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Madonna Ambruogia
In Panfilo’s eighth tale (VIII, 2), the Worthy Priest cares for the souls of a small country hamlet. He’s not very educated but keeps his parishioners entertained with fun sermons and their wives from being lonely in their husbands’ absence. He foolishly pawns his woolen cloak for sex with Belcolore, but then tricks her into having to return it for free. He is a part of The Decameron’s anticlerical satire, with his interest in having sex and his reputation for ruining women’s honor. He also demonstrates the power men wield over women in the patriarchal hierarchy of medieval society, threatening Belcolore with hellfire until she forgives him for his trick.
Worthy Priest Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Worthy Priest or refer to Worthy Priest. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 8: Second Tale
Quotes
Her name was Monna Belcolore, she was married to a farmworker called Bentivegna del Mazzo, and without a doubt she was a vigorous and seductive-looking wench, buxom and brown as a berry, who seemed better versed in the grinder’s art than any other girl in the village. When […] she had occasion to play the tambourine, and sing […] and dance a reel or a jig […] she could knock the spots off every single one of her neighbors. Master Priest was so enthralled by all these talents of hers that he was driven to distraction […] Whenever he caught sight of her in church on a Sunday morning, he would intone a Kyrie and a Sanctus, trying very hard to sound like a master cantor when in fact he was braying like an ass, whereas if she was nowhere to be seen he would hardly open his lips.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“How much is it worth?” said the priest. “Why, I’ll have you know that it’s made of pure Douai, not to say Trouai, and there are those in the parish who would claim that it’s Quadrouai. I bought it less than a fortnight ago from Lotto, the old-clothes merchant, for exactly seven pounds, and according to Buglietto d’Alberto, who as you know is an expert in such matters, it would have been cheap at half the price.”
“Is that so?” said Belcolore, “So help me God, I would never have believed it. But anyway, let’s have a look.”
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
Worthy Priest Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Worthy Priest or refer to Worthy Priest. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 8: Second Tale
Quotes
Her name was Monna Belcolore, she was married to a farmworker called Bentivegna del Mazzo, and without a doubt she was a vigorous and seductive-looking wench, buxom and brown as a berry, who seemed better versed in the grinder’s art than any other girl in the village. When […] she had occasion to play the tambourine, and sing […] and dance a reel or a jig […] she could knock the spots off every single one of her neighbors. Master Priest was so enthralled by all these talents of hers that he was driven to distraction […] Whenever he caught sight of her in church on a Sunday morning, he would intone a Kyrie and a Sanctus, trying very hard to sound like a master cantor when in fact he was braying like an ass, whereas if she was nowhere to be seen he would hardly open his lips.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“How much is it worth?” said the priest. “Why, I’ll have you know that it’s made of pure Douai, not to say Trouai, and there are those in the parish who would claim that it’s Quadrouai. I bought it less than a fortnight ago from Lotto, the old-clothes merchant, for exactly seven pounds, and according to Buglietto d’Alberto, who as you know is an expert in such matters, it would have been cheap at half the price.”
“Is that so?” said Belcolore, “So help me God, I would never have believed it. But anyway, let’s have a look.”
