Fortuna e diffusione delle opere di Giovanni Boccaccio nella Francia medievale con particolare attenzione al Decameron e alla novella di Griselda

Abstract

Giovanni Boccaccio’s success in France coincided with the spread of Italian Humanism. His fame was only rivalled by Petrarch’s and it arose and developed in the shadow of the illustrious philosophus moralis, who was his great friend and “protector”. However, only a few of Petrarch’s works were translated into French, while French translations of Boccaccio’s Latin works along with that of his vernacular masterpieces enjoyed much greater success and, over the centuries, circulated much more widely and in different social milieux. Without doubt the work by Boccaccio that met with the greatest success, not only in literary circles but also amongst the aristocracy of the time was the Decameron. Special attention should be paid to this work compared to the others, also because of the circumstances surrounding the French translation, along with its large and varied manuscript tradition. Of the hundred novelle, the tale that achieved the greatest popularity was that of Griselda, translated into Latin by Petrarch and source of a number of other works ranging from literature to theatre.