pursued his interest in scientific and literary studies.[9]
It seems that Boccaccio enjoyed law no more than banking, but his studies allowed him the opportunity to study widely and make good contacts with fellow scholars. His early influences included Paolo da Perugia (a curator and author of a collection ofmyths called theCollectiones), humanists Barbato da Sulmona and Giovanni Barrili, and theologianDionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro.
In Naples, Boccaccio began what he considered his true vocation of poetry. Works produced in this period includeIl Filostrato andTeseida (the sources forChaucer'sTroilus and Criseyde andThe Knight's Tale, respectively),The Filocolo (a prose version of an existing French romance), andLa caccia di Diana (a poem interza rima listing Neapolitan women).[10] The period featured considerable formal innovation, including possibly the introduction of theSicilian octave, where it influencedPetrarch.
Boccaccio returned to Florence in early 1341, avoiding theplague of 1340 in that city, but also missing the visit of Petrarch to Naples in 1341. He had left Naples due to tensions between the Angevin king and Florence. His father had returned to Florence in 1338, where he had gone bankrupt. His mother possibly died shortly afterwards.[citation needed] Boccaccio continued to work, although dissatisfied with his return to Florence, producingComedia delle ninfe fiorentine in 1341 (also known asAmeto), a mix of prose and poems, completing the fifty-canto allegorical poemAmorosa visione in 1342, andFiammetta[11] in 1343. The pastoral piece "Ninfale fiesolano" probably dates from this time, also. In 1343, Boccaccio's father remarried Bice del Bostichi. The other children by his first marriage had all died, but he had another son named Iacopo in 1344.
Boccaccio and others fleeing the plague; illumination of a French edition of theDecamerone (c. 1485)
In Florence, the overthrow ofWalter of Brienne brought about the government ofpopolo minuto ("small people", workers). It diminished the influence of the nobility and the wealthier merchant classes and contributed to the relative decline of Florence. The city was hurt further in 1348 by theBlack Death, which killed some three-quarters of the city's population and was later represented in Boccaccio's workThe Decameron.
From 1347, Boccaccio spent much time in Ravenna, seeking new patronage and, despite his claims, it is not certain whether he was present in plague-ravaged Florence. His stepmother died during the epidemic and his father was closely associated with the government efforts as minister of supply in the city. His father died in 1349 and Boccaccio was forced into a more active role as head of the family.
Boccaccio began work onThe Decameron[12][13] around 1349. It is probable that the structures of many of the tales date from earlier in his career, but the choice of a hundred tales and the frame-storylieta brigata of three men and seven women dates from this time. The work was largely complete by 1352. It was Boccaccio's final effort in literature and one of his last works in Tuscan vernacular; the only other substantial work wasCorbaccio (dated to either 1355 or 1365). Boccaccio revised and rewroteThe Decameron in 1370–1371. This manuscript has survived to the present day.
From 1350, Boccaccio became closely involved with Italian humanism (although less of a scholar) and also with the Florentine government. His first official mission was toRomagna in late 1350. He revisited that city-state twice and also was sent toBrandenburg, Milan andAvignon. He also pushed for the study of Greek, housingLeontius Pilatus, and encouraging his tentative translations of works byHomer,Euripides, andAristotle. In these years, he also tookminor orders.[14]
In October 1350, he was delegated to greet Francesco Petrarch as he entered Florence and also to have Petrarch as a guest at Boccaccio's home, during his stay. The meeting between the two was extremely fruitful and they were friends from then on, Boccaccio calling Petrarch his teacher andmagister. Petrarch at that time encouraged Boccaccio to study classical Greek and Latin literature. They met again inPadua in 1351, Boccaccio on an official mission to invite Petrarch to take a chair at the university in Florence. Although unsuccessful, the discussions between the two were instrumental in Boccaccio writing theGenealogia deorum gentilium; the first edition was completed in 1360 and this remained one of the key reference works on classical mythology for over 400 years. It served as an extended defence for the studies of ancient literature and thought. Despite the Pagan beliefs at its core, Boccaccio believed that much could be learned from antiquity. Thus, he challenged the arguments of clerical intellectuals who wanted to limit access to classical sources to prevent any moral harm to Christian readers. The revival of classical antiquity became a foundation of the Renaissance, and his defence of the importance of ancient literature was an essential requirement for its development.[15] The discussions also formalized Boccaccio's poetic ideas. Certain sources also see a conversion of Boccaccio by Petrarch from the open humanist of theDecameron to a more ascetic style, closer to the dominant fourteenth-century ethos. For example, he followed Petrarch (and Dante) in the unsuccessful championing of an archaic and deeply allusive form of Latin poetry. In 1359, following a meeting withPope Innocent VI and further meetings with Petrarch, it is probable that Boccaccio took some kind of religious mantle. There is a persistent (but unsupported) tale that he repudiated his earlier works as profane in 1362, includingThe Decameron.
