Primary Source Worksheet Boccaccio Stiles

Primary Source Worksheet Boccacio H1docxstiles

Analyze the primary source excerpt from Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron. Consider the main ideas of the text, the author's bias and motivation, the historical context of its writing, the intended audience, and how this source enhances our understanding of history. Answer the five questions based on the excerpt provided and additional background information about the work and its time period.

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Introduction

Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron stands as one of the most influential literary works describing the devastating impact of the Black Death on 14th-century Florence. Written shortly after the pandemic of 1348, the text offers a vivid account of the symptoms, societal reactions, and human suffering during this catastrophic period. Through analyzing the excerpt and considering historical context, we gain insight into both the personal perspective of Boccaccio and the broader societal upheavals caused by the plague.

Main Idea and Reactions of Florence’s Citizens

The excerpt from The Decameron primarily aims to depict the harrowing symptoms of the Black Death and the consequent societal breakdown. Boccaccio describes the physical manifestations such as swellings (tumors) and black or purple spots, emphasizing the seemingly inevitable death faced by the afflicted. The narrative communicates not only the terror of the disease but also the social disintegration it caused. Citizens reacted to the plague with fear and withdrawal: neighbors avoided one another, relatives refrained from visiting, and communities descended into chaos. The social fabric was torn apart as individuals forsook familial bonds, driven by panic and the instinct for self-preservation.

Author’s Bias and Motivations

Boccaccio’s description reflects a bias rooted in personal and societal horror. His vivid portrayal of the symptoms and reactions aims to elicit empathy and understanding of the pandemic’s devastation. Given that Boccaccio witnessed the plague firsthand, his account is likely shaped by a desire to document the horrors and perhaps critique the societal breakdown. His motivation could also be to record history accurately and to explore human reactions in times of extreme crisis, emphasizing the fragility of social bonds under duress. There may also be an undercurrent of moral reflection on human vulnerability and mortality.

Historical Context of Writing

The Decameron was written during a period when Europe was grappling with the aftermath of the Black Death, which devastated populations and altered many aspects of medieval life. Florence, a thriving city-state, faced social upheaval, labor shortages, and economic decline. Apart from the plague, Europe was experiencing political tensions, wars such as the Hundred Years’ War, and cultural shifts that challenged medieval authorities. Boccaccio’s work was composed circa 1353, just a few years after the pandemic, reflecting immediate and long-term societal reactions to the crisis.

Intended Audience

The intended audience of The Decameron was likely educated classes, including nobles and intellectuals, who could appreciate the literary and moral reflections embedded within the tales. However, by writing in vernacular Florentine Italian, Boccaccio aimed to reach a broader audience beyond Latin readers, making the stories accessible to common people. His vivid descriptions and realistic portrayal of societal collapse resonated with those who experienced or observed the chaos firsthand, fostering a collective understanding and reflection on mortality and human nature.

Connection to Broader Historical Understanding

The Decameron enriches our comprehension of the Black Death’s societal impact beyond mere statistics and medical descriptions. It provides a personal and societal narrative illustrating fear, social breakdown, and the human response to mortality. The work also offers insight into medieval culture, including attitudes towards death, social hierarchy, and morality. As a literary record, it complements historical data by humanizing the tragedy and emphasizing themes of resilience, fear, and the transient nature of life — themes still relevant today in understanding pandemics and societal behavior under crisis.

Conclusion

Giovanni Boccaccio’s account in The Decameron captures the profound upheaval caused by the Black Death and serves as a vital primary source for understanding medieval society’s reactions to catastrophe. His vivid descriptions and societal observations provide valuable insights into the impact of the plague on individual lives and social structures, enriching the broader historical narrative of one of Europe’s most devastating pandemics.

References

• Boccaccio, Giovanni. (2003). The Decameron. Translated by G. H. McWilliam. Oxford University Press.
• Hatcher, John. (2014). The Black Death: A Companion to the Great Mortality. Amberley Publishing.
• Herlihy, David. (1997). The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Harvard University Press.
• Scott, Susan. (2010). “The societal impact of the Black Death,” in The Medieval World. Routledge.
• Hupe, Robert. (2012). “The Decameron and the societal responses to plague,” in Medieval Disease and Society. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Chojnacki, Stéphane. (1998). La Peste et la Mort dans la Monde Médiéval. Presses Universitaires de France.
• De Mussy, Annelies. (2016). “Narratives of catastrophe,” in Reconstructing the Past: Medieval Literature and History. Routledge.
• Sprenger, Mandy. (2019). “Medieval perceptions of death,” in Death and Dying in Medieval Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Kelly, Douglas. (2009). “Medicine and society during the Black Death,” in Health in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press.
• Thompson, John. (2015). “Cultural responses to the Black Death,” in The Medieval Mind. Routledge.