قصة الكتاب :
“The Decameron” is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. Giovanni lived in Florence and was the student and friend of Italian scholar and poet, Francesco Petrarch, who was one of the most prominent humanist poets in the Renaissance. Giovanni was greatly influenced by the works and ideas of Petrarch.
The book first appeared in the early 16th century but was banned from publication by Pope Paul IV who justified his objection to the book by saying that it contains tales and stories of sexuality that violate the teachings of the church and hinder its attempts to instill the values and concepts of chastity and fidelity in marriage.
The book consists of 100 fantasy tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death that swept through whole Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. To pass the evenings, every member of the party tells a story each night, resulting in ten nights of storytelling over the course of two weeks. Thus, by the end of the fortnight they have told 100 stories.
Since the world today is overwhelmed by the spread of romantic literature, anyone who reads this book will not find it obscene as it was perceived in the past, or even prohibit it because, unlike these days, these issues were very sensitive in ancient societies and violated religious teachings. The book only contains 5 stories that can be classified under “Seduction Literature”, whereas the rest only contain some hints and expressions that point out sexual intercourse.
By reading the book profoundly and within the context of the Renaissance, one realizes that this book actually glorifies the earthly life and praises noble love, aspiration to freedom, respect for the other, and criticizes the church for its alliance with the oppressive and tyrant feudal system against the poor and dragging their children to war. It is worth mentioning that Giovanni was a contributor to the rise of Florence against the church and the beginning of the very first democratic practices in renaissance Europe.