Third Day of the Decameron

The Third Day of the Decameron is one turn in a ten-day storytelling refuge shaped by plague, confinement, and the need for consolation. Its surviving day-specific evidence brings the day to a close through a story of healing, a marriage imposed against the bridegroom’s will, and a wife’s resourceful effort to win her husband’s love; the transition into the next day sharply changes the stated subject, from the Third Day’s final tale to the Fourth Day’s unhappy loves.

Place in the Storytelling Cycle

The company’s stories belong to a ten-day sequence: an honourable gathering of seven women and three young men recounts one hundred tales during the days of the deadly pestilence, with songs by the women for diversion. The work presents this storytelling as solace, particularly for women in love, whose restricted circumstances leave them fewer ways to dispel melancholy than men have. The Third Day is therefore not simply a date in the sequence; it is one part of a shared practice of turning stories into relief.

The Day’s Final Story

The day’s ninth story is announced after the preceding tale, with the queen taking her turn following Lauretta. Its heading gives the central movement of the plot: Gillette de Narbonne cures the King of France of a fistula and asks for Bertrand de Roussillon as her husband. The king has promised to marry her to the husband she chooses if she succeeds in curing him, and Gillette names Bertrand, whom she has loved since childhood. Bertrand objects to the match and refuses his consent, but the king holds him to the promise made in return for his recovery and sends him away with Gillette as his wife.

The tale’s summary carries the story beyond that forced marriage. Bertrand leaves for Florence in defiance, where he courts a young woman; Gillette takes that woman’s place and lies with him. She bears Bertrand twin sons, and he eventually holds her dear and accepts her as his wife. The ending turns the tale’s initial imbalance—Gillette’s devotion and skill set against Bertrand’s rejection—into a union he comes to value.

Closing and Transition

After the stories, the company’s evening continues with lamps kindled on the grass among the flowers and further songs. The king keeps the singing going until the stars begin to decline; then, judging it time for sleep, he sends everyone to their chambers. This quiet communal close marks the end of the Third Day before the text explicitly announces the next.

The Fourth Day begins under Filostrato’s governance with a different subject: those whose loves have unhappy endings. Its opening also shifts from storytelling to the author’s defense of his work, answering the envy and criticism directed at the tales. The boundary between the days thus does more than record a change of turn: it places the Third Day’s final story of a hard-won marital resolution immediately before a day announced in terms of love’s sorrowful outcomes.