The Decameron is a collection of one hundred tales written in Italian by Giovanni Boccaccio, completed around 1353. Its frame story follows seven young women and three young men who leave plague-stricken Florence in 1348 and pass ten days telling stories in a country villa, each day on a chosen theme. The tales range from comic and bawdy stories of lovers and tricksters to tragic and noble ones, and they paint a lively picture of merchants, clergy and ordinary people in medieval Italy. The work established Italian prose as a serious literary form, and its plots influenced later writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Lope de Vega. It is also a key literary witness to the social upheaval of the Black Death.
Before and after
- 7 April 1348Founding of Charles University
- 1349Construction of Galata Tower
- 14th centuryPublication of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- from 1350 to 1355War of the Straits
- 1353Publication of The Decameron
- from 1354 to 1683Ottoman Wars in Europe
- from 1356 to 1806Electorate of Saxony
- from 1356 to 1375War of the Two Peters
- 10 January 1356Golden Bull of 1356
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The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 14th century.