ABSTRACT
Decamerons written during and after the Renaissance period contained stories that provided an insight into the spirit of a new epoch of change, reflecting a unique set of philosophies, morals, and aesthetics. The content of the works continued to be influenced by the ever-powerful Counter-Reformation; however, these decamerons rebelled stylistically against their paragon and reflected their contemporary Renaissance and Baroque aesthetic and stylistic tendencies. In Celio Malespini's Ducento Novelle and Francesco Argelati's Decamerone, plague once again functions as a motivating factor for the narration of stories. These works, although significantly different in form from the Decameron, continued Boccaccio's tradition of narration as prophylaxis and applied this notion to their contemporary epidemics. Although Boccaccio's Decameron tradition was not as strong in the Seicento and Settecento as it had been in the past, new decamerons continued to appear during subsequent epidemic visitations.
