# Messer Fortarrigo — The Decameron character guide

> Messer Fortarrigo in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Fortarrigo

**First appearance:** 0023-the-eighth-story

## Snapshot

A feckless gambler who, having lost everything, trades on his cousin's trust and clothes to keep the dice rolling.

## Who they are

Fortarrigo is the kind of man whose charm is inseparable from his ruin — a gambler who can talk his way into a cousin's purse and then out of his shirt. His compulsion to wager whatever is in reach, including what belongs to others, drives the story's central betrayal. He matters because he shows how the Decameron's tricksters are not always lovable: sometimes the wit runs one way and the cost runs the other.

## Relationships

### [Messer Angiolieri](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/messer_angiolieri)

_rivalry_

Messer Angiolieri and Messer Fortarrigo are brothers locked in a bitter, destructive rivalry that leads to mutual ruin.

### [Messer Angiolieri](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/messer_angiolieri)

_rivalry_

Messer Angiolieri and Messer Fortarrigo are brothers locked in a bitter, destructive rivalry that leads to mutual ruin.

## In the story

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

The cunning gambler who steals from his master and uses trickery to escape blame.

## Links

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