The group told a story about a wise jewish man who had seen the corruption of Rome. He converted to Christianity, because he thought only a great Church could overcome the debauchery of Rome, and as the story goes, a second deceitful jew doesn’t convert since he wants to avoid confrontation. His neutrality got him in the emperor’s business, which led to his love for gold and debasement.

In another story, a German woman made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but was assaulted in Cyprus on the way. She asked the King of Cyprus avenge her, but the king refused to do anything for her. This theme was meant to signify that the government and the clergy are not to be trusted and that neither support the people. Boccaccio had contempt for both institutions and wrote many stories about the moral deprivation in the church and state. 

Another tale told of a friar blackmailing a man, who was asked to pay him 100-fold of his income. However, the man rebuked him, saying that he would instead give the 100-fold to the poor. Again, Boccaccio attacks the church, making monks seem deceitful and stating that their charity was fake. 

One merchant lost his ship to thieves, explained another tale. Although the merchant had his vessel and cargo stolen, he was able to salvage a chest with jewels. A woman helped the merchant get home, but he eventually becomes a pirate in order to make up for his lost profit. 

Another story told of a boy who has 500 gold pieces stolen from him by a woman. To retrieve his gold back, the boy stole a ring off of a dead archbishop and sold it for 500 pieces of gold. In both tales, a person who is the victim of theft wrongly steals from another in response.

Boccaccio’s writing was a turning point from medieval to Renaissance literature and many hostile elements directed towards the Church and God. The Decameron was written in Italian and not Latin and so was not meant for elites. In the collection of works, the group ultimately comes to the conclusion that God has been de-throned and is thus powerless, that fortune has replaced God, and that Church hierarchy is tyrannical. Boccaccio thought that the Church lacked good judgement and its power had been undermined by the plague.