This eyewitness account is provided by the florentine humanist, giovanni boccaccio. The novelist giovanni boccaccio, who gave us the most vivid picture of the black death in literature, estimated that 100,000 people died in florence in. He wrote his imaginative literature mostly in the italian vernacular, as well as other works in latin, and is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue. Following the 48 black death in italy, the italian writer giovanni boccaccio wrote a collection of 100 novellas titled, the decameron. The black death 4750 has deeply affected the population of italy, killing up to one third and even though giovanni boccaccio escaped the. In his novel, boccaccio believed that god had sent the plague as correction for our sins. The term black death was applied much later as a term for this catastrophe. The black death was particularly virulent in the tuscan capital, where it killed threequarters of the population.
Boccaccio began writing the decameron in the wake of the black death that devastated europe in 48, and would finish his masterpiece in about 51. Giovanni boccaccio was a contemporary witness to the effects of the. His decameron is set in the hills of fiesole, where a group of three young men and seven women escape from plaguestricken florence to occupy a deserted villa. Petrarch, boccaccio, and the black death classical. He survived the great plague that struck florence in 48 and began work on the decameron shortly thereafter the decameron is a collection of one hundred tales and was decidedly different from any collection before, not just in subject matter but in presentation.
Giovanni boccaccio giovanni boccaccio the decameron it was probably in the years 4853 that boccaccio composed the decameron in the form in which it is read today. Giovanni boccaccio was born in, grew up in florence, and died in 75. Essay about the black death in the decameron by boccaccio. With petrarch he laid the foundations for the humanism of the renaissance and raised vernacular literature to the level and status of the classics of antiquity. The greatest and most influential example of such a byproduct of plague is boccaccios decameron. Black death pandemic, the yersinia pestis bacterial pandemic in europe. Francesco petrarch 474 and giovanni boccaccio 75 are foremost. In boccaccios decameron, he offered an account of the black death in 48 and described how it affected florence. In the broad sweep of its range and its alternately tragic and comic views of life, it is rightly regarded as his masterpiece. The novelist giovanni boccaccio, who gave us the most vivid picture of the black death in literature, estimated that 100,000 people died in florence in the four months between march and july 48. Boccaccios decameron on the black death in florence, 48. One of the primary sources on the outbreak was the italian writer and poet giovanni boccaccio l. Shortly afterwards the elder boccaccio deserted giannina, the mother of giovanni, and brought the boy to florence, where he put him to school until he was ten years old, when he took him into. The decameron subtitled prince galehaut and sometimes nicknamed lumana commedia the human comedy, is a collection of novellas by the 14thcentury italian author giovanni boccaccio 75.
Francesco petrarch 4 74 and giovanni boccaccio 75 are foremost. Boccaccio said that the origin of the plague was in the east, and that it arrived in florence even though numerous precautions had been taken by the people. His decameron is set in the hills of fiesole, where a group of three. This primary source is taken from giovanni boccaccios novel the decameron. In the church of santa maria novella, a group of seven young gentlewomen gather to pray and discuss their sad life. The onset of the black death, was described by giovanni boccaccio 75. Social distancing during the black death realclearpolitics. Giovanni boccaccio on the plague in florence 48 the italian writer giovanni boccaccio lived through the plague as it ravaged the city of florence in 48.
The experience inspired him to write the decameron, a story of seven men and three women who scape the disease by fleeing to a. His father, a merchant from certaldo and a man of some prominence in florence, had gone into business in paris. Boccaccio wrote a number of notable works, including the decameron and on famous women. Why the decameron is on everyones coronavirus reading list. The black death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck europe and asia in the mid0s.
Giovanni boccaccio italian poet and scholar britannica. The onset of the black death, was described by giovanni boccaccio 75 boccaccio witnessed the spread of the plague through the city of florence in 48. The black death and boccaccio the black death revisited. Rigg context the decameron is structured in a frame narrative, or frame tale. The wealthy also cushioned themselves at expense of poor. The representation of collective death in the decameron. Giovanni boccaccios decameron and bawdy medieval literature fabian alfie duration. The city was hurt further in 48 by the black death, which killed some threequarters of the citys population, later represented in the decameron.
