Aldobrandino Palermini

Aldobrandino Palermini is Ermellina’s husband, a Florentine gentleman whose wrongful imprisonment for Tedaldo Elisei’s supposed murder becomes the central danger in Tedaldo’s return. Mistaken for a killer because of his resemblance to the man believed dead, Aldobrandino faces execution for a crime committed by others. His deliverance depends not only on Tedaldo’s discovery of the truth but also on Aldobrandino’s readiness to forgive the brothers who helped condemn him.

Identity and Background

Aldobrandino is established in the story through his marriage to Ermellina and through the accusation that brings him before the authorities. Tedaldo returns to Florence after a long absence, disguised as a pilgrim, and learns from a cordwainer that Ermellina’s brothers-in-law are dressed in black because a brother of theirs, long away, has supposedly been murdered. The family has persuaded the court that Aldobrandino committed the killing because the dead man was believed to have been Ermellina’s admirer.

The report rests on a fatal confusion: Tedaldo is alive, but his family and the city believe him dead. His return makes Aldobrandino appear guilty of killing a rival who had secretly come back to see Ermellina. The case is therefore shaped by mistaken identity and by the public force of a story accepted as fact. Aldobrandino is already in prison when Tedaldo learns that the charge has been proved against him.

Imprisonment and Rescue

Tedaldo’s investigation reveals that the actual killers are the two brothers who keep the inn where he is lodging and their servant. Watching from his room, Tedaldo hears them say that Aldobrandino has confessed and that the judgment is recorded. They rejoice that the supposed death has been laid at another man’s door, while also fearing that discovery of their own role would expose them to the same danger. Their later confession establishes that they killed Tedaldo without recognizing him, after believing he had gravely wronged the wife of one of them and tried to force her.

Before approaching the magistrates, Tedaldo visits Aldobrandino in prison. He presents himself as a comforter sent to help and promises that the prisoner will soon hear of his acquittal. Aldobrandino says he did not commit the murder, though he acknowledges having committed other sins in his life. In the hope of escaping death, he agrees to the one request Tedaldo makes: that he forgive Tedaldo’s four brothers for having brought him to this pass, believing him guilty, and receive them again as friends if they ask pardon.

Tedaldo then brings the case to a member of the Signory, arguing that justice requires the innocent not to suffer punishment in place of the guilty. The official orders the innkeepers and their servant arrested. Taken in their sleep, they confess, first separately and then together, to killing Tedaldo. Their admission overturns the case against Aldobrandino. Once the authorities have full information, they discharge him; a few days later, the actual murderers are beheaded where they committed the crime.

Marriage, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation

Aldobrandino’s release reunites him with Ermellina and brings joy to his friends and relations. He openly acknowledges that he owes his deliverance to the pilgrim and receives Tedaldo into his house for as long as he stays in Florence. Ermellina, who knows the pilgrim’s true identity, is especially attentive to him. Aldobrandino’s gratitude is thus personal as well as public: the stranger he honors is the man whose supposed murder placed him in prison and whose return has saved him.

Tedaldo next asks Aldobrandino to fulfill his promise of reconciliation. The four brothers, ashamed by Aldobrandino’s acquittal and reportedly armed for fear of his resentment, are invited with their wives to a banquet. Tedaldo helps persuade them to seek forgiveness and restore the friendship. At the gathering, the brothers arrive in the black clothes they have worn in mourning. They lay down their arms, place themselves at Aldobrandino’s mercy, and ask pardon for what they have done. Weeping, Aldobrandino welcomes them and kisses each on the mouth, dismissing the matter in a few words and remitting every injury.

The banquet’s sombre clothing preserves the weight of the recent false accusation and bereavement even as the company celebrates a restored household. Tedaldo has observed the constraint that the mourning dress casts over the feast. When the meal reaches its fruit course, he rises and reveals himself by casting off his pilgrim’s clothes, standing in a green silk jerkin. His brothers and the other gentlemen then embrace him with tears of joy; the ladies follow, while Ermellina is the conspicuous exception, having already encountered Tedaldo privately.

Narrative Role and Significance

Aldobrandino’s story turns on the difference between a plausible accusation and the truth. His apparent guilt is reinforced by Tedaldo’s absence, the family’s certainty that he is dead, and the court’s recorded judgment. The eventual confession of the innkeepers and their servant replaces that mistaken account with the facts. Aldobrandino’s ordeal gives the plot its immediate stakes: he faces death not for his own act but because others have mistaken the identity and circumstances of the supposed victim.

His response to the brothers adds a second resolution beyond legal exoneration. Aldobrandino could treat their role in his imprisonment as grounds for revenge, but he has already promised to forgive them before learning that he is safe. At the banquet he makes that promise visible, receiving the armed men who had feared him as family again. His release clears him of the charge; his pardon restores the relationships that the false charge had placed in danger. Through him, the story joins the recovery of truth to the deliberate repair of kinship.