The word “faith” in reference to religion emphasizes the uncertain nature of religion. By definition, if someone is religious, they must trust and take a leap of faith to come to a conclusion about their gods, spirits, or idols. Faith is based on the idea that there can never be undeniable proof regarding a certain religious figure or idea. Rather, one must believe regardless of flimsy or non-existent evidence. One must trust their religious institutions, the word of those in religious authority, or the experiences of those considered trustworthy. It is an idea that Boccaccio explores, tests, and violates in his book, The Decameron, influenced by literature's movement toward secular realism. When it came to religion, people, especially at the time when Boccaccio wrote, had the reflex to believe rather than refute. Through the secular prism of Boccaccio, it is clear that this reflex incites people to deception. This theme that religion causes susceptibility to illusion can be best seen in the key stories of the Decameron: the story of Saint Ciappelletto and the story of Friar Alberto. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In The Decameron, after the group of travelers settle down as they flee the plague that has infected Florence, they begin to tell stories. The queen of the day, Pampinea, chooses Panfilo to begin with one of his stories, allowing him to speak on whatever subject he prefers. Before launching into his story, Panfilo spends a lot of time talking about God, saying that “everything that man does must begin with the sacred and admirable name of Him who created all things” (Boccaccio 68). He continues for another page or so, describing the grace and good deeds of his god, describing him as “He from whom nothing is hidden” (69). This phrase is crucial, because it highlights from the beginning of the telling of the story and the book as a whole God's inability to be deceived or deceived. This not only emphasizes the character's trust in God, but also prepares the reader to expect many deceptions to occur throughout the book that humans are susceptible to. Panfilo goes on to emphasize God's omniscience, regardless of the supplicant's motives or the intercessor's ignorance. In the introduction to his story, Panfilo says that all the virtues of God “can be clearly seen in the story which I propose to tell; and I say it clearly because it is not a question of the judgment of God but of that of men” (69). By emphasizing the purity of God and the inevitable wrongness of humanity, Boccaccio prepares the reader to pay attention to how one's own humanity in a religious context can lead to deception or wrongdoing. After this preface, Panfilo begins his story with a man called Ciappelletto, which means small chapel, although his name was actually Cepparello, which refers to a log (70). It is significant that the main character's name in the story means chapel, because we are led to dislike this character. He is described as a “powerful blasphemer of God and his saints,” especially “gleefully attacking or killing people with his own hands” and “growing angry at the slightest pretext” (71). The irony of him having a holy name and being a bad person, while also serving a comedic purpose, also serves to show Boccaccio's dislike of the Church. If we imagine reading the Decameron in Italian, the reference to a small chapel becomes painfully clear each time theCiappelletto's name is mentioned, especially in a negative context. It seems that Boccaccio is encouraging the reader to carry a negative feeling towards religious institutions, such as a small chapel. When Ciappelletto fell mortally ill, he asked the “holiest and most capable brother” for his final confession (73). This request itself is counterintuitive. If Ciappelletto was truly a bad man, why would he ask for a brother to be in the first place? Or why would he ask for the holiest brother who would condemn him for his evil life? The answers to these questions soon become clear when Ciappelletto begins a series of false confessions that make the friar believe that he was in fact a deeply pure and spiritual man, which contrasts with his true personality. Ciappelletto's trick quickly becomes clear when the friar believes his every word, praising "how nobly you have lived!" » (74). The false stories Ciappelletto tells about his life are audacious. His “sins” are extremely perfect; he says that he is a virgin (74), that he fasted regularly (74), that he only loses his temper when people commit blasphemy (76), that he has never lied in his entire life (77), and so on. As good a liar as Ciappelletto is, it is hard to believe that a holy and rational man who we assume to be the brother would believe such brazen claims as these. This is even more difficult to believe when we remember that the brother practices in Burgundy, whose people are described as "a group of completely evil and unprincipled people" (70). In order to understand why the friar was so eager to believe Ciappelletto and preach his reputation for holiness, we must remember the consequences of Ciappelletto's death. People were so enthusiastic about Saint Ciappelletto that “everyone crowded around the body”(80) at the friar’s church. They even began “to make ex-votos and to decorate the chapel with wax figures” (81). The