- Author
- Not stated
- Published
- Last edited 7 November 2026
- Kind
- Encyclopedia article (Wikipedia), edited by volunteers
- Original
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decameron
- Subject
- Fiction and literature
What it is
This is the English Wikipedia entry for Boccaccio's story collection. Volunteer editors write and revise it, and no single author is named. It aims to inform a general reader about the book and its afterlife.
What it says
- The article describes 100 tales told by ten young people sheltering from plague.
- The article says the book was thought to be written between 1348 and 1353.
- The subtitle Prince Galehaut points to a go-between figure from Arthurian romance.
- Each narrator rules one day and sets its theme. Dioneo may choose any topic.
- The article says Boccaccio borrowed the plots of almost all the stories.
- The book was burned in 1497 and placed on the Index in 1559.
- John Payne's 1886 version is called the first truly complete English translation.
What evidence it gives
The article gives a reference list of scholarly books and papers. It also carries a detailed table of English translations. The table's pre-1971 entries draw on a translator's introduction to the 1971 Penguin edition. Some sections are tagged as unsourced.
Interests and limits
Volunteers edit the page and it changes over time. The analysis section carries a notice about possible original research. Some claims about sources are tagged as needing citations. The article summarizes the book and does not reproduce the tales.