# Salabaetto — The Decameron character guide

> Salabaetto in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0020-the-fifth-story

## Snapshot

A Florentine merchant fleeced by a Sicilian courtesan, who returns to Palermo with a clever counter-scheme and turns the tables.

## Who they are

Salabaetto is a young merchant who arrives in Palermo on business and falls prey to Jancofiore, a courtesan whose charm and staged tears separate him from his goods. Broke and humiliated, he retreats to Florence, where a friend's advice and a fresh consignment of cloth arm him for a return visit. His story is a satisfying reversal of the dupe's tale, showing that the Decameron's merchants can learn as well as lose.

## In the story

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

The Florentine merchant who is initially duped by Madam Biancofiore but later cleverly turns the tables on her.

## Links

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