Giovanni Sercambi

Myriam Swennen Ruthenberg (Florida Atlantic University)
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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 or 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 a…

2134 words

Citation: Swennen Ruthenberg, Myriam. "Giovanni Sercambi". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2019 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14163, accessed 28 March 2024.]

14163 Giovanni Sercambi 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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