1. Giovanni Boccaccio

2. Italian poet and painter

3. Born in Tuscany
Loved poetry from an early age
Dad sent him to Naples to apprentice as a banker
Talked his dad into letting him study law
Never really successful

4. Naples in the 1330s
During this time period, he followed his true calling: poetry
Fell in love with the married daughter of the king of Naples (Robert the Wise)
She is “Fiammetta” in many of his stories, including the narrator in “Federigo’s Falcon.”

5. His stories became famous/even Chaucer used some of his stories as a basis for his “Tales,” including “The Knight’s Tale.”

6.
Worked on The Decameron
Became famous for this work

7. Later Years
Always wrote/began working on a book that contained 106 biographies of famous women
Involved in politics/possibly a coup attempt
An emissary for the church at Rome
Active until his death of heart disease at age 63

8. The Decameron
a collection of tales
within a frame story
10 characters
fleeing to the country
to escape the
plague in Florence

9. Each day, they picked a different person to be the “king” or “queen” and preside over that day’s
story-telling.

10. 10 days 10 travelers 1 story each day 100 stories = hence, the name,
“decameron”--100

11. "Federigo's Falcon" is one of those tales A tale of courtly love
Federigo is devoted to Monna Giovanna, a married woman, and will do anything to gain her love