Contesto generale La novella di Cisti il fornaio è la seconda della sesta giornata del Decameron di Boccaccio. In questa giornata, tutte le novelle hanno un tema comune: il modo elegante e intelligente (con arte e garbo) con cui i personaggi riescono a rispondere a situazioni difficili, spesso grazie all’arguzia, alla prontezza di spirito o all’uso sapiente delle parole (i cosiddetti “motti”). La narratrice è Pampinea, una delle sette giovani protagoniste del Decameron, che introduce la novella con una riflessione: a volte la natura e la fortuna premiano persone di umili origini, dotandole di un'anima nobile e virtuosa, proprio come accade a Cisti. Trama in breve Cisti è un fornaio fiorentino, quindi un uomo del popolo, ma di grande eleganza, educazione e intelligenza. Egli possiede un ottimo vino bianco, che desidera offrire a Geri Spina, un nobile fiorentino che ogni giorno passa davanti alla sua bottega insieme agli ambasciatori di papa Bonifacio VIII. Cisti però sa che, ...
After Oliver Cromwell's death, from 1658 to 1660 there was a period called Restoration because it implied as form of government the passage from Republic to Monarchy.
For this reason, king Charles II (Charles I 's son) ruled England.
He decided to reassert the predominance of the Church of England and also dissolved Parliament.
The early ages of the Restoration were characterized by two important events: the Great Plague (1665), which caused the death of 70.000 Londoners, and the Great Fire of London (1666), which led to most of the City.
They enjoyed themselves in Old and new forms of entertainment and their love of pleasure was exemplified in Charles II’s nickname: the “Merry Monarch”. After the Great Fire of 1666, it was the rebuilding of London.
It became a modern cultural and political centre of the country.
During the rebuilding of London many secular buildings were rebuilt or restored according to the Baroque. Sir Christopher Wien was the greatest English baroque architect.
Meanwhile, science and philosophy became a social concern.
In 1660 was founded the Royal Society for the Advancement of Learning and it included astronomers like Edmund Halley and mathematicians and physicists like Isaac Newton, artists and writers like Jonathan Swift and empirical philosophers like John Locke, whose empirical method is based on direct experience.
After Charles II' s death, his son James II, a Catholic king, claimed the divine right of kings to decide without consulting Parliament.
He, putting Catholics in high positions of power, accelerated a secret plan to call in William of Orange, one of the supporters of Protestant cause in Europe and Mary's husband (James II 's daughter).
With several and cruelty wars defined Glorious Revolution, William of Orange and Mary were both crowned sovereigns of England in 1689 as William III and Mary II.
After Mary II's death, William III reigned alone.
During his reign some laws were introduced which defined the modern Parliamentary England:
- Bill of Rights: the Crown don't be able to make decisions without Parliament;
- Toleration Act: guarantees the freedom of religion and worship to all citizens;
- Act of Settlement: only Protestant members of royal family can access to the throne;
- Act of Union: establishes the union of Scotland and England under the name of Great Britain.
Queen Anne, James II's daughter, was Protestant and the ruler of Great Britain.
Great Britain took part in War of the Spanish succession with Holland and Prussia against France, Spain and Portugal.
This war ended with Treaty of Utrecht and Great Britain retained Gibraltar and Minorca, important for their influence in Mediterranean, and gained: Acadia and Hudson Bay for the maritime control of Canada; then, the permission to send a ship every year to tread with the South-American colonies, as well as the monopoly of the African slave trade in North American colonies.
In 1694 the Bank of England had been founded, a national bank whose solidity was guaranteed by the State.
Commenti
Posta un commento