Histoires tragiques were a genre of French fiction in 16th-17th centuries, a Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 rendering of Boccaccio's type of short stories

Short Stories

Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...

, concentrating on the dark side of human nature.

The progenitor of this kind of a story was Pierre Boaistuau

Pierre Boaistuau

Pierre Boaistuau, also known as Pierre Launay or Sieur de Launay was a French humanist. 'Boaistuau' is the manner of spelling followed by the majority of secondary works in which he has been mentioned...

 with his translation of Matteo Bandello

Matteo Bandello

-Biography:Matteo Bandello was born at Castelnuovo Scrivia, near Tortona , c. 1480 or 1485. He received a good education, and entered the church, but does not seem to have been very interested in theology. For many years he lived at Mantua, and superintended the education of the celebrated Lucrezia...

's Novelli published in French as Histoires tragiques (1559). Boaistuau selected from Bandello six most dark and gorey stories and changed them for his means. He was followed by François de Belleforest

François de Belleforest

François de Belleforest was a prolific French author, poet and translator of the Renaissance. He was born in a poor family and his father was killed when he was seven...

 who adapted 12 more stories for the new edition in 1570.

Those dark mood stories were imitated vy writers like Jacques Yver (Le Printemps d’Yver, 1572), Vérité Habanc (Nouvelles Histoires tant tragiques que comiques, 1585), Bénigne Poissenot (Nouvelles Histoires Tragiques, 1586), Alexandre Sylvain (Epitomes de cent histoires tragicques, 1581), and Bruneau de Rivedoux (Histoire véritable de certains voyages périlleux et hasardeux sur la mer, 1599).

François de Rosset began to borrow plots for his tragic stories from contemporary crime chronicle (Les Histoires tragiques de nostre temps, 1615), and this innovation proved to be extremely popular.

Another important author is Jean-Pierre Camus

Jean-Pierre Camus

Jean-Pierre Camus de Pontcarré was a French bishop, preacher, and author of works of fiction and spirituality.-Biography:...

who adds infernal and diabolical theme.

Literature

• Poli, Sergio. Histoire(s) tragique(s) : anthologie-typologie d'un genre littéraire. Fasano, Schena, 1991. 520 p.
• Ferrari, Stéphan. Histoire tragique et grande histoire : Rencontre de deux genres. Dalhousie French Studies, Winter 2003, 65, p. 18-35.