Pope Boniface

Pope Boniface is mentioned as a powerful patron of Messer Geri Spina in the account of Cisti the baker. Although the Pope never enters the scene himself, his embassy supplies the occasion for Cisti’s carefully devised gesture of hospitality and for the story’s reflection on dignity across social ranks.

Patronage and the Florentine Embassy

Pope Boniface held Messer Geri Spina in very great favor and dispatched some of his gentlemen to Florence on an embassy concerning important matters. Messer Geri received the envoys at his house and attended to the Pope’s affairs with them. Their repeated morning passage together brought them past Cisti’s bakehouse near Santa Maria Ughi.

An Indirect Presence in Cisti’s Story

The Pope’s role is limited but consequential: his business places the ambassadors and Messer Geri on the route where Cisti can see them. Cisti, a wealthy baker who continues to work at his trade, wishes to offer them his excellent white wine but considers it unsuitable to invite them outright given the difference in their social standing. He instead arranges water, wine, and bright beakers outside his door, hoping Messer Geri will invite himself. The episode’s action therefore turns not on a meeting with Pope Boniface, but on the chain of patronage and diplomatic travel associated with his name.