Franco Sacchetti

Sacchetti, Franco 

Born circa 1330 in Ragusa; died Sept. 1, 1400, in Florence. Italian writer.

Sacchetti belonged to the popolani (the stratum of merchants and artisans in Italian cities). He was the author of the collection Three Hundred Stories (223 stories are extant); he also wrote verses and sermons. His stories are based on popular superstitions, folk tales, and anecdotes. Their closeness to folklore is manifested by the use of vivid colloquial language. The stories depict the life of the lower classes, or ciompi. Their antifeu-dal satire was directed mainly against monks and priests and the popolo grasso, that is, the wealthy. In the 18th century Sac-chetti’s stories were placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Catholic Church.

WORKS

II trecentonovelle. Edited by E. Faccioli. Turin, 1970.
In Russian translation:
Novelly. Moscow-Leningrad, 1962.

REFERENCES

Balashov, N., A. Mikhailov, and R. Khlodovskii. “Epokha Vozrozhde-niia i novella.” Introduction to Evropeiskaia novella Vozrozhdeniia. Moscow, 1974.
De Sanctis, F. Istoriia ital’ianskoi literatury, vol. 1. Moscow, 1963.
Borlenghi, A., and F. Sacchetti. Letteratura italiana: I minori, 1. Milan [1969].

IA. A. BLINKIN