Italian writer, soldier, monk, and bishop, best known for his Novelle, a collection of short stories published in four volumes between 1554 and 1573. Bandello's work popularized the genre of the short story, a trend which influenced the literature of England, France, and Spain for the remainder of the sixteenth century. Bandello's stories have been adapted into plays by dramatists such as John Webster, Philip Massinger, and John Fletcher, but the most famous adaptation of his work is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.