Lipari

Lipari, an island near Sicily, appears in two distinct journeys in the Decameron: Madam Beritola Caracciola reaches it while fleeing political upheaval, while Costanza and Martuccio Gomito are born or dwell there before separation carries them far from home. The island is first a temporary refuge amid loss and uncertainty, then the point of return at the close of a lovers’ tale.

Setting and Narrative Role

Lipari is presented as an island close to Sicily, situated along routes shaped by sea travel and sudden changes of fortune. The stories do not describe its government, physical features, or daily life in detail; instead, its significance comes from the contrasting journeys that begin or end there. A ship brings one family to the island against its wishes, while another carries reunited lovers back to it in favorable weather.

Madam Beritola’s Refuge

After King Charles I defeated and killed Manfred at Benevento, Arrighetto Capece was captured amid the transfer of power. His wife, Madam Beritola, did not know what had become of him and feared for her own safety. Poor and pregnant, she abandoned her possessions and fled by small boat to Lipari with her young son, Giusfredi.

At Lipari she gave birth to a second son, Scacciato. She found a nurse and set out by ship with both children, intending to reach her relatives in Naples. The voyage did not follow her plan: the ship was driven by wind to Ponza, where the family entered a small inlet and waited for another opportunity to travel. Lipari is thus a brief place of shelter and childbirth, but not the destination Beritola sought. Her departure from it leads directly into another stage of displacement.

Costanza and Martuccio’s Return

Lipari is also the home of Costanza, a young woman born there to a prominent family, and of Martuccio Gomito, a well-bred young man of the same island. They fall in love, but Costanza’s father refuses Martuccio as a husband because he is poor. Martuccio leaves with friends and relatives, swearing not to return until rich; he turns to piracy off the Barbary coast, is captured by Saracen ships, and is taken to Tunis, where he is imprisoned.

After their paths separate, Costanza eventually finds Martuccio again. He had long believed her lost, while she tells him what has happened to her and of the honorable treatment she received from the gentlewoman who sheltered her. Martuccio asks his king’s leave to marry her according to his own faith. The king grants it, gives gifts to both, and permits them to depart together.

Homecoming and Significance

With Carapresa aboard a small ship, Costanza and Martuccio sail back to Lipari in a fair wind. Their return reverses the earlier journeys of separation: the island that had been left behind becomes the setting for their reunion with home and family. Martuccio and Costanza marry there, celebrate with a great wedding, and enjoy their love in peace for a long time.

The two episodes give Lipari contrasting meanings without making it the cause of either fortune. For Madam Beritola, it is a temporary refuge on a flight interrupted by the sea; for Costanza and Martuccio, it is the home to which separation and hardship eventually give way. Across both stories, the island marks a point in journeys whose outcomes remain uncertain until a later passage or return.