Alfonso, King of Spain

Alfonso, King of Spain, appears in the first story of the tenth day as a ruler whose apparent failure to reward a worthy servant becomes an occasion to test, explain, and finally honor him. His measured response to Messer Ruggieri de' Figiovanni joins practical judgment with liberality: rather than dismissing Ruggieri’s grievance, Alfonso arranges proof that distinguishes his own regard from the workings of fortune, then gives the knight a substantial gift to take home.

Identity and Setting

The story introduces Alfonso as a renowned ruler whose reputation for valor exceeds that of other princes of his time. Messer Ruggieri, a rich and high-spirited gentleman, leaves Tuscany to seek service at his court in Spain. Alfonso receives him graciously, and Ruggieri settles there, lives splendidly, performs notable feats of arms, and soon establishes a reputation for worth and courage.

The king is therefore not presented as an enemy or a distant name in Ruggieri’s career. He welcomes the knight and observes his service closely. The central tension arises later, when the distribution of royal rewards appears to contradict the merit Alfonso has already had an opportunity to see.

Ruggieri’s Grievance and Departure

During his stay, Ruggieri notices that Alfonso gives castles, cities, and baronies to one person and then another, seemingly without sound judgment. In his view, some recipients are unworthy, while he himself receives nothing. He fears that the omission will diminish his reputation: royal recognition would publicly attest to his merit, and its absence seems to imply that the king has not acknowledged it.

Ruggieri’s dissatisfaction concerns recognition as much as material gain. When he asks permission to leave, he explains that he is not vexed because he has failed to become richer; what troubles him is that Alfonso has not borne witness to his worth. The distinction matters to the king’s reply. Alfonso does not answer as though Ruggieri has simply demanded wealth, but addresses the perceived injury to his standing.

Alfonso grants the requested leave and gives Ruggieri an exceptionally fine Mule, suitable for the long journey to Tuscany. At the same time, he instructs a discreet servant to accompany the knight without appearing to have been sent by the court. The servant is to listen to Ruggieri’s remarks and report them back the following morning. The gift and the covert observation serve different purposes: the Mule equips Ruggieri for departure, while the servant lets Alfonso learn what the knight truly thinks once he believes himself beyond the king’s immediate presence.

The Mule and the King’s Answer

As the two travelers ride together, Ruggieri praises Alfonso and says nothing against him. At tierce, they stop to let their animals relieve themselves. Every animal does so except the Mule. Later, beside a river where they water the beasts, the Mule urinates into the stream. Seeing this, Ruggieri curses the animal and compares its mistimed behavior to the prince who gave it to him.

The insult supplies Alfonso with a precise reply to the grievance. After the servant discloses the remark and the king summons Ruggieri back, Alfonso asks why he likened the Mule to its giver. Ruggieri answers frankly: the Mule does not relieve itself when it should, but does so when it should not; likewise, Alfonso gives where he ought not and withholds where he ought to give. The comparison is pointed, but it also makes the dispute legible. Ruggieri’s complaint is not left as a private suspicion: he states directly that he believes the king has rewarded the undeserving while overlooking him.

Alfonso responds that Ruggieri is a valiant knight worthy of great gifts. If he has received none, the king says, the cause is Ruggieri’s adverse fortune, not a failure on the king’s part to recognize him. Alfonso then offers to prove the distinction instead of asking the knight to accept reassurance on trust. Ruggieri says that he believes the king, yet agrees to see the proof Alfonso has prepared.

The Two Coffers and the Gift

Alfonso takes Ruggieri into a great hall before witnesses. Two large locked coffers stand there. One contains the royal crown, sceptre, orb, and precious ornaments, including girdles, brooches, and rings; the other is full of earth. The king invites Ruggieri to choose either coffer and keep what he finds inside. The choice turns the argument about fortune into a visible test: Ruggieri’s worth is not in doubt, but the outcome of his selection will illustrate the mischance Alfonso has described.

Ruggieri chooses the coffer that contains earth. Alfonso laughs, treating the result as confirmation that fortune has deprived the knight of what he might otherwise have received. Yet he does not allow that demonstration to be the ending. He declares that Ruggieri’s worth deserves resistance to fortune’s power. Because he knows the knight has no wish to become a Spaniard, Alfonso will not give him a castle or city in Spain; instead, he gives him the treasure-filled coffer so that Ruggieri can return to his own country with a tangible witness of the king’s judgment.

Narrative Role and Significance

Alfonso’s conduct transforms what first looks like neglect into an encounter about the difference between merit, recognition, and reward. The Mule carries Ruggieri’s criticism back to the court in comic form, while the paired coffers give the king’s explanation a material shape. The episode moves from apparent injustice, through a test that seems to confirm misfortune, to an act of deliberate compensation.

The conclusion also preserves the importance of Ruggieri’s homecoming. Alfonso does not bind him to Spain with a grant of land; he sends him back to Tuscany with treasure and public evidence of his esteem. In the story’s account of magnificence, the king’s generosity is not merely lavish distribution. It is attentive to the recipient’s stated grievance and circumstances, and it answers a perceived failure of honor with a gift that makes esteem visible.