Giovanni Boccaccio
(1313–1375)
The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio was born in 1313. Reports vary as to where he was born, but all agree that as a young child, he lived in Florence, Italy, and was later sent to Naples to study business.
Despite his years studying business and law, Boccaccio had a natural interest in poetry and writing. Inspired perhaps by a tumultuous love affair, he wrote the Filocolo, a courtly romance written in prose. Later he wrote the Filostrato (around 1335 or 1340), a love story told through poetry.
Around 1340, Boccaccio returned to Florence. Here, he continued writing, both prose and poetry, and also began diplomatic work for the city leaders. In 1348, tragedy struck Florence in the form of the Black Death; Boccaccio’s father, stepmother, and many friends died from the plague.
Although the plague was a horrifying and dramatic event in his life, Boccaccio’s most famous work, the Decameron, does not focus on the Black Death. This work instead demonstrates a desire for escape: It describes a group of rich, young Florentines who try to escape the plague by fleeing to the country. Once there, they fend off boredom by taking turns telling stories.
Boccaccio’s Decameron has been famous for over six hundred years and has influenced many other writers. Geoffrey Chaucer was greatly influenced by the Decameron; in it he found his inspiration for writing The Canterbury Tales.
At the same time that Boccaccio was writing the Decameron, he befriended another famous Italian writer, Petrarch, whose sonnets greatly influenced Renaissance writers. The two remained friends for many years, and Petrarch often encouraged and helped the younger Boccaccio.
Throughout the rest of his life, Boccaccio continued writing, focusing more and more on scholarly works, such as biographies and studies of classical mythology. Shortly before he died, Boccaccio studied the work of fellow Italian writer Dante and conducted a series of lectures on the Divine Comedy.
