1300s

Richard II

King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard’s father, Edward, Prince of Wales, died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III. Upon the death of Edward III, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne

The Decameron

Collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio . The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city