Circes: illustration of one of the women featured in the 1374 biographies of 106 famous women,De Claris Mulieribus, by Boccaccio – from a German translation of 1541
In 1360, Boccaccio began work onDe mulieribus claris ("On famous women"), a book offering biographies of 106 famous women, that he completed in 1374.
A number of Boccaccio's close friends and other acquaintances were executed or exiled in the purge following the failed coup of 1361;[further explanation needed] although not directly linked to the conspiracy, in that year Boccaccio left Florence to reside inCertaldo, where he became less involved in government affairs. He did not undertake further missions for Florence until 1365, and travelled to Naples and then on to Padua andVenice, where he met up with Petrarch in grand style atPalazzo Molina, Petrarch's residence as well as the location ofPetrarch's library. Boccaccio later returned to Certaldo; he met Petrarch only one more time, in 1368, again in Padua. Upon hearing of the death of Petrarch (19 July 1374), he wrote a commemorative poem, including it in his collection of lyric poems, theRime.
He returned to work for the Florentine government in 1365, undertaking a mission toPope Urban V. The papacy returned to Rome fromAvignon in 1367, and Boccaccio was again sent to Urban, offering congratulations. He also undertook diplomatic missions to Venice and Naples.
Of his later works, the moralistic biographies gathered asDe casibus virorum illustrium (1355–74) andDe mulieribus claris (1361–1375) were the most significant.[16] Other works include a dictionary of geographical allusions in classical literature,De montibus, silvis, fontibus, lacubus, fluminibus, stagnis seu paludibus, et de nominibus maris liber. He gave a series of lectures on Dante at the Santo Stefano church in 1373 and these resulted in his final major work, the detailedEsposizioni sopra la Commedia di Dante.[17] Boccaccio and Petrarch were also two of the most educated people in early Renaissance in the field ofarchaeology.[18]
Petrarch even offered to purchase Boccaccio's library, so that it would become part ofPetrarch's library. However, upon Boccaccio's death, his entire collection was given to the monastery ofSanto Spirito, in Florence, where it still resides.[19]
Boccaccio's final years were troubled by illnesses, some relating to obesity and what often is described asdropsy, severe edema that would be described today ascongestive heart failure. He died on 21 December 1375 in Certaldo, where he is buried.
Trattatello in laude di Dante (1357, title revised toDe origine vita studiis et moribus viri clarissimi Dantis Aligerii florentini poetae illustris et de operibus compositis ab eodem)
^Blanc 1844, p. 166: "Although he was known by the name of his origin, this is an excerpt from an Italian language grammar in German, which describe in short this term as follows; [...] or the baptismal name was omitted altogether and simply said: il Certaldése, the one from Certaldo (Boccaccio) [...]."
^Farrell, Thomas (2003). "Source or Hard Analogue? 'Decameron X, 10' and the 'Clerk's Tale'".The Chaucer Review.37 (4):346–364.doi:10.1353/cr.2003.0011.S2CID161342485.
^Italy's three crowns: reading Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. Zygmunt G. Barański, M. L. McLaughlin. Oxford: Bodleian Library. 2007.ISBN978-1-85124-301-3.OCLC137313891.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Giovanni Boccaccio; Mariangela Causa-Steindler; Thomas Mauch.The elegy of Lady Fiammetta. p. XI.
Bartlett, Kenneth R. (1992). "Florence in the Renaissance".The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath.ISBN0-669-20900-7.
Blanc, Ludwig G. (1844). "Die Eigennamen" [The proper names].Grammatik der italienischen Sprache [Italian language grammar] (in German). Halle: Carl August Schwetschke und Sohn.
Cataldi, Pietro; Donnarumma, Raffaele; Luperini, Romano; Marchese, Franco; Marchiani, Lidia (1998).La scrittura e l'interpretazione : Storia e antologia della letteratura italiana nel quadro della civiltà europea [Writing and interpretation: History and anthology of Italian literature in the framework of European civilization.] (in Italian). Vol. 1st. Palermo: Palumbo.ISBN88-8020-225-1.
Çoban, R. V. (2020). The Manzikert Battle and Sultan Alp Arslan with European Perspective in the 15st Century in the Miniatures of Giovanni Boccaccio's "De Casibus Virorum Illustrium"s 226 and 232. French Manuscripts in Bibliothèque Nationale de France. S. Karakaya ve V. Baydar (Ed.), in 2nd International Muş Symposium Articles Book (pp. 48–64). Muş: Muş Alparslan University.SourceArchived 18 May 2021 at theWayback Machine
Patrick, James A.(2007).Renaissance And Reformation. Marshall Cavendish Corp.ISBN9780761476504.
On Famous Women, edited and translated by Virginia Brown. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001ISBN0-674-00347-0 (Latin text and English translation)
The Life of Dante, translated by Vincenzo Zin Bollettino. New York: Garland, 1990ISBN1-84391-006-3
The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta, edited and translated [from the Italian] by Mariangela Causa-Steindler and Thomas Mauch; with an introduction by Mariangela Causa-Steindler. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990ISBN0-226-06276-7.
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