The word “faith” in reference to religion emphasizes the uncertain nature of religion. By definition, if one is religious, one must trust and take a leap of faith to come to a conclusion about one's gods, spirits, or idols. Faith is based on the notion that there could never be undeniable evidence about a certain religious figure or idea. Rather, one must believe regardless of faltering or non-existent evidence. One must trust one's religious institutions, the word of those in religious authority, or the experiences of those deemed trustworthy. This 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 Boccaccio wrote, had the reflex to believe rather than disprove. Through the secular lens of Boccaccio, it is clear that this reflex predisposes 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 San Ciappelletto and the story of Friar Albert. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the Decameron, after the group of travelers settle in while fleeing the plague that has infected Florence, they begin to tell stories. The queen of the day, Pampinea, chooses Pamphilus to begin one of her stories, allowing him to talk about whatever topic he likes. Before embarking on his story, Pamphilus spends a lot of time talking about God, stating that “everything man does should begin with the sacred and admirable name of Him who was the creator of 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, as it highlights at the beginning of the narrative of both the story and the book as a whole God's inability to be fooled or deceived. This not only emphasizes the character's trust in God, but also prepares the reader to expect many deceptions to which humans are susceptible to occur in the book. Pamphilus goes on to point out that God's omniscience is independent of the motives of the supplicant or the ignorance of the intercessor. Going into his story, Pamphilus says that all the virtues of God “are clearly seen in the story I propose to tell; and I say this clearly because it is not a question of God's judgment, 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 humanity in a religious context can lead to deception or evil. After this preface, Panfilo begins his story with a man called Ciappelletto, which means small chapel, although in reality his name was Cepparello which refers to a trunk (70). It is significant that the name of the main character of the story means chapel, because we are led to detest this character. He is described as a “powerful blasphemer of God and His saints,” specifically “cheerfully assaulting or killing people with his own hands” and “losing his temper on 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 you imagine reading the Decameron in Italian, the reference to a small chapel is painfully clear every time Ciappelletto's name is mentioned, especially if in a negative context. It seems that Boccaccio is pushing the readerto harbor a negative feeling towards religious institutions, such as a small chapel. When Ciappelletto fell deathly ill, he asked the “holiest and most able friar” for his final confession (73). This request in itself is counterintuitive. If Ciappelletto was truly a bad man, why would he require the presence of a friar in church in the first place? Or, why would he ask the holiest friar who would condemn him for his wicked life? The answers to these questions soon become clear, when Ciappelletto begins a series of false confessions that lead the friar to believe that he is in fact a profoundly pure and spiritual man in contrast to his true personality. Ciappelletto's trick soon becomes clear when the friar believes his every word, praising "how nobly you have lived!" (74). The false stories that Ciappelletto tells about his life are audacious. His “sins” are so extraordinarily perfect; he says he is a virgin (74), that he has 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 UP. As good a liar as Ciappelletto may be, it is difficult to believe that a holy and rational man such as we presume the friar to be would believe such brazen statements as these. It is even harder to believe when one remembers that the friar practices in Burgundy, whose people are described as “an absolutely wicked and unprincipled set of people” (70). To understand why the friar was so eager to believe Ciappelletto and preach his reputation as a saint we must remember the consequences of Ciappelletto's death. The people were so enthusiastic about Saint Ciappelletto that "everyone crowded around the body" (80) at the friar's church. They even began to "start making votive offerings and decorating the chapel with wax figures" (81). The church where Ciappelletto was buried, the friar's church, acquired great fame. With fame comes people, with people comes reputation, and as 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 friar may well be the “holiest and most capable friar” anyone could hope for (73). Regardless, he so desperately wanted Ciappelletto to become a saint, knowing the fame a saint in his church could bring, that he tricked himself into believing Ciappelletto's bold lies. His faith made him naive to Ciappelleto's deception. The friar's naive behavior is not forgotten on the fourth day, when Pampinea prefaces his story by stating that he wants to "illustrate the extraordinary and perverse hypocrisy of members of religious orders" (343). His accusation continues by stating that "they are engaging in a passive deception of which they themselves, if they truly believe what they say, are the first victims" (343). This phrase applies directly to the friar in Ciappelletto's story, who allowed himself to be deceived into believing he was in the presence of a saint, and whose religious authority spread this lie far and wide. It is also important to note that Pampinea places the blame on the friar and those responsible for religious institutions, not on the religion itself. Indeed, she looks to God, without the interference of a human being or an institution, to “punish [the friar's] lies” (343). Pampinea's story is also about a friar, however her friar is more forthright about his intent to deceive. It features a "corrupt" man (343) named Berto della Massa, who has changed his name and outward personality to "the most Catholic man who ever lived" (344), Friar Albert. He tricks a beautiful woman into sleeping with himand vain, Mona Lisetta, saying that the Angel Gabriel has fallen in love with her and would like to use the Friar's earthly body to grant his wish (345-347). Whenever she wishes, Friar Albert visits her disguised as an angel, and Mona Lisetta happily obeys. While the audience is not meant to perceive Mrs. Lisetta in the most positive light, she is presented as "frivolous and careless" (344), we must also remember that she is a religious woman. She went to confess to the friar who was considered one of the best friars available to her. Not only that, but her confession was thorough, as evidenced when Boccaccio writes that “she had completed only a fraction of her business, kneeling all the time at his feet[...]” (345). She was also particularly devoted to the angel Gabriel, "never failed to light a cheap candle in his honor" (347). This religious trait of hers is crucial when it comes to the deception she fell in love with at the hands of Friar Albert. She had no reason not to trust Brother Albert, nor did she have reason to doubt that the angel Gabriel was in love with her, being particularly devoted to him. Indeed, her vanity and devotion provided her with great motivation to believe the impossible idea that an angel had fallen in love with her. She wanted so much to be special and holy, so she allowed herself to be deceived, just like the friar in the previous story. The friar used his religious authority, knowing Catholicism's expectations of making judgments of faith without irrefutable evidence, to deceive an innocent if “half-idiot” woman (345). The first half of this story echoes the previous story discussed. Distrust of religious institutions, such as Ciappelletto's "little chapel", and a friar's understanding of humanity allow this new story, so outwardly critical of Catholicism, to take place. Unlike the story of San Ciappelletto, however, the conclusion of this story is much more violent. When it is discovered that someone disguised as Angel Gabriel had slept with Mona Lisetta, Brother Albert is forced to flee. After a series of events, a man described exclusively as "honest" (351) tricks the Friar into walking around the town square by taking him on a leash covered in honey and feathers (352). Brother Albert is recognized and ridiculed, the villagers “mocked him in unison, calling him the most disgusting names and shouting the most sordid insults” (352). In this story justice is served and the friar is punished for his deception. It is important to note, however, that his punishment, although administered by an “honest” man, hinged on deception. Brother Albert believed him in his desperation. This small part of the story is an important example of deception because it shows that people are deceived not because the trick played on them was impossible to disprove, but because they need to believe. This idea parallels and holds that those who want to believe, as people do with religion, risk being deceived. The story ends when the other friars of the town came to save Brother Albert by covering him with a cloak and escorting him away (353). They then lock him in his room, and "there he is believed to have spent the remainder of his days in misery and misery" (353). The friars did not publicly condemn him, nor did they expel him from their church. Although it has not returned to its former glory, it has not been condemned or held up as an example. The friar's silence regarding his deception serves as acceptance of his actions. Their responsibility for the outcome of the narrative is emphasized in the story's final line, "[m]y it please God that a like fate befall each of his fellows" (353). It becomes clear that “his companions” do