Masuccio Salernitano (1410–1475), born Tommaso Guardati, was an Italian poet.
Born in
Salerno or
Sorrento
Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana ra ...
, he is best known today for ''Il Novellino'', a collection of 50 "novelle" or short stories, each prefaced by a letter of dedication to a famous person and with an epilogue containing the "moral" of the story.
The stories have a strongly anti-clerical bent, which caused ''Il Novellino'' to be included in the first ''
Index of Prohibited Books
The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidde ...
'' in 1557.
The 33rd of these stories is the story of ''Mariotto and Ganozza'', which was apparently adapted by
Luigi da Porto (1485–1529) first as ''Giulietta e Romeo'' and later as ''Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti'' ("Newly retrieved story of two noble lovers"). These three stories, plus another later version by
Matteo Bandello
Matteo Bandello ( 1480 – 1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, monk, and, later, a Bishop mostly known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day.
Biography
Matteo Bandello wa ...
and the English translation by
Arthur Brooke in the poem
''Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet'' (1562) appear to be the sources for
Shakespeare's famous play ''
Romeo and Juliet''.
References
"Shakespeare in Love"—The Italian Connectionby Nicholas A. Patricca
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Salernitano, Masuccio
1410 births
1475 deaths
People from Salerno
15th-century Italian poets
15th-century Italian writers
Italian male poets
Italian novelists
Romeo and Juliet