 "Othello" has its source in the 1565 tale, "Un Capitano Moro" from "Gli Hecatommithi" by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio.While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, it is probable that Shakespeare knew both the Italian original and Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation.Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508.