church where Ciappelletto was buried, the brother's church, acquired great fame. With fame comes people, with people comes increased reputation, and when a church's reputation increases, so does the amount of offerings and money the church receives. This is where Boccaccio's theme of the susceptibility to deception that religion induces becomes clear. The brother may very well be the “holiest and most competent brother” one could hope for (73). Regardless, he so desperately wanted Ciappelletto to be a saint, knowing the fame a saint in his church could bring, that he deceived himself into believing Ciappelletto's bold lies. His faith made him gullible to Ciappelleto's tricks. The friar's gullible behavior is not forgotten on the fourth day, when Pampinea prefaces her story by stating that it is intended to "illustrate the extraordinary and perverse hypocrisy of members of religious orders" (343). His accusation goes on to say that "they practice a trick of passive confidence, of which they themselves, if they really believe what they say, are the first victims" (343). This phrase applies directly to the brother in Ciappelletto's story, who allowed himself to be deceived into believing that he was in the presence of a saint and whose religious authority impressed this lie on people around the world . It is also important to note that Pampinea blames the brother and those responsible for religious institutions, not the religion itself. In fact, she turns to God, without the intervention of a human being or an institution, to “punish [the brother’s] lies” (343). Pampinea's story is also about a brother, but her brother is more direct about his intention to deceive. It presents a “twisted” man (343)named Berto della Massa, who changed his name and outward appearance to become "the most Catholic man who ever lived" (344), Brother Alberto. He tricks a beautiful and vain woman named Monna Lisetta into sleeping with him by telling her that the Angel Gabriel has fallen in love with her and therefore would like to use the brother's earthly body to fulfill his desire (345- 347). Whenever he wishes, Brother Alberto visits him in his angel disguise, and Monna Lisetta willingly visits him. Although the audience is not meant to perceive Lady Lisetta in the most positive light, she is presented as "frivolous and scattered" (344). we must also remember that she is a religious woman. She went to confess to the brother who was considered one of the best brothers available to her. Not only that, but her confession was thorough, as evidenced by Boccaccio writing that "she had accomplished only a fraction of his business, kneeling all the time at his feet [...]" (345). She was also particularly devoted to the Angel Gabriel, “she never failed to light a four-cent candle in his honor” (347). This religious trait is crucial when it comes to the deception she fell into at the hands of Brother Alberto. She had no reason not to trust Brother Alberto, nor to doubt that the Angel Gabriel could be in love with her, because she was particularly devoted to him. In fact, her vanity and dedication greatly motivated her to believe in the impossible idea that an angel fell in love with her. She badly wanted to be special and holy, so she allowed herself to be deceived, just like the brother in the previous story. The brother used his religious authority, knowing the expectations of Catholicism to make judgments of faith without incontrovertible evidence, to deceive an innocent although “idiotic” woman (345). The first half of this story echoes the previous story discussed. Distrust of religious institutions, like Ciappelletto's "little chapel," and a brother's understanding of humanity allow this new story, so outwardly critical of Catholicism, to unfold. However, unlike the story of Saint Ciappelletto, the conclusion of this story is much more violent. When it is revealed that someone disguised as the angel Gabriel had slept with Monna Lisetta, Brother Alberto is forced to flee. After a series of events, a man described exclusively as "honest" (351) tricks the brother into walking around the town square with a leash covered in honey and feathers (352). Brother Alberto is recognized and ridiculed, the inhabitants “mocked him in unison, calling him the most filthy names and shouting the most filthy insults” (352). In this story, justice is served and the brother is punished for his deception. It is important to note, however, that his punishment, although administered by an "honest" man, was based on deception. Brother Alberto believed him in his despair. This small part of the story is an important example of deception because it proves that people are deceived not because the trick played on them was impossible to disprove, but because they need to believe. This notion parallels and holds that those who want to believe, as people do with religion, are susceptible to being deceived. The story ends when the other brothers of the city came to save Brother Alberto by covering him with a cape and escorting him (353). They then lock him in his room, and “it is there that he would have spent the rest of his days in misery and misery” (353). The brothers did not condemn him publicly nor did they expel him from their church. Even if it does not regain its former glory, it is neither