# King Agilulf — The Decameron character guide

> King Agilulf in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Agilulf

**First appearance:** 0030-the-third-story

## Snapshot

A Lombard king whose quiet, watchful cleverness lets him uncover a groom's nocturnal imposture without ever naming the crime aloud.

## Who they are

Agilulf rules as a shrewd and self-possessed sovereign whose court is a stage for the ambitions and appetites of those beneath him. When a servant dares to impersonate him in the dark, the king's response is neither rage nor public scandal but a patient, surgical investigation that reveals his character as much as the culprit's. His measured handling of the affair anchors one of the collection's sharpest early studies of power, discretion, and the dangers of intimacy with a master.

## In the story

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

The King of Cyprus, initially mean-spirited and supine, is transformed by the Gascon lady's rebuke into a man of worth and valiance.

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

King of the Lombards, who discovers the deception but handles it with discretion to avoid shame.

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

The king who initially orders the lovers' execution but later pardons them upon learning their identities.

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

The king of Spain in this story, who tests Ruggieri's perception of fortune and rewards him with a coffer of earth to prove that Ruggieri's own fortune, not the king's neglect, is responsible for his lack of gifts.

## Links

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