Matteo Bandello (–1562)

Would avid readers in Elizabeth I reign (late 16th century) have been poring over the latest novel by Matteo Bandello? They might have considered them a bit passè, but they might have been a better option than the myriad's of religious texts or political pamphlets that were also on offer. William Shakespeare probably read them because he used some of the stories in his plays: such as Much ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet and Cymbeline. Bandello published a collection of his novels in 1554 in his native Italian and some of them were translated into French and then into English in 1567. He was nothing if not prolific writing over 170 of these novelles, which are basically short stories, essays or tales drawing on the historical genre of Boccaccio’s Decameron.

The collection as a whole is dedicated to the “illustrious Lady Ippolita Sforza (consort of the most affable Alessandro Bentivoglio, whom God have in glory)”, but individual tales are dedicated to other friends and acquaintances and this is a feature of all the novels. Each one has a dedicatee and a preamble by Bandello which sometimes points to a moral in the story or perhaps refers to an incident in the life of the dedicatee; in many cases he recalls a situation where they both heard the story from a third party and it was so interesting that he (Bandello) promised to write it down. It seems probable that he then sent a copy to the dedicatee hoping that he would be remembered for doing so. Bandello spent much of his life in Milan and must have had a wide circle of Friends and his novelles were popular enough for him to make them into a collection.

Boccaccio’s Decameron was written 200 years earlier and I found it interesting too compare it to Bandello’s newer collection. Bandello does not employ a linking device as his tales were very much individualised to suit the person to whom they were dedicated. The subject matter is somewhat similar but with noticeable differences. Bandello hardly ever bases his stories on the common folk of the city, the vast majority feature titled personages; members of the nobility who travel around with a host of servants and followers. This is not to say that the tales are less bawdy, but they reach back to ideas of honour and courtly love; there are no stories about promiscuous friars or naughty nuns. Stories are borrowed from other sources and a few are rewrites of tales from the Decameron. Some are based on historical events (there are two about Henry VIII) and many are incidents that would have been known to Bandello’s prospective audience (in some stories he says he has had to change the names to protect the innocent/guilty parties). It is noticeable that there has been a change in attitudes over the intervening years. Firstly the catholic church was under challenge from the protestants and so there is no criticism of the clergy, secondly and more surprisingly there is a marked change in attitudes to women. Bandello goes out of his way to ensure that women in matters of sex and lustfulness are not the guilty parties, in more than one instance he demands that men must respect women and points out that similar to men there are various kinds; some good, some bad but mostly a mixture of both. This is typical:

but it behoveth the husband also bethink himself that his wife is not anywise given him to servant or to slave, but to consort and companion”

There is variety in the stories, but many of them end with the demise of the guilty party (and some die horribly). Much is made of mens lustfulness or a burning desire to bed the woman of their fancy and because we are talking about the nobility then ladies maids or serving men have to be included in the plotting. Adultery is usually punished or ends in tragedy but not always, cleverness and trickery is admired and where honour is involved then this usually takes precedence. There are stories about family histories including Bandello’s own. There are instances of witty repartees and their are stories about topical issue; usury for instance, or the sanctity of the confessional.

Unfortunately the only viable translation of these stories is that made by John Payne in 1890 and some of the English is awkward to say the least. Critics say that some of this is due to Bandello’s own use of language which isn’t of the smoothest and lacks the vibrancy of a modern translation of Boccaccio. Payne translations stretch over six volumes (five of which are free on the internet) I read three of these and so probably managed about half of the stories. I enjoyed many of them, particularly those that made me appreciate life and times back in the 16th century. A few were amusing, some were gruesome, many were obvious and a few were surprising. 3.5 stars.… (lisätietoja)

Bandello's work, first published in Italian in 1554, was popularly translated into French by Francois de Belleforest as "Les Histoires Tragiques," in 1580, and it is quite certain that Shakespeare knew this book and consulted it. He may also have read enough Italian to make out the sense of the tales in the original. The original stories of "Twelfth Night" (Novelle 36); "Romeo and Juliet" (Novelle 9); "Much Adoe about Nothing" (Novelle 22) are all found in Bandello.
Ref.: Catalogue of the Exhibition of Shakespeareans Held at the New York Public Library, April 2 to July 15, 1916, in Commemoration of the Tercentenary of Shakespeare's Death by Henrietta C. Bartlett, New York, 1917 (p.77).
Note: Six of Bandello's stories was first translated into French in 1559 by Pierre Boaistuau. Francois de Belleforest translated twelve of Bandello's stories in 1570.… (lisätietoja)