Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), Italian poet, author and Renaissance humanist. Most sources think Boccaccio was born in Certaldo, Tuscany. He grew up in Florence, but in 1326 moved to Naples with his family. He was apprenticed to his father's bank but showed no love of the trade and persuaded his father to allow him to study law instead. He studied widely and made many good contacts. He returned to Florence in 1341 to work for the government which in 1349 allowed him to start his greatest work, Decameron. In 1350 he was delegated to meet Petrarch as he entered Florence, and the two became great friends. Petrarch convinced Boccaccio to study classical Greek and Latin literature, it was the attempt to fuse the classical mythology with Christian thought that started the Renaissance humanist movement. Boccaccio and Petrarch were also considered the leading archaeologists of their day.