# Ghino di Tacco — The Decameron character guide

> Ghino di Tacco in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Ghino

**First appearance:** 0113-the-second-story

## Snapshot

A gentleman turned highway robber whose courteous captivity of an abbot turns robbery into a lesson in generosity and reputation.

## Who they are

Ghino is the Decameron's great paradox: an outlaw whose manners shame the men who condemn him. When he seizes the Abbot of Cluny, he does not strip him but treats his gout and his dignity, refusing ransom until the abbot himself asks. The episode matters because it dramatizes Boccaccio's recurring claim that true nobility shows in conduct, not station, and it makes Ghino one of the collection's most quoted figures.

## In the story

### [The Second Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-second-story)

A highway-robber who captures the Abbot of Cluny, cures his stomach ailment, and later becomes a prior.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/ghino_di_tacco
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters