Law and its transgressions: might we learn from Giovanni Boccaccio?

Las novelas del Decameron son reflejo de una sociedad que tiende a hacerse cada vez más compleja. Se tratan en él varias disciplinas, especialmente medicina, filosofía, derecho y literatura. Boccaccio, que estudió derecho durante seis años por exigencia de su padre, era un experto tanto en el campo literario como en el jurídico. El Decameron proporciona una evidencia excepcional del conocimiento que tenía del derecho y de la práctica legal. Este artículo pretende explorar la oposición entre la ley natural y el derecho positivo tal como surge en la trama del Decameron y en los cuentos de Martellino (II, 1) y de Madonna Filippa (VI, 7).

The Decameron novels represent an increasingly complex society. Several disciplines were developing, especially medicine, philosophy, law and literature. Boccaccio, who studied law for six years as mandated by his father, was an expert in both the literary and legal fields. The Decameron provides exceptional evidence of his knowledge of the law as well as his legal practice. This article aims to explore the opposition of natural law and positive law as it emerges in the plot of the Decameron and in the short stories of Martellino (II, 1) and of Madonna Filippa (VI, 7).