Day nine, without any specific theme, begins with a story (9.1) about a lady who saw off two unwanted lovers by giving them some highly unpalatable tasks. After skipping 9.2, we resume with a tale (9.3) of a nun who was caught with a lover, then got out of trouble by providing evidence that the abbess had a lover of her own. Finally, in story 9.4, we hear of a man who gambled away his friend's money, then managed to get hold of his clothes and horse as well. CONTENT WARNINGS: In the first story,...
Dec 01, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 37
For the last story of day eight (8.10), Dioneo tells us about an unscrupulous lady who made her living by seducing merchants and tricking them out of their goods, a merchant she swindled, and the way the merchant swindled her back. CONTENT WARNINGS: Discussion of slavery in the period
Nov 24, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Today's episode has one short story (8.8) and one long one (8.9). In the first, a man discovers his wife has been cheating on him with his best friend. So he decides to take some extremely proportionate revenge. In the second, Bruno and Buffalmaco (two tricksters we've met before), fool a stupid doctor into applying to join a highly implausible fraternity, then dump him in a ditch full of manure on his way there. CONTENT WARNINGS: In the first story, the protagonist walks in on his wife cheating...
Nov 17, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Today's episode is all about tricks and deception, justified or otherwise. In our first story (8.4), the protagonist tricks a priest who just won't take no for answer into sleeping with her maid, and getting caught doing it. In the second (8.5), an ill-dressed judge gets his breeches pulled down in the middle of court. In the third (8.6), a man's 'friends' decide to steal a pig from him, frame him for the theft, and extort some chickens from him into the bargain. CONTENT WARNINGS: In the first s...
Nov 10, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Our episode begins with skipping stories 7.8 and 7.9, for violence against women and against animals, respectively. Instead, we conclude day seven with Dioneo's tale (7.10) of a man returning from the dead to reassure his friend about the sins that are and are not punished in Purgatory. This is followed by two stories (8.1, 8.2) about men who found ways to retrieve the payment they had offered to women in exchange for their attentions. CONTENT WARNING: Prejudice against sex work. A repeated them...
Nov 03, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In story 7.5, a highly controlling jealous husband decides to pretend to be a priest so he can hear what his wife has to confess. She recognises him, and tricks him into lying in wait near the door while her lover comes in by the roof. In our second tale (7.7, after skipping 7.6), a nobleman-turned-servant arranges an assignation with his master's wife, only for her to wake her husband up when he gets to the bedroom. In the end, though, she and her lover enjoy themselves thoroughly, and her husb...
Oct 27, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 32
The second day continues with three stories about wives who get away with their lies and their lovers. In the first (7.2), a lover's presence is explained as a potential purchaser of a tub. In the second (7.3), the wife explains her lover's presence as him curing her child of a deadly illness. And in the third (7.4), a husband's plan to catch his wife out is turned on its head, and he gets caught out instead. CONTENT WARNINGS: In general, deceit and infidelity (obviously). In the second story, a...
Oct 20, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 31
It's the start of the seventh day, and Dioneo is in charge, with the theme: 'women playing tricks on their husbands. After the group has decamped to the unrealistically picturesque Valley of the Ladies, the stories begin with a tale (7.1) of a woman who warns her lover that her husband is at home with an informative 'exorcism' of the 'werewolf' she assures her husband has been tapping at the door.
Oct 13, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 30
This episode covers the rest of the sixth day, beginning with a story (6.6) joking about the ancient origins of a family known for their ugliness; then the ingenious legal defence of an adulterous woman (6.7); a quick tale (6.8) about a haughty young woman who didn't recognise an insult; and another (6.9) about a rather convoluted retort made by a scholarly young man to a group of foolish ones. Finally, Dioneo tells a story (6.10) about a particularly unscrupulous friar and the showmanship with ...
