Introduction: The Storyteller’s Compass

Giovanni Boccaccio’s journey—from merchant’s son to literary revolutionary—teaches leaders how to transform crisis into creativity, tradition into innovation, and isolation into connection. His defiance of medieval norms, mastery of vernacular storytelling, and resilience during the Black Death reveal how visionaries craft legacies through narrative. This three-day tour traces his footsteps through Florence, revealing how leaders can harness empathy, adaptability, and the power of shared stories to navigate chaos and inspire change.

Timeline

Day	Hero’s Journey Stage	Theme	Locations
Day 1
9:00 AM	Call to Adventure	Awakening to Story	Florence’s Merchant Quarter (childhood home)
11:00 AM	Refusal of the Call	Doubt & Duty	Santa Maria del Fiore (symbol of medieval orthodoxy)
2:00 PM	Crossing the Threshold	Embracing the Vernacular	Piazza della Signoria (hub of civic rebellion)
Day 2
9:00 AM	Tests, Allies, Enemies	Plague & Perspective	Santa Maria Novella (plague-era refuge)
11:00 AM	Approach the Cave	Confronting Mortality	Florentine Archives (Decameron manuscripts)
2:00 PM	Transformation	The Birth of Humanism	Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Renaissance texts)
Day 3
9:00 AM	Apotheosis	Legacy in Letters	Casa di Dante (literary lineage)
11:00 AM	Return with Wisdom	The Eternal Mentor	Certaldo (Boccaccio’s final retreat)
2:00 PM	Resurrection	Immortality Through Narrative	Uffizi Gallery (humanist art)

Day 1: Call to Adventure

Location: Florence’s Merchant Quarter (childhood home)
Hero’s Journey Stage :
Boccaccio’s call began in the shadow of commerce, rejecting his father’s banking career for poetry. The merchant quarter’s narrow alleys, where he first heard traders’ tales, became his school of storytelling. Leaders learn that true vocation often defies expectation—his early rebellion birthed a literary revolution.
Reflection: What “merchant’s tale” defines your origin story?
Question: How do you balance familial duty with personal passion?

Day 1: Refusal of the Call

Location: Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo)
Hero’s Journey Stage :
Boccaccio’s refusal was Florence’s rigid medieval structure. The Duomo’s Latin-inscribed walls symbolized the Church’s dominance, yet he championed the vernacular. Leaders confront tradition’s weight—his Decameron proved that common tongues could carry uncommon wisdom.
Reflection: What “Latin walls” confine your voice?
Question: How do you democratize your craft without losing depth?

Day 1: Crossing the Threshold

Location: Piazza della Signoria
Hero’s Journey Stage :
Boccaccio’s threshold was the 1348 plague, which killed his father and ravaged Florence. The Piazza, where bodies once piled, became his canvas for rebirth. Leaders learn that crisis demands reinvention—his Decameron’s storytellers found hope in horror.
Reflection: What “plague” could catalyze your masterpiece?
Question: How does collective trauma shape your leadership narrative?

Day 2: Tests, Allies, Enemies

Location: Santa Maria Novella
Hero’s Journey Stage:
Boccaccio’s tests included Church censure and personal grief. Santa Maria Novella, where survivors gathered, inspired the Decameron’s frame—storytelling as survival. Leaders learn that allies emerge in shared vulnerability.
Reflection: What “plague refuge” sustains your resilience?
Question: How do you turn isolation into community?

Day 2: Approach the Cave

Location: Florentine Archives (Decameron manuscripts)
Hero’s Journey Stage :
The cave was Boccaccio’s confrontation with death. Handling his manuscripts here, leaders see mortality’s ink—each tale a defiance of despair. His psychological realism (Fiammetta) taught that truth transcends dogma.
Reflection: What “manuscript” would you leave behind?
Question: How does confronting death clarify your purpose?

Day 2: Transformation

Location: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
Hero’s Journey Stage :
Boccaccio’s transformation was humanism—reviving classical texts here with Petrarch. The library’s Greek codices symbolize wisdom’s continuity. Leaders learn that innovation honors lineage.
Reflection: What “lost text” could redefine your field?
Question: How do you bridge ancient wisdom and modern vision?

Day 3: Apotheosis

Location: Casa di Dante
Hero’s Journey Stage :
Boccaccio’s apotheosis was becoming Dante’s biographer, securing his mentor’s legacy. The Casa di Dante, where both reshaped Italian, teaches immortality through mentorship.
Reflection: What “Dante” needs your advocacy?
Question: How do you elevate others to secure your own legacy?

Day 3: Return with Wisdom

Location: Certaldo (Boccaccio’s tomb)
Hero’s Journey Stage :
Boccaccio’s return was retreating to Certaldo, writing On Famous Women—legacy through scholarship. His tomb’s simplicity whispers that greatness needs no monument.
Reflection: What “Certaldo” offers your final chapter?
Question: How does quiet reflection amplify your voice?

Day 3: Resurrection

Location: Uffizi Gallery (humanist art)
Hero’s Journey Stage :
The resurrection is Boccaccio’s eternal influence—seen in Botticelli’s Decameron-inspired art. The Uffizi’s halls prove stories outlive empires. Leaders learn that narrative is the ultimate innovation.
Reflection: What “Uffizi masterpiece” will your work inspire?
Question: How does beauty sustain societal change?

Conclusion: The Leader’s Decameron

Boccaccio’s Hero’s Journey teaches:

1. Crisis as crucible (plague-born tales).
2. Vulnerability as strength (Fiammetta’s voice).
3. Legacy through language (vernacular revolution).

Final Questions:

1. Merchant Quarter: What “family trade” must you transcend?
2. Santa Maria Novella: How do stories heal collective wounds?
3. Certaldo: What epitaph will your quietest work deserve?

“Words, well conceived, are the soul’s ambassadors.” —Boccaccio’s creed for leaders.

Tour Details:

• Duration: 3 days
• Start Time: 09:30 AM
• End Time: 10:00 PM
• Cost: € 2.250 per person excluding VAT per person and excluding hotel accomodation

You can book this tour by sending Peter an email with details at peter@wearesomeone.nl

Your Tour Guide

Peter de Kuster is the founder of The Heroine’s Journey & Hero’s Journey project,  a storytelling firm which helps creative professionals to create careers and lives based on whatever story is most integral to their lives and careers (values, traits, skills and experiences). Peter’s approach combines in-depth storytelling and marketing expertise, and for over 20 years clients have found it effective with a wide range of creative business issues.

Peter is writer of the series The Heroine’s Journey and Hero’s Journey books, he has an MBA in Marketing,  MBA in Financial Economics and graduated at university in Sociology and Communication Sciences.