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Why did Giovanni Boccaccio retire to Certaldo in 1363?
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Giovanni Boccaccio
Italian poet and scholar Giovanni Boccaccio, detail of a fresco by Andrea del Castagno; in the Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia, Florence.
In 1363, Giovanni Boccaccio was compelled to retire to the village of Certaldo due to poverty. Throughout his later years, he faced significant financial hardship, often struggling in near destitution and relying on the transcription of his own works and those of others to earn an income.1