Oct 06, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Day 6 begins with an argument between servants about whether or not a woman they know came to her wedding bed a virgin. After arbitration by the queen of the day (with advice from Dioneo), our storytellers share several brief tales about witty comebacks. In the first (6.1), a woman gently advises a very poor storyteller to stop trying; in the second (6.2), a baker with very fine wines censures a servant trying to fetch some in too large a keg; in the third (6.4 - having skipped 6.3), a hapless c...
Sep 29, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 28
This episode marks the halfway mark of the Decameron, with a story told by Dioneo (5.10) which starts with a gay man failing to sexually satisfy his wife, and ends with a threesome. The story is followed by some reflection on the last six months of the podcast, and my thanks to Amanda Martel, my producer, and to all of you for listening. CONTENT WARNINGS: Homophobic language: A gay man in this story is repeatedly described in the narration as 'perverse', 'unnatural', etc - however he is not puni...
Sep 22, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Today's episode marks six months of the podcast, and thanks to a record number of skipped stories in a row, also brings us almost to the halfway point of the Decameron! In our first story (5.4), a young man manages to sneak into his beloved's house for some quality time...only to be caught by her parents in the morning. There follows a brief synopsis of the stories I am skipping (5.5-5.8), due to the violence and coercion of women they contain. Finally, we hear a tragic tale (5.9) of a man whose...
Sep 15, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Today's stories feature impulsive young lovers, separated by misfortune, and reunited by kindly strangers. In the first (5.2), a man rejected by his lover's family turns to piracy to make his fortune, only to be captured and imprisoned in Tunis. His lady, believing him to be dead, attempts suicide, but instead washes up on a foreign shore, and with the help of several people she meets there, is eventually reunited with him. In our second story (5.3), two young idiots elope, take a wrong turn, ge...
Sep 08, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Day five begins, on the theme of love that ended happily. However, our tale today (5.1) can only be said to end happily for the men, as the women are treated by the characters and the narrative as if they have no opinions or preferences of their own. The protagonist is inspired by the sight of his love to a serious self-improvement project, then when he is unable to negotiate a betrothal, decides to kidnap her on the way to her husband. The first kidnap attempt is temporarily successful; the sec...
Sep 01, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 24
This episode brings our fourth day and its gloomy theme (love that ended unhappily) to a close, with a gory and miserable narrative by the monarch of the day (4.9), followed by Dioneo blithely ignoring the day's theme to tell a comic tale instead (4.10). In Philostrato's story, a cuckolded husband takes gruesome revenge on his wife and her lover. (Please feel free to skip ahead to the end of the story at 8:40, if you'd rather only hear the funny one). In Dioneo's tale, a doctor's wife brings her...
Aug 25, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Our narrators return to Florence and some new working class characters, in two stories that attempt to be tragic and come out farcical instead. In one (4.7), an attempt at medieval forensics sees a woman die in exactly the same implausible way her lover did. In the other (4.8), a spurned would-be lover stubborns himself to death, and is inexplicably joined by the woman who rejected him. CONTENT WARNINGS: In the second story, there is a guy who REALLY doesn't know when to accept 'she's not into y...
Aug 18, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In today's stories of unhappy love, we have two examples of visions in a dream. In the first (4.5) a woman's lover is murdered by her brothers, and he appears to her in a dream to help her find his body. In the second (4.6) a man dismisses the ominous dreams of himself and his wife (who he married secretly), then dies suddenly and leaves her with the challenge of explaining the whole thing. CONTENT WARNINGS: Gore. In story one, after finding her lover's body, the protagonist cuts off his head an...
Aug 11, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In today's episode, our storytellers continue to try to tell a story miserable enough for Filostrato, who has demanded tales of love that ended unhappily. After skipping story 4.2, 4.3 describes three pairs of teenagers who run away together, but whose happy ending turns to disaster after the eldest of the young men can't keep his eyes off the pretty locals. In story 4.4, two lovers learn of each other through rumour, fall in love based on reputation, and begin a relationship through letters. Be...
