Madonna Filippa
Intro
- Storyteller: Filostrato
- True to his nature, Filostrato's going to top all the stories on this day by adding a life-or-death element to his. It's good to say the right thing at the right time, he says, but saying it when your life's on the line is even better.
Story
- There was a law in Prato that sentenced any woman caught in the act of adultery to be burned alive.
- Unfortunately for the beautiful and intelligent Madonna Filippa, she's caught in the act by her husband, Rinaldo. He immediately denounces her to the authorities.
- Though her friends and family beg her to lie about the affair, Filippa won't do it. She's ennobled by love and stuff.
- So she goes before the chief magistrate and tells him straight up that she was indeed caught by her husband.
- But she insists the law's invalid. Men and women are supposed to be equal before the law and this particular law only applies to women. You go, girl.
- She then asks a favor of the magistrate: ask my husband if I've ever denied my body to him.
- Rinaldo readily admits that he gets his fill.
- Filippa takes the opening. What's she to do, then, with all the surplus? Is she supposed to waste it?
- The court erupts into laughter and agrees with Filippa's arguments.
- Not only does Filippa beat the charge and the punishment, but the law's amended to apply only to unfaithful wives who take money for their services.