Boccaccio's Love Tale

An interesting idea also an useful one to survive. Ten Florentine youth, seven women and three men to escape the Black Death, decided to flee to a remote villa in a country-side called Fiesole in Italy and stay there until the disease got subsided. Each evening they narrated tales to kill boredom and ennui except one day that dedicated to house-hold chores. On the tenth day, they were amazed to find them in possession of one hundred tales with them. The title of the book literally means 'Ten-day Event' (The Decameron). Boccaccio's 'Federigo and Giovanna' is the penultimate tale of the fifth day's narration. Boccaccio started composing this work, the one hundred tales, probably in 1350 and took one to three years to complete it. This interesting love story is about a young man of Florence, the son of Messers Filippo Alberighi. He is Federigo degli Alberighi. Federigo is in love with a very beautiful woman of Florence, Monna Giovanna.

Federigo was head over heels in love with the woman that he did everything to attract her. He took part in Joust and Tourneys and threw parties extensively and invited the gentle folk of the town. This unstinting love was snubbed by Giovanna who held up her chastity and threw no glance at this man. Federigo never stopped his activities and soon became a victim of penury. He sold all his wealth and chose to endure his poverty by staying on the only remaining farm of him in Campi. He held in possession a Falcon and that comforted him during his moments of dismay. In the meantime, Giovanna happily married and gave out a male child to the world. She was living happily until her husband fell ill and made a will to bequeath all his property to his lovable son, and made his wife heir to the property lest the son could die without legitimate children. After her husband's death, the widow came to spend sometime on one of her farms in Campi. There her son managed to hook up a friend-ship with Federigo and became a great fan of the falcon. One day the boy suddenly fell ill and day by day his illness aggravated. Monna was worried and wanted to mitigate his illness by doing what the boy really required. Knowing that the boy wants to possess the falcon of Federigo, Giovanna with all humility decided to visit him in person and with shame would ask for the falcon. On seeing Giovanna at his doorstep, that she never condescended to visit him when he was rich, Federigo became happy and decided to give her what he could. She expressed her interest in dining with him and unfortunately the poor man could not afford a decent meal. At last he killed the falcon and made a fine curry and served her with all happiness. Afterwards he felt bad of doing so, as the visit of hers was to have the falcon alive for her son. Reconciling with the fate, Giovanna returned empty-handed and the son of hers died owing either to the disappointment or the unrelenting illness in a few days. Giovanna was still young and rich and her brothers compelled her to marry and she decided to take the gentlemanly Federigo as her husband in the end.