Aug 04, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Day four begins with an authorial digression, in which Giovanni explains and disputes the criticism he has been receiving. From there, we launch into our first story of unhappy love (4.1): a true tragedy in which a woman's lover is murdered by her father and she kills herself in response. CONTENT WARNING: Obviously, strong warning for suicide. It's fairly specifically described in the text, but I do give a verbal warning and summary before the grisly bits, and there's nothing important you'll mi...
Jul 28, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Skipping stories 3.8 and 3.10, in this episode we bring the third day to its conclusion with a tale (3.9) about a clever and determined woman, who neatly outmaneuvers her husband so that he is forced to acknowledge her worth and give her the respect she is due. CONTENT WARNING: Sex by deceit. The protagonist disguises herself as someone else to trick her husband into consummating their marriage.
Jul 21, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode, a particularly long story (3.7) is skimmed, summarised, and bitched at. The protagonist, having been blanked by his lover, disappears for seven years, and comes back to find that he has apparently been recently murdered, and his lover's husband has been convicted of the deed. Rather than clear things up immediately, he takes the opportunity to manipulate everyone involved. CONTENT WARNINGS: Manipulative behaviour. The protagonist (in disguise) convinces his lover that he is God'...
Jul 14, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Today's stories (3.4 and 3.5) both feature men who managed to arrange liasons with married women under their husbands noses. In the first, the husband is preoccupied by prayer in the next room; in the second, the lover carries on both parts of the conversation himself.
Jul 07, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In today's story (3.3), a woman decides she wants to have an affair with a particular gentleman. So she informs his friend, a friar, very specifically of all the things he really shouldn't do to such a respectable lady! (The gentleman gets the hint; the friar doesn't.) CONTENT WARNING: False accusations of sexual harassment, relying on the fact that the one who is told won't take direct action.
Jun 30, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Day 3 begins with two stories about men who satisfied their desires through deception, and got away with it. In the first (3.1), a labourer pretends to be deaf-mute in order to get hired by a nunnery, and quickly gets co-opted by the nuns to see to more than the garden. In the second (3.2), a groom disguises himself in order to sleep with a queen, and despite the king realising what happened almost immediately afterwards, remains unidentified thanks to his quick wits. CONTENT WARNINGS: In the fi...
Jun 23, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In this story (2.10), a young woman is kidnapped from her old and unsatisfactory husband by a pirate, who proves to be far more satisfactory. Repeatedly, and at considerable length. When her husband arrives and tries to reclaim her, she informs him of that fact. Repeatedly, and at considerable length.
Jun 16, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In today's story (2.9), locker room talk turns into a boast, then into a bet, then sneaking into someone's bedroom, stealing their stuff, and accusing them of adultery, which is followed by attempted murder, a secret escape, living in disguise, dramatic revelations, and a gruesome punishment for...ONE of the guys responsible? Unsurprisingly, this is accompanied by a lot of bitching. CONTENT WARNINGS: Locker room talk, throughout. Sexual harrassment: a character sneaks into a woman's room and exa...
Jun 09, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 12
After skipping story 2.7 (due to intolerable values clash), this episode picks up with story 2.8, a truly Shakespearian plot of deceit, hidden identities, convenient illnesses, and dramatic revelations at the very end.
Jun 02, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In today's story (2.6), a family is split up by war, shipwreck, and piracy, and experiences increasingly implausible adventures in the decade and a half before they are all reunited.
May 26, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In our first story (2.4), a failed merchant turns pirate, gets captured by other pirates, gets shipwrecked, and quits the trading life altogether once he makes it home. In our second (2.5), a well-meaning but foolish young man has a hell of a night in Naples, but loses no more than he gains.
May 19, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In this episode, in a single story (2.3), we encounter: Fair and clever young gentleman thrown into poverty; There was only one bed; Woman disguised as a man; [redacted]; Secret marriage; Secret royalty; God/fortune brought me the perfect husband; Maids when you're young never wed an old man; Rags to riches; Moneylender makes good; Inherently noble protagonist becomes king; and Happy ending! There's also an unusually large amount of historical commentary, on the investiture controversy, interest...
May 12, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 8
