# Saladin — The Decameron character guide

> Saladin in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0025-the-tenth-story

## Snapshot

A powerful sultan who travels in disguise, testing the wit and generosity of strangers before revealing the magnificence of his true station.

## Who they are

Saladin rules as sultan, yet he moves through the world incognito, probing the cleverness of a Jewish moneylender with the riddle of three identical rings and later accepting hospitality from Messer Torello without disclosing who he is. His pleasure lies in measuring other men's virtue against his own power, and he repays generosity with a loyalty that outlasts the moment of revelation. He anchors the Decameron's fascination with the traffic between East and West, where wisdom, not rank, determines who truly commands the room.

## In the story

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

The Sultan of Babylon, who sets a verbal trap for Melchizedek to justify forcing a loan, but is won over by the Jew's wisdom.

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

The Sultan who employs Sicurano and later judges the case.

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

Disguises himself as a merchant to observe Christian preparations for the crusade; later reveals himself and honors Messer Torello with magnificent gifts and magical transport.

## Links

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