Tedaldo's presumed death

Tedaldo’s presumed death is the false belief that makes his return to Florence look like a resurrection. A stranger’s murder is attributed to him, his brothers mourn a body that is not his, and Aldobrandino Palermini is imprisoned for the crime. Tedaldo’s concealed return uncovers the mistaken identity and the real killers; by revealing himself first in private and then before his family, he helps restore Aldobrandino and gives the supposed death a definitive explanation.

Identity and the mistaken death

Tedaldo Elisei returns to Florence after a long absence, changed in appearance and habit enough to pass unrecognized in the guise of a pilgrim returning from the Holy Sepulchre. He has traveled with one servant, sent his possessions ahead to Florence, and lodged at a small inn near the house of the woman he loves. When he first goes to see her, he finds the doors and windows closed. His concern deepens when he sees four of his brothers dressed in black outside their home.

A nearby shoemaker explains the cause of their mourning: a brother who had been away for a long time had been murdered less than a fortnight earlier. The family, he says, has persuaded the court that Aldobrandino Palermini killed him because Aldobrandino had been the woman’s admirer and had secretly returned to Florence to see her. Tedaldo is astonished that anyone could resemble him so closely as to be mistaken for him, and feels sorrow for Aldobrandino’s misfortune. The actual victim’s identity is not yet known to the brothers or to the court; the resemblance has converted an unknown man’s death into Tedaldo’s supposed death and an innocent man into a convicted murderer.

The discovery of the truth

That night, at the inn, Tedaldo remains awake and hears people come down from the roof. Looking through a crack in his chamber door, he sees a young woman carrying a light and three men who have descended from above. One of the men says that they can now feel secure because Tedaldo’s death has been proved against Aldobrandino, who has confessed and been sentenced. He warns the others to keep silent: if their own part in the killing becomes known, they will face the same danger as the prisoner.

The confession changes Tedaldo’s understanding of what has happened. His brothers have mourned another man in his place; Aldobrandino has been brought close to execution on the strength of a false confession and false testimony; and the actual killers believe the legal judgment protects them. Tedaldo reflects on the errors that can overtake human judgment and on the cruelty of authorities who claim to pursue truth while producing injustice. Rather than treating his own return as the end of the matter, he decides to act to free Aldobrandino.

Recognition by the ring

The next morning Tedaldo goes to the woman’s house, where he finds her weeping. In the conversation that follows, she acknowledges her part in the wrong done to him and says she would gladly make amends, but believes that impossible because Tedaldo is dead. Tedaldo, still disguised, tells her that Tedaldo is alive and promises that she may soon see him if she will keep her word. She agrees, especially hoping to see her husband restored to safety as well as Tedaldo alive.

Tedaldo then reveals himself through a small, decisive object: the ring she had given him on the last night they were together, which he has carefully kept. She recognizes it as hers. He removes his pilgrim’s gown and hat and speaks in the Florentine manner. At first she recoils, fearing that the man before her is a dead person returned from the tomb; when she recognizes his voice and face, she throws herself into his arms and welcomes him. The ring makes the private recognition possible, but the reunion does not distract Tedaldo from Aldobrandino’s danger. He tells her that he must go to the prison and arrange her husband’s release before their greetings can continue.

Public proof and aftermath

Tedaldo later arranges a banquet for Aldobrandino’s household and the families involved. During the meal, while the company is still subdued by the mourning clothes worn by Tedaldo’s relatives, he rises and announces that the gathering lacks Tedaldo himself, whom he is about to show them. He takes off his pilgrim’s clothes and stands before them in a green-silk jerkin. His brothers and the other guests stare at him in disbelief before he recounts details of their shared relationships and his travels. They then embrace him with tears of joy. Ermellina, Aldobrandino’s wife, initially holds back; she explains that words spoken while everyone believed Tedaldo dead had made her afraid to welcome him. Aldobrandino urges her to embrace the man who has helped recover him.

A further encounter resolves the remaining doubt about Tedaldo’s identity. Some foot soldiers from Lunigiana address him as Faziuolo, a comrade of theirs from Pontremoli whom they had not seen since he came to Florence more than a fortnight earlier. Asked how Faziuolo was dressed, they describe clothing matching that of the murdered man. Their identification establishes that the body was Faziuolo’s, not Tedaldo’s, and ends the uncertainty that had persisted even among Tedaldo’s brothers. Tedaldo is back, the supposed death is disproved, and Aldobrandino is no longer condemned for killing him. The episode’s reversal depends not on a supernatural return but on correcting an error of identity: the same resemblance that made Tedaldo’s death seem certain had also hidden the victim’s true name and enabled the actual killers to escape notice.