decameron

One theme that i think runs through the Decameron is religion. in the story of abraham Gianotto is trying to convince abraham to convert from judaism to christianity. All the while abraham says no he was born a jew and wants to die a jew. I think this part about converting everyone else who is christian into christianity relates to what we talked about in class on monday. This is similar to pilgrimage. So Abraham insists that he got to rome to witness the pope and cardinals and then he will make his decision. His friend doesn't want him to go because he is afraid that when he sees how corrupt, gluttonous and greedy they are he will choose not to convert. Abraham sees how horrible the pope and cardinals act and how they do not follow the expectations of the religion. He thinks this is so horrible, he then thinks to himself, even though these people are so corrupt this is the most popular and fast spreading religion. he then decides that this could only be the work of god. He then converts to Christianity to his friends surprise. I find this very surprising, its almost as if because of all the sin he saw attracted him more to the religion. i think this story also perpetuates the authority of the church. which during this time was emphasized in art and many different texts. religion is a main theme that runs throughout these stories, and they are all about converting people into the right religion (christianity). i find it interesting how easy it was for abraham to just abandon his religion for another one. I don't know if it would have been so easy for me to change my religion upon a visit to rome.