Features Podcast

Three funny tales from the 14th century

This week Danièle shares three funny tales by Franco Sacchetti, written to entertain Italians during the tough times they experienced in the fourteenth century.

Franco Sacchetti was an Italian writer who also worked as a civil servant in the Florentine government. Among his works was the Novelle, a collection of short stories. Originally there was 300 in this collection, but only 258 have survived to today.

You can read Mary G. Steegmann’s translations of many of these stories in Tales from Sacchetti, published in 1908 – it is available via Archive.org

Correction: In this episode, Danièle refers to the introduction to these tales by Guido Biagi, but accidentally calls him the translator. Although Biagi is the author of the introduction and the quotes used, the tales themselves have been translated by Mary G. Steegmann.

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Top Image: British Library Add MS 49622 fol. 123r