Giovanni boccaccio, italian writer from florence wrote this description of the plague in an introduction to the decameron. The experience inspired him to write the decameron, a story of seven men and three women who escape. The illegitimate son of a french noblewoman and a merchant from florence, he became one of the most prolific writers of the late middle ages, bestknown today for the decameron, which consists of 100 stories told over ten days, by seven young women and three young men who have taken a short respite from their native city florence, which is in the throes of the black death. Giovanni boccaccio was in midlife during the time of the black death. Giovanni boccaccio gives the readers a description of the onset of the black death that offers a clear understanding of the events as they unfolded during that particular period. The consequences of the black death by giovanni boccaccio. The book with which boccaccios name is inseparably linked is the decameron, which was finished in 53, but part of which had probably been written before the black death reached its height in 48. The black death wiped out half the population of europe in the space of four years. The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside florence to escape the black death, which was afflicting the city. Giovanni boccaccio, an italian scholar during the 14th century, wrote decameron.
The italian author giovanni boccaccio is best known for the decameron. The signs of impending death the symptoms were not the same as in the east, where a gush of blood from the nose was the plain sign of inevitable death. The italian writer giovanni boccaccio lived through the plague as it ravaged the city of florence in 48. As a member of a prominent mercantile family, he played a part in florentine politics, serving at times as an ambassador and representative in negotiations. Decameron of giovanni boccaccio analysis the notorious black death in the fourteenth century is often described as the great mortality for its fatal infestation into asia and europe. These stories, though fictional, give us a window into medieval life during the black death and how some of the same fissures opened up between the rich and the poor. Its florence, italy, 48, and the black death has ravaged the city. The pandemic was to eventually kill one person in three in europe.
The decameron, from which the following passage is taken, was written in the middle of the 14 th century while the black deatha particularly deadly form of the bubonic plaguewas still raging. Giovanni boccaccio the humanist classical humanist medium. In the decameron, boccaccio depicts the outbreaks highmortality rates and how that was a catalyst for many social and cultural changes within fourteenth. Boccaccio set his stories within an overarching story. Petrarch, boccaccio, and the black death classical humanist. The black death and giovanni bocaccios the decamerons. He lived through the black death of 48 and it is thought that fiammetta, the great love of his life, died because of it.
In the first chapter, before introducing the characters, he describes how the plague struck the city of. I say, then, that the years of the beatific incarnation of the. Social distancing during the black death quillette. At the time decameron was written, the black death was wiping out the italian population. I say, then, that the years of the beatific incarnation of the son of god had reached the tale of one thousand three hundred and forty eight, when in the illustrious city of florence, the fairest of all the cities of italy, there made its appearance that deadly pestilence, which, whether disseminated by the. Boccaccio is a reliable source as he lived through the black plague in florence 48 and wrote about it shortly thereafter.
Giovanni boccaccio 16 june 21 december 75 was an italian writer, poet, correspondent of petrarch, and an important renaissance humanist. The author of the passage, giovanni boccaccio, certainly witnessed the epidemic himself and his father might have been killed by it. The decameron is a collection of novellas by the 14thcentury italian author giovanni boccaccio 75. The plague as key to meaning in boccaccios decameron, in. For his latin works and his role in reviving hellenistic learning in florence, he is often considered one of the early humanists. The experience inspired him to write the decameron. Boccaccio the black death comes to florence father. Giovanni boccaccio and the decameron the most famous work by giovanni boccaccio was the decameron, in which ten individuals fleeing from the plague into the. From 47, boccaccio spent much time in ravenna, seeking new patronage and, despite his claims, it is not certain whether he was present in plagueravaged florence. The story is set in florence, italy, during the time of black death. Chaos reigns and the routines of daily life have been abandoned. In italy during the time of the black death, a group of seven young women and three young men flee from. Giovanni boccaccio, sometimes considered the father of the european novel, was the illegitimate son of a fourteenth century florentine businessman and passed his childhood in tuscany in and about florence. In some places the mortality was far swifter and deadlier than that.
Although it is by no means the only remaining description of the black plague of 48, boccaccios account in the decameron is probably the most well known portrayal among medieval historians and literary critics. Boccaccios famous decameron is a collection of 100 humorous short. In his introduction to the fictional portion of his book. Stylistically, it is the most perfect example of italian classical prose, and its influence on. This essay will focus on how the black death came about, some of the key aspects of the plague as described by the writer in addition to the immediate and longterm. Giovanni boccaccio was a contemporary witness to the effects of the black death pandemic, the yersinia pestis bacterial pandemic in europe between the years. The experience inspired him to write the decameron, a story of seven men and three women who escape the disease by fleeing to a villa outside the city. The decameron is set in 48, when the black death was ravaging the city of florence, as portrayed by boccaccio in his famous description of plagues effect on people and places. Giovanni boccaccio 75 was, like his maestro dante, a florentine. Giovanni boccaccio set his famous decameron in his own time, against the backdrop of the plague. While chaos reigns in the streets and every friendship or kinship is broken by the plagues fear, seven young gentlewomen gather in the church of santa maria novella.
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