Author. The illegitimate son of a French noblewoman and a merchant from Florence, he became one of the most prolific writers of the late Middle Ages, best-known today for “The Decameron”, which consists of 100 stories told over ten days, by seven young women and three young men who have taken a short respite from their native city Florence, which is in the throes of the Black Death. Boccaccio was close friends with the writer and thinker Petrarch, and was also very influenced in his writings by the works of Dante. Non-literary aspects of his life included being a minor diplomat in Florence and being a part of the court of Robert d’Anjou in Naples. He died in Certaldo, Italy at the end of 1375 and is buried in the Church of Saints Jacopo and Filippo. (bio by: Carrie-Anne)