Boccaccio's Satire: Ser Ciappelletto Targets Merchants and Clergy

An article by Andrea Romagna for MifacciodiCultura, published on Artspecialday, examines the satirical novella of Ser Ciappelletto from Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron. The piece highlights how Boccaccio used irony and grotesque humor to critique the mercantile bourgeoisie and the clergy. Ser Ciappelletto, described as the worst man ever born, is a deceitful and wicked notary who, on his deathbed, fabricates a pious confession to a naive friar, leading to his sainthood. The novella serves as a double satire: against the profit-driven merchants and against the corrupt clergy who readily grant beatifications. Boccaccio's linguistic register in the Decameron is noted for its vivid realism, including scabrous terms from 14th-century daily life. The article also references the frame story of ten young Florentines (three women and seven men) who flee to the Fiesole hills to escape the Black Death of 1348, telling stories over ten days. The author draws parallels between the malpractices satirized by Boccaccio and their continued relevance today.