Judging Fate In Dante's 'Ser Cepparello'

Judging Fate
Deciding to condemn someone to hell or save them is typically a difficult task; Ser Cepparello, from Boccaccio’s Decameron, placement proves particularly difficult. Throughout his life Ser Cepparello, or Ciappelletto, sinned—he gambled, lied, falsified documents, bore false witness—but at the end of his life he confessed about a few of his sins. However, Ser Cepparello lied in his confession to make himself look better, and convinced his confessor, an unnamed friar, that he was a saint. Thus, deciding Ser Cepparello fate poses a challenge. The case to condemn Ciappelletto is strong: Ciappelletto sinned in life and lied to improve other’s perception of him. With this logic, Dante would likely place Ser Cepparello with Guido da Montefeltro
When Dante first meets Guido, Guido compliments Dante. In the original Italian, Bonconte says “con buona pietate aiuta il mio” which literally translates to “as thou with pious pity aidest mine” which not only shows that Dante considers himself pious, but also that he considers Bonconte pious. (Purgatorio 5. 87) According to Matthew 7, a person should “judge not, lest ye be judged,” a proverb which Dante would certainly be aware of. With this logic in mind, Bonconte judges Dante-Pilgrim, therefore Dante-Poet must have judged Buonconte. Dante-Poet judges Buonconte through the same word that Bonconte uses to describe Dante-Pilgrim. In essence, Dante-Poet uses Bonconte to show his view of Dante-Pilgrim and his view of Bonconte. Thus, Dante considers Bonconte a pious and honorable man. Dante’s language and description of Guido and Bonconte shows that Dante considers Guido a sinner but Bonconte honorable. When these descriptions are compared to Ser Cepparello’s, it is clear that Ser Cappello was a sinner very similar to Guido. In fact, Guido’s description and Capello's description revolve around the same tenants: the sins of Anger, Pride, and Covetousness. Also, both Ser Cepparello and Guido enjoyed sinning; for Guido this manifests itself in his betrayal, and for Ser Cepparello it is stated outright. Guido, by betraying his family and the Church,
First, consider Guido da Montefeltro story: Guido, once a Ghibelline military strategist critical in the sacking of cities, became a friar to ameliorate the public’s opinion and try to achieve martyrdom. Pope Boniface VIII, however, required Guido’s help sacking the Ghibelline fortress Palestrina, and convinced Guido into helping him. Dante recognizes that Guido’s attempt to repent was fraudulent, and thus places him in hell. Repentance, according to Dante, must be sincere and complete; the repentant must suffer, bleed, and genuinely repent for their actions. Guido only repented to improve his “image,” and thus, when he was tested he followed his passions. Guido furthers this idea when he damns the high priest; when Guido damns the high priest he also damns himself and reveals that the conversion was not genuine, but a publicity stunt. Capparelli's actions are remarkably similar to Guido’s. Caparello, like Guido, changed his appearance to convince others that he was worthy of heaven—like Guido, he was not. Caparello claims that he “confessed at least once a week, is virgin even as when [Ciappelletto] issued from [Ciappelletto]’s mother’s womb, ” and that he fasts “at least three days in every week, taking nothing but bread and water,” which directly contradict Panfilo’s early claims that Carpello “was a profuse blasphemer of God and His saints, as fond of women as a dog is of a stick” and that he was “most