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 sometimes simply known as "the Certaldese" and one of the most important figures in the European literary panorama of the fourteenth century. Some scholars (including Vittore 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 are ''The Decameron'', a collection of short stories, and '' On Famous Women''. ''The Decameron'' became a determining element for the Italian literary tradition, especially after Pietro Bembo elevated the Boccaccian style to a model of Italian prose in the sixteenth century. Boccaccio wr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Decameron
''The Decameron'' (; or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human Comedy (drama), comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy, Comedy'' "''Divine''"), is a collection of Short story, short stories by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story 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, which was afflicting the city. The epidemic is likely what Boccaccio used for the basis of the book which was thought to be written between 1348–1353. The various tales of love in ''The Decameron'' range from the Erotic literature, erotic to the Tragedy, tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons also contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for examp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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De Mulieribus Claris
''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. It is the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in post-ancient Western literature. At the same time as he was writing ''On Famous Women'', Boccaccio also compiled a collection of biographies of famous men,'' De Casibus Virorum Illustrium'' (''On the Fates of Famous Men''). The famous women *1. Eve, the first woman in the Bible *2. Semiramis, queen of the Assyrians *3. Opis, wife of Saturn *4. Juno, goddess of the Kingdoms *5. Ceres, goddess of the harvest and queen of Sicily *6. Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy *7. Venus, queen of Cyprus *8. Isis, queen and goddess of Egypt *9. Europa, queen of Crete *10. Libya, queen of Libya *11 and 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vittore Branca
Vittore Branca (9 July 1913 in Savona – 28 May 2004 in Venice) was an Italian philologist, literary critic, and academic. He was a professor emeritus of Italian literature at the University of Padua until his death in 2004, and one of the most acclaimed contemporary scholars of Italian author and poet Giovanni Boccaccio. A man with strong religious roots, he participated in the partisan struggle during the Second World War. Biography Branca spent much of his childhood on Lake Maggiore. After graduating from the classical high school Gabriello Chiabrera in Savona, in 1931 he attended the entrance examination at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, which at the time was part of FUCI. As a sign of protest, young Branca appeared before the examination committee wearing the badge of Catholic Action, whose youth circles were suppressed by the fascist regime. On this occasion he had his first encounter with Giovanni Gentile, who became his master. He graduated in 1935 with the hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Petrarch
Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Italian Renaissance and the founding of Renaissance humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri. Petrarch was later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the . Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages". [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boccaccino De Chellino
Boccaccino di Chellino (''d''. 1349) was the father of the famous Florentine Renaissance writer, Giovanni Boccaccio. During his life, Chellino worked for the Compagnia dei Bardi, a banking company owned by the powerful Florentine Bardi family. Chellino later became the Florentine minister of supply at a time when the city was dealing with the Black Death. Youth Chellino was born in Certaldo to Chellino Bonaiuti, though his date of birth is unknown. At a very young age, he worked as a money changer in Florence, where his brother Vanni had been based since 1297. Chellino is mentioned by King Philip the Fair who, in one of his books, speaks of the money changer, "Bocassin Lombart” and his brother who live near the church of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie. Life and career Chellino relocated to Florence around the turn of the 14th Century where he worked for a powerful banking firm owned by the Bardi family. In 1326, Chellino moved to Naples in order to assume a high position with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific ''A Treatise on the Astrolabe'' for his 10-year-old son, Lewis. He maintained a career in public service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament, having been elected as Knight of the shire, shire knight for Kent. Among Chaucer's many other works are ''The Book of the Duchess'', ''The House of Fame'', ''The Legend of Good Women'', ''Troilus and Criseyde'', and ''Parlement of Foules''. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman Fren ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. Proponents of a "long Renaissance" argue that it started around the year 1300 and lasted until about 1600. In some fields, a Italian Renaissance painting#Proto-Renaissance painting, Proto-Renaissance, beginning around 1250, is typically accepted. The French word (corresponding to in Italian) means 'rebirth', and defines the period as one of cultural revival and renewed interest in classical antiquity after the centuries during what Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanists labelled as the Dark Ages (historiography), "Dark Ages". The Italian Renaissance historian Giorgio Vasari used the term ('rebirth') in his ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' in 1550, bu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts. Definition The Italian term is a feminine of ''novello'', which means ''new'', similarly to the English word ''news''. Merriam-Webster defines a novella as "a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel". There is disagreement regarding the number of pages or words necessary for a story to be considered a novella, a short story or a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association defines a novella's word count to be between 17,500 and 40,000 words; at 250 words per page, this equates to 70 to 160 pages. See below for definitions used by other organisations. History The novella as a literary genre began developing in the Italian literature of the early Renaissance, princip ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Italian People
Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. Their predecessors differ regionally, but generally include populations such as the Etruscan civilization, Etruscans, Rhaetians, Ligurians, Adriatic Veneti, Magna Graecia, Ancient Greeks and Italic peoples, including Latins (Italic tribe), Latins, from which Roman people, Romans emerged and helped create and evolve the modern Italian identity. Legally, Italian nationality law, Italian nationals are citizens of Italy, regardless of ancestry or nation of residence (in effect, however, Italian nationality law, Italian nationality is largely based on ''jus sanguinis'') and may be distinguished from ethnic Italians in general or from people of Italian descent without Italian citizenship and ethnic Italians living in territories adjacent to the I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Certaldo
Certaldo () is a town and (municipality) of Tuscany, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, located in the middle of Valdelsa. It is about southwest of the Florence Cathedral (50 minutes by rail and 35 minutes by car from the city), and 40 minutes by rail north of Siena. It was home to the family of Giovanni Boccaccio, author of the ''Decameron'', who was possibly born and died at his home in Certaldo, being buried there in 1375. It is also the birthplace of actor Ernesto Calindri and of coach Luciano Spalletti, who has been the manager of Italy national football team since 2023. Geography The town of Certaldo is divided into upper and lower parts. The lower part is called Certaldo Basso, whilst the medieval upper part is called Certaldo Alto. Certaldo Alto has limited vehicular access, for use by residents only. Visitors can park outside the walls or in the lower part and go to Certaldo Alto by the Certaldo funicular. History Etruscan-Roman period Certaldo had Etrus ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Florentine Dialect
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 variant derived from it historically, once called (literally, 'the amended Florentine pronunciation'), was the official national language of the Kingdom of Italy when it was established in 1861. It is the most widely spoken of the Tuscan dialects. Literature Important writers such as Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio and, later, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini wrote in literary Tuscan/Florentine, including Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. It became a second prestige language alongside Latin and was used as such for centuries. Differences from Standard Italian Florentine, and Tuscan more generally, can be distinguished from Standard Italian by differences in numerous features at all levels: phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. Perhaps the difference most noticed by Italians a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vernacular
Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is more codification (linguistics), codified, institutionally promoted, literary language, literary, or formal. More narrowly, a particular language variety that does not hold a widespread high-status perception, and sometimes even carries social stigma, is also called a vernacular, vernacular dialect, nonstandard dialect, etc. and is typically its speakers' native language, native variety. Regardless of any such stigma, all nonstandard dialects are full-fledged varieties of language with their own consistent grammatical structure, phonology, sound system, body of vocabulary, etc. Overview Like any native language variety, a vernacular has an internally coherent system of grammar. It may be associated with a particular set of vocabulary, and sp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |