Spain of King Alfonso’s court is the setting for a Day the Tenth story about the difference between merit and the rewards that chance permits. It is where Messer Ruggieri de' Figiovanni seeks recognition, misreads the king’s distribution of lands, and receives a test that turns his disappointment into a generous royal recompense.

The Court as a Place of Opportunity

Messer Ruggieri de' Figiovanni comes to Spain because he believes his worth can be displayed there more fully than at home. Rich and high-spirited, he travels with arms, horses, and followers, and Alfonso, King of Spain, receives him graciously. Ruggieri establishes himself at court, performs deeds of arms, and soon gains a reputation for worth and valor.

Spain is presented less through its landscape than through the court’s system of service and reward. Ruggieri watches Alfonso bestow castles, cities, and baronies on others, but sees no comparable grant for himself. To him, the distribution seems indiscriminate: some recipients appear unworthy, while his own recognized ability goes unrewarded. He fears that this omission diminishes his standing, and decides to ask leave to depart.

Ruggieri’s Departure and the King’s Test

Alfonso grants the requested leave and gives Ruggieri a fine mule for his journey. The gift accompanies a concealed inquiry: the king sends a discreet servant to ride with Ruggieri without appearing to have been dispatched by the court, observe what he says, and report back. The episode carries the court’s judgment beyond its halls and onto the road, where even an ordinary incident involving the mule becomes part of the king’s assessment.

The king later calls Ruggieri back and sets before him two locked coffers. One, he explains, contains his crown, sceptre, orb, and precious jewels; the other is full of earth. Ruggieri chooses a coffer, and it proves to contain earth. The choice gives physical form to the uncertainty that has marked his time in Spain: visible worth does not guarantee that Fortune will deliver the desired prize.

Recompense and Narrative Significance

Alfonso distinguishes between his own judgment and Fortune’s power. He tells Ruggieri that his lack of reward was not the king’s fault, then counters Fortune by giving him the coffer containing the royal treasures. Since Ruggieri does not intend to become a Spaniard, Alfonso does not bestow a castle or city in Spain; instead, the portable wealth can be carried back to his homeland and serve as public testimony to his merit.

The location therefore frames a reversal in how reward is understood. At first, Spain appears to offer advancement that Ruggieri’s service has failed to secure; the king’s test reveals that the failure is attributed to Fortune rather than to any lack of worth or royal esteem. The story’s final image is not a granted territory but a coffer taken away from court: Spain is both the place where Ruggieri’s ambition is disappointed and the source of the gift that restores his confidence in his reputation.