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[[File:Boccaccio 1.jpg|190px|thumb|left|Statue of Boccaccio in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence]]__NOTOC__
The Renaissance was one of the most important periods in the history of the western world. This era saw the development of the modern conception of the individual, the emergence of humanism , and new forms of cultural expression, all of which influence us to this day. There are many important figures in this era which lasted roughly two centuries (1320-1527 AD), who contributed to the Renaissance and the revival of European culture.
These included great artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo and great writers such as Petrarch, Dante, and Machiavelli. One writer who made a dramatic contribution to the Renaissance was Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), although his contribution is often neglected. This article argues that Boccaccio was an important figure in the development of Humanism, the Italian language , and the development of modern literature.
The young writer traveled throughout Italy at this time, and he appears to escape the Black Death unscathed (1347-1350). The plague killed up to one-third of the population of Italy and the devastation it caused, deeply impacted Boccaccio’s writings. The Black Death was directly the inspiration for his most celebrated work the [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140449302/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140449302&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c9aa7bd74453a31a3ad010c425b948eb Decameron], which was written between 1348-1353.<ref> Mc William, G.H.: 1995, Introduction to The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, Penguin Classics, Suffolk England, 1995), p 5</ref> This is a large prose work, and it is a collection of short stories or Nouvelles. It was an instant sensation and has remained so to this day. Boccaccio came to regret his masterpiece, and after completing it, he seemed to have experienced some form of crisis.
In the 1350s, he met Petrarch and the two men became friends’ friends and each influenced the works of the other. In the 1350s Boccaccio wrote the biography of Dante and went on to write a collection of portraits <i>On Famous Women and On Famous Men</i>, which was very popular. He also wrote a work on classical mythology, and this is considered to be one of the first studies of myth ever produced. In 1362 during a religious crisis, he met a monk who told him to abandon literature and to burn his extensive library, for the sake of his soul.<ref>McWilliam, p 4</ref>
Thankfully, Petrarch intervened and persuaded Boccaccio to follow his vocation as a writer and scholar. His native Florence recognized his talents, and he was appointed as a public lecturer on the works of the great Dante. He also because of the influence of his great friend Petrarch, became a diplomat and he was engaged on diplomatic missions throughout Europe. As he grew old, he returned to his native Tuscany and lived in the village of Certaldo, until his death in 1375.
====Boccaccio and the birth of the Novel====
[[File:Boccaccio 3.jpg|350px|thumb|left| Florence]]
Despite writing a great deal of poetry, Boccaccio is best known for his prose, and he is acknowledged to be one of the masters of Italian prose. The Florentine was one of the founders of the modern novel, and his most famous work is the Decameron. This work begins with a vivid description of the Black Death and provides one of history’s most terrifying accounts of societal breakdown.<ref> Bowsky, William M. The Black Death: A Turning Point in History (Holt Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1971), p. 13</ref>
Boccaccio then introduces to the reader to a company of young people who fled the plague in the city to the safety of the countryside. The novel consists of 100 tales that are told by seven young women and three young men. The tales, often love stories, range from the romantic to the erotic. The Decameron was not just a collection of love stories; they provide an overview of the human condition. The characters in the story came from all classes of the Early Renaissance, and many feature nuns, priests , and monks.<ref>McWilliam, p 6</ref>
The stories are all based on folk tales from Italy, France, and as far away as India, but skilfully adapted by the Florentine. All of the stories are in Italian, and they are all very realistic, and the characters behave in a very natural way. This is one of the reasons why the Decameron is still read and admired to this day as it delightful captures the range of human emotions, strengths, and weaknesses. The tales in the Decameron had many admirers and influenced numerous writers throughout the Renaissance in Italy and beyond. The work was the inspiration for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, one of the first great works in the canon of English literature.<ref>Herbert G. Boccaccio in England: From Chaucer to Tennyson (London, A&C Black, 2014), p 13</ref> Many of the tales in the 14th-century work were adapted by dramatists of the stature of Shakespeare, Lope De Vega, and Moliere.
Boccaccio’s work was a shift away from Medieval Romances to literary realism. He demonstrated that prose could capture the complexity of humans and their situations, and while poetry remained the dominant mode of literary expression, after the Decameron, literary prose became more popular and widely accepted. The second extraordinary work of Boccaccio is <i>The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta</i> (1345-1347), and this is regarded as the world’s first psychological novel. This work is in the form of a monologue by a young woman narrating her tragic love for a young merchant. Boccaccio’s work was unlike anything else written before, and its psychological realism was a radical departure from medieval literature where characters were stereotypes and not individuals.
Boccaccio inspired many writers to abandon allegory, so typical of the Middle Ages , and adopt a realist style of writing.<ref> Burckhardt, Jacob, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (London, Penguin Books, 1987), p 67</ref> The Florentine was also one of the first biographers and his work on the Life of Dante is one of the first literary biographies. His potted accounts of the lives of famous people also decisively shaped the Renaissance tradition of biography, for example, Vasari’s Lives of the Artists. Boccaccio's impact on literature in Europe cannot be overstated. <ref>McWilliams, p 4</ref>
====Boccaccio and poetry====
Boccaccio was very much interested in the classical past and can be considered to be one of the great mediators between the classical world and Renaissance Italy. His encyclopedia on classical myths did much to generate interest in Ancient history and culture and persuaded many to study Greek-Roman civilization. Boccaccio was like his friend Petrarch fascinated by the classical past, and he popularized the works of Homer in Florence, and this persuaded many to study the works of the poet who sang of the destruction of Troy and the adventures of Odysseus. Boccaccio was one of the first Italians who celebrated the Greeks and their culture, especially in his role as a public lecturer.
Boccaccio was a deeply religious man, but he saw value in this life and believed that earthly pleasure was not inherently sinful. There is a real delight in nature and people in the works on of the writer, and he stressed that everyone was an individual.<ref>Burckhardt, p. 19</ref> In his works, his characters are struggling with circumstances and using their reason and foresight to improve their lot in life. In his main work, he shows young people enjoying and celebrating life even though the Black Death is raging all around them.<ref> Steel, David. "Plague writing: from Boccaccio to Camus." Journal of European Studies 11, no. 42 (1981): 88-110</ref> The Decameron was influential in promoting the humanistic worldview in the Renaissance.
====Vernacular literature====
====Conclusion====
Boccaccio was one of the three great writers of the early Renaissance who decisively shaped its direction. He along with Dante and Petrarch laid the foundations for the literature of this period not only in Italy but also throughout Europe. Boccaccio was a great writer and he helped to elevate prose and made it a vehicle for literary works. He was also critical in the development of the novel and he shifted literature away from allegory and romance to a more realistic approach. His emphasis on the psychology of his characters and by describing individuals in social settings he changed the direction of literature and this is evident in the prose and drama of the period. While best known as a prose writer he helped to develop new techniques for poetic expression and his narrative poems found many imitators.
Like many other intellectuals of the time, he did not believe that this life was a vale of tears but had meaning and joy, as evident in the characters and the stories of the Decameron. The author was critical in the development of Italian as a literary language and this, in turn, influenced many throughout Europe to write in their mother tongue and this ultimately led to the establishment of national literature.
====References====
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[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:Renaissance History]] [[Category:Italian History]]
