Minghino and Agnesa's Rivalry and Marriage

Minghino di Mingole and Agnesa’s relationship turns a contest between rival suitors into a marriage shaped by rescue, family recognition, and reconciliation. Minghino first pursues Agnesa alongside Giannole di Severino, but the rivalry ends when an attempted abduction exposes her identity: she is Bernabuccio’s lost daughter and Giannole’s sister. With the family ties established and the young men reconciled, Minghino receives Agnesa’s hand and they live together in peace.

Agnesa and the Rival Suitors

Agnesa was raised in Faenza by Giacomino da Pavia, who had taken responsibility for her after her father, Guidotto da Cremona, died and entrusted her to his care. By the time she was fifteen, she had grown into a beautiful, virtuous, and well-bred young woman. Both Minghino di Mingole and Giannole di Severino loved her and wished to marry her, but their families did not allow the match. Their frustrated courtship became hostility: each sought an opportunity to obtain Agnesa for himself.

The rivalry took shape through competing plans to reach her while Giacomino was away. Giannole enlisted the household servant Crivello, who promised to bring him to Agnesa; Minghino, meanwhile, had secured the maidservant’s help and expected her to admit him. Neither knew that the other had arranged to enter the house that same evening. Each arrived with armed companions, turning their private competition into a dangerous confrontation around Agnesa’s home.

The Attempted Abduction and Rescue

When Crivello gave the agreed signal, Giannole entered the house with two companions and tried to carry Agnesa away. She struggled and cried out, as did the maid. Hearing the disturbance, Minghino rushed in with his own companions and found Agnesa being dragged through the door. He and his men drew their swords, challenged Giannole’s party, and intervened. Neighbors came out with lights and weapons; they blamed Giannole’s violence and supported Minghino, who succeeded in rescuing Agnesa and returning her to Giacomino’s house.

The disturbance brought the town captain’s officers, who arrested Minghino, Giannole, Crivello, and others involved. Giacomino returned to find Agnesa unharmed and, after learning she had not been at fault, resolved to arrange her marriage promptly so that another such incident would not occur. The episode thus changes Minghino’s position in the story: his pursuit of Agnesa had placed him among the armed intruders, but during the confrontation he became the person who helped bring her safely back to her guardian.

Recognition and Marriage

The family connection that transforms the rivalry emerges through a physical mark. Bernabuccio remembered that his missing daughter had a small cross-shaped scar above her left ear, left by an operation on a tumor. He asked Giacomino to bring Agnesa before him and, with permission, lifted her hair to check. Finding the scar, he recognized her as the daughter he had believed lost when his house burned during a sack of the city. Agnesa had been left behind in the confusion and was thought to have perished.

The recognition also altered the meaning of the contest between the suitors: Giannole, who had tried to seize Agnesa, was revealed to be her brother. The town captain released him and the other prisoners, and he helped make peace between the two young men. With the conflict settled, Agnesa was given in marriage to Minghino. Their union follows the recovery of her place among her family and the reconciliation of the former rivals; Minghino celebrated with a wedding and took Agnesa home, where they lived for many years in peace and prosperity.