"I don't like them a bit, and may God condemn them all; and I tell you this because as far as I was able to determine, I saw there no holiness, no devotion, no good work or exemplary life, or anything else among the clergy; instead, lust, avarice, gluttony, fraud, envy, pride, and the like and even worse (if worse than this is possible) were so completely in charge there that I believe that city is more a forge for the Devil's work than for God's: in my opinion, that Shepherd of yours and, as a result, all of the others as well are trying as quickly as possible and with all the talent and skill they have to reduce the Christian religion to nothing and to drive it from the face of the earth when they really should act as its support and foundation. And since I have observed that, in spite of all this, they do not succeed but, on the contrary, that your religion continuously grows and becomes brighter and more illustrious, I am justly of the opinion that it has the Holy Spirit as its foundation and support, and that it is truer and holier than any other religion; therefore, although I once was adamant and unheeding to your pleas and did not want to become a Christian, now I tell you most frankly that I would allow nothing to prevent me from becoming a Christian" (Bocaccio 35). In just two sentences, Bocaccio at once strips the hierarchy of the formal Church of any vestige of piety and mocks the popularity of the Christian religion itself. Bocaccio literally lists six of the seven "Deadly Sins" in describing the actions of the Pope and his cardinals to portray the hypocrisy present in the Church élite. He then follows this construction immediately with Abraham's pronouncement that because of Christianity's "illustrious" nature, he himself wishes to become a Christian. This palpable irony, expressed textually through Giannotto's surprise, defines the absurdity of Christianity's growth. For although Abrahams decision to join Christianity may be read as a sound action since he "live[s] a holy life" (36), it should be understood that his isn't the common action. Abraham travels to Rome to come to his understanding of God's hand in Christianity's prevalence, something uncommon but for those nearby or wealthy. Bocaccio sees Christianity as a religion sold to the masses as a road to holiness, but which is in actuality a financial construct of the wicked.
"Before you come any closer, listen to what I have to tell you. As you can see for yourself, I am a woman and not a man; I left my home a virgin, and I was going to the Pope to be married, and through your good fortune or my own misfortune, whatever the case may be, I fell so much in love with you when I saw you the other day that no woman ever burned with more love for another man. For this reason I have decided to take you as my husband over all other men; so if you do not wish to take me as your wife, leave here immediately and return to where you were" (78). Bocaccio portrays the rash juvenility of the princess' actions coupled with her high station to criticize the power of the monarchy and the relationship the disenfranchised share with it. That the princess has the privilege to be married by the Pope of all people and to decide on a whim who she will marry, all while being a runaway starkly contrasts Alessandro's almost complete lack of autonomy, being in the dire straits of getting his uncles out of jail and a sea of debt. None the less, ignorant of the power structure present in the relationship, Alessandro jumps to be married up, just as the impoverished are duped into the scheme-arriviste.
"And besides this, he said a good deal more about his loyalty and his purity; in short, with his words, which were taken by the people of the countryside as absolute truth, he fixed Ser Ciappelletto so firmly in the minds and the devotions of all those who were present there that after the service was over, everyone pressed forward to kiss the hands and feet of the deceased, and all his garments were torn off his corpse, since anyone who could got hold of a piece of them considered himself blessed" (31). More on the confusion that religion and lies can pull the truth down to. Parallel to Ciappelletto's lies are the lies of the Church that monetize salvation. Interesting metaphor here how as Ciappelletto is buried and to be judged by God in complete honesty spiritually so his clothes are torn from his body and he is made nude literally.
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