In 1348, the infamous Black Death ravaged the city of Florence. One who witnessed and survived the plague was Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, who used the experience to create a classic of Italian literature. “The Decameron” is a collection of one hundred tales of love and fortune (and some of the sexiest stories of pre-Renaissance Europe). Considered by some to be the “first” post-modernist, Boccaccio inspired English masters such as Chaucer and Shakespeare.
Producer: David Swatling
Broadcast: June 9, 1999