Giovanni Sercambi

Myriam Swennen Ruthenberg (Florida Atlantic University)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born c. 1348
Died c. 1424

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Historian / Chronicler
Novelist

Resources

Sercambi's Works

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Born in Lucca in 1348, Giovanni Sercambi “speziale” (apothecary) entered the service of Lucca’s ruler, Francesco Guinigi, in 1372 as a member of the city’s General Council. This signals the beginning of Sercambi’s political career that continued under the successive rulers Lazzaro and Paolo Guinigi. While the timeline for the writing of his two great works -- the two books of the

Chroniche di Lucca

and the 155 tales of an incomplete

Novelliere

Novelle

-- remains uncertain, both works are interdependent, especially for events recorded after 1400. Sercambi’s own political and personal interests are never completely absent from his fiction, while the chronicles betray their author’s taste for storytelling and sometimes take on the novella format. He died in plague-ridden…

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2134 words

Citation: Swennen Ruthenberg, Myriam. "Giovanni Sercambi". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14163, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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