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Giovanni Boccaccio - Alboinus from BL Harley 1766, ff. 221v-222, illuminated manuscript

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Giovanni Boccaccio - Alboinus from BL Harley 1766, ff. 221v-222, illuminated manuscript

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Summary

Miniatures of king Alboinus, in bed, defending himself with a club against two swordsmen.
The death of Queen Rosamond and Squire Melchis with an attendant bearing the coup with poisoned wine. Image taken from ff. 221v-222 of The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged. Written in English.

The "BL Harley Manuscript" refers to a collection of medieval manuscripts held in the British Library in London. The Harley Manuscripts are part of the larger collection known as the Harley Collection, which was assembled by Robert Harley (1661–1724) and his son Edward Harley (1689–1741). Robert Harley was a prominent English statesman and bibliophile, and he began amassing a vast collection of books and manuscripts in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The Harley Manuscripts are known for their diversity and include a wide range of texts, including historical chronicles, illuminated manuscripts, legal documents, literary works, and scientific treatises. The collection contains over 7,000 manuscripts, and it is considered one of the most important manuscript collections in the British Library.

The Harley Manuscripts are numbered with the prefix "Harley," followed by a specific manuscript number. Each manuscript in the collection has its own unique content and history, and they cover a broad spectrum of topics and time periods. Some of the manuscripts in the collection are beautifully illuminated, with intricate illustrations and decorations.

Giovanni Boccaccio, 1313 – 1375, was an Italian writer and poet and an important Renaissance humanist. He wrote mostly in the Italian vernacular, as well as some works in Latin, and is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue which differed from that of his contemporaries. Boccaccio spent his childhood in Florence. His father had no sympathy for Boccaccio’s literature inclinations and sent him to Naples, to an office of the Bardi, who were money lenders, to learn business. In Naples, Boccaccio became a consul (or senior officer) of the Arte del Cambio (the Guild of the moneychangers and money lenders) and met with the learned men of the court and the friends and admirers of Petrarch. It was about 1340 when Boccaccio returned to Florence due to the bankruptcy of the Bardi and brought in a store of literary work already he already completed. After 10 years and financial challenges, in 1350 he became a Florentine ambassador and visited Rome, Ravenna, Avignon and Brandenburg. During this period he formed a lasting friendship with Francesco Petrarch. In 1358 he completed his main work, the Decameron. During the plague at Florence in 1348, seven ladies and three gentlemen left the city for a country villa and over a period of ten days told one hundred stories. Boccaccio selected the plots of his stories mostly from the fabliaux which had passed into Italy from France, medieval stories that had classical form. The influence of the Decameron on European literature is enormous. Chaucer and Shakespeare both borrowed from it.

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Date

1200 - 1500
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Source

British Library
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Copyright info

Public Domain

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giovanni boccaccio translation by john lydgate based on a translation by laurent de premierfait
giovanni boccaccio translation by john lydgate based on a translation by laurent de premierfait