manual that was written by Baldassare Castiglione that gave advice to men and women on the Renaissance ideal of good behavior
Giovanni Boccaccio's most famous work - time - Black Death - Florence - series of stories told by three young men and seven young women - fled Florence to isolated country house to escape Black Death - stories ridiculed feudal customs -
mirrored spirit of Renaissance - recurring theme - anti clericalism - first major prose work in Italian vernacular -
"Pantagruel and Gargantua"
adventures of two giants (father and son) who revel in all known pleasures of the world - Francois Rabelais - most famous work
"Praise of Folly"
Desiderius Erasmus most influential work - used female named "Folly" to contrast spontaneous natural reactions of (supposedly) foolish with studied and self-serving artificiality of the "wise" -