The Decameron

“My son, this is not a thing to worry about. We members of religious orders spit there continually.”

The clergy is corrupt to the extent that the minor transgressions which worry the laity are irrelevant to the actual priests and monks in the church. Whereas a person might worry about spitting in a church, a priest confesses absentmindedly that the clergy commit such sins so often that they barely register any longer. Rather than being the most pious and dedicated of all people, the clergy is more corrupt than the general population.

“It’s always a good idea, in my opinion, to accept any gift that the Good Lord places in our path.”

The corruption of the clergy is a frequent theme in The Decameron. One of the key ways in which this corruption manifests itself is in members of the clergy using their knowledge of religion to provide spiritual-sounding pretexts to justify their own sinning. When a priest wants to satisfy his carnal desires, for example, he invents an absurd religious justification for his behavior which cannot be questioned by other people. Through this method, the clergy twist religion into a corrupt validation of their own sinful behavior.

“He felt he would rather die than return home poverty-stricken.”

For the noble classes and the wealthy, reputation is invaluable. Landolfo would rather be dead than have people believe that he is broke. Importantly, Landolfo is less concerned about actually being poor than people believing that he is poor. His reputation is invaluable to him, while actual wealth can be replaced.