Saint John’s Day in Florence

Saint John’s Day in Florence is presented as both a public festival and the setting for a sharp reversal of social embarrassment. During a ride through the city on the feast, Bishop Antonio d'Orso points out the newly married Nonna de' Pulci to Dego della Ratta, a royal marshal whose earlier conduct toward a woman in the bishop’s family gives her retort its particular force.

The Feast and Its Public Setting

The story places the encounter on Saint John’s Day, as the bishop and Dego ride alongside one another and watch the ladies gathered along the route of the race for the mantle. A note identifies this race, the palio, as one traditionally run at Florence on Saint John’s Day; it compares it with the Barberi race at Rome during Carnival. The feast is thus marked by a public spectacle and a crowd among whom words about a woman’s reputation can carry immediate weight.

Nonna’s Retort

Antonio points Nonna out to Dego and, as they draw near her, rests a hand on the marshal’s shoulder while asking whether she might win him over. Nonna hears the remark as an affront to her honor, especially because many people are present to hear it. Rather than accept the bishop’s teasing on its terms, she replies that she might not win Dego, but would in any case require good money.

The Earlier Scandal and Its Reversal

The retort recalls Dego’s arrangement with the miserly husband of a Florentine lady, the bishop’s granddaughter through his brother. Dego had agreed to pay five hundred florins for a night with her; he then gave the husband silver poplins gilded to resemble gold florins. The woman had not consented, and the husband’s sordid bargain brought him both loss and public scorn. Antonio affected ignorance of the affair. When Nonna’s answer touches both men—Dego as its perpetrator and the bishop as the relative of the woman he had wronged—they ride away ashamed and silent.

Narrative Significance

The feast’s crowds make the exchange more than private banter: Nonna’s answer publicly turns an attempt to test or compromise her reputation back upon the men who presume to do so. The episode links the ceremonial bustle of Saint John’s Day with the story’s concern for wit, honor, and the consequences of judging how far a jest may go. Its festive setting gives the retort an audience, while the remembered deception supplies its sting.