Ethics of Retribution in the Decameron and the Late Medieval Italian Novella Beyond the Circle

This study deals with the depiction of ethically correct punishment in four late medieval Italian novella collections: Boccaccio's Decameron, Fiorentino's Pecorone, Sacchetti's Trecentonovelle, and Sercambi's Novelliere. It analyzes the function of ethics in dozens of short tales which can be profitably studied not only by scholars of Italian and other literatures, but also by students of medieval and Renaissance history, sociology, and philosophy.