Francois de Belleforest wrote.
François de Belleforest ( 1530 -- 1 January 1583 ) was a prolific French author , poet and translator of the Renaissance . His most successful work was most likely his translation and adaptation of the `` histoires tragiques '' by the Italian Matteo Bandello , which built on the work of Pierre Boaistuau and eventually amounted to seven volumes ( 1564-1582 ) .